Middlesbrough 1-1 Arsenal – 03/02/07 – (Barclays Premiership) 4 February, 2007

Well last night was shit.

I don’t have PremPlus at home so I went down to pub to watch the game. Before the match I had a little kick around with my mates and then looked at the time, 5:14. Shit! I ran to the pub only to find them showing the rugby. Then I frantically covered the whole town trying to find a bar showing Arsenal. The England vs. Scotland match was showing everywhere and I just had to give in and wait for the rugby to finish. To be fair, I probably should’ve just watched that rather than another depressing Arsenal game. When the rugby finally finished they turned it over to PremPlus and it was 0-0. I can’t comment on the first half an hour of the game because I still haven’t seen it I’m afraid. However what I saw of the first half I was very impressed, it was non-stop Arsenal attack and I felt a goal was on the way. Our main problem again was just passing it and passing it around the box. It was quite frustrating to watch and you wondered if were actually going to get a shot in at the end of all this. Henry had a go from outside the box, he tried to curl it into the far corner but it was saved well. I didn’t see a single ‘Boro attack in that time I was watching.

We went in at half time level at 0-0 and I was confident we’d score in the second half and win comfortably. As if I hadn’t missed enough of the game already my mates had to meet someone in another pub and instead of going when halftime started they decided to leave just as they were kicking off. I was not happy. When we got to this other pub I just wanted to settle down and watch the second half now but no. Not only was this pub not showing the football, it was showing fucking Celebrity Fame Academy or some bollocks. I stormed out back to the other pub leaving my mates behind. I finally settled down to watch what was left of the game.

Middlesbrough were getting much more of the ball now and were testing Arsenal. They were never really causing Senderos and Toure any trouble. We weren’t as dangerous as in the first half but we did still look like scoring. Settled, I decided to go get a pint and whilst paying I saw what looked like Lehmann being sent off. I nearly dropped my beer. I turn away for a few seconds then this. It was actually Senderos who’d been shown the red but I had no idea what for. Even in the replay I didn’t understand why. Yakubu fell over just outside the box with the pressure from Senderos and that was about it. 1 man down, it doesn’t matter, we can still win. Now lets get on with it. However not only had Mike Riley given a stupid red card, he thought it was in the area and has given a penalty. What a fucking twat. Yakubu made it 1-0 from the penalty spot and I had lost all faith that we were going to get anything out of this.

To be honest I just wanted to go home. I know we were only one nil down to ‘Boro but I just felt so shit and had only seen about 25 minutes of the game altogether. I was convinced we were going to lose this and to make it worse it looked like the home team were going to add a second. Viduka came close but was denied by Lehmann.

In the end we did equalize in the 77th minute. It was classic counter attack Arsenal with Lehmann setting Toure free to charge at ‘Boro. He played a great long ball to Adebayor who cushioned the ball down with his head into the path of Henry who somehow managed to squeeze the ball into the net. It was a really well taken goal and I don’t think any other striker would’ve been able to beat the defender, the ‘keeper and direct the ball into the net. 1-1 now and we had every chance to nick the points.

In the end it finished 1-1 but I still think we should won. The only decent chance ‘Boro had was the bloody penalty. We need to be more clinical in front of goal and use those chances. With Liverpool drawing and Chelsea winning we had to take all the points to keep up. Unfortunately we didn’t and we lost that chance to put the pressure on the top 3.

We looked tired and the extra time against Spurs must’ve taken its toll. Adebayor as always worked his socks off and was absolutely knackered when Aliadiere replaced him late in the game. No player had a particularly good game. Toure was alright but his missed header led to ‘Boro’s penalty. It’s international week now and we’re bound to pick up even more injuries with our luck. Wigan’s next at home next week, build up to that to come. Thanks for reading.