Fifteen minutes before kick-off I found a suitable live feed straight from Sky Sports itself; English commentary, pre-match analysis, understandable adverts, I thought I must be dreaming. I had just enough time to make a sandwich, track down what was left of last night's big bag-o-crisps, grab a couple of ginger biscuits, and - to celebrate - a bottle of beer, and sit down for what was to be a good half of almost uninterrupted football (my Dad phoned to ask if I was watching it).
Like most people, what I though was going to be a clash of footballing styles lived up to expectations; Arsenal's usual silky passing against Blackburn's kick-it-into-the-mix-and-see-what-happens. Both teams played their respective techniques well, although I really dislike the way Blackburn (and Stoke) waste time drying the ball off at throw-ins before whipping yet another threatening ball into the opposing team's box. In some ways, I think this technique of belting the ball forward in the hope of getting a thrown-in, corner, or some kind of scrappy goal is a better interpretation of Wenger's accusation that these teams have a "rugby" style approach to the game. Of course, the manager was using this analogy to talk about the tendency towards unfair physical play that these teams use in their game, but I also think the long-ball approach is similar to the drop-kick tactic used in rugby, where teams are concerned with gaining ground. Of course, the Stokes and Blackburns of the Premiership are entitled to use this kind of play against better-on-the-ball, less physical teams like ourselves, but I'm sure most people would agree that it isn't the most attractive or fairest way of playing the beautiful game.
Watching the game on a 2x2 inch square of poor quality live video makes this wallop-into-the-box approach even less bearable; with the penalty area crowded and the ball barely visible my heart remains firmly in my mouth until I can clearly see the ball on its way out of danger. This made for a nervy first 20 minutes as Blackburn repeatedly threatened our area. Within the melee I could just about see two positives; firstly, I thought it fitting that in his first start this season, Fabregas was the one to clear the ball off the line from Ryan Nelson's header; and secondly, our often unreliable and frequently flappy number one not only pulled off at least one good save and a couple of confident claims, but also seemed to have a welcome bit of fire in his belly. I'm not really one for violence in the game but it was nice to see him square-up to Diouf with a bit of passion and I think this symbolised his attitude throughout the game - focussed, determined, and confident. Like most Gunners, I've been willing Wenger to sign a fully competent keeper before the transfer window closes, but I have also harboured hope that our resident number one could live up to his word and prove himself worthy of his place between the sticks. Time will tell, I guess.
That said, we had our fair share of chances in the opening minutes - Diaby was especially unlucky to see his volley ricochet from defender to goalkeeper and then clear - and we saw plenty of the ball and completed some lovely passing moves. As for our opener, the build-up play best epitomised Arsenal's peerless quality when in possession of the ball; despite being "on the stretch" and under pressure, Song, Arshavin, and Van Persie managed to pick out pin-point passes that put Walcott in to finish with the accuracy and confidence of a player who has found his form. Blackburn's quick and slick comeback was also deserving of praise, however; Samba's (who, incidentally, I served last year whilst I worked at HMV, he seemed perplexed by the fact that we didn't have a little known French film in stock) characteristic strength started the move as he muscled his way past two players and played a good ball that cut another two or three out of the game. The recipient, Diouf, made a strong run down the wing past Koscielny, who perhaps committed to a tackle too early and too fully, allowing Diouf to glide past and slip an unselfish and considered pass to his namesake, Mame Diouf, who slotted home easily from a yard or two out. Clichy might have to shame some of the culpability with the French centre-back for failing to pick up on the goalscorer's run. This disappointment was followed a few minutes later by the troubling sight of Van Persie being substituted after a seemingly innocuous challenge resulted in an injury to his ankle, (thankfully, this time it is "just" a twist, meaning that the Dutchman will be out for "only" 10 days - 2 weeks).
All-in-all, the first half was a good game for the neutral but rather unsettling for a Gunner. We certainly played well enough to be in-front, but Blackburn's approach of attacking our 18-yard box at any given opportunity meant that they had plenty of chances and could have easily nicked another goal. Still, I had high hopes for the second half; unfortunately, 30 seconds in I was hit by one of the downsides of watching football on a live stream on the internet - admin (whoever that is) closed the feed. This meant that from just after kick-off to 56mins, I was left without live images of the game. 5live bridged the gap as best it could, but it of course meant that I missed our second (and winning, as it turned out) goal. Having watched it on MOTD, I was impressed by Sagna's burst down the wing, showing the kind of pace that Walcott would be proud of., his low cross was begging to be hit by Fabregas whose goal-bound effort only found the back of Theo's leg. Luckily for us, the ball dropped kindly to Arshavin who, having looked sprightly all game, was on his toes as he found a big enough gap between two or three defenders and the goalkeeper to hit the back of the net (he still needs to find another celebration though, the finger-on-lips thing is getting a bit old).
What followed for me was a scramble around the internet to find a suitable stream, after 56mins I managed to find one that had a good picture, but this began to jump too much. Finally, at 68mins I found a French channel that was of good quality, and then at 70mins I found Sky Sports again but the images were poor; so I silenced the French commentary and listened to Sky Sports as I watched the stream en francais (eventually, Sky cut out altogether and I was forced to listen to the game in French; I got the jist of what they were saying). As for the football, Blackburn looked a lot less threatening in the second-half, and their chances were, by-and-large, from a distance that would have required some excellent accuracy if they were to beat Almunia. Despite their slip up in the first-half, and the odd mistake here and there that could have cost us in the second, the defence looked strong; Vermaelen was as competent as ever and Koscielny looked as good as he did in the opener against Liverpool. Although we did lose a bit of shape after Fabregas was replaced by Rosicky, we were far from falling apart and quickly readjusted. Walcott remained impressive throughout (earning himself and England call-up) and almost scored with a screaming long-range effort. Later on, had Wilshere shot first time or stayed on his feet he could have put the icing on the cake after a smooth counter attack that we really should have scored from.
In sum, we looked a lot more confident and Blackburn were much less threatening in the second-half, even when they pushed Samba up-front into what was almost a striker's role, they never troubled like they did in the first half. With only one yellow card, this clash of styles was played by two committed and fair teams; last year, we may have come apart in front of this kind of opposition, on Saturday we stuck to playing our game and whilst we didn't ease to victory, we certainly deserved the three points.
