Westham had 5 for dinner on Wednesday night and the momentum was built at the emirates. Our next opponent was to either bear the grunt of our 10 minutes 4 goals madness or send us to the oblivion of inconsistent performances. Brighton and Hove Albion were our task.
Our third round tie with Swansea at Wales needed a replay at the emirates to settle the tie. We had been held to a 2-2 draw before Wilshere left Swansea at sea with his shot. In fourth round, we went away to Brighton and Wenger opted for the fringes, weaklings and returnees. Jekinson, Santos were given starts. Diaby returned, so did the little Mozart Rosicky. The OX ran the wings. Our bench looked rich with Cazorla, Gibbs, Walcott, Wilshere sitting.
Kudos must be given to Oliver Giroud for his brace to put us ahead twice in the game. He has been unfairly and impatiently criticized for his lack of goals in recent games. He had no goals in December due to injuries and probably lack of form. But 4 goals in 2 matches is not a mere feat. He should have gotten his first Arsenal hattrick but for some selfish play from his teammates.
Ramsey has gone two games now doing the right things. This Welshman is a central midfielder and he produces the best plays playing at the center not at the wings were Arsene often plays him. His welsh manager is even craving for a move to give him more playing time. I am one of Ramsey’s critics but I must praise his performances in recent times.
Theo continues to be our crème de la crème. Scoring the winning goal is what almost everybody wants to get. He has scored 19 goals this season. Was he waiting for the contract signature? I doubt so. I pray he scores every week. His pace is electrifying and he is a team player more on the wings than alone upfront.
Santos is finished finally; My flop of the match. What shall we do? Sell him? Who else can play left back for us except Gibbs? I don’t want to see our captain deputing there. We could make do with some rookie from our U-21 to bolster that department. Let’s hope Gibbs don’t get injured because we have just him.
A 3-2 win in a cup game is great and I hope we have a good draw in the next round. We play Liverpool in midweek before stoke and Sunderland next in view of our Bavarian date at the emirates.
In far away South Africa, our forgotten Ivoiren shone like a thousand stars as he scored the opener for the Elephants of Cote d’ivoire defeated Tunisia 3-0 to qualify for the quarter finals of the AFCON with a game in hand. Gervinho has been in fine form in the orange jerseys of the Elephants; maybe Arsenal should add orange to their kit for his sake.
In other game two fixture at the AFCON, Togo beat Algeria 2-0. In group C, Zambia shared the spoils with Nigeria thanks to a late dubious penalty against the Super Eagles. Burkina Faso opened the goal feast in Mandela’s country with a 4-0 whitewash of Ethiopia despite playing with 10 men before scoring 3 goals.
The last round of group games started on Sunday and 8 teams would board their flights home by Wednesday. my elation were boundless as Cape Verde came from a goal down to defeat Angola 2-1 making the quarterfinal. Cape Verde, a tiny west African island country is making its debut appearance in the AFCON tournament. South Africa are also through to the next round. Mouth watery African clashes await the AFCON tournament. The biggest African football festival in Africa, don’t miss it.
enough.
SoccerGunz 