• Fabrez

  Ohhh! Almost another Diaby-RvP combo!!! We look well!!!

• http://deleted Dan

  < ![CDATA[I think we can happily settle for that. I know we should have had more, but lets not dwell on it, because we are taking a good result to Rome in my opinion.

  RVP's new found explosiveness was what won us the game in the end. He is pretty much a dead cert for player of the season. Its great for him he has had the season he has, and gone so long without any injuries *TOUCH WOOD*

  I'll leave you with the thought of Bendtners horrific miss - haha! It was painful.]]>

• http://kierandelaney.net/blog kierandelaney.net/blog

  < ![CDATA[Yeah Bendtner has got to go really hasn't he. I know he was playing out of position, but even in front of goal he looks like a sunday league player. :|

  Eboue though had a great game, and even when pulled over he picked himself up and didn't say a word. Much improved.]]>

• Pissed off

  The only win of the night came from Emirate, though very slick, but what do you expect; its champions league after all, the league of Champions.

• Steve

  < ![CDATA[Very good performance, a clean sheet or an away goal should see us through.

  There were some very good moves and a strong dominance of possesion and stand out performances from diaby and nasri. Eboue played well but he and bendtner were wasteful.]]>

• Fabrez

  Could have been more but good result. A real quality side would make 1-0 count going to Rome. I thought Denilson was excellent, particularly defensively. Everyone else did well besides Bendtner…he’s a pain! Eboue should have scored & we could have pulled the trigger a bit more often instead of pass but really good performance overall.

• Debs

  < ![CDATA[It was a brilliant performance actually, except well, the finishing. Can't still believe Bendtner missed that chance! But we didn't concede the away goal, so good result all round! I thought Roma lost possession a lot in midfield and their passing/shooting in the final third was a bit dodgy, so I think we can finish the job in Roma.
  Oh, and did you guys see what happened at the start of the second half, where Toure got booked for being late! I think the second half had already kicked off before he reappeared! That was funny! But not the card bit I guess!

  On a side note, was disappointed the Man U v Inter match ended nil nil after all the expected hype. But who cares about them anyways?! lol]]>

• Debs

  Oh, and we’ve got Walcott and Eduardo back for the second leg! It’s gonna be a-a-mazing! Woo!

• JAT

  < ![CDATA[Let's not get carried away here. 1-0 is a slender lead to take to Rome. We will face a completely different side to the one tonight. They will have to come at us with everything as they know they are out if they fail to score.

  They will also be spurred on by a huge (home) atmosphere in the Stadio Olympico.

  We can take hope from the fact that their necessity to attack us will leave them exposed at times. We should also have some more firepower in attack with Walcott, Ade and Eddie all scheduled to return from injury soon.

  Can't help but feel we missed a big opportunity to seal the deal tonight. I really hope we don't pay a big price for being unable to score a damn goal from open play!

  I would have bitten someone's hand off for 1-0 before the game, but not after...]]>

• devday

  JAT, you’re spot on. We’ve missed an opportunity here, but still in poll position. I hope today’s Roma turn up in the Stadio Olympico.

• zohaib

  < ![CDATA[Denilson, Diaby, Nasri and Eboue all played well. Eboue's performance in the final third, passing and finishing, was hugely disappointing as usual. Bendtner's was too. He definitely had a nightmare overall. VanPersie did well to win a penalty but wasn't able to make something happen like he did all through January. The defence did well. One can see that the fullbacks are going forward less often, and that's playing a part in being solid defensively as well as create more space during our attacks because the opposition has to deal with lesser players, and therefore they don't need to get all 11 behind the ball. But we're still too slow going forward. The movement just isn't as intelligent and threatening as ManUtd's. They rarely misplace a pass. The speed, precision, and placement of the pass is so unbelievably accurate that it's scary to watch. We don't scare teams like that. We wait too long to make a move, and by that time the opposition has too many men already in position in defence. The performance today was one of the best performances of our season in terms of creating chances, but because we're not finishing well, I'd say it compares poorly with the Invincibles. For this team, it might have been one of the best performances, but for the Invincibles, this would've been an average performance. That tells you how our level has dropped, and it's sad.

  We're still in a decent position. We only need to score one goal, which has been quite a challenge for us lately, specially from open play, as we've still not scored in 3 previous premier league games and one champions league game (overall 3 home games and 1 away game). But because Roma should try to go forward more often in the second leg, hopefully that means more space opening up for us to utilize. And if we have Eduardo and Walcott back, it does seem that we'd be better off than we are now with Bendtner and Eboue, but I'm not sure how match-fit Walcott will be. Eduardo though will definitely be a boost in terms of finishing ability.

  Eboue does look like a changed person. Wenger said he'd spoken to him and that he'd changed. Let's see how long he can go without resorting to his usual self. Good to see an improvement, but imagine if we had more clinical players in place of Eboue and Bendtner. We'd be so much better off and under much less pressure to perform every time, because we'd probably be finishing off better and converting more chances to goals.]]>

• zohaib

  < ![CDATA[On Denilson’s role in the midfield…
  “I still believe that Denilson has had a good season. Since January he has become more dominant in the defensive area of the game. He is 20-years-old and he hasn’t missed a game since the first game of the season. It’s a fantastic performance”, said Arsene Wenger.]]>

• nigelp

  < ![CDATA[Overall I thought we played really well. The defence looked solid, Denilson did a good job at DM and Diaby did well pushing on. With Bendtner and Eboue out wide and Nasri playing in the hole behind RvP, I think we looked dangerous for most of the night. I don’t think anyone could dispute we were worth at least a 2 goal advantage if not more. We may well live to regret the missed chances. I felt a bit sorry for Eboue, because he had a great game last night. His missed chance was down to a lack of composure and decisiveness. He should have shot first time instead of buggering about trying to create a better angle. Sorry SF, but Bendtner’s miss was unforgivable. Eboue is a full back converted into a midfielder, but Bendtner is supposed to be striker. His job is to score goals, and his chance was easier than Eboue’s because he had so much time and space. His effort was pathetic, truly awful. I know I bang on and on about his deficiencies, but I honestly thought he was bloody terrible again last night. His first touch is so, so poor and he simply cannot play the one-touch football that is fundamental to being an Arsenal player. You can’t blame the player, he plays in the team because the manager picks him. Why he picks him is an absolute mystery to me. We could easily have played Vela in Bendtner’s role, with Nasri playing off of RvP. Never mind, I’ve got that off my chest!
  Last night’s game showed how good we can be against continental opposition, who give us half a yard extra space than we get in the premiership. I think Peter Georgiadis is a bit unfair on Song, saying we lost the midfield after Diaby went off. Yes, that had an effect, but it was Rome bringing on Pizzaro and both their fullbacks pushing up at the same time that was the decisive factor in putting us under pressure. I think we'll go through.]]>

• wrighty

  < ![CDATA[Yesterday I was called deluded for believing that we could win the Champions League, well I'm deluded a little bit. But not where Arsenal are concerned.

  I've believed all season that this is our year for the Holy Grail and I'm not about to change my mind now.

  I know our short-comings. I know that this Arsenal group of players are far from the strongest squad we've had under Wenger but we are Arsenal and for as long as I can remember we have always been at our best as underdogs.

  We are big underdogs for the rest of the season and that will suit us. We were underdogs throughout our run to the final in 2006 and this time we will go one better and win the damn thing.

  We will have many massive games for the rest of the campaign. You could say every game from now till the end of the season is a cup final. This game against Roma is massive.

  This team have reacted to big games all season. We've beaten the "unstoppable" force of Manchester United, we've beaten Chelsea. On our day we can match the elite and be even better.

  Our football suits the Champions League. Who keeps the ball better than us in Europe? Maybe Barcelona equal our ball keeping skills but once we find that cutting edge I'm confident in this Arsenal team.

  I understand its hard to believe in the squad but its all we have until the end of the season. Yes I know this is Wenger's fault for not strengthening when we needed it but lets wait until the end of the season and then we can judge.

  Until then I'm going to try to keep calm. It probably won't last long but I'm going to give it my best shot!

  And believe me, Arsenal CAN win the Champions League.]]>

• Gooner Get Ya

  < ![CDATA[I can't beleive we only finished the game 1-0.

  We had countless attempts and only 4 on target. That in my opinion is not good enough.

  I think the pressure is still on us to further our lead in the second leg.

  Bendtner needs to learn to shoot left footed as that effort was utter rubbish. Eboue played well and also should have scored his chance.

  Easily the best player for us was Nasri although he faded towards the end (as did everyone).

  In summary it was a good game for us but I would rather be heading to Rome with a 3-0 lead not the slender 1-0 we ended on.]]>

• Ibrahim

  < ![CDATA[Zohaib well said,couldn't agree more.
  i just hope and pray that most of those on the injury list come back and we'll have more fire power.... except adebayor cuz he is awful for a striker who has nothing to do but score but will need like a thousand chances before he can convert.]]>

• Steve

  < ![CDATA[The anomolies casued by the away goals rule mean that 1-0 is actually a solid result.

  As Wenger says, if we score 1 away they will need to get 3. And if we keep a clean sheet we are through. This means we can play the percentages and take our chances when they come, knowing that Roma will have to attack and give us space to play.

  Put it this way, would you fancy losing 1-0 away and having to come to Emirates needing to win 2-0 or 3-1?

  Also looks like Eduardo, Adebayor and Walcott will be fit in time for the away leg too, so hopefully that will mean we can drop Eboue and Bendtner.
  http://www.arsenal.com/news/injury-news]]>

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