Ajax 1 - 2 Arsenal
So.. A win in Ajax.. The first time an English club since the Yiddows did it back in the 80's when they knew what European Football felt like.. Mind you they did have a brief foray into it not so long ago.. Who remembers Stefan Freunds last min og against Kaiserslauten?? Hahahaahaha..That's enough about them though..
I watched it down the pub with El Godden... We sat in our new 'lucky' seats, which was awesome..
So.. Ajax 1 - 2 Arsenal
What a result! This should not be underestimated, we are still learning in this competition & this is another major step for us.. As we actually didn't play that well.. But we did look defensively stable, which is a rarity for us in Europe & in no part a coincidence with the return of Sol Campbell.. The guy is a rock, he is the best defender in England when fully fit & is crucial to our chances of success..
Ajax kicked off & made 20 passes.. Flamini stole the ball & fed Reyes, who found Ljungberg with a deft & beautifully weighted ball. Ljungberg in turn delayed to perfection, he let Vonk go to ground (Kanu style against Depor) & lifted the ball coolly over him. 0-1 in 80 seconds. Perfect.
Arsenal cruised for the rest of the half until Pieenar blazed over in first half stoppage time, it was a well crafted move & deserved better, although on the balance of play Ajax would have been fortunate to go in 1-1 at half time.
The second half proved more of a test as Ajax came out with renewed vigour, however Campbell policed the defence expertly & proved why he was such a massive out for us. Toure grew with Campbell's authority & together they looked as good as in 2003/4. A very good sign for us. On 69 Fabregas released the lively & impressive Reyes, who has really got his head down & started working for the team lately, which is good to see, who then mugged Vonk for a pen. As I said at the time, bought & sold. 2-0
Despite Rosenborg's goal Arsenal were in control & although anything can happen with only a one goal difference Arsenal looked fairly comfortable. They held out for what was in truth an excellent & unexpected win.
Our performance reminds me of Liverpool a few years back when nobody expected anything from them (against Roma for example) & they came up with the goods.. I just hope that we pick up in the league as to ensure Champions League football for next season, as it is imperative to have it in our opening season at Ashburton Grove, but if we can slide through unnoticed & not have the weight of media expectation on our shoulders I think we can go very far in this competition..
How poetic it would be if we knocked Juve out on the way to the latter stages, (Vieira stating he needed a new challenge & that one of the main reasons he left us was to win this competition) could happen as they are looking good.. Just a thought..
The best part of all is that we are learning from game to game & gaining new skills.. The last two games in the Champions League haven't been pretty but we've won without playing well.. We haven't done it before & our previous inability is something that has hampered us from being truly competitive in the Champions League before..
posted by JoeBoni @ 11:47 AM
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