Arsenal at the 'HEAD' of the 'PARK'

CELTIC FC 0-2 ARSENAL
Tuesday August 18, 2009
Celtic Park, Parkhead, Glasgow

Tackles were flying all around on Tuesday night, with even Georgios Samaras putting in committed efforts to win the ball

Before I start scribbling on the match, let me just tell you all that I have no words to express the atmosphere at Celtic Park where fans were nearly 60,000 strong. I was fortunate enough to catch the match live on lame-ass channel Ten Sports (that, in all probability will be the last Arsenal match we see on that channel for a long long time, given their fuckin' bias towards the Red Devils' games) and their decision to take the commentary off for most of the game (luckily) turned out to be a good one. For that was the only way we could actually see (and hear) how Celtic Park was. Intimidating to say the least.

But so were the twelve men in blue (Diaby, the super sub included too) It was the twelve men who won the battle against the 55000+ Celtic supporters, the first such battle won by an English opposition in over 26 years. Of course, its quality that prevails. And not the quantity. Arsenal took that statement a little too literally, with only two goals to show for their impressive performance under Herculean conditions in Scotland. There is no denying that those two goals were both huge slices of luck, but I'm sure no sane being would accuse Arsenal of 'stealing' Celtic's victory.

I must applaud the Celtic park groundsman for having maintained such a great pitch. It really let the game flow. I know its no easy task maintaining football pitches, given that the weather is getting angrier and all the more unpredictable by the day. Add to that the presence of multi-purpose pitches that take a battering across Europe, be it for lower league football matches or for different sports. Ask the Wigan groundsman, he'll vouch for that. The JJB Stadium also plays host to numerous rugby matches, thus making the stadium a living hellhole for the opposition (and the home team too)

Talk of rugby matches, the first 45 minutes of Celtic vs Arsenal felt like one. Needless to say, it was the Arsenal youngsters who were getting pushed and raped all over the park. And hard as the young guns tried, the Celtic players proved just a little too strong physically. Had this match been played on Wigan's JJB, I'm sure I would have taken it to be a rugby match. I think I'm going to rename Celtic the all-Greens (Scotland's answer to the all-Blacks, New Zealand's rugby team)

Murder attempts on players apart, Celtic played a fabulous game. At times, there was this feeling that I was watching two Arsenals on television. Tony Mowbray's philosophy has worked wonders with the Scottish club and one wonders what they did wrong on the night to come out on the worse side of a 2-0 decision. Aiden Mcgeady was a livewire throughout the game, leave alone the first half. Donati, Maloney, Brown, Fox and Caldwell really worked their socks off. Although that would be too nice to say to Samaras, Celtic's version of the lazy Dimitar Berbatov (another striking similarity is the way the two can suddenly shift to their turbo modes and raise the pace, Georgios Samaras scored a beauty goal running from the halfway line during pre-season, I remember that one very well) One can't help but ponder, why on earth did Mowbray choose to leave his star player Scott McDonald on the bench?! Would it have been a different outcome, had Scott been on the pitch the whole 90? Nay, one wouldn't think so.

Arsenal on the other hand had no such issues with team selection. Wenger's thought process- simple. Go out there with the exact same eleven that killed the Toffees on Saturday. That ploy worked extremely well. Bendtner yet again had a fabulous game, proving that he was no one match wonder. (I wonder if he will be a two-match wonder) Arshavin seemed a little more sharper compared to Saturday, but nowhere close to his supreme self. I am guessing it must be the three games in one week, over 250 minutes of football that must have tired his limbs out. Song had quite a few passes of his go astray, but Denilson & him together did a splendid job on the defensive end. Especially Denilson tracking back tirelessly for every single Celtic attack, very pleasing to watch if you are a Gunner.

Celtic who impressed with an Arsenal style counter attack of their own (Mcgeady not surprisingly in the thick of things) midway through the first half must have had half a thought of complaining to the referee, "Hey, this guy in blue was supposed to be competing with Bolt at Berlin. What the hell is he doing here?!" The guy in blue, none other than Arsenal's number five, Thomas Vermaelen. That was one heck of a sprint back to kick the ball away from danger. But what remains to be seen is whether Thomas is really good in the air when it comes to handling the Drogbas and the Adebayors. I know I am losing it, drawing comparisons between a dude who can run a hundred in 9.58 seconds and another who must have been a man possessed when he darted back to thwart the ball. I just couldn't help it. The Vermaelen run back deserved such a comparison. (Here is a fact which has been hidden till date: when I kickstarted my football career in tenth standard, I won an award at a football coaching camp- an award which gave me the title of 'best off-the-ball chasing player'. Boy oh boy, did Vermaelen learn that from me?)

When you need crucial goals, you know who is going to deliver if you're a gunner. No, not Van Persie. Not Fabregas. Not Arshavin. Definitely not Rosicky. A certain player who has been in the midst of a zillion controversies, one who has been stripped of captaincy, but seemingly not of dignity. If anything, his performances have improved to a great extent once Cesc was given the armband. 43 minutes, nil nil. Arsenal fans getting impatient. Stage set for WILLIAM GALLAS. That was quite a powerful blow from Cesc, but it took me nearly a minute to realize that it was Gallas who had scored the goal and not Cesc with the help of a deflection. The former Arsenal captain has now set a bench mark for Kaka, Ronaldo, Messi and others who are still yet to score a goal with their 'back'. Ha. You got that right. His 'back' (he's back too)

Once Arsenal got that all important first goal (and more importantly, an away one of that) we knew that the tie will be Arsenal's to lose. The Celtic players starting losing it, cheaply giving the ball away in dangerous areas. But the Gunners failed to take full advantage of that, with Denilson and Van Persie both coming close early in the second half. At the hour mark, many of the players on the pitch showed signs of having run out of gas. Arshavin at the head of it. So this is what Wenger does- take the Russian messiah out & give Vieira Jr (Diaby does resemble Vieira in many ways) a run out. That move immediately paid dividends, with Vieira Jr. wriggling away from Hinkel brilliantly to set Clichy up for the wicked cross that was kindly turned into his own goal by All-Greens skipper Gary Caldwell. Game. Set. Match. Arsenal. The tie? Not quite. We are only half way through. I can't help but think though, Arsenal are as much in control of the tie as Usain Bolt is in control of his 100m and 200m races. I expect to see the all-Greens play the same positive attacking football at the Emirates, daunting as the prospect may be. Lets wait and see. It ain't over 'til its over.

Wenger, in his post match press conference has calmly rubbished claims that he may take the second leg to be a walk in the park and hence give his kids a run out. He says, "I believe we have to make sure we win the game at home. It would not be serious to take that game in a non-serious way. It is a massive game, what is at stake is massive to us because we want to play with the best. Even with an advantage of two goals we want to finish the job at home." Signs of a man clearly on a mission. Wengerboy was also quick to come out with his admiration of sensation Mcgeady and also his team's players Vermaelen, Gallas and Song. With the presence of a Bolt, with Gallas 'back' and with Song on Song, the Gunners suddenly look menacing. But again, this is just the start. I'm praying I say the same in my blog posts towards the end of March and April too.

The beautiful green turf of the Emirates will grace us this weekend. Arsenal will play their first BPL and Champions League games of the season on their 3-year old homeground in the next 8 days against Portsmouth and Celtic respectively. Those two games suddenly look so much more easier on paper, as compared to Everton (A) and Celtic (A). But one cannot be fooled with the illusion of Portsmouth (H) and Celtic (H). The former have troubled us at the Emirates if you rewind to three years back. Arsenal had to dig deep for a 2-2 draw after having trailed 0-2. And of course, we all saw how resilient and tough the all-Greens can be. I'd want Wenger to rest many of his fatigued players over the next week. Definitely for the weekend game. About mid-week, I'm not sure Wengerboy would take that risk.

"We're all going on a European tour!" was the chant from the away end at Celtic Park. They are probably right, but there is still work to be done back at the Emirates.

Right, next game- Portsmouth. Saturday.

'til then.

P.S: I so loved the atmosphere at Celtic Park that I am considering paying a visit there once I land in the UK (which would be in a month or so). Of course, I assure you, I wouldn't be wearing an Arsenal or Rangers jersey while in the midst of such a hostile crowd. I also assure you, if I go for a match, I won't be coming out of the stadium without Aiden Mcgeady's autograph (that is if the dude hasn't been lured away to a bigger club in a bigger league by the time I go there)