In between the two Walcott efforts Blackburn briefly sent our hearts a-flutter as Roberts was played in but Gallas marshalled him off the ball and Almunia collected

Match Review – Blackburn 0 Arsenal 4 – Premier League

A combination of the North-West; plus blue skies; plus having banter with Paul Robinson; plus a flattering four-goal victory made for a slightly surreal yet hugely satisfying victory for The Arsenal Away Boyz. Eleven goals in three games since the Fulham fiasco makes that black day seem like an eternity ago.

Having had one too many beers and two too many Sambucas on Friday night with my work mates, I awoke on Saturday feeling like a mess. I looked like one too, but a quick shower and shave put that right. I met my mates DJ, Troy and Banjo at a whopping 9.15am and we set off on our merry way – the aim being to get to Blackburn in time for the Scouse/Manc game.

A fairly painless journey saw us achieve that ambition. The only worry on our travels came when we were within two miles of Blackburn. Having travelled the length of the country bathed in glorious sunshine, we managed to get past Manchester, Liverpool, Wigan and Bolton with not a raindrop in sight. I was delighted, because I knew bad weather would make the team’s life eminently more difficult. So when the heavens miraculously opened within touching distance of our destination, I was not a happy bunny. Thankfully God was a Gooner and suitably stopped the rain as the sun came out to play.

We walked past a hotel with the sign: “Away fans welcome”. Excellent. We stumbled in and although there was no grub on offer, there was a bar with plenty of seating and a big screen. After the previous night’s shenanigans I stuck to orange juice, but it was Liverpool who were looking punch drunk as they went down 1-0 in two minutes. They clawed a goal back thanks to the wonder that is Wes ‘Baked Bean’ Brown, and as the half-time whistle blew we exited and began our long walk to the Ewood Park.

Stopping of for some food beforehand, we got into the stadium at around 2.20pm. To our joy the big screen in the ground was broadcasting the Scouse/Manc game, and even more joyous was Ryan Babel’s late winner. Cue many cheers from the vast travelling support in the Darwen End. I personally would have preferred a draw but a Manc defeat is a rarity, and as the old saying goes: beggars can’t be choosers.

The players came out to warm up but there was one glaring omission: a certain Theo Walcott. I had always felt that he’d be rested for this game, but dropped completely from the squad? My fears were allayed moments later when, like all savvy celebrities, he emerged fashionably late from the tunnel to a rapturous reception. He even hit a stunning shot in that left Almunia grasping at thin air. It would be the only time the Spanglish One was beaten all day.

The game kicked off and the first action came when Emerton bested Clichy down the right and hit a dangerous ball that trickled all the way across the face of goal. Despite the emphatic scoreline and clean sheet, there can be no countering the claim that we were still shaky at the back, especially when defending crosses in the first period.

Last season my away days were tainted by the unhappy habit of conceding first so when I remarked to my mate DJ that I’d love for us to break the deadlock, it was more in hope than expectation. But on eight minutes the players did the bizzo. Theo cut in from the left and played the ball into the feet of Robin, who took two touches to control and prod the ball past the hapless Robinson. At the time I underestimated Theo’s contribution to the goal: having now seen the replays he did fantastically well to dart in between a number of challenges and find Robin with a perfectly-weighted pass.

After that our old defensive failings reared their ugly head again. Blackburn should have equalised immediately through Santa Cruz after a ball wasn’t properly cleared; the retreating Toure got the all important touch to flick the shot over the bar. A rapid break from the ensuing corner saw Ade feeding Theo down the left. He had time to take a touch but opened his body and tried to curl it into the top corner. Unfortunately it didn’t have enough bend.

Santa Cruz was dangerous and physically imposing – no wonder we were linked with him in the summer. There was one moment when he contested a long ball and Gallas tried to challenge. Cap’n Willy didn’t have a chance and simply bounced of the powerful Paraguayan. With Emerton and Pedersen out wide Blackburn continued to pose problems, especially down the right. Santa Cruz had two headers and he should have scored from at least one of them: the first was tamely nodded wide; the second powered over the bar.

The biggest heart-stopping moment again came from our left side. Whether this was due to Theo not providing the support to his full-back that Eboue was, or because Sagna is altogether more solid than Clichy, I’m not sure. Emerton squared the ball into the corridor of uncertainty and I was expecting a blue and white shirt to tap it in. Instead it went all the way through to Kolo who, from under his own crossbar, managed to knock it behind from a corner. From where we were sitting it looked like he might poke it into his own goal, but in the end it was good defending as Santa Cruz was lurking menacingly behind him.

Despite this we had our fair share of chances, especially Robin who has a happy knack of scoring against Blackburn. The Dutchman spurned a couple of presentable efforts: the first into the side netting from his weaker right foot, the second a volley snatched wide from 20-yards.

Whilst the away fans were creating some decent noise, we could barely hear a peep from the home support. Throughout the entire match I can only remember a solitary half-arsed chant of “Rovers, Rovers”, which was soon drowned out by the travelling Gooners.

With five minutes left before half-time and Blackburn remaining a threat, Le Boss switched Eboue and Theo around. I didn’t think there was enough time for it to pay immediate dividends going forward, but it did. Patient build up saw us look to attack on the right. With no avenues opening, the players had no qualms in retaining possession and sending the ball back to the defenders to begin probing from the left. Eventually Denilson got a few yards of space down that flank and flighted a cross in for Ade, who had pulled away from his marker at the back post. The cross was a peach and Ade had the simple task of nodding it past Robinson. We were slightly fortunate to go in with a two-goal cushion, but as they say: fortune favours the brave.

A word about that goal. During the early stages of the move there were the inevitable cries of “shooooooooooot!” from some Gooners. Yet the players declined to do so and were happy to change the angle of attack. As the ball went back to Gallas on the halfway line, it briefly passed through my mind how we were the only team in the world that had such patience in possession. Most other teams would get anxious and prematurely ejaculate with a wayward long-range effort from 30-yards, but not us. I think every outfielder got a touch in that move, which I am reliably informed involved 27 passes. Fantastic stuff.

The players came out for the second period and, predictably, Paul Robinson made his way towards us Gooners at the Darwen End to a cacophony of boos. The smiling manner in which he acknowledged our vitriol made me warm to him, however. There was one point during the half when we serenaded him with a chant of “Tottenham’s number two”, to which he put up three fingers. That put a smile on our faces and the majority of booing and deriding of him from thereon in was good natured.

Ade too had a smile on his face during the second-half as we tried to pick off the home side on the counter. During a five-minute spell midway through the half where we cranked up the pressure, he was constantly grinning and acknowledging the acclaim of the travelling faithful. Grabbing his first goal of the season just before half-time no doubt lifted some weight off his shoulders.

From the off we threatened. Denilson chipped the ball into the path of Theo, who scampered past his man and into the box. His newfound confidence saw him elect to shoot instead of crossing, stinging the palms of Robinson at the near post. Five minutes later Theo was again in the thick of things but dragged his shot wide. The young England star looked a lot more of a goal threat from the right, and Eboue did a very decent job on the opposite wing. The fact that we looked tighter down that flank in the second period was no coincidence whatsoever. Well done that man.

In between the two Walcott efforts Blackburn briefly sent our hearts a-flutter as Roberts was played in but Gallas marshalled him off the ball and Almunia collected.

A flurry of corners led to three chances for our Ivorians. Kolo should have sealed the game from point-blank range from the first corner. The second corner was cleared and fell to Eboue on the edge of the box, but his howitzer was tipped over by Robinson. The final corner again fell to Eboue outside the area, but this time his effort was wacky and wild. Nonetheless, it brought great cheers to the Arsenal fans who had warmed to the Number 27’s endeavours.

Just after the hour mark England’s new hero exited the scene to a standing ovation from both the away and home supporters. A nice moment for OUR Theo, who was replaced by Song.

With ten minutes remaining Sagna threaded the ball through to the rampaging Eboue who rode Warnock’s challenge and went over. Penalty? I wasn’t so sure and seemingly neither was the ref as he took an age to point to the spot. Ade stepped up and although Robinson guessed correctly, the penalty had too much height and power.

The man who won the penalty – the Ivorian Warrior – departed on a stretcher. Initially I thought that the ref was gonna book him for diving, and even when he stayed down no-one really believed he was legitimately injured. For ‘Emmanuel Eboue’, read ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’. He may miss Kiev in midweek, which is a shame as he is in his best patch of form since the run to Paris in 2006.

Changes were afoot for both teams which led to an inevitable drop in the game’s tempo. One of Blackburn’s subs was Benni McCarthy and he had a daisycutter smartly saved by Almunia. They say the sign of a great keeper is one who can produce the goods when he’s had nowt to do for a while. I was particularly impressed with Manuel’s handling of crosses. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a darn sight more reliable than David James and has a real shout for claiming England’s number one jersey.

Arsenal themselves introduced two debutants as Messrs Wilshere and Ramsey came on. The latter had an immediate impact and was involved in our final goal, sliding the ball through to Ade who rounded Robinson and couldn’t miss. No better way to get off the mark for the season than by grabbing a hat-trick. As the fans sung his name with the same gusto we did last season, you knew his rehabilitation was complete.

So four-nil, not bad for a team who supposedly cower in the North-West. There’s no doubting that the scoreline flattered us: had Blackburn been more clinical in the first-half then it would have been a different story altogether. There’s two ways of looking at it: firstly, we can justifiably moan that the defence still has a soft centre; and secondly, our killer instinct in front of goal got us out of jail. So every negative has its own positive spin. But it’d be nice to iron out the negatives completely as bigger tests await us.

Another trip to the North-West next weekend as we go head-to-head against our old nemesis Bolton. Before that, a gruelling trip to Kiev in midweek. Let’s hope we can maintain our fluency in attack whilst tightening up at the back. Because the long road to Rome begins now.