Celtic 0 - 2 Arsenal

It is a measure of how poor the standard is in the Scottish league these days that Arsenal could come to a place, where history shows is a difficult place for the best of teams to play, and come away with a comfortable 2-0 victory without having played outstandingly well. Make no mistake, we were in control the whole game, and the difference of quality between the two teams was frankly embarrassing at times. Arsenal played almost better defensively than offensively in this match. So poor was the ability of the Celtic players that all Arsenal needed to do was close them down all over the park, and the Celtic players would panic and give the ball away. Arsenal lined up with exactly the same formation and players as the game against Everton at the weekend, with Denilson being passed fit at the last second. Of course that didn't prevent him from playing a full 90 minutes. Nothing could prevent that. It was strange to see only one substitute used (Diaby for Arshavin) especially as a couple of players were coming back from some slight niggles.

Both goals had an element of luck about them, but that's not to say we didn't deserve them. The first goal came from Gallas who was desperately trying to get out of the way of a Fabregas freekick that looked like it was heading for the top corner. As it was, the ball skimmed Gallas' back and deflected into the far corner, completely fooling Boruc. The second goal came from Diaby who had only just come on (a future role as an impact sub potentially?), he fed the ball to Clichy who whipped in a low ball into the six yard box that Caldwell deflected into his own net. In all fairness to Caldwell, he had to get something on it, otherwise Bendtner would have been on hand to tuck it home.

On the subject of Bendtner, this match showed his importance to the team, especially in this 4-3-3 formation. I believe the team plays better when he is on the pitch, and that is because of all the front 3 players, Bendtner works the hardest and tracks back the most. Therefore it is very useful playing him on one of the wings, as well as the fact he towers over every full-back in the country. Another players who impressed was Fabregas, who ran his socks off the whole game. His passing was a bit sloppy at times, but he must have covered more ground than the rest of the team put together. I would have liked to have seen Cesc replaced by Ramsey to give him a rest, but this didn't happen. Vermaelen has continued his excellent start for Arsenal. He reads the game so brilliantly, to cover behind the other defender or to make interceptions. He's also not afraid of a good hard challenge. Excellent. Gallas also excelled, and it's nice to see the two first choice defenders building a good partnership. We haven't had a good central defensive partnership since Toure and Campbell. My man of the match however was Alex Song. Who said we needed a new defensive midfielder? (Seriously though, another DM would do nicely, even if Song is first choice).

What has impressed me so much about these opening two games is Arsenal closing down the opposition players, not just in defence, but all over the pitch. The lads are displaying levels of fitness I'm not sure I was aware of this soon after pre-season. Wenger, Rice and Colbert must really have put them through their paces in Austria. Arsenal also proved that they're working hard at adding a physical dimension to the game. In a match where Celtic were coming in late to challenges so much it looked purposeful, Arsenal never got intimidated and always held their own and got stuck back in.

I can't think of many negatives from the game. Perhaps a little note just to say Denilson was back to his old tricks of woefully underhit passes, the rest of his game though was impressive enough. That's it really. As indicated earlier, Arsenal didn't need to play that impressive a game. Continually closing down the Celtic players was enough to win us the first leg. It was hard to pick out a low point for Celtic, but in the end I've plumped for Donati (who seems to have the aura of one of Celtic's star players just because he arrived from Italy). I don't think I can remember a pass of his reaching the target destination. He should also have been booked for a challenge on Cesc right in front of their area, but unfortnately the Ref missed it.

Right that's all for now. We play and will win against Portsmouth on Saturday. Something to look forward to.
'Til then Gooners.