Arsenal Downs Tigers
By: Matt | January 17th, 2009Arsenal 3 Hull City AFC 1
Hull City fell to Arsenal 3-1 at the KC this afternoon, with two late goals getting the Gunners all three points. Kevin Kilbane made his debut for the Tigers, after signing from Wigan earlier in the week, with loan signing Manucho starting on the bench for the Black and Amber.
An early Adebayor header off of a corner gave Arsenal the lead, Doyle could have done a bit better guarding the post, but a good goal nonetheless. RVP also smashed a free kick off the crossbar in a firt half generally dominated by Arsenal, outside of the first two minutes, which saw Hull press Arsenal deep in their half. For the Tigers, Berny Mendy was always threatening down the right wing, his pace giving Clichy fits all match.
The second half saw Manucho make his debut for the club, and he promptly was flattened by Kolo Toure in the Arsenal box, with his left eye eventually swelling shut (good start to his Hull career). He played well enough afterwards, with some good touches, but he could of showed more of a killer instinct in and around the box. This will come though, so I’m not too worried. The equalizer came unsurprisingly from Mendy, down the right, his deflected cross slammed into the net by a diving Cousin header.
Arsenal began pressing, with Samir ‘I have one move’ Nasri (everytime he gets it on the left, he dips his left shoulder, fakes to his left, and drives to his right. Every.single.time.) clinically slamming home a RVP throughball to give Arsenal a late lead. The third was from Bendtner, even though RVP was criminally offsides in the buildup, to clinch it.
Disappointing in that it was 1-1 till late, but the amount of possession Arsenal enjoyed was just one indication of who was better on the day. Geo was fantastic as usual, zipping around the pitch, beating players, winning tackles, and passing well. Mendy I felt was the best performer, continually torturing Clichy with his pace, even though Gael surely is one of the fastest fullbacks in the EPL. Manucho looks a good pickup, once he shakes off the rust I can see Geovanni and him becoming one heck of a tandem on the counterattack.
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Comments
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Good perfomance by the Tigers today. As an Arsenal supporter your side has earned my respect with their pace and pressure defense. Now its time for Hull to end this 5 game slide and earn a European spot. Let the Tigers prowl the continent.
Also Manucho deserved a PK when Djourou did his best Ray Lewis impersenation. What a clumsy centerback.
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United States
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That wasn’t a penalty. It was simply two committed guys, eyes firmly on a ball falling from height, jumping up and into the ball and clashing with each other. Should Djourou be punished for being the stronger of the two (on that occasion) and staying on his feet?
Good game. Well played Hull.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Ahh right, sorry, meant Djourou flattened Manucho, not Toure.
On the challenge itself, I will say it was quite clumsy on DJ’s part, but it was always going to awkward for Manucho once it bounced. DJ saw the opportunity to win it, and took it. I think either way would have had once side fuming, unfortunatley for us it went to the Gunners.
I think Manucho will be a good signing, and yes, UEFA Cup, or Europa League, whatever it will be called, would be fantastic. But first to get out of the slump.
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