Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona, or Koshieldny Messes Up Messi

Koscielny vs. Messi

A day later and I’m still buzzing with pride and immense joy. I have followed other sports in my day (baseball and hockey in particular), and for longer than I’ve supported Arsenal, but at no time in all those long years did I feel as I did last night.

Watching from home I thought some of the grandeur of the event would be lost on me: the cheering crowd, those magnificent waving flags, the red and white scarves that supporters swung around in the air. Even thousands of miles away in Newfoundland I could feel as though I were a part of something incredible, something to be remembered.

For days leading up to the match I could feel the knot in my stomach growing, not so much a result of nervousness, but more from excitement. If you read my last post you’ll know I’ve held on to optimism in the face of Barcelonian opposition. I’ve maintained that this Arsenal side have the potential to be something truly great, to show what English football has the potential to be. Last night illustrated that when we are at our best we are capable of taking down any team and that’s the kind of performance we need at this point in the season to give the players and supporters that extra push, that extra belief that may just see us through as champions.

There’s so much to say about the match: the pace, the quality of the football, the inch perfect accuracy of passing and shooting by both sides. I’m sure by now you’ve read numerous reviews and I’ll not go over every detail. I will, however, provide a couple of stats for you (taken from my ScoreMobileFC app:

• Possession: Arsenal 40, Barca 60
• Shots (on goal): Arsenal 13(6), Barca 10(6)
• Corners: Arsenal 4, Barca 1
• Crosses: Arsenal 18, Barca 17
• Fouls committed: Arsenal 16, Barca 12
• Yellow cards: Arsenal 3, Barca 2
• Offsides: Arsenal 3, Barca 9

Nice to see that though we had the ball for less of the game (something we aren’t used to), we did more with it when we had it. We created more chances and had a third the number of offsides called against us. I’m amazed that we conceded only one corner since we often concede more than that (and we know defending set pieces are a weakness of ours). Perhaps the low number of set piece to defend directly affected our chances of winning.

This victory is something to be savoured, to be lost in for days to come. Here are a couple highlight videos, courtesy of @arsenalist:

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xh2h4e
barcgt4
Uploaded by arsenalist. – Discover videos of people, family and friends.

If you’re looking for a breakdown of tactics, you should check out the post at Zonal Marking. There’s a great summary of the formations and positions both sides played as well as the effectiveness of the second half substitutions. (Arsene Wenger made perfect choices to bring on Bendtner and Arshavin in the last 15 minutes). Well worth a read.

Overall, I was impressed by the whole side fielded by Arsenal. The defense was spectacular (and that’s not something you’d expect to hear if previous games are to be considered) with Eboue playing in place of a suspended Bacary Sagna. Eboue is usually hit and miss in my opinion, but he played strongly against Villa and, at times, Iniesta. This was a game in which he needed to prove himself and he certainly did. Djourou was solid as he has been for weeks now, giving a strong base to our defensive line. There were moments when Barcelona pressed forward, but the Swiss defender held his ground well (I get a tingle every time Djourou heads a ball away). Koscielny, I have to say, is man of the match for me. He’s had some moments of greatness in the last while, but against Barca he really showed what he can do as a centre half. Messi just couldn’t find a way past him and neither could Pedro. As the game progressed Koscielny’s performance improved more and more until he became a wall preventing the Spaniards from giving Szczesny any real stress.

The midfield were at their best with Cesc, Wilshere, and Song all fit and firing. Song is the only one to provide any worry after picking up a yellow card, just seven minutes into the game. He continued to foul Barca players throughout the first half leading me to think that at any time there would be a second yellow and a red shown to the defensive midfielder. I was impressed by his restraint in the second half, not collecting any additional cards and, if memory serves me right, not committing many fouls. Cesc was in good form, working the Barca midfield and keeping the ball away from Xavi where possible, not to mention that brilliant through ball to Nasri, who played it across the box to Arshavin for the second goal. Pure inspiration and genius. Wilshere did an amazing job. People have been saying that he’s only 19 now and doing well, but age doesn’t matter when you’re outperforming your Barcelona counterpart and harrying players like Messi. Wilshere’s passing is becoming very strong and his ability to see through to the attackers is sublime. He’s a close second for my MOTM.

A brilliant match by an Arsenal side at it’s best. I don’t mean to imply that Barcelona were at their best because they did make mistakes, especially Pique when it game to his positioning for both goals, but they played pretty amazing football, moreso in the first half. That said we did quite well and have a strong win to ride into this weekend against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup, not to mention the second leg of the Champions League next month. Lets hope we can hold on to the fire we played with last night.

Cheers.