45+4 mins: Peeeeeeep! Koscielny having denied Holt what seemed a certain goal with a saving tackle, it’s half-time! And Arsenal are a) losing, and b) rubbish!
45+2 mins: Norwich should be bored to the point of offensiveness by this kind of condescension this season, but Norwich’s performance today is really excellent, particularly given that they’re supposed to have started their summer holidays a few weeks back. Anyway, Vermaelen’s just been booked for a foul on Jackson.
45 mins: We’re going to have four minutes of stoppage time, and they get under way with Robin Van Persie working the ball to a good crossing position on the byline and then shooting anyway, into Ruddy’s chest.
42 mins: Bennett crosses from the right. It looks like Martin is going to win the header at the near post, but Koscielny yanks his shirt, pulls him to his knees and then overhead-kicks him in the head. No penalty.
40 mins: This is end-to-end stuff at the minute. Norwich have a penalty appeal turned down – Coquelin just getting a foot to the ball – and five seconds later Gervinho is giving the ball away in the other penalty area.
39 mins: Arsenal have won two of the five matches he’s missed entirely. But yes, they certainly look much better with him in the team than without him, that much is clear.
37 mins: CHANCE! Gervinho gets into the area, and Gibbs sends his cutback zipping wide of goal. I’ve been asked for some Arteta stats, so: he has played 31 games this season, of which 18 have been won, four have been drawn and nine lost.
32 mins: I’ve just seen all of Norwich’s goal, which was scored during a brief spell when my imagination was down. A lovely break from Norwich, who had nine players in their penalty area about 15 seconds before it was scored. While it’s been shown, Sagna has been stretchered off after collapsing for no apparent reason. Coquelin has replaced him.
29 mins: CHANCE! Sagna crosses low from the right, Van Persie slides in at the near post, but just misses the ball. In the build-up Jackson fouled Koscielny, who is now receiving treatment. Jackson has been booked.
GOAL! Arsenal 1 Norwich 2! (Holt, 27 mins) Grant Holt shoots from the edge of the area, and the ball clips the heel of a defender and loops over Szczesny into the back of the net! And I am now imagining this match with German commentary which I can’t understand in any way.
25 mins: My imagination is playing tricks on me. Phil Withall, get emailing.
22 mins: There’s no sense of Arsenal superiority currently, and their defence seem rather predictably unsettled by the classy muscularity of Holt. “May I offer a legal alternative to your ‘streaming’ issue,” offers Phil Withall. Yes Phil, you may. “I’ll watch from Australia, email you (minus any negative moments for Norwich) and you cut/paste as required.” Cheers Phil, but to judge from the scoreflashes coming in from the Press Association my imagination is currently being remarkably accurate.
20 mins: Ramsey gets booked for the day’s first nasty challenge, on Howson.
19 mins: Jackson plays in Holt, whose shot is well saved, and the linesman raises her flag anyway.
17 mins: ESPN’s FA Cup coverage, which I’ve got running silently in the corner of my screen, enters its sixth hour with The Enemy playing live from Wembley.
15 mins: Van Persie’s first-time shot from the edge of the area curls over the bar. Arsenal have had most of the play, but Norwich have made the most penalty-area incursions.
GOAL! Arsenal 1 Norwich 1! (Hoolahan, 13 mins) Noughton crosses from the right, Hoolahan sidefoots it goalwards but it’s straight at Szczesny, who helpfully shovels the ball into the net at the near post.
11 mins: Another cross from the left, and Holt wins the header ahead of an advancing goalkeeper, but sends the ball over the bar. “Whenever I watch football on dodgy streams, which should it be illegal to do so is never, I often find that it crashes at key moments,” writes C Holligan. “The best way to get around this is to have the Guardian’s Minute by Minute report open in another tab, so if the stream fails you still know what’s going on. Maybe you could try this?” Nice idea, C – I’ll give it a go.
9 mins: Benayoun’s attempted through-ball for Gervinho is slightly overhit. Quite an encouraging start here – very bright, both teams finding space. More goals to come, surely.
8 mins: “Well, if the worst comes to the worst and you do get locked up for being party to alleged breaches of copyright Simon, I for one will happily join any ‘Free the Guardian MBM One!’ campaign,” promises Ryan Dunne. Thanks, though that message of support may see you done as an accessory.
6 mins: CHANCE! Jackson crosses low from the left, behind three Arsenal defenders and to the feet of Grant Holt, whose left-foot shot flies into Gibbs.
4 mins: Norwich do a bit of attacking, but Vermaelen does well to beat Holt to the header from a left-wing cross.
3 mins: Rosicky passes to Benayoun, out on the left wing. He cuts into the penalty area, shimmies a bit – a very slow-motion dribble, this one – and then curls a shot in at the far post that the keeper doesn’t even bother diving for.
GOAL! Arsenal 1 Norwich 0 (Benayoun, 2 mins) What a start!
1 min: Peeeeeeeep! They’re off!
12.42pm: Norwich’s last victory over Arsenal was in August 1992, the very first day of the Premier League. Here are some highlights.
12.41pm: The players are in the tunnel. Action imminent.
12.34pm: Robin Van Persie is busy accepting an armful of player-of-the-season awards.
12.25pm: OK, I’ll be absolutely clear about this: this match was scheduled for MBM coverage in the belief that it was being broadcast live in the UK. It is not. I am, therefore, left relying on dodgy internet streaming services. As I understand it, it is the people responsible for broadcasting these matches online who are breaking the law, and not the people watching it. If I’ve got this wrong, and it’s the viewers who should be locked up, I’d like to make it absolutely clear that I’m not really using a dodgy internet streaming service at all. Absolutely not. Not at all. I’m am simply closing my eyes and imagining what might be happening. Honest guv.
Anyway, here are your teams:
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Ramsey, Song, Gervinho, Rosicky, Benayoun, van Persie. Subs: Fabianski, Park, Andre Santos, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Djourou, Chamakh, Coquelin.
Norwich: Ruddy, Naughton, Ryan Bennett, Martin, Lappin, Johnson, Howson, Elliott Bennett, Hoolahan, Jackson, Holt. Subs: Steer, Morison, Surman, Pilkington, Fox, Wilbraham, Ward.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
Simon Burnton will be here from 12.15pm. Meantime, why not read why Arsène Wenger is so confident that Robin van Persie will stay at Arsenal?
Arsène Wenger remains confident the Arsenal captain, Robin van Persie, will not be sold this summer.
The Holland captain was relaxed about his future as he collected the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award on Thursday night, insisting no matter what happens during the rest of his career he would “always be a Gunner”.
Read the rest of the article here.
Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/05/arsenal-norwich-city-match-report-mbm?newsfeed=true
