Arsenal 4-0 Charlton – 02/01/07 – (Barclays Premiership) 3 January, 2007

It was just the comeback we needed from the misery at Brammal Lane and we’ve opened the new year off to a good start. I said yesterday the best possible strike partnership we could have would be if Van Persie and Henry were declared fit, otherwise we were in a bit of trouble. However Hleb, Henry and Van Persie all started after being doubts before the game, also Johan Djourou was on the bench after picking up an injury in the first half against Watford. So we had a very strong side out and Charlton must have been worried, but their tactic became clear early on. Pardew had told his team to time waste from the start and it looked as if they were going to do anything to keep it at 0-0. Even at 1-0 down they were still time wasting, maybe they knew they were in for a beating?

All eyes were on Thierry Henry last night. The skipper has been out injured for a while and I’m sure all Gooners wanted to see what he’d got. There was talk that he may have been rushed bush a bit early but he looked fine to me. He was still the same old Titi we saw earlier this season but unfortunately not the one of the Highbury years but this was only one game. The star of the night was Robin Van Persie and if he wasn’t given man of the match, he should’ve been. He was everywhere and created lots of moves as well as having a few shots on goal. He scored one penalty and one last minute cheeky lob on Scott Carson.

The Charlton ‘keeper was excellent, the only player who deserves to be playing in the Premiership in their side. If it was not for his outstanding saves it could’ve been about 8, no exaggeration. Maybe it’s a player Arsene should have his eyes on this summer. He’s young, he’s English, he’s a fantastic shot stopper, what more would we want in a ‘keeper? He’s on loan from Liverpool at the moment but the Scoucers have two fine goalies in Reina and Dudek and there’s a chance they would let him go. There’s probably a better replacement out there for Lehmann but this man is certainly an option.

The game started off pretty even, Charlton had an early chance at goal but it was off target. It was quite a free flowing first 5 minutes or so with both sides having a fair share of possession and no side really being any danger to the other. Then in about the 10th minute Arsenal really turned on the style and you knew it was only a matter of when they were going to score. Van Persie played a one-two with Hleb on the right and Robin’s shot deflected agonisingly inches past the post with Carson stranded. From the resulting corner Senderos’ header was cleared off the line; so nearly one nil there but there was still plenty of time.

The goal came on the half hour mark from a penalty. Fabregas took a shot on the edge of the box which took a wicked deflection and was looping into the far top corner causing the ‘keeper some trouble. He managed to stop it from going in but it was impossible to hold and the ball was resting in the six-yard box. Van Persie was charging down that ball when he was pulled back by Sankofa and Mike Riley awarded us the penalty and sent Sankofa off. Obviously Pardew had his say but I saw nothing wrong with it and it was the captain on his return to action who placed the ball on the spot to try and give us the lead. Henry sent Carson the wrong way with a well taken penalty and ran over to dance with Adebayor just like in the North London Derby.

Once Charlton had gone down to ten men they had no chance, we were all over them and it was one of those games where we play that beautiful Arsenal football. Henry nearly got his second from a free kick in the 39th minute. It was just outside the box towards the left hand side and a great opportunity for one of our free kick specialists to curl one in. Thierry hit it and it was bending into the top corner when Carson made a fantastic save to try to give Charlton a fighting chance.

The second goal didn’t take long to come after that though, Justin Hoyte scoring his first goal in injury time of the first half. The young Englishman made a powerful run down the right and played a great one-two with Henry and cut inside the box. He had only the ‘keeper to beat and at a tight angle so the right-back did very well to score, he tucked it under Carson and it trickled just inside the post to make it 2-0. Justin looked absolutely delighted with the goal and I felt he deserved it with the efforts he gave down the wing last night.

So we went in at half time two goals up and pretty much in the clear. The second half was quite a formality, Charlton were just not good enough to create anything so it was just a matter of trying to beat Scott Carson. In the second 45 Rosicky hit the post, a nicely worked move by Hleb resulted in Henry tapping the ball in but it was given offside and Van Persie tricked his way past the defence and Henry’s finish was cleared off the line. There were plenty more chances in the second half saved by Carson, if we weren’t winning it would’ve been incredibly frustrating watching all these amazing shots saved but as we were cruising at 2-0 it didn’t matter.

The third goal came in the 75th minute; Henry was fouled in the area and for the second time the ref pointed to the spot. Thierry handed the ball over to Robin Van Persie who really deserved at least one goal after his fantastic performance. Carson went the right way but Robin’s kick went high into the top corner and it was 3-0 to The Arsenal.

Robin added no.4 in the last minute of the game with a cheeky chip over the ‘keeper to complete a great night at the Emirates Stadium. It wasn’t the best ever performance from Arsenal but we were good, Henry had a successful return and we took all the points; couldn’t ask for more. Pardew’s team were shocking and God knows where they would be without that goalie. The next game is the FA Cup match at Anfield, build up to that one to come this week. Good night.