Celebration

By Boris Mellor
February 17 2009

I was supposed to be in Bristol on the original night of this fourth replay, so I passed my ticket on. Then the snow stopped my trip, and fortunately cancelled the replay. However I no longer had the ticket for the rescheduled replay, fortunately a friend rang up with a spare on Friday night.  

It was great seat from which to watch the Crozilian dream unfold. The seat is no 1 on the upper tier, slap bang on the half way line. It doesn't get much better than that, unless your team scores four goals as well.

Watching the team warm up we observed Eduardo stretching, he was going to play! It was a pleasant, almost spring like evening at the Grove. The last match had taken place on a dour freezing cold day, with football to match.

Unfortunately several thousand seats had to be left empty as Cardiff had not used up their application; and due to fan segregation rules the empties could not be sold to Gooners. Nonetheless, some six thousand Cardiff fans kept up a barrage of noise.

However the biggest sounds all night were for the announcement that Eduardo was playing, and his ovation as he was substituted. Indeed the player's name announced after him couldn't be heard. The announcer with all the timing of a Trabant carried on spluttering.

The match was very one sided, and by the time Arsenal went 1-0 up, they probably should have had a couple anyhow.

The Crozilian Dream

With Eduardo, Vela and Nasri all playing there was some creativity at last. The team was dominating Cardiff, when on 20 minutes Vela gave an inch perfect cross. As Eduardo jumped to meet the ball it was a fairy tale come true. Most Arsenal players given an open goal head straight at the keeper, not Du Du, he headed it well past the keeper. It might only have been a small jump for man, but it was a giant leap for Eduardo - his debut goal. The crowd went wild and cheered their hero to the echo.

Only 14 minutes later Bendtner produced a suave header from Nasri's corner. I can't remember the last time I went in at half time feeling so contented and relaxed. The game was over, the rest was mainly a formality. However as formalities go it was still pretty entertaining. In particular Nik should be singled out for praise. He played with the whole of his heart for the whole team, for the whole of the game. He could have had a hat-trick, but scoring one and laying one on for RvP is not a bad evening's work. I have had my doubts about him, and I didn't know he could run until last night. If he keeps this up Wenger may well be proved right.

Although Bendy had more chances it was Eduardo that seemed more likely to get the hat-trick. He was so blatantly pushed over in the area that even Halsey had to award the penalty. Unlike Henry the mini Croat has no qualms about taking penalties for fouls on himself. This time Eduardo celebrated with his adopted father Tony Colbert. Who says that Arsenal can't get players fit?

The fairy tale was almost complete, but a hamstring twinge meant that Du Du had to depart on 67 minutes. Cue the loudest applause of the night. At last we may have a player that can overcome the cynicism that some lesser lights have created, a player that the crowd can identify with.

Yes it was "only Cardiff", and as I suggested in my preview, "the wide open spaces of the Grove should prove too much for the Bluebirds"; nonetheless it was a performance of mobility and creativity against a team that could be in the Premiership next season.  The tempo was not allowed to drop, and for the most part the Gunners defended well.

Gibbs did a fine job substituting for Clichy, and Bendtner would have been Man of the Match on any other night, but I am sure he will not begrudge that honour going to Eduardo.

Thanks to snow I had witnessed a moment in the new stadiums folklore. I have seen quite a few forgettable games here of late, thanks to Silva this wasn't one of them.

 

For a large selection of Arsenal Books, DVDs, PC games AND MORE at Bargain Prices visit the Arsenal Times Store CLICK HERE

Thanks to Snow I see the Crozilian Dream From no 1

Discussion started by Arsenal Times , 17/02/2009 12:36

Arsenal Times
17/02/2009 12:36

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:02:20:17:49:34 by Padre Pio.

Reply Quote Report

djarse
17/02/2009 12:50

Spot on !

And so much room for enthusiasm and optimism now - with Arshavin available and Walcott back in a few weeks.

And just look at the fixture list now:
Home to Sunderland
Home to Roma (Champions League)
Home to Fulham
Away to West Brom
Home to Burnley (Cup)
Away to Roma (Champions League)
Home to Blackburn
Possible Home to Hull/Sheffield United (if we beat Burnley)
Away to Newcastle
Home to Manchester City

There really is no reason why we shouldn't win them all (except maybe away to Roma where a draw will do)

That should be enough to get us through to the latter stages in the Champions League and FA Cup and pressing Chelsea and Villa hard for 3rd spot.

Sweet !

Mind you, if you look at mid-April to mid-May - what a month!

Champions League quarter and semi finals, FA Cup semi finals, and premiership games against Liverpool (away), Chelsea (home), ManU (away) !

Reply Quote Report

Padre Pio
17/02/2009 12:55

Never look down, it makes you dizzy

Reply Quote Report

AJ The Gunner
17/02/2009 14:05

Never look down, it makes you dizzy; ha! i love that.

i was so happy for eduardo.returning with a BANG!!!!

Reply Quote Report

Bwana Wenger
17/02/2009 20:19

With 2 bangs...!

Warning: Supporting Arsenal is not for the faint at heart... It requires hard balls...

Reply Quote Report

ArsenalForever
17/02/2009 22:48

djarse lets take it one game at a time..no point of looking into ours and other team's future fixtures and start creating many ifs

Reply Quote Report

eduardo
17/02/2009 23:26

The pace, the movement, the vibe, the swagger, all back in the team, what a night for Eduardo to be back, I'm sure he helped bring the old Arsenal style into play again

Reply Quote Report

Padre Pio
17/02/2009 23:51

He affected everything

Reply Quote Report

eduardo
18/02/2009 00:13

I loved the way on several occasions he first timed passes and then half turned heading for the area and then stood still and all the defenders who had been close to him had all gone charging back to the area leaving not only Eduardo in space but several Arsenal attackers with space and time.

How many one twos did Eduardo take part in last night, our one touch flowing football was back, Eduardo being back was one major reason and the other was that Ade who's inability to play one touch football and who traps a ball further than some can kick it was not playing, How many headers did Nik win last night and how many did he contest - more than Ade has all season

Reply Quote Report

Optimistic Gunner
18/02/2009 02:29

Great read Padre.

Eduardo's first goal actually brought tears to my eyes, cos he totally deserves it. He is such a nice and down to earth guy. A fairy tale indeed.

Quote:

eduardo
The pace, the movement, the vibe, the swagger, all back in the team, what a night for Eduardo to be back, I'm sure he helped bring the old Arsenal style into play again

Exactly!

I haven't seen us play like that for a long time. It was great to watch.

Your second post is also spot on eduardo.

Reply Quote Report

DotComrade
19/02/2009 19:52

Missed the game (been doing that a lot lately because of work) but watching the highlights was heartwarming. Hopefully more team performances like this one follow.

Too bad about Dudu's injury but its good to know that he still has the goods

Reply Quote Report

Goto: Forum List•Message List•Search• Log In

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net