Arsenal 2 Standard Liege 0

A win in the Champs League to secure top spot. Glad to see Denilson making a come back as well as Nasri. Hoping for better news this Sunday against Chelsea. Still reeling from the loss of RVP & Gibbs.

And worries over Gallas too.

It seems that injuries are coming back to haunt us. Hopefully the fringe players can perform.

Sunderland 1 Arsenal 0

A heartbreak weekend with RVP and Gibbs injured during the international break followed by a heartbreak performance against Sunderland. I have not seen the team played so badly and hope this is just a one off incident.

Shall not comment too much and hope for a better performance against Chelsea after losing ground to Man U & Chelsea.

Wolves 1 Arsenal 4

I remembered that Wolves approached this game very well, not giving the Gunners any space in the midfield. They were playing a pressing style even on the backs, and our fluency and passing game was adversely affected.

Somehow, we still managed to go 2-0 up at half-time, thanks to 2 own goals.

In the second half, we were also very nervous and still managed to further the lead through Arshavin. The fourth goal was a gem by Fabregas after some good passing from RVP.

Wolves though pulled back a late consolation goal and the knack of conceding soft late goals is starting to worry me. So long as we are in free scoring mode, this should not be an issue.

Still the score seemed generous to us as we did not play as well as the scoreline suggested. I am happy with the 3 points in the bag and leapfrog over Man U to 2nd place.

Now for the top of the table clash with Chelsea in a fortnight's time.

Arsenal 4 AZ Alkmaar 1

What a week. We are on a winning streak again and secure 3 important points in Europe. The team seem to click well and judging by the performance, we have lots of attach options in Arshavin, Rosicky, Fabregas, Walcott, Nasri, Diaby etc. These are midfielders who can create and/or score. So as and when the strikes are man marked, the movement and creativity of the midfielders can make up for it.

2 goals from Fabregas certainly make this one of his best season so far. What is missing from his CV is a prolific goal scoring record, and this season he has hit gold.

1 goal from Diaby and another from Nasri, who is back from injury. Though I did not watch the game, I wathced the goals in Youtube. The 4th goal created by the cheeky backflick of Eduardo followed by a fantastic pass to Diaby by Arshavin summed up the quality of the pass and football that evening. No wonder Wenger is delighted and started talking about a title challenge.

Our weakness over the pas seasons is a lack of consistency. Lets hope we stop dropping points like we did against West Ham a couple of weeks ago and start getting 3 points against lesser side. This is how Man U laboured to a title last season and this will ensure that we will not be hurt even if we were to drop points against the other big 3.

Looking forward to this Saturday's game against Wolves. 3 points in the bag, I pray.

Arsenal 3 Tottenham 0

What a derby! Robbie Keane has inflamed the Gunners during the pre-match press interview by claiming that the present Spurs squad is a tad stronger than Arsenal. What a load of bollocks. It was certainly great to see him eat his humble pie when we dismantle their fragile defence and scored 3 in front of the home fans.

The initial 42 minutes do not however hint at a comprehensive win. Arsenal's passing looked nervous and frequently misplaced, with Spurs squeezing out the space in the midfield by deploying Keanne in a 4-5-1 formation, leaving Crotch as the lone striker. As the game went on, Arsenal gradually looked the more convincing team with a couple of goal attempts.

The first goal from RVP arose from Ledley King's failure to pick him up. It was a cross from the right flank and King should have cleared the cross. To RVP's credit, he came from a very deep position to outrun King, who may be short of fitness due to his persistent injuries, and scored with a good touch from his right feet. In terms of technique and first touch, RVP is up there among the best and he has a stinging left shoot with almost no backlift.

Before the dust had even settled, Spurs lost the ball right from the kick off and RVP passed the ball to Fabregas who finished off a fine solo run with Arsenal's second goal. Talk about being Fabregasted with the first goal. Tottenham were sucker punched twice on the face without any reply. Game set and match practically at this stage, after playing reasonably well for 42 minutes.

The second half started with Redknapp switching to a 4-4-2 format with the hope to pull one back. Memories of the West Ham and Birmingham games do cross my mind, knowing that once Spurs pull one back, the match will be very edgy and close. To Arsenal's credit, they defended well and another great cross from Sagna saw RVP adding his goal tally in the game, again from the keeper and King's mistake. Once that went in, the 3 points are firmly in the bag.

I am proud of the team's performance. Indeed the effort and results speak louder than Keanne's boast that Spurs are already in the big 4. No Robbie, Spurs are still some distance off. Their record against the big 4 in the previous season speaks for itself. They have over-performed. This season, they lost to Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal, while beating Liverpool. But then, Liverpool has been looking extremely vulnerable this season with 7 defeats in the last 8 games.

:D.....

Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1

This game was played at insane hours and I did not watch the game.

Once again the results showed that the youth players at Arsenal were a class above that of Liverpool. It was good to see Nasri back in action although Rosicky is still injured. I fear that we played better whenever Rosicky is playing as he has a telepathic relationship with Fabregas on and off the pitch. We have more creativity and goals whenever the pair are playing together.

The game belongs to Merida who bossed the midfield. The funny thing is that Merida has not matured as quickly as Fabregas despite the press often comparing the two together. This is Merida's last season and lets hope that he does not leave on a free, just like a couple of youngsters. His lack of playing time may be a reason to leave, but who knows, maybe a couple of silverware this season may persuade him to stay.

The draw has kept the big 3 apart.

Now bring on Man C & Adebayor in the Q-final.

West Ham 2 Arsenal 2

After Liverpool has beaten Man U, I thought this would be a golden opportunity to climb over Man U in the leaderboard.

What I witnessed was a poor game which saw us once again, throwing away a lead by conceding late goals. This time we let in 2 goals, inexcusable when you consider that this is 2 points lost.

The game started well when RVP and Gallas both scored to give us a 2-0 lead.

Then in the last 15 minutes, we conceded stupid goals. The first one came from a mistake by Mannone, and the second from a careless foul by Song. Carlton Cole was a constant tormentor to the defence and credit to Zola, who made substitutions which turned the game around for West Ham. No wonder Arsene was furious.

A number of players were simply not performing. Diaby, Arshavin, just to name a couple of them. These players must raise their game, even if the opposite is not one of the big 4.

I do not wish to dwell in this game too much as I spent an entire weekend wondering why we threw away a golden opportunity to go level with Chelsea on points.

A Alkmaar 1 Arsenal 1

This game saw the ugly Arsenal rearing its head again. We were leading by 1-0 through a Cesc Fabregas goal until the dying minutes when they equalised.

How many times have we led the game and not killed it off with clinical finishing, only to regret it when we concede late goals. This showed either a lack of fitness on the part of the players, or concentration. The focus must always be there 100% otherwise you will be caught out at this level. If we continue to play like this, making careless mistakes, we can kiss the EPL and Champs League goodbye.

My only regret is that we could have secured our qualifications by a win, but alas, we will have to wait for another couple of weeks until the next game.

Arsenal 3 Birmingham 1

The match against Birmingham brought back some memories and unanswered questions. The terrible challenge on Eduardo and Gallas throwing his tantrums at the team for conceding a late penalty. Questions asked at the end of that season included what if we had not lost that game? The draw in that game saw us snap a winning streak and lost the title to ManU.

Forward to 2 seasons later. Eduardo has recovered and still playing. The young players have matured after that significant draw 2 seasons ago.

The game started well which saw us grabbing a 2 goal lead. Van Persie and Diaby grabbed a goal a-piece within the space of 2 minutes. The only downside was the injury of Walcott after a strong challenge by one of Birmingham's defendersalbeit without any malice. The Birmingham pulled one back through former Leeds' player Lee Bowyer after an awful mistake by the young stand-in keeper Mannone.

After the break, we looked nervous as the players seem to recall the gamer 2 seasons ago. The attack was not as fluid although Van Persie has the chance to restore the lead. The entire game is one of nail biting and not easy to watch if you are a Gunners fan, and it was not until Arshavin scored that the 3 points are firmly secured.

Conclusion : a nervous 3 points in the bag despite not playing particularly well.