Arsenal 2 - 1 Atletico Madrid

Arsenal headed to the top of the Emirates Cup after their victory over Atletico Madrid. I'm sure they're speechless with unparalleled joy over this. In all honesty though the first half was ok. We kept possession well but lacked penetration. The second half was excellent, not only because the football was superb, but also because most of the Rangers fans had already gone back to their hotels, and that means I didn't have to travel back on the tube with them. Scary bastards. Jose Reyes made his return to Arsenal in the black of A.Madrid's away kit. The dot com said he was cheered. Don't let that fool you, he was booed the hell out of. Anywho, the starting line-up was this:

Mannone

Sagna Djourou Gallas Traore

Denilson

Ramsey Rosicky

Eboue v.Persie(c) Bendtner

Unfortunately Vermaelen had picked up a slight muscular niggle and therefore has been dropped from both days, but should return against Valencia. Nothing of great note happened in the first half. Rosicky thought he had scored, but was ruled offside. Fantastic finish though. Eboue really doesn't work as one of the wide three. He really struggled to adapt to the position save for a good cut inside and shot, which was straight at the keeper.

The second half was much better, and this was down to the introduction of two people. Fran Merida and Jack Wilshere. These two were utterly superb, the best two players on the pitch, putting the more established players to shame. You can see why the would play well though. They are both exciting offensive players, who added huge amounts of energy and enthusiasm. They really wanted to impress and you can't really get more of a competetive friendly than at the Emirates cup. They really shined on the semi-big stage. The great thing was, they both impressed in different ways. Wilshere came on for Eboue and stayed in his role as the right side of the attacking three. He had so much dynamism in his running off the ball and dribbling ability on the ball. His link up with Sagna was also superb. Merida on the other hand came in for Rosicky in the centre of the park. He has exceptional close control, the vision was superb, and he really has the Cesc knack for finding the space between midfield and defence, where he can really do damage with his incredible creativity.

With 25 minutes to go Cesc, Arshavin and Eduardo came on, and this only added to our attacking impetus. Our XI was now:

Mannone

Sagna Djourou Gallas Clichy

Denilson

Fabregas(c) Merida

Wilshere Eduardo Arshavin

The goals were bound to come and eventually they did, with Cesc showing his experience and guile to calmly find Arshavin who prodded home. Most fans were still celebrating, however it was with a groan that I could see what was about to happen. A nice through ball by a Madrid player threw our defence into incredible confusion, and Pacheco slotted home. Arshavin would have the last laugh though, as he latched onto a soft back header by a defender, rounded the keeper and somehow, somehow managed to squeeze home from the tightest of angles.

So all in all there were a lot of positives for the fans to take out of this match. We certainly have two of the biggest talents in England with Merida and Wilshere, and two who have shown that they are of the ability to be in the first team. Whether they can yet handle the pressures of the premier league is another matter, but I have faith that they will soon. Our attacking play was excellent, however this seemed to have an inversely proportional affect on our defence. As our attacking got better, our defence got worse. Denilson also managed to quietly slip under the radar and get himself another 90 minutes. If Wenger had rang me up and told me yesterday that he was going to play Denilson for the full 90 minutes in both matches, I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised. Apart from the fact that Wenger was ringing me. As it is though, the non-appearance of Song yesterday makes me think he'll give Denilson a much warranted rest.

Right, Arsenal play Rangers today. I'll be back with more post-match chit chat after the game.
'Til then Gooners.