Arsenal - Roma Wrap Up, With Video Highlights/Shootout

Morning all. That was some match yesterday huh? Well, not really the first 120 minutes or so but the shootout was good for us. We played pretty much like complete shite throughout the match, with rare moments of good build up play and the occasional half decent chance.

Roma got their equalizing goal early on, in the 9th minute from Juan, who had just right before that gotten himself injured. Somehow he managed to get all the way up the field, then convince Gallas to not even touch the ball as it went all the way across the box in front of the goal, and finish past Almunia. I was astounded how Gallas and also Toure could just leave a ball rolling in front of our goal like that. It's defending 101 and it's one of the first things I teach my 8 years olds, that you have to clear the ball from in front of your own net. I don't know what they were thinking and we're really lucky they got their heads on straight after that. The defending was just awful and it didn't look good for the rest of the night, but I think it was a bit of a wake up call for the defence because Roma didn't look all that threatening for much more of the match. The odd chance here and there, but nothing Almunia couldn't deal with. He actually is a good keeper regardless of what some of you say.

There was a chance Roma could have had a penalty right before half time for what looked like a foul from Clichy on Marco Motta, but after watching the replay Clichy didn't even touch him. I think diving should be a red card. It just makes the game sissier. Stand on your feet and try to score a damn goal.

The match wasn't very exciting after that. Eboue was crap, Bendtner was crap, it wasn't Nasri's best day, or van Persie's for that matter, but we managed to keep Roma from scoring again, and that was the main task. Eventually we got through to extra time, at which point I had to leave for class, but I brought my lap top you see! Luckily my professor is an Aston Villa supporter and understands how important this was to me and let me have the match on my computer in class.

So right when I plugged it in and got everything up and running we were preparing for the penalty shootout, and boy was that nerve wracking. I'm sitting there, right in the middle of a test on viruses, bacteria, and sanitation, and meanwhile Eduardo is missing the first penalty of the night! It was awful, and I hated it. Right up until the point where I loved it. The video tells the story better than my words can.




Vucinic's penalty was just awful wasn't it? I'll admit, I wasn't the most confident to see Denilson, Diaby, and Theo taking a penalty. I've seen Kolo take plenty, and RvP, and I knew Nasri could handle it, but for some reason when I saw Theo and Denilson stepping up I was nervous. So brilliant work by them to convert those penalties, and the joy the squad showed after it was a great breath of fresh air. You haven't always seen that from this squad but you could tell this win really meant a lot to them. Penalty shootouts will do that to you. I was elated of course and put my test to the side so I could celebrate in my chair for a couple of minutes. And I still got the best grade in the class. Boom, Outta here.

So it's on to the quarter finals, where we'll face either Porto, Bayern, Barca, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United, or Villareal. I don't want any of the English teams next round really. I want Barca but I suppose it's safer to get Porto or Villareal. We'll probably get United or Liverpool though.

That's all I've got for the day. Enjoy that video of the shootout and leave me your thoughts. Cheers.

Oh yeah, and apparently an Arsenal fan got stabbed by some Roma fan that jumped on a bus of Arsenal supporters. Yeah, that's a good way to get over your loss Roma. "Hey, we just blew our chances in the Champions League, let's go stab a guy!" Apparently it's not a match in Rome until someone gets stabbed! That is the best solution by far Roma, anytime you can't win just stab people until you feel better, because that makes football much better. You really are presenting a good image for your city before the Champions League final. I hope you all kill yourselves.

Follow me on Twitter. Out.

Champions League Preview - Second Leg v Roma

Morning all. I am still sick as a dog. Not cool, not cool. What is pretty cool is that I went to WWE Raw last night and it was awesome. Not only did my friend mark hit on a fat girl and two 13 year olds, by favorite wrestlers, R Truth and Shawn Michaels, were both in attendance. Add that to the fact that we get Champions League today and tomorrow and it makes for pretty good times.

We have a 1-0 lead from the home leg, which is a good spot to be in but certainly not one that can't be overcome. Getting an away goal will still be important and we're going to need to come out and play to win, not play for the draw. Arsene Wenger agrees:

''We need to go there and play our game - it is very important for us to focus on scoring and going forward,'' said the Gunners boss. ''Roma are a very good team offensively, so if we allow them to spend 90 per cent of the time doing what they like to do, we will expose ourselves."

If we are able to get that away goal that will pretty much put the tie to bed, because they'd have to score three goals then. So it is an all important goal.

Injury news is good, with Kolo Toure expected to be back, and Eduardo and Theo will both be in the squad. Things are looking better every day for Arsenal aren't they? We keep getting players back and we're managing to at least not lose even if we have drawn a lot.

The full squad list for the match can be seen here.

Arsenal has warned the fans going to the match in Rome to avoid certain areas of Rome due to the Roma supporters being absolute cunts. Remember 2 years back when United played Roma they had a bunch of fights in Roma and in Manchester. They're probably just pissed that they'll never win a big match like this and they can't win the league either. But seriously, stay away from those Italian bastards.

Last thing is Theo saying that he'll need time to get back to his form he had before his injury, and he's right. We can't be expecting too much from him and I'm sure I'll be guilty of this too. When you know how good a player can be, anything less than great performances and we all jump on them. Theo will be a big player for us the rest of this season, so let's give him some time. He's been out for 4 months, poor guy, so let's just be glad to have him back.

That's about all I've got for the day. Time for some coffee and some homework. Cheers.

Arsenal - Roma Champions League Preview

It's finally back. The Champions League if finally back! It seems like it's been ages since the group stages but it's finally time to resume and it starts off tonight against Roma. Is it a big match? Huge. Is it a match we can win? Certainly. It's one of our only chances for silverware this season, along with the FA Cup, so this should be taking a high priority right now. We haven't won in four league matches but hopefully we come out fighting tonight and go for the win.

The injury list is long yet again: Eduardo, Cesc, Adebayor, Theo, Rosicky, and Silvestre are all out with injuries. Andrey Arshavin is ineligible for the rest of this year's competition, but Abou Diaby is fit and could make a start. Arsenal.com says he may play as a deep lying striker, but I hope not.

Arsene Wenger confirmed we'll be going all out for the win though, saying:

“We will play with two strikers,” Wenger confirmed. “I haven’t decided if we play 4-4-2 or not but we will play with two strikers. We go for it. It is as simple as that.

Roma are a strange team, capable of getting very good results at times and other times looking like the worst team to make the Champions League. If anyone watched that 7-1 beating that Man United put on them a couple of years ago you'll know what I mean. I wouldn't mind a 7-1 victory for us tonight but in the grand scheme of things I'd take a 1-1 probably. We just need to get a bloody goal.

My guess at the formation would be this:

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Gallas-Clichy
Eboue-Denilson-Song-Nasri
Diaby-----
--RvP

So I'm thinking a 4-5-1 even though Wenger said a 4-4-2, although this is kind of like a 4-4-2 since Diaby will sort of be in the Bergkamp role.

The match is in two hours or so. I have 2 hours and 10 minutes of Arsenal music on my computer. If I start playing it now I'll get properly done just before match time. I also have to rock every piece of Arsenal clothing I have. It's just matchday routine. I'll take us to draw 1-1, but a 0-0 wouldn't surprise me in the least. I'd love to pick us to win, but I just haven't seen it lately. I hope I am proven wrong though. Come on you Gunners!