This team rarely scores more than one goal at home, if that, so I doubt that anyone was expecting three. Arsenal had spent 45 minutes playing crab football, lots of sideways passes, plenty of possession and no end product, but to make matters worse the defence continues to leak goals like a sieve. On thirty three minutes Dunne surrounded by three Arsenal players out jumped them all to head home a Keane cross. Myles Palmer summed it up perfectly: “Two old Irishmen had taken the Arsenal defence apart”.

The second was a great goal by Bent, how come he scores so many against us? Actually I think I know the answer.

Goalkeeping

This is not the answer, I am not blaming Fabianksi,  and it’s not unique to his  keeping style that he parried Bent’s first shot, after all it was at short range.  Neither was it his fault that he couldn’t stop Bent’s second shot from going in. But I would hardly describe his first attempt as a great save. Years ago a great keeper might have pushed it behind the post beyond the reach of the striker. It’s only a save if it doesn’t go in the net. But to blame, or not, the bloke still gives me the shakes, perhaps it was his coming out for a cross and missing that failed to settle my nerves.

However both goals were more a matter of the whole defence switching off rather than any individual blame. Bent loves defences that switch off, and it was a quality goal.

All change at half time

The crowd cordially welcomed the team back on, no boos and all cheers, and started to urge them on. After last week’s match I wrote,

“Arsenal is a team of half measures, players play half a game, against Fulham they played the first half only, against Man U it was the second half.”

Forgetting my own sound advice I was expecting very little and settled down for insults to be added to injury. Arsenal were more determined and stopped avoiding the penalty area like it was a cordoned off plague zone. Suddenly everyone wanted to get in the box, and Villa responded with blind panic. Arsenal delivered their requisite half in the second 45 minutes.

You can wait ages for a goal at the Emirates and then three come along in seven minutes, and just my luck I was sitting above all three of them. It was like tales of the unexpected, firstly the first scorer Dunne, on 54 minutes, gave away a penalty, no it wasn’t a card Ramsey had already lost control of the ball, but a penalty it was. We all cheered as if RvP had scored already, which turned out to be ok as he duly obliged. Then the people who had just been singing “Thierry Henry” sang “he scores when he wants” which was the first time it had been heard since RvP scored against Man U.

Best own goal ever

The next goal, only three minutes later, was hilarious, the most complex own goal you will ever see, Alan Hutton’s attempted goal line clearance hit Walcott’s arm and went in. Walcott celebrated as if he had carefully planned it all, but hey positioning is everything. Marin Peters taught us  that years ago, he was ten years ahead of his time, or so it was claimed, which explains why no team mate could ever collect his passes, or find him with one. But when he got his positioning right he was brilliant.

 If Walcott hadn’t of had the nous to stand in the box, and for example had stood halfway down the players’ tunnel it would never have gone in, who says he hasn’t a footballing brain? Yes I know Walcott’s name is on the score sheet, but doesn’t Hutton deserve some credit? Football is also a matter of timing and Theo got that right too, turn up for a 4 pm kick off at 7pm and you will never score. Theo was spot on.

Three minutes, two goals, level and we are all singing “you’re not singing anymore” at the Villains, of course we hadn’t sung at all in the first half but that’s the football fans memory for you. Well ok Sid and Doris Bonkers had sung for awhile but no one had joined in, so that doesn’t count.

Four minutes later Bent, scorer of Villa’s second, scythed down Koscielny, and RvP stepped up again. Second penalties taken by the same player are scary, will the taker bluff the keeper by putting it to the same side, or double bluff by appearing to put it the same side whilst putting it the other side, or will the kicker appear to be putting it to the other side whilst putting it (Enough of this, and get on with it. Editor), well you know what I mean its nerve wracking. But RvP as cool as a Bergkamp put it into the roof of the net, thus making my conundrum redundant. That was it seven minutes of madness, it just shows that if you get players into the box in numbers things can be made to happen. A crab had turned into a prince.

With Arsenal’s third on 61 minutes, and the 5^th goal of the game, the match was effectively over. Arsenal continued to dominate, and Villa managed a couple of scares but the score line rarely looked like changing.

With a couple of minutes to go Wenger substituted Oxlade Chamberlain maybe to waste time, or maybe because he could.

Well that will teach McLeish to mess with the Arsenal. We should have sung the Eduardo song, but fans were so tense they even forgot to boo Keane.

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