Arsenal 2 - 0 Wigan. Emirates Stadium, London. Saturday 24 November 2007.

Bendtner Sparks Life into Arsenal.

The ball is being moved around very quickly in this game, and newly-appointed coach Steve Bruce must be pleased with what he is seeing. No doubt the Wigan players are keen to impress their new boss in order to keep their jobs as the January 08 transfer window will open soon.
You get the impression that sometime Arsenal move the ball sometimes too predictably quickly, and too often. One reason to switch the point of attack laterally is to stretch the opposing defence so gaps appear between the defenders. When the ball is moved from left to right and back quickly, defenders don't have to run as much as much as they might so as to provide cover. In other words, the switch of the point of attack must be made to count for something.
The Wigan team – prepared for this match by temporary manger Frank Barlow due to the delay in the installation of Bruce – are under a lot of pressure all over the park, and Marcus Bent is working hard up front to harass the Arsenal defence. In the 78th minute, substitute Emile Heskey fouls Theo Walcott and the Arsenal player is compelled to be helped from the field of play. Bendtner is brought in his place, but it is Wigan's counter attack that is brilliantly stymied by the excellent Toure.
Late in the game Gallas starts a move in front of the Wigan penalty area and the ball is passed out to the right via Bendtner to Sagna whose near-post cross is expertly finished by Gallas. 1 – 0 to the Gunners. Wigan come out of their shells and are immediately made to pay through Bendtner's breakout run through the midfield that ends in a pass to Rosicky who again finds Kilbane a yard slow in the right-back position. The Czech player hits the ball across the solid Wigan keeper Pollitt and the shot couldn't be more perfect as it enters the goal after rebounding in off the inside of the post: 2 – 0. Perhaps it is the quick ball movement that tires out opponents - if we look at the number of times Arsenal leave it late to win games. Someone has called Arsenal's style "death by a thousand passes".

Derby County 0 – 2 Chelsea. Pride Park. Saturday 24 November 2007.

Poor Refereeing Gifts Chelsea a Win.

Many are expecting a score of something like 0 – 10 by the end of today's game, so the Derby team should be looking forward to hearing the referee's whistle indicating the end of the encounter. Derby manager Billy Davies is looking at his watch after a mere 18 seconds, seemingly bearing out this view. But is Derby who win a corner in the second minute, but it is wastefully overhit by Moore. How many corners will the mostly-British Derby team get against the star-studded Chelsea side?
The Derby fans are booing every time one of Chelsea's England players touches the ball – including John Terry and Ashley Cole, neither of whom played in England's Euro 2008 qualifier losses to Croatia and Russia.
It's not until the 14th minute do we see a shot, off target from Frank Lampard, reviled by the aggressive Derby fans for his part in England's failure to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals. But it's not long after that that Kalou scores, placing the ball inside Bywater's left-hand post after a delightful first-time pass into the box by Sidwell: 0 – 1.
Derby are too frightened to leave their defensive third and so cannot get the ball, which the Chelsea back line seem intent on not releasing from their possession - even to their own midfielders. This is a non-event as a spectacle, but the 33,000 spectators don't seem too unhappy given that the comfort-level of their expectations is not disturbed. Equally undisturbed is the aforementioned Chelsea back line. Kenny Miller is only rarely pressuring them, and never enough to force them into a mistake. When the ball does go forwards many of the Derby players look completely out of their depth at this level; the team is unable to string three successive passes together. Fagan and Barnes look the liveliest but even they are loath to take on and beat an opponent. For Chelsea, Wright-Phillips appears to be getting irritated by the booing and he manages to get a shot on target, saved by Bywater.
In the 34th minute the poor Derby defender Davis heads the ball back across the face of his own goal right into the path of Kalou, who fails to score from about 3 yards: terrible defending followed by pathetic finishing.
The second half sees Derby manage to get the ball into the Chelsea penalty area. Oakley and Fagan having shots, but it is after Kenny Miller's equalizing "goal" (incorrectly ruled offside by the assistant referee – when is FIFA going to allow video evidence to help referees?) that Giles Barnes is fouled by Shevchenko in midfield and the referee allows play to continue so that Lampard's shot is turned in by Wright-Phillips. 0 - 2.
FIFA needs to allow video evidence to help referees! Headlines such as "England Players Silence Boo-Boys" are incorrect: it was the poor refereeing in this game that denied Derby a draw and a valuable point.
Substitutions left far too late by the Derby management made some impact at the end of the game: in the 82nd minute Howard beat Terry to the ball but failed to make the right contact on the ball to score; Earnshaw, a proven goal scorer, was allowed only 4 minutes to change the game, and Feilhaber (the U.S. international who has impressed many with his ability, especially in the Gold Cup Final against Mexico) with a lovely piece of skill lifted the spirit of his teammates .. but he was only allowed to play for six minutes, much to the bemusement of fans across the pond. See the watchsoccer blog post 20 November 2007. Essien was rightly sent off (red card) for scratching Miller's face in added time, though even that incident (which Chelsea coach Avram Grant seems to think is part of a referees' conspiracy against his team) would have benfited from the use of video evidence to help association football referees come to their decision.