Genclerbirligi 0-3 Arsenal

Another good preseason win for the Gunners. A confident performance with only a few minor slip-ups. So now that I've downloaded and watched the match twice, here's the report.

The starting lineup for Arsenal went like this: Sagna, Toure, Song, Clichy-Walcott, Denilson, Flamini, Randall-Adebayor, Van Persie.

I guess Arsene feels obligated to play Song at all different positions on the pitch, possibly to see which one he is the most shite at. It was good to see Denilson in the lineup, because he went off on a stretcher against Barnet, so I guess the injury wasn't bad at all.

I'm beginning to really like the white kits as well.

But anyways, on to the match.

Manuel Almunia (who is sporting a new blone haircut) was forced to make a critical save inside the first minute as Song let the striker clean through on goal and he fired at the top right corner, but Almunia played it superbly. Other than that, most of the early game was spent down at the opposition's end of the pitch.

Theo Walcott made a good run in the 7th minute and got a good ball from Van Persie, but nobody could get on the end of his low cross and Adebayor gave away a free kick.

A great bit of skill almost made it one nil to the opposition, who I'll now just call Genc because it's too hard to spell. Song and Clichy were both well beaten by Sandro and he got a shot off but it hit the post and bounced for a goal kick.

Adebayor made a good run in the 12th minute and beat all the defenders and squared for Van Persie who had an easy chance and ended up skying it. He wouldn't have scored if there had been another goal on top. Great set up though and should have been 1-0.

A bit of a boring game until the 34th minute where Walcott got on the end of a cross but he hit it into the ground and the keeper saved well.

The action continued in the next minute as Adebayor got on the end of a long ball, passed back and wide to Randall who layed it in for Van Persie on his left foot, but the keeper made the save.

In the 45th minute the breakthrough finally came for Arsenal. Walcott ran by his defender with blistering pace and made a perfect low cross to the far post and Van Persie made sure of the finish. A great way to round off the first half. 1-0 to the Arsenal.

The start of the second half saw Arsenal come out flying, with Walcott going close and Adebayor just missing on a cross.

In the 51st minute, Denilson made a great run through the middle and fed Adebayor, who played it back to Denilson who left it for Walcott and he did not disappoint, drilling it into the far corner. 2-0 to the Arsenal.

Arsenal maintained more and more of the possession as the match went on, and the superior quality was really starting to show. In the 65th minute Van Persie finished off the game. Adebayor ran at the right back with pace and then cut inside marvelously. He looked like he was aiming to shoot but then made the pass to Van Persie who curled it home. 3-0 to the Arsenal.

Eduardo Da Silva came on in the 69th minute, along with Hleb, Djourrou, Bendtner, Diaby, Ljungberg, and Fabregas.

He looked good with a couple of crosses, but the game was pretty much over as a contest at this point.

Bacary Sagna looked good in his debut, making runs and was solid in defense. I think he'll be quality once he settles in. Anyways, the match ended 3-0 to the Arsenal, and it was an all around good performance from the lads.

Man of the Match: Really a toss up here between Walcott and Adebayor, but I'm going to have to give it to Ade. He made 2 quality assists and he was always dangerous and full of energy even though it was only preseason. A good sign for the year ahead.

Goal of the Match: Theo Walcott. The finish alone wouldn't have made it the best of the game but the setup of the goal by Ade and Denilson was superb. Great movement and a typically great Arsenal goal.

Needs Work: Alex Song. Well really I think he always needs work. He didn't work out as a midfielder and he's not going to work out as a defender either. Please Arsene, sell him. It's painful to watch him play in our side. He could be good somewhere else but please, not here.

And that's about it. A couple of other notes, I'm trying to buy the rights to ArseNole.com. It costs 8.95 per year, which isn't a lot, but it would help me to improve the site a bunch. In the top corner there is a place where you can donate to making this movement happen. Even if you can only spare 5 cents, that would go a long way to make this site this best it can be.

Also on the right there is a link where you can vote for the ArseNole in the blog rankings. Right now the site is number 95 and number 94 is a hubcap thieving scousers site, so we can't have that. Please vote if you can. Thanks all.

Cheers