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#738
Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers
Barclays Premiership
Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Kick-off: 3pm
REFEREE
* Chris Foy (St Helens)
ATTENDANCE
* 38,192
ARSENAL
* Jens Lehmann
* Robert Pires
* Mathieu Flamini 77
* Jose Antonio Reyes
* Fredrik Ljungberg 71
* Dennis Bergkamp
* Robin van Persie 82
* Lauren
* Thierry Henry
* Francesc Fabregas
* Pascal Cygan
* Gilberto
* Sol Campbell
* Kolo Toure
SUBS
* Philippe Senderos
* Manuel Almunia
BLACKBURN ROVERS
* Brad Friedel
* Lucas Neil
* Andy Todd
* Ryan Nelsen
* Brett Emerton
* Robbie Savage
* Shefki Kuqi
* Paul Dickov 79
* Craig Bellamy
* Morten Gamst Pedersen
* Steven Reid
* Michael Gray
SUBS
* Zurab Khizanishvili
* Peter Enckelman
* Aaron Mokoena
* David Thompson
ARSENAL
2
Fabregas 4
Henry 45
Van Persie 90
BLACKBURN ROVERS
0
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FT - Arsenal 3-0 Blackburn Rovers - First half goals by Fabregas and Henry set Arsenal on their way to a comfortable home win. Van Persie came off the bench to net a late wonder strike to complete the afternoon's scoring. A full match report will follow shortly.
90 mins - GOAL - Arsenal 3-0 - Robin van Persie cuts in from the right flank, leaves two defenders for dead before curling an unstopabble effort in off the far post.
80 mins - Blackburn enjoy a sustained period of possession forcing a number of corners but the Arsenal defence stands firm.
75 mins - Ljungberg makes a break up field for Arsenal and finds Henry to his right. The Frenchman evades his marker with an equisite first touch but his attempted shot with the outside of his right boot skews wide.
71 mins - Reid shoots from 16 yards but his fizzing effort is blocked for a corner by Cygan. Ljungberg replaces Reyes for Arsenal.
66 mins - Bellamy hits the outside of Lehmann's right-hand post with a stooping header from Pedersen's left-wing cross.
51 mins - Blackburn force a corner through Bellamy. Pires clears the resultant delivery off the line as both sets of players scramble for the ball inside the Arsenal six-yard box.
46 mins - Henry cuts onto his right foot on the left flank and sends a low cross into the box. The ball evades everyone, including Bergkamp who was stationed at the far post, and rolls behind for a goal kick.
HT - Cesc Fabregas gave Arsenal a dream start with a well-taken goal inside four minutes. The young Spaniard picked his spot from the edge of the penalty area following good work by Jose Antonio Reyes. Blackburn gradually came into the game and striker Craig Bellamy saw two efforts blocked before volleying agonisingly wide when one-on-one with Jens Lehmann. But moments before the break, Robert Pires picked out Thierry Henry with a wonderful through ball and the record goalscorer dispatched Arsenal's second to net his 100th goal at Highbury.
45 mins - GOAL - Arsenal 2-0 - Thierry Henry puts Arsenal 2-0 up as he nets his 100th goal at Highbury. Robert Pires slices open the Rovers' rearguard wih a perfectly-weighted through ball. Henry takes the pass in his stride and finds the bottom right-hand corner with a low first-time finish. Gilberto almost adds a third with a 25-yard pildriver but Friedel beats the Brazillian's effort clear.
31 mins - Lauren concedes a freekick for a trip on Pedersen 30 yards from goal. Reid sends a powerful shot high and wide of Lehmann's goal.
29 mins - Bellamy volleys a lofted through ball agonisingly wide of the right post as Blackburn begin to enjoy more of the possession.
24 mins - Bellamy shoots from an acute angle on the right of the box but Lehmann saves. The ball falls back to the Welshman whose follow-up effort is headed behind for a corner by Toure.
21 mins - Robert Pires makes a break down the right-hand touchline, cuts inside and sends an inviting low delivery across the Rovers six-yard box but Neill clears for the visitors with Bergkamp ready to pounce.
17 mins - Toure blocks a point blank range half-volley by Pedersen following a lofted through ball into the Arsenal penalty area. The ball rolls loose to Kuqi but Campbell smothers the danger with a fine last-ditch sliding tackle, before the ex-Ipswich forward can get a shot away. However, Arsenal still look firmly in command. as we approach the 20 minute mark.
12 mins - Blackburn with their first real attack of the game, break on Arsenal's left with Republic of Ireland star Steven Reid. But the former Millwall man's low centre is cleared by Kolo Toure with Shefki Kuqi poised menacingly in the six-yard box for Rovers.
8 mins - Arsenal continue to dominate possession with Blackburn camped in their own half. Reyes, Thierry Henry and Fabregas are all heavilly involved in the action. Henry sees his 30-yard free tipped past the left-hand post by an alert Fridel.
4 mins - GOAL - Arsenal 1-0 Blackburn Rovers - Cesc Fabregas gives Arsenal an early lead, calmly placing the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of Brad Friedel's goal following good work on the edge of the box by Jose Antonio Reyes. It is the young Spaniard's first league goal of the season.
Welcome to Highbury for this afternoon's Premiership encounter with Blackburn Rovers. Arsène Wenger is still without long-term absentees Ashley Cole, Gael Clichy and Alexander Hleb but welcomes back Jens Lehmann, Dennis Bergkamp, Gilberto and Kolo Toure after the quartet sat out Tuesday's 1-0 win over FC Thun.
Mahieu Flamini, Robin van Persie, Philippe Senderos and Fredrik Ljungberg drop to the bench as Wenger rotates his squad. Pascal Cygan remains at left back and Bergkamp partners captain, Thierry Henry in attack.
Subscibers to Arsenal TV Online can now hear live commentary of this game. Dan Roebuck is joined by Terry Neill in the press box at Highbury. See above for subscription details.
By Richard Clarke
Arsène Wenger has warned his players to guard against complacency when Blackburn visit Highbury tomorrow.
On the face of it, Arsenal are odds-on favourites to extend their unbeaten League run to nine games. They have won all eight home fixtures this season, assured top spot in Champions League Group B on Tuesday with a match to spare and have been steadily climbing the Premiership table in recent weeks with 22 points from their last 24.
Meanwhile Blackburn have won just one of their last 12 Premiership away games.
However Wenger argues that the Ewood Park outfit are a rejuvenated side this term. They still have the steel displayed in the FA Cup Semi-Final between the two sides last season but have added some speed and guile too.
“We are all conscious it is tricky game for us tomorrow,” said Wenger at today’s pre-game press conference. “Blackburn are a very effective side.
“They have the commitment of Mark Hughes because when you played against him he gave you a rough time. He gets that quality from his side and I see nothing wrong with it.
“His side have great fitness too and they added this season what they needed — Craig Bellamy.
“With Paul Dickov, he gives you the commitment and runs that they needed. I feel they will be one of the sides who can upset anybody this season in the Premiership.”
In addition a more serious look at that poor away record reveals that their solitary success must act as warning tomorrow.
“They won at Manchester United this season,” said Wenger, “and they have just drawn at Manchester City, who have had good results recently. That shows they are not only committed, they are quality.
“We will focus on our passing and try to be a speedy, technical side. It is the best way to cope with their commitment.
“But the one thing I have noticed in the training sessions recently is that the belief is back and the ambition is there. The unity is fine as well, what we need now is consistency.”
Wenger is without Ashley Cole (foot), Gael Clichy (foot) and Alexander Hleb (knee). It means he is likely to stick with Pascal Cygan on the port side of the defence.
“It is blow to lose these left backs,” said Wenger. “It is a short-term situation. I try to get around it and, at the moment, I’ll play Cygan or Lauren. However I still feel we have to wait for Ashley.
“But on the positive side we have rebuilt confidence and I believe within the squad the spirit is very high therefore I feel we can compensate.”