Saying we just ‘helped’ Leyton Orient break-even would be an understatement. We just made their entire wage budget and Russell Slade, their manager, should be thanking us.
It’s funny the way we play football. Not even a week has passed since we beat the 'best' team in the world, and here we are drawing to an English League one team. Well, that’s football for you folks. It’s not that we played badly- we actually played pretty well. We dominated possession, made great passes (6 times more than them), and created a lot of chances. But like it or not, even with all these great statistics, the end product was not achieved.
All the starters of the Barcelona game, with the exception of Song, were rested. Young Spaniard Ignasi Miquel got a start at CB, along with Squillaci. He looked assured throughout the game; not an eye-catching performance, but surely someone to watch in the future. Gibbs and Sagna (what a terrible hairdo by the way), played beside them with Almunia between the sticks. He had a horrible game, Almunia. Surely he’ll be on his way out at the end of this season with the emergence of Wojiciech and Fabianski.
The midfield trio of Song, Denilson and Thomas didn't boast much creativity, but they were expected to dominate anyway and they did everything except put the ball in the back of the net (except for Rosicky). Arshavin, brimming with confidence from his late goal against Barcelona, was expected to play well and he troubled the Orient back four all day. Bendtner and Chamakh had a few swings at goal- none making much of an impact.
The goal from Arsenal came after a long wait and it was a pretty good one. Bendtner tried a shot at the goal that got blocked and came back to him. He waited and dribbled his way to the right end of the box, before chipping in a cross which was met by Rosicky's head from some distance. A good goal.
Leyton did respond pretty well and they looked likely to score from then on, but despite the encouraging signs, they still weren’t making too much of an impact. The real impact was made by one Jonathan Tehoue, a former French division 3 player who came on in the late stages, replacing Scott Mcgleish, showing just why he was known as 'Super Sub' among the Orient fans. He jinked his way through Miquel and Gibbs and shot a mean and powerful shot under the legs of a scampering Almunia. Game over. 1-1. For pretty good highlights from the match go here.
A draw, though not a bad result, does nothing good for the already congested schedule. The Orient fans were ecstatic and we can’t take anything away from them. They played well, put men behind the ball, and in the end got the result they desired.
On top of all this, if we win the tie at the Emirates, we’ll be going to Old Trafford to play Man Utd in the next round. Looks like we’ll have to win the FA cup the hard way. Our attention should now be on the upcoming Stoke City match on Wednesday.
In other team news, the injury scare for Djourou wasn't that bad and Walcott is fit as well, so they both should start. A preview for the game will be up in the next few days.
That’s all for today day folks. Have a good Monday.
©goonerburgh
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