Arsenal 3(5) - 1(1) Celtic

Despite the impressive scoreline of a 5-1 win on aggregate, I came away from the 2nd leg in a relatively bad mood. The standard of play was poor despite all the goals being constructed in a good way. The main reason for the downswing of my mood was the big talking point of the game, the Eduardo dive. Yes, it was a dive, but that should not take anything away from the build-up play which was quite frankly excellent, and then a mind boggling bit of quick thinking by Eduardo to slip the ball by two defenders. Did the carefully and skilfully constructed build-up get a mention? Not a jot. According to the commentators and analysers in the studio, had Eduardo not dived, Celtic would have got their way back into the match and would have gone on to win overall. As if Arsenal wouldn't have found other ways to score. And that goes for the two goals in the first leg, yes they were fortunate goals, but do you really think that if they hadn't gone in, Arsenal wouldn't have found another way to score?

My bad mood continued when Donati scored a consolation for Celtic. The commentators again insinuating that Celtic deserved more, when in reality, that was their first shot on target. Not only does that mean again no clean sheat (which looks like it'll be a challenge for us this year), but it gives reason for Celtic fans to think their team are good again. Which clearly they aren't. Luckily Arsenal scored two nice goals to finish with, because at 3-0 on aggregate, it was clear the excuse was their for Celtic fans to say Arsenal fluked their way through the tie (and conveniently ignoring the hugh gulf of quality between the two teams).

Then we get on to Dalgleish who was unbelievably biased towards Celtic especially at half time. The disallowed goal for Celtic which saw McDonald loiter about a yard and a half offside before sticking the ball in the net, was apparently 'tight' according to the slow-talking scotsman. And the reason for the difference in ability in the two sides is not because Arsenal are miles better, but because Celtic don't play teams of the kind of quality that Arsenal do week-in, week-out.

The bad mood actually started half an hour before kick-off when I saw the starting line-up which was woefully uninspired. There was no creative central midfielder (I was rather hoping one of either Ramsey or Merida would start), and then there was Eboue and Sagna in the same eleven. Indicating that Eboue would be playing out of position, normally never a good sign. As it was, Eboue turned out to be one our better players, and thoroughly deserved our goal. In fact, the highlight of the match for me was to see Eboue chase the ball the whole width of the pitch, forcing the Celtic players not to go forward but to go back. Eboue very much deserved the cheer he got from the home crowd. A cheer that co-commentator Jim Beglin managed to mistake as a goodwill cheer from the Arsenal fans to the Celtic players for managing to keep the ball...retard.

Anyway, despite all the negatives, which in retrospect I may have overreacted to, there were a few positives. Fantastic performances by Vermaelen and Song complemented by the aforementioned Eboue. The second goal was wonderful. Started by a piercing ball down the left by Clichy, Bendtner flicked a delightful backheel into the path of Diaby who gave it to Eboue. The Ivorian side stepped whichever woeful Celtic player was in the way and drilled it low past the rather chubby Boruc. The third goal involved neat play by Denilson, Arshavin and Ramsey, with the Russian finishing off with aplomb.

No match ratings today 'cause I'm pissed off. 10 for Vermaelen though and 8 for both Eboue and Song.

Ok I guess that's all for now. I'm going on holiday on saturday which means I'll miss the Man Utd match, something I was seriously considering scrapping my holiday plans for. So I'll be back when I get back.
'Til then.

p.s. Vermaelen is the best defender in the league.
p.p.s I'm now sitting with two wannabe ManUre fans, a QPR fan, and a nothing. God help me.