Thank Heavens They Scored When They Did
Clock End
By Boris Mellor
April 30 2007
The sun shone brightly on the brilliant green grass of the Grove as Arsenal and Fulham fans alike clapped furiously, but reverentially, for nearly a minute in appreciation of Alan Ball and Arthur Milton.
Arsenal took us all by surprise by taking the lead after only 4 minutes, a rare enough event at the Grove. The goal came from Adebayor’s Henryesque run down the wing with delightfully chipped cross which Baptista nodded in slowly, but accurately. A year ago that would have been the signal for a deluge of goal scoring but without Henry and RVP it didn’t come.
Sure there were plenty of chances, and the Fulham goalie was forced to make several good saves. Fabregas was unlucky to have a very good shot saved by a fingertip, and Adebayor had a decent header saved, nonetheless the main culprit was poor finishing.
Up to the end of the first half Arsenal dominated, and Fulham looked like one of the poorest teams I had seen all season. But the past was weighing heavy on my mind, for the longer the Gunners took to score a second then Fulham would have a chance.
In the second half Fulham looked like a new team, for whole periods they penned Arsenal in to their own half. Arsenal became increasingly sloppy and the crowd were entitled to become irritated by the untidy clearances and passes. The fact that the referee was bloody awful wasn’t the main reason that the Gunners were not on top; but it did not improve the mood of the crowd.
On 78 minutes the moment came that the crowd were expecting, the usual defensive error ending in a gift goal. Lehmann certainly needs to get out a lot less often, these mad forays of his are not helping. True the defence did not leave him the easiest of choices but he could get it right now and then. Actually its called flapping.
It is possible that the goal was offside, but that is neither here nor there, the game should have been put to bed in the first half. Whilst the team fails to convert chances into goals these accidents will happen.
It’s a good job Fulham scored with 13 minutes left, if they had left it later they might have gone home with a point. However they probably felt like a greedy child in an unattended sweetshop, having nicked one Mars bar they might as well have the lot. Fatal mistake, the store owner wasn’t having it, and so Adebayor furiously chased them around the pitch.
The crowd was also infuriated by this blatant attempted robbery and wanted to get the three points back. A combination of the crowd’s enthusiasm and Fabregas’s skill saw Adebayor score the second goal. It was a breakaway goal in the finest Wenger Ball tradition. The Gunners were back on top. Now the game was stretching out and within another 3 minutes Hleb won a penalty. Gilberto calmly slotted it home. Game, set, and match. What should have been an easy victory had become a struggle, and then in the last six minutes the Gunners had blown Fulham away. They should have stuck to one Mars bar.
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