>
Arsenal has always been known for their beautiful short passing, fluid football. It was going to be an exciting encounter when Barcelona visited Arsenal at the Emirates. But i have never in my lifetime seen Arsenal cornered like this at their own home turf. Barcelona played magnificent football, it wasn’t Messi that was destroying Arsenal, it was the whole Barcelona team and how they outplayed Arsenal during the first half, with the amount of chances, they could have put the tie to bed even before the half hour mark. If people wanted to see how beautiful football should be played, watch this highlight.
It was definitely a shock how the scoreline stayed goalless after Barcelona pretty much bombarded the Arsenal goal, lucky Almunia recovered from that Birmingham blunder to put up a inspiring performance to keep the home side in the match. But Barcelona didn’t even give Arsenal a chance to breathe in the second half as they scored right after the kickoff. Arsenal’s defense was split right open and Almunia rushed out but could only watch as Ibrahimovic looped it over his head and into the net. Ibrahimovic then scored another goal 13 minutes later from the same position to put Barcelona 2-0 up.
From the on, i thought Arsenal’s game is over as Barcelona was in total control, but i was wrong and i admire how the character of the young Arsenal side is starting to mature. It was good to see that they managed to pull themselves together and never gave up. It was definitely encouraging to see! Theo Walcott managed to pull back one goal which i felt was fortunate, even so, Arsenal did deserve a goal for the persistence. As the game started to come to an end, Farbregas shouldered the hopes and dreams of the Arsenal fans to put give Arsenal the equalizer from the penalty awarded. It was a shock to how Arsenal manage to come back after being pushed around the first half. It may not be as close to the Liverpool vs Ac Milan Champions League final comeback, but it was definitely a great comeback from the young gunners against a quality side. Injuries and suspensions to both sides is going to make the 2nd leg at the Nou Camp a very entertaining match to look forward to. I hope the match will just as entertaining as this one!
Signing off
Prosoc8
Passion For Football 