Yesterday could well be a milestone in the title race to look back upon and wonder about what could have been. But I don’t care. The career of Eduardo, if not completely finished, will at least be heavily damaged and as Arsenal fans the injury to a very promising player is without doubt the most important thing to reflect upon.
I will cover the Eduardo incident in far more detail in another post later on, and try and keep to an accurate account of the match for this article, as difficult as that is given the bearing the injury had on the match.
When Taylor got shown the red within three minutes I thought that the game was in the bag, the three points guaranteed, but when it became clear the effect of the challenge on not only Eduardo but his stricken team mates around him,the game suddenly seemed far less important to both the fans and the players, and this showed in the first half. It took twenty minutes for Birmingham to capitalise on Arsenal’s shock, with Birmingham getting a free kick on the edge of the penalty area after a 50:50 challenge from Flamini that could have gone either way. Mcfadden stepped up and showed his class by curling the ball into the top right corner of the net. In a disjointed and poor first half, Muamba was immense in central midfield for 10 man Birmingham, and McFadden also showed glimpses of class, and probably should have doubled his tally one on one with Almunia, but bizarrely mis kicked the ball wide.
The second half couldn’t have been more different though, with Arsenal seemingly resolved to win the game for Eduardo. Fabregas and Hleb picked up the pace in particular, with both being denied by the diving Taylor from outside the box. Hleb also had a well struck shot from the edge of the area turned over by Taylor as Arsenal pressed. From the corner Taylor could not grab the ball off Adebayor’s head, and the Togolese strikers header fell to Walcott whose neat finish gave the young Englishman his first Premier League goal. Walcott’s new found confidence from the goal told immediately as his brilliant first time ball set up Fabregas only for the Spaniard to hit the post. And Walcott was again at the heart of the action moments later, picking the ball up at speed, going past one defender before slotting home from the edge of the box. 2-1, and seemingly job done, with Arsenal going close repeatedly from Adebayor and co. but unable to get the third and decisive goal. Then, with just moments left, disaster struck as Arsenal’s reluctance to hoof the ball clear got Clichy into trouble, and as the Frenchman dallied he was force into a challenge with Parnaby, but despite getting the ball the referee pointed to the spot. With 94 minutes on the clock McFadden stepped up and cooly converted, leaving Man United only three poins behing the Gunners with eleven games left to play.
