Arsenal 3-0 Sevilla – 19/09/07 – (Champions League) 20 September, 2007

Brilliant. Just brilliant. The score line might be a bit flattering but we were worthy winners. We got off to a flying start and were really putting Seville on the back foot. However shots were limited and it took half an hour for the first goal to come and guess who it was? Yep, Cesc scored again. Well, it was quite a dubious goal as the shot took a big deflection off Julien Escude. The visitors lost possession in a dangerous area and the ball went straight to Hleb, he gave it to Cesc and with the confidence he’s in he shot from some distance and with the help of a deflection it was 1-0 to The Arsenal.

The first goal in this game was always going to be very important. Seville were now on the back foot and as I’m sure you know, we can exploit teams very well that are forced to attack us.

Adebayor went close towards the end of the first half when he broke through. He did well but the final shot was poor and went wide. The visitors too had a chance before the break. The ex-Tottenham striker, Kanoute was getting a bit of stick and he shot from range forcing Almunia to make a good save.

Four minutes into the second half Rosicky came off for Abou Diaby. Tomas had a brilliant first half in my opinion and was definitely a contender for man of the match, however early on in the second 45 he was forced off with a hamstring injury. He’ll be out for at least two weeks according to Arsene. He’s a very injury prone player and just when it looked like players were starting to recover, we have a new load.

Just before Rosicky came off Hleb took a bad knock and was limping around. I though he was coming off but he shook it off. However today Arsene says he’s now a ‘major doubt’ for Saturday along with Senderos who has a hip problem. I guess we’ll learn more about them tomorrow but I doubt they’ll be risked against Derby, in a game which Wenger says he’ll rotate the team a bit.

Anyway, back to last night’s game. The second half seemed to lack the pace of the previous one but Seville were still clearly behind and chasing the game.

In the 58th minute we won a free kick on the left hand side near the corner flag. It was taken quickly and was wasted but just like Saturday, the referee blew his whistle and ordered it be taken again. I was thinking about the Spurs game and thinking maybe we’ll do it again and score from the re-take. And we did! Fabregas’ ball wasn’t brilliant but Sagna helped it on at the near post, it fell to Van Persie right in front of goal and it was a tap-in for 2-0.

Seville made a double substitution a few minutes later and they were really pushing for a goal. They came close a few times but Eduardo would have the final say on this game. He came on for Adebayor in the 84th minute and Lassana Diarra came on three minutes later for RVP for his debut. Eddy’s goal was a simple tap-in by the chance only came from a great, traditional passing move by Arsenal and players not being selfish and shooting. It was a lovely worked goal and a great end to the game.

So we won the first game of the group 3-0 against the toughest opposition we had to face. A perfect start. There were some great performances too: Almunia looked dodgy at times but made a few good stops, Sagna and Clichy were brilliant, Toure was unbeatable, Cesc was…Cesc, Rosicky has a great first half, Flamini was awesome, Hleb looked good and the strikers looked hungry. It was a great all round performance. The only disappointment was Abou Diaby. He didn’t play badly; it’s just that he’s not a winger! He looks lost out there. I have complete faith in Arsene but seriously, I don’t know why he is playing here. If Vieira was put out on the wing what would you think? I pray that Wenger isn’t hoping to convert this player into a winger when he looks like he’s going to be something special in the middle.

It’s back to the League now and it’s Derby at home on Saturday. It should be no problem but they’ve just beaten Newcastle and will be high on confidence. I will build up to that one in the coming days, thanks for reading.