Rosicky and Fabregas outfox Utd

What a performance, what a victory. A football lesson by Arsenal.

A 5 man midfield with Gilberto holding and Rosicky in the middle. I was confident. Don't get me wrong, I would have taken a draw before the game, but for some reason I had a feeling about this one.

Then sky proceeded to say Arsenal were playing a 4-4-2 with Ljungberg up front playing behind Adebayor. Bayern Munich, away in the Champions league 2 seasons ago, Ljungberg was awful, he is not a support striker.

Suddenly the optimism I had before the game slowly ebbed away when the game started after what seemed an age.

However we started well and stamped our authority on the match early on. Ljungberg settled in on the left of a 5 man midfield and Rosicky playing centrally. Fabregas and Roskicy took John O' Shea and Scholes apart with their movement and intelligent use of the ball.

Gilberto missed a penalty, although I had a strange feeling that it didn't matter and it we would come back, like when Chelsea scored against us after 28 seconds in the unbeaten season. No panic, we'll get more chances, we're absolutely bossing this, I thought.

Adebayor had a good effort saved onto the post and Gallas almost turned the rebound in but Scholes cleared. Rosicky hit a fierce low rising half volley from an Adebayor knock down and Arsenal were mixing it up and looked sharp.

Ronaldo was looking dangerous but Djourou and Toure were keeping Rooney and Saha pretty quiet. Lehmann made a couple of good saves and it was 0-0 at the break which suited them better than us. I thought they would come out and maybe change it because we were dominated so much.

No substitutions. Game on.

We continued to create opportunities, Adebayor hit an effort straight at the keeper, Saha headed just wide, Ronaldo shot when he should have passed. Toure blasted a free kick wide, Baptista came on for Hleb and had a powerful run and shot which just went wide.

Arsenal will surely score, it would be a travesty if we don't.

Ronaldo loses the ball, terrible decision to try and dribble under pressure, Fabregas bites in and win the ball, gets a bit of luck, a little dummy and opens up a path for the slide rule pass. Perfect weight on it, Adebayor pokes it under the keeper, it going in you know, it nestles in the back of the net.

What a feeling, what a performance, we deserved that I thought. I can't think of a match which has given me such satisfaction in the last couple of seasons. Written off, backs to the wall, like the old Arsenal. Perfect.

The team was quality throughout, Djourou and Toure were excellent along, well supported by Eboue and Gallas. Lehmann made a truly world class save from Solskjaer late on and was commanding all afternoon. Gilberto organised well and protected the defence expertly.

The midfield combined beautifully, constant movement, sharp accurate passing creating space and importantly discipline off tha ball from Rosicky, Fabregas, Ljungberg and Hleb.

Adebayor worked hard up front, looked dangerous and took his goal well.

A memorable performance all round. We were that good.

That's the first time this season I have actually wanted to watch MOTD!

Tony Adams said in 1997/98. 'I don't see it as a transitional year, I see it as a winning something year. I always find that a bit of an excuse really'. That just about sums it up. Quality.