Definition of a nail-biter

So we played poorly, and probably didn't deserve to go through to the Champions League Final in Paris on May 17th, but who cares!!

We did the job at home winning 1-0 then resolutely defended that lead and held on for a 0-0 draw in the away leg. Villareal were a shadow of the side that turned up at Highbury, they controlled practically every minute of the game, with Arsenal showing very few signs of sparking into life on the break. 'Real created half chance after half chance and you felt really that it was just a matter of time before they took one of them, but no, Lehman only had a close range Guillermo Franco header to actually save (yards offside but not spotted by the Lino) and so to the closing moments, Arsenal were defending deeper and deeper, denying the Villareal players any space in behind.

A sliced clearance and Clichy (who replaced the injured Flamini early in the game) (looking upwards at the ball) and Josi Mari looking at Clichy collided (which they wouldn't have done if Josi Mari hadn't just stepped into the way of Clichy, who if you remember was looking up at the ball not the player) and, living up to the Villareal nickname of the Yellow Submariners, Josi Mari set the dive planes to maximum and fell theatrically, PENALTY, with just one and a half minutes left on the clock, a nightmare, suddenly it was looking like exra time.

Juan Roman Riquelme, who had been so fervent in his belief that his side would trounce the Arsenal in El Madrigal, hovered at the end of his run up, Jens Lehman, attempting to extend his record of clean sheets to 10, paced the line.

The Whistle, Riquelme, Lehman saves, brilliantly down to his left hand side, the races to collect the loose ball.

Absolutely superb, not neccesarily deserved but as I said earlier, who cares.

Up the Arsenal on May 17th!!1

A warm welcome

To regular (and irregular) readers of the Mooseblaster Blog, hopefully my entries here are at least half interesting to some or all of you, should you have any comments please feel free to leave a message I would love to hear from you.

Tuesday

Into the third week without my boss R, has been ok so far I must admit.

There have been the odd problem to solve, but very few of them were of our doing so am very happy with the way things have gone.

Payday Friday, tops, although my travel allowance has just gone down to 30% so that will bite quite a bit when the season ticket loan starts to come out of my pay at the end of May.

Nervy

The day of the big match has arrived, Senderos is out injured but Campbell is fit and takes his place in the middle of the defence alongside Kolo Toure. Am starting to get nervous now, c'mon the Arsenal.

Weekend

The first signs of summer on Saturday as the tempteratures hit a heady 21 degrees C in Alton, though in my house it nearly reached boiling point as I sat glued to the TV watching the last North London derby to take place at Highbury.

Arsenal were slow from the blocks as Spurs domintated the first half, Lennon, on the right hand side of the Spurs gave Flamini probably his most testing time since the young frenchman was called in as emergency cover at left back. The boys never really got into their stride and were lucky to head in at half time on level terms after Michael Carrick's excellent run ended in him rounding Lehmann only to find the side netting, a lucky escape for the Gunners.

The second half started similarly with Spurs pressing forward looking for the lead, a quick break from another Spurs chance led to Arsenal's first real effort of the game as Gilberto's superb throughball found an on-sideVan Persie, who's only mistake was to allow the ball to run across his body and onto his left foot, Robinson raced from his goal to narrow the angle and Van Persie managed to toe poke the ball lifting over the sprawling keeper but wide of the post.

Mr Wenger obviously had one eye on Tuesday's Champions League Semi- Final second leg, as he left Eboue, Fabregas and Henry on the bench, Eboue entering the fray around ten minutes in the second half to replace Senderos who landed awkwardly, and who is now unlikely to be fit for the Villareal game.

Fabregas and Henry replaced Van Persie and Abou Diaby, and then what could be the killer blow for Arsenal's 4th place ambitions. Eboue cleverly saw the danger and advanced from right back to clear only to stumble in to Gilberto, both men went down and the ball broke in the Spurs midfield, Gilberto clambered unsteadily to his feet bu Manu Eboue stayed down, Referee Bennett trotted over but did not stop play. The ball was knocked wise to Carrick who seem to hesitate as if considering putting the ball out of play, but instead played a superb pass down the line to Davids, occupying the now empty right back channel, who controlled before squaring for Keane to open the scoring.

It is difficult to know who was right or wrong, and although Steve Bennett did not stop play, you have to wonder that if Spurs opponents on that day had not been Arsenal, the ball would have been put out of play to allow Eboue to receive treatment.

Mr Wenger and Martin Jol seemed to have a slight disagreement on the touchlines and I see today that Jol has suggested his suprise that Wenger approached him angrily seeing as Jol suggests he is so big and strong. Which made me laugh to be honest, can you imagien Mr Wenger trying to punch anyone LOL, who knows tho, he could have mastered some ancient Martial Art whislt in Japan.

Anyway back to the game, Spurs seem to sit back a little after the goal, possibly in a little embarrassment due to the nature of the goal, who knows, but back came Arsenal, David's who had cynically hacked Pires down on the first half, picking up a booking, was at it again disrupting the Arsenal breaks with trips and blocks, one noteable block on Eboue halted another lightening quick breakaway, and David's was extraordinarily fortunate to get away with just a free kick being given against him.

Steve Bennett on the whole had a good game, he allowed it to flow where he could and a lesser referee could and would have given a hell of a lot more free kicks. The equaliser when it came was again a little contraversial, Adebayor turned Staltieri up the touch line and looked unlikely to reach the ball before it ran off for a thrown in but a beautifully aimed ankle tap through the Spurs defender off balance and Adebayor collected the ball and set off toward the goal. His throughball to Henry came early and probably suprised Dawson, Henry had timed his run perfectly and was ahead of Antony Gardner, one touch to control and and an exquisite poke with the outside of his right foot past Robinson and into the far corner sent Highbury into raptures.

David's finally committed one foul too many and was sent off, and Arsenal pressed and pressed for an unlikely winner that never came. A draw was a fair result, roll on Tuesday evening and Villareal.

Fortune favours the brave

An excellent result for the Arsenal last evening with a enjoyable 1-0 victory over Villareal, the performance was more workmanlike than other victories in Europe this season but the cleansheet could prove vital when the boys travel to Spain for the return leg next Tuesday.

Villareal appeared toothless, with Gilberto, Fabregas and Pires keeping Riquelme in check for the most part and Forlan and Jose Mari having few opportunites.

Kolo Toure popped up just before half time to grab the winner, and his first goal at Highbury, after Henry had been unfortunately flagged offside having slid home a precise pass earlier in the half. Gilberto was then very fortunate to get away with a rash tackle or or just inside the box on Jose Mari, fortunate for the most part that the only angle that it didn't look like a foul was the one that the referee had.

It would have been harsh on Arsenal to concede, and perhaps the incorrect offside decision that prevented Pires from stretching the Arsenal lead balanced out the penalty decision.

Cole and Clichy both played 90 minutes in a behind closed doors game against Coventry and perhaps Cole may even replace the excellent Flamini at left back for the vital clash against Spurs at Highbury Saturday lunchtime.

Up the Arsenal!!

Return of the Mooseblaster

Morning Blog Fans.

It's been a while since the last Blog, apologies, so to bring you bang up to date.

Wednesday found me out and about with my mate Kelly, always good to see him, hopefully with him only being in Farnham now it wont be another 4 months til we meet up again.

Whilst he and I were enjoying our chat, the Arsenal struggled to take their chances against a battling Portsmouth side and were held away from home to a 1-1 draw. Beats losing but 4th spot is in our hands now.

Thursday evening was spent in the Pub, relaxing. Most entertaining evening indeed.

Spent most of my time over the weekend taking up the tiles and lino in the Bathroom, joy, that's is all finished now, just need to sort laying the Hardboard, select the vinyl, lay that then fix the Shwoer Screen, which I had to be up at 7:30am on Saturday for waiting fort he delivery (it came at 11am, don't you just hate that). and the Bathroom is pretty much finished.

Saturday afternoon spent with Lucy's family for Easter, which was nice, and while were eating, the Arsenal survivied a tricky tie against West Brom winning 3-1. Highbury's "Bergkamp" day where the Home fans were invited to wear Orange as a mark of thanks to the Great Dutch Master, was topped off perfectly as Denis curled in Arsenal's 3rd goal from the edge of the box. What a star he has been over his career with the Gunners, his contribution will be sorely missed.

So onto Wednesday evening, and the visit of Villareal in the 1st leg of the Semi Finals of the Champions League. A tough game, but I am hopeful of a positive result to take to Spain for the 2nd leg.

Heartbreaking Sadness

A difficult day yesterday, we are all still coming to terms with the tragic death of our neighbour at the weekend.

No sign of his partner Claire as yet, I am not even sure if she will come back to the flat now. They had been due to move house soon and so I don't even know if that can go ahead or not, it's just terrible; I am so gutted for her.

Not really too sure whether to drop notes through the doors of our other two neighbours to let them know, I suppose it would be sensible just to make them aware of the situation, but what do you write?? David and Emma are renting and by the looks of the sign outside number 43 they are due to move on again soon and Caroline works away a lot and is hardly ever around. It is entirely possible that by the time she returns home Claire (and probably David and Emma) may very well have moved on.

I know so little about the accident that claimed his life thatI think that makes it even harder to actually believe, he was there one day and gone the next it is just so surreal.

Oh well, I sincerely hope that it was just an accident and that Claire and Mike were sensible enough to have sorted the paperwork to ensure there are no problems.

Cricket Links

Those who know me, will be aware of my cricketing interests, and despite having stopped playing a couple of years ago now, I remain a big follower of the game.

I was delighted to see the Alton CC First XI gain promotion to the Gold level of the Southern Premier league after an excpetional season last year. This is arguably the pinnacle of cricket in Hampshire, with big hitters like South Wilts, Havant and BAT being contenders for the title.

The club is always looking for players, supporters, sponsors or helpers, especially with half of the First Team games being all dayers, starting at 11am, with a hot lunch needing to be provided (as well as tea) to the players and officials.

The club now has 5 Saturday and 2 Sunday men's teams, colts teams at each age group 9,11,13,15 and 17, girls and ladies teams.

Here is the link to website, http://www.altoncc.co.uk/ should you wish to be involved or want to find out more please follow this link http://www.altoncc.co.uk/about.php.

Full round up's of the Southern League games can be found each week on their website http://www.southernpremierleague.com/

I hope to see some of you at the Jubilee Playing Fields throughout the season.

United - Arsenal - The Verdict

The news of Mike received Sunday afternoon made result of Sunday's game between United and Arsenal less than important, I sat and watched basically in a stunned daze as United swept the Arsenal aside in a professional performance.

Arsenal competed for the most part, having started the game brightly and creating chances for Van Persie (Henry was rested and on the bench).

United start to take a hold on the game about 20 minutes in and Arsenal never looked likely to get anything from the game.

Save of the day goes to Kolo Toure who magnificently palmed a goalbound Rooney shot onto the post just before half time, amazing only incidents that are not penalties are given in this fixture (see Rooney's dive last season).

0- at half time but the break through was on it's way as Silvestre's superb cross found Rooney
who controlled and fired past Lehman. Rooney then broke away to cross for Park Ji Song to slot home the second. Disappointing but not an untypical away performance from Arsenal this season.

Hopefully Wednesday evenings performance at Portsmouth should get the charge for 4th place back on track.

Sad news

The weekends events were terribly overshadowed by the tragic death of Mike, my next door neighbour, in a car crash Saturday evening. Our thoughts go out to his partner Claire and his family at the impossibly difficuly time.

Mike must have been of a similar age to Lucy and I and I think that makes it far harder to accept.

Euro march continues

Arsenal outfought and outplayed another might Euro Giant last night as they held Juventus to a 0-0 draw in the second leg of their Champions League tie, thereby qualifying for the Semi-Finals for the first time in their history by way of the 2-0 victory in the first leg.

Juventus were disappointing again, not that I really care to be honest, and Nedved was the only player to trouble Lehman, before he became the 3rd Juve player to be dismissed in the tie after he crudely hacked Eboue down.

No real star performances from Arsenal, and no reported injuries as Mr Wenger prepares the troops for a tricky visit to Old Trafford on Sunday.

More websites

Here is a couple more websites regularly visited. These are musically themed and may go some way to explaining why very few people ask to borrow music off of me.

http://www.carterusm.co.uk/index.htm
http://www.jim-bob.co.uk/
http://www.abdou.co.uk/
http://www.metallica.com/index.asp
http://www.remhq.com/flash/index.html

Just a little taster, feel free to comment

Fabregas and Eboue Travel to Juve

Cesc Fabregas and Emmanual Eboue are included in the squad which is jetting off to Italy for the 2nd leg of the Quarter Finals of the Champions league. Both were rated 50/50 for the tie, but have improved enough to travel with the squad for tomorrow's cruch game.

Plans for the week

Am hoping to be able to pick up a DVD which will help me to progess with my guitar playing, and those of you who know me already know that I need all the help I can get.

Amazon is probably my best bet, but will check with my mate Kelly as he is more than likely able to point me in the right direction. Once that is sorted it will be a lot easier staying in and saving some cash. Will probably look from home this evening.

Tuesday, I am planning on finishing the painting I am 95% of the way through, no Pilates for Lucy this week, so more than likely that this will be postponed until the following Tuesday.

Wednesday, the mighty Arsenal face humbled Juventus and the Italian outfit look for revenge after last week's defeat to the Gunners. 7PM Sky Sports 1 I think, aaah if you look for it you'll find it I'm sure. Hopefully I will not be disappointed to miss the work Sports and Social evening at the Bingo to watch the game.

Thursday, nothing planned as yet, hopefully a stress free day and some nice weather could see us head out for a drive somewhere.

Friday, normally a night for hitting the town, but am very much enjoying watching Hustle (BBC1 9PM) and NCIS (FX at 10pm) so will probably stay in and chill out in front of the TV.

Saturday brings the re-arranged visit to my Mum and Dad down at Hayling Island, re-arranged of course from the weekend before last when we were having a few transport issues. So we will be heading out to lunch with them to belatedly celebrate Mother's day. Hopefully the sun will be shining so we can head out to the beach.

Sunday, Clash of the titans, Manchester United V Arsenal 4pm Sky Sports, torn between wanting United to catch and beat Chelsea to the Premiership title and wanting to beat United to ensure that we secure 4th in the Premiership to ensure Champions League football again next season (at the Emirates Stadium, lovely). Hmm a draw would suffice please. Either side of the big game I will probably be out and about somewhere, perhaps shopping, perhaps just generally wandering in a hangover daze.

Monday, Monday

Another weekend flies by and once again we are back to Monday morning in the office. A good weekend though, apart from the weather which was pretty bloody awful in Alton.

Arsenal thumped Aston Villa on Saturday (5-0) Adebayor (1), Henry (2), Van Persie (1) and Diaby (1). Vasiriky (Abou) Diaby is quickly becoming one of my favourite players, he honestly looks and plays like Vieira did in his heyday (though possibly without getting himself sent off ala Pat). Mr Wenger has pulled yet another rabbit out of the hat with him.

Fabrgas and Eboue may not be fit for Wednesday's crucial return leg against Juventus at the Stadio delle Alpi, but Djourou and that man Diaby should be able to slot straight in. I would obviously be disappointed to lose the tie overall, being 2-0 up and all, but football is a funny old game as they say and anything could happen. Up the Arsenal.