Arsenal Draw Villareal

If you scroll down to my post following the Roma match, can you recall which team was my number one preferred team to draw for the quarterfinals? That's right, Villareal was my pick and wouldn't you know it, that's who we drew.

Positive memories are associated with Pellegrini's side as Arsenal defeated Villareal in 2006 en route to their first Champions League Final. Riquelme's saved penalty thanks to Jens Lehmann put the Gunners in the final against Barcelona. As much as it is nice to have avoided Barca and the three English sides, a semifinals berth is far from certain.

I remember the match at El Madrigal and Villareal outplayed Arsenal on all fronts. Arsenal was very fortunate to get through in all honesty. This time out Arsenal will be the away side first with the return leg being at the almighty fortress that is the Emirates.

Wenger has already started playing down the fact that Arsenal are "favourites" in this tie. An aura of modesty and humbleness is all you will get from Wenger's mouth.

First leg

Tuesday, April 7 - Arsenal @ Villareal

Second leg

Wednesday, April 15 - Arsenal v. Villareal

The rest of the lot...

Manchester United also received a favorable (in the Champions League context) bid against FC Porto.

Both high-scoring sides, in the round of 16, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, will face each other.

Finally, Liverpool and Chelsea were drawn together. What's a Champions League without the Blues and the Reds battling it out with each other, right?

My predictions will follow, but for now, enjoy the NCAA tournament.

Arsenal Book Wembley Ticket, At Last

Arsenal squeaked past Hull City this evening with a 2-1 victory over the Tigers at the Emirates. The match began on a nervy note with a 13th minute deflected goal from Nick Barmby, Hull's veteran midfielder.

The Gunners lacked urgency of any kind during the greater parts of the first half. Arsene Wenger could have taken a bit of stick for leaving Toure, Denilson, Nasri, Clichy, or Bendtner out of the starting eleven. English punditry continues to dub every Arsenal FA cup tie as the "most important match of Arsenal's season". So Wenger's first choice men raised a few eyebrows.

Arsenal's best chances of the first half came solely from Andrei Arshavin - one being a hard-hit volley one yard shy of the right upright.

Mike Reilly, the referee of the match, did everything but keep the match under control. Hull City's goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill, was the center of the restless Emirates supporter's disgust with his time-wasting antics. Usually, time-wasting happens in the dying minutes of the match. However, Hull City appeared to be doing it immediately following their goal, mind you, in the first half.

Arsene fooled me by not making any changes in the side at the start of the second half. Hull's 4-5-1 formation seemed to congest the center of the park where Diaby and Song spent most of their time. Arshavin and Walcott saw more of the ball in the second half, hence leading to the goal. Nicklas Bendtner's work in the box set up Arshavin who then put the ball on a silver platter for Van Persie to send to the back of the net. After the 74th minute strike, the second seemed inevitable.

Mike Reilly's linesmen seemed to be up for the job on the evening until the 84th minute. Gallas blatantly came from an offsides position to score the second. Where is Avram Grant when we need him to satisfy our football cliches? Avram would say in his thick Egyptian accent, "This is football." Hull were denied a goal in the first half after Andy Dawson's shot was tapped in by Nick Barmby who was clearly offsides. However it is arguable that he was less offsides than Gallas was and Gallas was awarded the goal.

In his post-match interview Wenger denied that the goal was offsides because after Djourou got his head to the ball, Myhill got a hand to it. I will have to go back and watch the replay to decide for myself but if I'm a betting man, Wenger's right.

All of this to say, Arsenal are in to the semi-finals of the FA cup and an all-London clash at Wembley is in place. Mr.Hiddink was present at the Emirates for the match and as much inside knowledge that he will be able to provide Chelsea with about Arshavin, it really will not matter.

Arshavin was impressive all match but one moment stood above the rest. On one of his left wing sprints, Arshavin danced and dazzled with the ball making Hull City defender Sam Ricketts ankles disagree with each other. Ricketts went tumbling to the ground and for some reason all I could imagine were a bunch of spectators at an And One showcase yelling "Oh!" and "damn!" It was made for the mixtapes.

As much as I respect Phil Brown and all the work he has done at Hull this season, I am going to sit and laugh at him as he is sure to have plenty of complaints about the way things went for his side. I don't love the fact that Arsene declined the perennial post-match handshake with Brown and his staff. I reckon he was simply fed up with the Tigers' time-wasting. Fabregas was also claimed to have spat on Hull City's assistant manager Brian Horton. More on this later.

Next:

The Gunners will try to maintain 4th spot in the Premier League with a trip to St. James'. Just in case you were wondering, Aston Villa go to Anfield on Sunday playing a side that beat Real Madrid 5-0 on aggregate and defeated Manchester United 4-1 at Old Trafford. My point, Arsenal should be three points ahead of the Villains come Sunday evening.

One more note...

The FA Cup semi-final will be on April 18.

England Superior in Both Anglo-Italian Clashes

Arsenal fans around the world will be hoping that yesterday's penalty-scrapping victory was a case of foreshadowing the final of the Champions League this season.  The final, to be played on May 27, will be held at the Stadio Olimpico. The importance of the victory, although it was lost in regulation, will surely serve as a reminder to the Gunners of a night in which a victory was gained nonetheless. Being a supporter of the club for about seven years now, it was interesting to me that this was only the second time that I can remember being put through the agonizing pain that comes along with penalty kicks. The Gunners were just swarming with inexperience in the field of taking penalty kicks. Theo Walcott stated on Arsenal's website that it was his first time taking penalties on a Champions League-esque stage. Composure was on their minds; Nasri, Diaby, Sagna, Toure, Denilson, Theo, Van Persie, the lot. 

ESPN 360 decided to not work shortly after the second half began so I was left with hectic and sporadic updates provided by the ESPNSoccernet and Skysports staff. I am seriously flabbergasted by some of the comments by the Soccernet writer; objectivity at its worst. Who are they putting at the keyboard? Here's an example (this taken directly from Soccernet's website):

"Shoot Bendtner. Shoot him now. He's a complete muppet. Clichy runs the length of the field, slides him into the box and he can't even control a simple ball into feet. What a clown!" Really, Soccernet? Really? As robust as Bendtner's hate club is, that doesn't mean you can go off in the middle of a live commentary like that. I digress. 

Around the Champions League...

Manchester United defeated Jose and his men at the theatre of dreams with goals from Vidic and Ronaldo. Inter Milan failed to score a single goal against United despite significant efforts from Ibrahimovic and Stankovic. Manchester United join their other three partners in crime from England as the top four take on Villareal, Porto, Bayern Munich, and, oh yeah, Barcelona. 

Barcelona and Bayern Munich decided that they would score all of their goals in the round of 16 rather than saving them for later. Bayern Munich's 12-1 blitzkrieg of Sporting Lisbon made me question Lisbon's existence in football. Barcelona managed to score a solid five goals at Camp Nou with Thierry getting on the score sheet twice. The following is the list of clubs, in order of preference, that I would like Arsenal to be drawn with for the quarterfinals:

1. Villareal: The yellow submarine look to be up for another run like they had in 2006, however, their offensive threat looks to be less worrisome. Obviously, being that we're talking Champions League, every team has the capability of winning. However, Villareal would definitely be the preferred team in this scenario.

2. Porto: I put Porto second because they have beaten us before and they don't have to go far back to remember when that was; it was this year, September. The freshness of the result, also the last match that Arsenal have lost before last night's match, seems slightly imposing. 

3. Chelsea: It seems like Guus' squad are not in the mood to lose as of late, so a tie with Chelsea would be very difficult. Out of the three English teams to choose from, Chelsea would be my most preferred. They are winning matches but they're not flying away with their victories. They have been scraping out victories and edging out their opponents. Our defense has been up to it in the last 17 or 18 matches and Chelsea's attack would not be a threat too menacing. 

4. Bayern Munich: Twelve goals against any side is impressive - Munich did it on the reigning champions of Portugal. Luca Toni, Klose, Podolski, and Ribery form a dynamic goal-scoring machine. Goals have been abundant in the Munich camp, before Lisbon, Munich beat Hannover 5-1, and they can only be operating on confidence. Plus, Arsenal have not had encouraging results against the Bavarians in the past. 

5. Liverpool: The only reason I would be OK with Arsenal being drawn against Liverpool is that a sense of revenge and redemption would be a motivating factor for us. Liverpool narrowly ousted the Gunners during last season's campaign. Liverpool's 5-0 aggregate against Real Madrid is not a pretty sight for any English side to see. Liverpool are always a new team when they play Champions League football. Liverpool is like that middle-school-aged boy who is playing football with his friends at recess. Once the cute girl in the grade walks by with her friends, the boy ups his enthusiasm and desire to play well. Liverpool is that boy and the Champions League is that girl; the one with that killer smile and tan.

6. Manchester United:Picking between United and Barcelona is like choosing what form of suicide you would like. I know I'm writing on a cloud of pessimism right now, however, Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez, Messi, Henry, Eto'o, and Xavi have all put me on the cloud. I don't question Arsenal's ability to score on any of these sides, it's the attacking form of Barca and United that brings me to my bed in need of a nap. 

7. Barcelona: They may be "mes que un club" but they are not indestructible. They have recently lost matches to Espanyol and Atletico Madrid in their domestic campaign. Lyon managed to score three times over the two matches in the knockout stage. Again, we will score against any team - guaranteed. It's Almunia, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, and Sagna, who need to be having spectacular games when we face teams of this caliber.

Injury update...

Mikael Silvestre is technically fit for Saturday but Wenger will only use him if completely necessary. Eduardo also picked up a minor groin injury during the first half of extra time which will prevent him from making an appearance on Saturday at the Emirates.

While Aston Villa shake in their boots and bite their nails, Arsenal will be hosting Blackburn on Saturday before taking on Hull City in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup on Tuesday at the Emirates. 

Arsenal 3-0 Burnley: Exquisite Goals All Around

Arsenal's trio of spectacular goals proved to be more than enough to meet Hull City in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. The match was a pivotal one for the Gunners as all the bookies beforehand reckoned the FA Cup was Arsenal's best shot if Arsene Wenger is to bring any trophies to the Emirates this season. With Burnley's victory over the Gunners in the Carling Cup, the match was most definitely going to test Arsenal's determination as Wenger expressed his 'wariness' when playing championship clubs. Championship clubs are composed of hard-men willing to go in for relentless tackles for the full ninety minutes, and maybe some more. 

The Match:

25': Arshavin's entry pass to Vela saw the tricky Mexican nutmeg a hopeless Burnley centre back only to go on and chip Danish keeper Brian Jensen. The goal was reminiscent to his sublime chip against Sheffield Utd. in the Carling Cup.

51': Eduardo scores a volley from an Alex Song lofted ball with the outside of his left boot. Nothing that I am saying gives the goal justice. If you haven't witnessed the magnificence please go to footytube.com or 101greatgoals.com and find it, immediately.

84': After a multitude of missed chances, Emmanuel Eboue put the game to bed after a confident finish from an Alex Song fancy back heel pass. 

Arsene Wenger voiced the importance of a victory before going to Rome - it is part of the preparation for a big match. The Gunners did the job, scored the goals, and are now on their way to the boot in the Mediterranean. 

Arsenal Hit Oasis at Hawthorns

Arsenal finally ended their scoring drought this evening with a 3-1 away victory over relegation-bound West Bromwich Albion. All three of Arsenal's goals came in the first half with Bendtner claiming a brace and Kolo Toure getting on the end of an Andrei Arshavin spot kick.
As I was sitting anxiously at my laptop with the Sky sports live commentary Bendtner's first goal popped up immediately. At last! We scored a goal. I had forgotten what that felt like, honestly. To see a score other than 0-0 was a shock. I'm still recovering from it. Anyways, as I was sitting there content as can be, smiling at nothing out the window, an update I resented flashed on the screen and Chris Brunt had equalised. Arsenal had been in the lead for little over two minutes until we were tied, again.

From experience I knew that the likelihood of the final score remaining 1-1 was obsolete; the flood gates had been opened. In Arsenal's case, the gates got cracked open, propped. With two more goals in the final six minutes of the first half, Arsenal had surely sealed the deal. It was not until the second half that I finally found a streaming service that worked. So for the second half, while I watched Arsenal maintain the lead, I got to hear the lovely cadence of a couple of commentators from Arshavin's land. As the Vodka (or wodka as they would most likely pronounce it) trickled down their throats they seemed to care less about the match. It is important to know that Arshavin played the full 90 this evening for the first time. He continues to contribute on the offensive front with his delicate passing and thunderous shooting.
Arsenal fans across the globe will be watching the Man City v Villa match today hoping that either Mr. Bellamy or Mr. Robinho brings their finishing boots to work. If City can claim three points at home tomorrow, a meager three points will be all that separates the Gunners and the Villains. It is also important to note that Everton, another top four contender, travel to Ewood Park tomorrow. Santa Cruz should be confident as ever after scoring at Old Trafford recently. C'mon Santa, c'mon.
Up next: FA Cup 5th round tie with Burnley at the Emirates on Sunday. This match is an important one. There is no doubt about that. You know what I do doubt? I doubt Burnley's keeper, Brian Jensen, can play the role of superman against us again. Until then, it's time we finish out our week and do well in school so we can enjoy our weekend football.