Saturday Morning Shakedown
Well, I hardly feel full of optimism about this one. As we all know, we haven’t got a point or even scored at home against the Gunners for far too long. With Nos being out and probably Collins our already fragile defence will hardly be inspiring confidence and I’d rather not think about what Walcott especially could do to us. We played well for long periods against Villa and our only chance today is to try and grab an early goal and keep the pressure up while keeping it as tight as shite at the back. We look a lot better with Reid on instead of Miller and I’d really like to see Chopra on, as a sub at least. Arsenal have shown that they are far from invulnerable so hopefully we can get them rattled and with a big crowd behind us keep their backs to the wall. Final score (making a very big wish) 1-1, to us.

The Match
The teams have just been announced and I was glad to see both Collins and Reid in the starting line-up. Yorke’s inclusion was a surprise but his experience could be just what we need to keep a hold on the game. I was pleased to see that Charlie Hurley was attending and wouldn’t it be amazing if his 2-1 match prediction came true?

I tuned in to Radio Five Live and it was pouring with rain as we kicked-off into a blustery wind. With Cisse playing alone up front we didn’t create a decent chance till Reid attempted a long-range effort in the ninth minute. Arsenal dominated the first fifteen minutes but then Walcott of all people duffed a back pass and Cisse should’ve done better before Almunia saved. The wind was definitely having an effect on long, high balls and a minute or so later Cisse had a stronger, wind-assisted effort that was tipped over. We were getting plenty of men behind the ball, with Yorke keeping a close check on Fabregas and lobbing it up towards Cisse whenever we could and this seemed to be working well as Arsenal were having only occasional chances. After 37 minutes the wind caused Cisse’s cross to miss Reid in the box and then he failed to get to Reid’s return ball. The commentator said that he couldn’t recall Arsenal failing to create so few chances in a first half. Whitehead was booked for a tackle a minute or so after Clichy had been booked similarly. Just before half-time Denilson shot just wide with Arsenal’s best effort so far. 0-0 at half-time suited me fine, as it would at full-time, and Arsenal would have to change something for the second-half if they wanted to score.

There were no changes at the break for either side. Arsenal started brightly but thankfully there was nobody there to tap in a Walcott cross. We were under the cosh for the next ten minutes and then Cisse broke but should’ve crossed to Richardson in the centre before blasting wide. We were very lucky not to go 1-0 down when the linesman, God love him, decided that the ball had gone out before Walcott crossed for van Persie to put it in the net. Replays showed that it clearly hadn’t but how many bum decisions have we had to live with? Gordon spilled a shot by Adebayor but recovered and I was starting to look at the clock more frequently. It wasn’t all one-way traffic though, as Richardson shot well but straight at Almunia and on the hour Whitehead won a free-kick in a great position on the edge of their box but again it was straight at the goalie. Walcott was replaced by Bendtner but Arsenal continued to sound more threatening. Then Denilson was replaced by Nasri but we still hadn’t made any changes though Cisse was sounding whacked and I reckoned it was time for Chops to come on. Reid was our most dangerous player and had two good attempts as the final fifteen minutes began. After 82 mins Gordon, who’d had little to do so far, made a great save from van Persie and I began to seriously hope that we’d get a point. Two minutes later Yorke, who’d played a crucial role in our good performance, was subbed by Leadbitter and, as the radio station was off getting an update on Forest v Palace, he promptly smashed in a great goal to put us 1-0 up. Chops came on for Malbranque and Murphy for Cisse before Fabregas hit a good attempt straight at Gordon. The four minutes of added time weren’t exactly rapturously received in the SoL and here in Ladbroke Grove and with a minute to go Fabregas headed the equaliser from a corner with Gordon nowhere. Almost immediately Gordon was all over the place again, maybe he’d been fouled, and I thought we’d lost it but we hung on till that whistle finally went.

Afterwords
Despite that late Arsenal goal, I’m happy with the result and finally we’ve got something from a top-four team. We got our tactics just right to frustrate a great side like the Gunners with our back four, together with Yorkie, taking the main plaudits. Now we’ve got a fortnight’s break to chew the cud on this one and look forward to the possible return of the mighty Kenwynne. I managed to get a ticket for the Newcastle match this morning and remain hopeful of getting one from the SAFCSA London Branch for the Fulham match. See you there.

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