Fabregas tormented an understrength Blackburn back line (The Times images)To describe Arsenal's performance against Blackburn on Sunday would simply be a list of hyperbole - good and bad - at the ease in which the Gunners ripped through a flimsy Rovers defence, and the neglectful side to their defending.
Midfielder Cesc Fabregas was at the heart of Arsenal's swift attacking play, and with a plethora of forward-minded players like Andrei Arshavin, Tomas Rosicky, and Theo Walcott, it ended up being a field day for the Spanaird, who found it easy to pick his passes at will.
Blackburn, however, put up a strong fight and used their aerial prowess to effect when scoring the game's first goal when Steven Nzonzi looped his header over home keeper Vito mannone from Paul Robinson's long punt.
They had some chances after that, but were overwhelmed by Arsenal's scintillating play. Fabregas made four assists, creating the goals for Robin van Persie's cool finish, likewise with Walcott, Arshavin, and Rosicky's goals.
Thomas Vermaelen and Nicklas Bentdner scored from crunching hits outside Blackburn's penalty area, but Vermaelen and Arsenal's defending was virtually non-existent, leaving gaps like the size of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and it was holding midfielder Alex Song that was left drowning trying to cut the supply of Blackburn's counter-attack, which ended in a David Dunn goal in a move started by a fantastic stop from Robinson.
You could almost feel sorry for the pedestrianed England goalkeeper, who had an unreassuring back four in front of him, consisting of full-backs Gael Givet and Lars Olsson playing as makeshift central backs.
We were left purring by the sight of Arsenal's flair and invention, but I was left wondering whether they could continue their title push, or even trophies, with a leaky defence.
No comments:
Post a Comment