Match Report:
Despite being left with 10 men for almost the whole of the second half, Arsenal still cruised to victory at the Emirates yesterday, with goals from Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky and Emmanuel Adebayor helping the Gunners to a 3-1 win and a share of the early Premier League lead joining Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton on 10 points with a game in hand over the latter two clubs.
And crucially, in this game Arsenal struck first and early on as well, a position that Arsenal rarely relinquish, particularly at home. They took the lead after only 7 minutes, an interception by Gael Clichy finding it's way through the Pompey defence to Robin van Persie, who got brought down by the sprawling David James to give Arsenal their fourth penalty already this season. And as is the tradition at Arsenal, the fouled player rarely takes the ensuing penalty, so up stepped Emmanuel Adebayor to convert with ice cool.
And Arsenal rarely relented as they passed around Portsmouth for the rest of the half, making several openings as they looked to increase the lead that they're cutomary pacy and smooth attacking football deserved. And they at last got it as the remarkable Cesc Fabregas, likened to Paul Scholes by Wenger after the match, kept his early scoring form up, with a little fortunate goal from a corner. Rosicky's curling cross was met by Gilberto, but was blocked by his young Spanish team mate accidentally, who then swivelled and stroked the ball home to double Arsenal's half time advantage.
And after the break Arsenal continued to look hungry for more, with Senderos going close from another corner, before the young Swiss defender stalled Arsenal's rhythm by getting himself sent off, colliding accidentally with Kanu as the former Gunner ran through on goal. A red card looked somewhat harsh to me, but that was indeed the colour of the card issued to Senderos before Pompey drew a good save from Almunia from the ensuing free kick. However, the red card seemed to make little difference as Arsenal continued to attack in the same vein, even if they had one less player than the visiting team, Portsmouth couldn't exploit it. And you had to say Arsenal deserved the third goal that they got, even if, once again, luck was shining down on Arsenal as Portsmouth switched off at a set piece. Fabregas spotted Rosicky unmarked just inside the box, took the free kick quickly to him, and the Czech Republic captain drove home from an acute angle for his second goal in the space of 5 days.
The lead lasted barely a minute though, before Portsmouth made the most of a poor defensive decision by Clichy, crossing for Kanu who attempted to conrtol the ball as he turned, but somehow managed instead to flick the ball into the corner of the Arsenal net to make it 3-1 and give Pompey some hope at last. But to say Arsenal had to "hold on" would be greatly exaggerated and Portsmouth could only creat one real moment of danger, Nugent taking a bit too long in the penalty area, allowing Kolo Toure to block his goalbound shot. And in fact, Arsenal themselves created two more opportunities before the game was over, both through marauding substitute Abou Diaby, who first managed to head wide from 6 yards out from a delicious Clichy ball in, and then striked a ferocious shot just over after great approach play by Arsenal. A job well done then, as Arsenal continue their promising early form.
Match Ratings:
Manuel Almunia - 7 - Did everything he had to, made no notable errors. All round solid performance from the Spaniard.
Mathieu Flamini - 8 - Excellent game despite being played at right back. Constantly gives his all for Arsenal and was impressive going forward as well as defensively, although on a couple of occasions his positioning let him down slightly.
Kolo Toure - 7.5 - A captains performance. Made some excellent tackles, but positionally got caught out once or twice. Still, a good performance by him yesterday.
Philippe Senderos - 6 - Has to try not to make his one mistake a game that he currently seems to. Although the red card was harsh in my opinion, he shouldn't have fouled him at all. Solid enough game up to that point though.
Gael Clichy - 7.5 - Great going forward, but maybe defensive awareness sould be improved. Could have stopped Utaka from delivering the cross that Pompey scored from instead of diving in. Still a force going forward and defesnively he is learning.
Alexander Hleb - 7 - Had a decent game, but was outshined perhaps by Cesc Fabregas and Rosicky in midfield. Used Flamini's overlapping runs effectively, but could have been more creative. More of a last season performance by him, rather than the sort of performances we have seen from him so far this season.
Cesc Fabregas - 8 - He makes the whole team tick. Simple as that. Could have played much better than he did today, but he still gets an 8 which shows just how good he can be at his very best. Yet he still he got an assist, a goal, and kept posession excellently while being defensively solid. Can't believe he's still 20 years old.
Gilberto Silva - 7.5 - Did an unsuprisingly solid job at mopping things up in midfield, and when moved to centre back he still did his job well. Great in the air as well.
Tomas Rosicky - 8 - He had one of his greatest performances yet for us yesterday in my opinion. I firmly believe he can be great for us, but he has rarely showed it in reality. Got another goal today as well, which is good, and his understanding with Cesc Fabregas was a joy to watch.
Robin van Persie - 6 - A bit of a disappointing game from our forwards, and van Persie barely did anything threatening to the Pompey defense in this math to be honest. Some good link up play and decent pace to win the penalty, but other than that, a bit too quiet.
Emmanuel Adebayor - 7 - Worked, worked and worked as usual, although his fitness seems still slightly off what it could be. He's a handful to any backline, and Pompey struggled to deal with him and his constant running. A well taken penalty as well, but his decision making and a moment where he kind of pulled out of tapping in a cross in the first half takes the shine off a good performance.
Subs:
Denilson - 7 - Such a tidy player, never really gave the ball away, a very good option from off the bench in my opinion, just to shore things up for the last period of the game.
Abou Diaby - 7 - A typical hit and miss type cameo performance from Diaby. He commits defenders, he's strong and powerful yet has good skill as well, but makes sloppy mistakes and needs to relax sometimes with his decision making. Should have scored a goal, and then had a great shot go just over the bar.
Eduardo - 6 - Not enough time to make much of an impact.
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