Arsenal-Fulham Thriller Kicks Off '07-'08
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by Ea34
I want to start by mentioning that Arsenal's season opening win against Fulham at the Emirates is one of the most entertaining games I've seen in some time- and up and down tempo, plenty of chances and an exciting, comeback finish. It was a real pleasure to watch!
The game started with Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann’s unconscionable giveaway that led to a David Healy goal just 51 seconds into the match, followed by 81 exciting, entertaining (seriously!) minutes of attacking, but goalless, play, capped off by Arsenal scoring twice in the final eight minutes of regular time to turn a 1-0 deficit into a thrilling 2-1 victory. This was an excellent match, especially on the opening weekend, to get the juicing flowing for the rest of the season.
Some additional observations on Arsenal-Fulham:
- It doesn’t look like the departure of Thierry Henry will be a crippling blow to Arsenal, but the club's incredible ability to create chances and their chronic inability to capitalize on them could prove costly as the season goes on. The Gunners were held scoreless for the first 82 minutes of this match, although they could have had at least two or three goals on the board (that’s not counting the 1st half penalty that should have been awarded to Alexander Hleb). Despite creating several excellent goal-scoring chances, Arsenal had great difficulty finishing them off. On the bright side, however, as the game progressed, several of Arsenal's attackers seemed much more willing to shoot the ball, which was a pleasant surprise.
- Tony Warner, Fulham's back-up keeper who was called upon to start just 10 minutes before kick-off, turned in an absolutely sparkling goalkeeping performance. Warner held Arsenal scoreless for over 80 minutes, before Carlos Bocanegra’s foul on Kolo Toure just inside Fulham’s penalty area gave Robin Van Persie an 82nd minute penalty that leveled the score at 1 goal apiece. Warner was beaten again just eight minutes later by an outstanding individual piece of skill in the penalty area from Alexander Hleb. Warner faced an astounding number of shots (21, with 13 on goal) and made a host of outstanding saves. His performance was worthy of far more than a hard luck defeat.
- The play of Nicklas Bendtner, Arsenal’s 19 year-old Danish striker, may be exactly the kind of change-of-pace this club needs. A departure from Arsenal's fluid passing and beautiful build-up style of play, Bendtner is a physical, pragmatic striker who seems more concerned with putting the ball in the net than most members of the Arsenal team. Getting him on the pitch regularly will serve this team well.
- Theo Walcott still has a long way to go. For all of his skill and his blinding pace, Walcott does not yet seem to have “it”- the knack for making the correct decisions in the flow of the game. He's breathtaking to watch and still has a lot of time to develop, but he looked out of sync with his teammates on Sunday. Hopefully he begins to makes some strides soon. If not, it could be slightly worrisome for the Gunners- remember, even in his teens, Cesc Fabregas was already a natural creator and brilliant decision-maker.
All in all, this was a fantastic game to watch, with few lulls in the action and plenty of skill on display. It will be very interesting to see how Arsenal perform next Sunday against stiffer competition, when they travel to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers. As for Fulham, they played a very competitive game and probably deserved to come away with a point. They will next take the field on Wednesday against Bolton Wanderers.
