Hull City (1) – (2) Arsenal
Arshavin (14′), Bendtner (90+3′)
Kingston Communications Stadium, Hull

I only caught the first half, a bit of the second and the highlights last night, but what a fucking massive result. I’ve said constantly over the last few weeks that I couldn’t care less how we perform, as long as we nick the 3 points.

And Arsenal did that yesterday.

I’ve also said that the form of Bendtner is paramount to whether we win anything this season, and how massive was his injury time goal?

I fucking love it.

I love that we got one over on that idiot Phil Brown, I love that we nicked the 3 points and I love that we won the game despite not being at the top of our game. In the end, that’s a characteristic of champions.

Arshavin scored a lovely goal after 14 minutes, darting passed 2 defenders (slightly fortunately) and finished off the move with aplomb, lashing the ball into the corner with the outside of his boot.

The Hull got lucky, winning a penalty despite the move being offside.

Campbell made contact, and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink went down. When Sol touched him the ball was actually behind the Dutch striker so a red card would have been very harsh. But obviously that didn’t stop Phil Sunbed moaning that Campbell should have been sent off, because of that tackle in the second half.

Campbell won the ball you Orange twat.

I was amazed that Alan Shearer and Alan Hansen actually backed up Sol Campbell in their post-match analysis on MOTD, both on his yellow card for the penalty and the great tackle in the second half.

There’s hope for Setanta and Sky Sports yet. Maybe.

I notice no-one mentioned that George Boateng should have been sent off for his first ‘eye poke’ on Bendtner, which is surely ‘raising your hands’ and should be a straight red. His second yellow card was also possibly a  straight red, after studding Bacary Sagna high up on his knee.

In the second half with Hull down to 10 men, Arsenal found it hard to get that second and decisive goal. Arshavin and Bendtner had golden opportunities to seal the game after good work from Walcott, and as the full time whistle crept closer and closer you feared that we might drop a vital two points.

But from a good 40 yards out, Denilson pinged a shot which Myhill parried, and like a lightening bolt Nicklas Bendtner scored the rebound.

What a huge goal for Arsenal.

And great praise has to go to Bendtner.

After missing a couple of decent chances, it takes special character to be switched on right until the end. In the 93rd minute, he had the awareness to anticipate the rebound and get in front of the defence and score the winner. Great dedication and thanks to his attitude and application we’re still right in this title race.

When you take everything into account, it was a stunning goal.

The magnitude, the pressure and the finish were all massive.

But we all know the big Dane doesn’t lack confidence, and what a good job he doesn’t! The bottom line is that when required, Bendtner has delivered.

4 down, 8 to go. Next cup tie: West Ham United.

Arsenal (5) – (0) FC Porto
Bendtner (10′, 25′, 89′), Nasri (63′), Eboue (66′)
The Emirates Stadium, London

All the pre-game talk was about the absence of Cesc Fabregas. Without our inspiration captain, several pundits tipped us to go out.

But in the end, we hardly missed him. And that’s great credit to the rest of the squad.

And it was also great credit to the lads that they had such a positive reaction to the poor showing in the first leg to turn the tie on its head.

Arsenal set their stall out with a virtually all-out-attacking mindset from the off and Porto just couldn’t cope with it. It was a typically high-tempo performance where Arsenal threw men forward at every opportunity.

It was entertaining to watch, and Arsenal created opening after opening.

Andrei Arshavin was having a hit an miss game – one minute doing something sublime and then carelessly losing the ball the next. But he was the one who was highly influential in Bendtner’s (and Arsenal’s) first two goals.

Nasri, who was my Man of the Match, played in Arshavin, who ran towards goal in a five way chase for the ball. No-one really won it and the ball bounced to Bendtner who stretched out and poked the ball into the net. The perfect start for Arsenal after 10 minutes.

Arshavin rinsed Porto’s right back Jorge Fucile for the second, by running to the byline and giving Bendtner an easy tap in.

After that, the game was Arsenal’s for the taking and Arshavin had a golden opportunity to top off a decent first half performance with Arsenal’s third but he hit his effort over the bar.

In the second half, it was Porto who had the better of the opening 10 minutes, with the tricky Radamel Falco having a decent effort saved by Almunia. Arsenal’s energy levels dipped after the break and Porto enjoyed more of the possession and also had a headed effort saved off the line by Nasri.

And it was Nasri who produced a moment of magic only minutes later.

He picked up the ball on the right hand side, coolly waltzed passed 5 or 6 Porto players before smashing the ball right into the far corner.

A moment of genius from the man who stepped up in the absence of Fabregas.

A stunning goal, and a decisive one.

Samir Nasri’s all round performance was outstanding. He ran his bollocks off chasing back and closing down players but also linked the play beautifully, showed great skill and touch as well as being dangerous going forward. And to top it all off he saved a header on the far post.

Pretty much a perfect performance from him.

Arsenal had Porto on the ropes at this point and they really rubbed salt into the wounds with a stunning counter attack.

From a Porto corner, the ball found its way to Arshavin who carried the ball 60 yards before playing in Eboue with a beautifully timed and weighted through pass. Eboue smartly knocked it passed the stranded Helton before slotting the ball into the net.

Game, set and match.

The game petered out slightly after that, but with seconds left on the clock the impressive Eboue won a penalty that Bendtner happily dispatched. The first Arsenal hattrick in Europe since Alan Smith’s back in the day.

Football’s a funny old game. With Bendtner missing those sitters against Burnley who would have bet he would get a hattrick against Porto? I honestly wasn’t concerned about his misses at the weekend and obviously Bendtner wasn’t either. Once the Dane scored that third goal I did think about all that nonsense between him and Adebayor a couple of seasons ago.

I wonder who’s having the last laugh now Ade?

Player Ratings

Manual Almunia: 7/10
Was asked to deal more with pass-backs than shots but dealt well with the few saves he had to make.

Bacary Sagna: 8/10
Tremendous energy levels and was virtually a winger in the Arsenal attacks. Dealt well with Varela and made some great tackles.

Sol Campbell: 7/10
Struggled at times tonight. Overall did okay, but at times couldn’t cope with the tricky Falco. One thing I did notice (and like) from Campbell was that he ignored every taunt or expression from opposing players. Whenever anything happened with a Porto attacker he would just get up and walk away. Brilliant!

Thomas Vermaelen: 9/10
Made some really stunning defensive blocks and Almunia will be grateful for those. Solid, composed and made some vital interceptions as well.

Gael Clichy: 8/10
Like Sagna, was instrumental in adding width to the Arsenal attacks. Supported Diaby and Arshavin well, and defended well on the whole. Did make one or two silly mistakes, but fortunately Arsenal weren’t punished.

Alex Song: 8/10
Made some great interceptions and tracked back well. Tarnished his performance slightly by trying to over-play now and then after winning the ball, which resulted in cheaply losing possession.

Abou Diaby: 8/10
Much improved work ethic this season and linked up well with Song, Nasri and the front three. Helped dominate the midfield which ultimately decided the tempo of the match.

Samir Nasri: 10/10
Just about perfect. Scored a stunning goal, saved a certain goal off the line and ran his socks off. Great desire and that was possibly the most impressive thing about his performance. All over the pitch and some of his touches were breathtaking. He was inspirational and he was instrumental in setting that high energy tempo which Porto couldn’t handle. A complete performance.

Andrei Arshavin: 7/10
It’s crazy to say this since he made 3 goals but he was on the periphery for most of the game. But I suppose with talent and skill like his it only takes a moment to show his brilliance.

Tomas Rosicky: 7/10
High energy performance and worked well for the team.

Nicklas Bendtner: 9/10
Fantastic performance from the Dane. He won countless headers, held the ball up well, showed great desire and scored 3 goals to boot. Showed character after his Jason Lee-esque finishing at the weekend but really put in a great shift against Porto. He is vital to whether Arsenal will win anything this season, so let’s hope he keeps this up.

Emmanuel Eboue: 8/10 (Replaced Rosicky 58′)
Only came on for a 30 minute cameo but was excellent. Show fantastic desire to score his goal and won the penalty for Bendtner’s third. Look dangerous whenever he got the ball and never carelessly gave away possession.

Denilson: 7/10 (Replaced Nasri 72′)
Slotted in midfield well but really wasn’t asked to do much.

Theo Walcott: 7/10 (Replaced Arshavin 76′)
Looked lively but couldn’t quite make the kind of impact he did at the weekend.

Arsenal (2) – (0) Sunderland
Bendtner (27′), Fabregas (90′)
The Emirates Stadium, London

Before yesterday’s game, Sunderland were 19th in the Premier League form table, only above Portsmouth. Their last league win was actually against us in November and since then they have only picked up 5 points. So this game should have been straight forward, considering we were playing at The Emirates.

But Sunderland had a couple of decent chances and while the game could have been 20 nil to Arsenal it could have just as easily been a draw.

But you know what? I couldn’t care less.

Because Arsenal had 12 league games remaining and to stand any chance to nicking the title they need to win them all.

And the bottom line is we’ve won the first. We’ve passed the first hurdle.

The are a few points I will make though:

Eboue is far, far more effective going forward, and should start more games going into the run in. Whether it’s on the right side of an attacking three or at right back, it doesn’t matter. He has the skill and pace to beat players and considering we don’t really care about defending then we might as well try and be as effective as possible going forward.

Bendtner’s form is paramount to whether we win anything this season. We don’t have Van Persie and we know playing Arshavin or Eduardo as the target man doesn’t work. Bendtner didn’t have his shooting boots on yesterday but hopefully that will come with more starts – his goal yesterday would have done him the world of good.

Almunia actually had a good game yesterday. The fact is we can’t bring anyone else in now so let’s hope he can stay consistent over the remaining 11 games.

And that’s pretty much it now. We play Stoke next weekend and they haven’t lost in 2010. They will be a hell of a test for our team but getting a win is all that matters. I don’t care if we get battered for 90 minutes and nick a last minute winner.

It’s all about the 3 points.

FC Porto (2) – (1) Arsenal
Campbell (18′)
Estadio do Dragao

For Sol Campbell this was his return to Champions League football since the heartbreaking final in 2006, where he marked with his last game for Arsenal with a headed goal. He scored a valuable goal tonight and just like in Paris we lost this game 2-1.

Football’s a funny old game isn’t it?

But co-incidences and irony aside, this was a poor night for Arsenal.

At a time when Arsenal find themselves just about back in the title race and supposed to be showing determination, solidarity and spirit to kick on for the last part of the season they were a collective shambles.

Almunia was injured (Arsene’s code for dropping a goalkeeper) and started with Fabianski. Unfortunately, whenever Almunia has played poorly and given Fabianski a chance (and there’s been a lot) the young Polish keeper hasn’t stepped up. He looks terrified and you couldn’t even say that he’s completely inexperienced. He’s made over 30 appearances now.

Vito Mannone is the best goalkeeper we have at the football club. And that’s saying something about the dire situation Arsenal are in.

The two goals Arsenal conceded were so shambolic they are something you would see on a second rate Christmas bloopers compilation DVD but unfortunately for Arsenal fans there was nothing funny about the ridiculous and quite frankly amateurish mistakes we seem to be making lately.

We’ve debated why Arsene doesn’t teach defence but do we actually have a goalkeeping coach?

The sheer ridiculousness of the mistakes Arsenal make these days are just depressing now.

I would compare the mistakes to ones made in Sunday league football but that would be a huge insult to Sunday league football.

Against Manchester United, terrible defending made Nani look like Ronaldo. The fact is he is an average player and we made him look world class. Against Chelsea, more shocking mistakes gave Chelsea an easy victory.

And tonight? Well you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw the game.

Their first goal was a cross from the wide right and for some reason he wasn’t set, and despite the fact the ball was just going across the goal Fabianski amazingly managed to turn the ball into his own net.

This is basic level stuff, and I have no idea what our goalkeepers do in training. Probably overhead kicks and heading.

Similar stuff to the Nani/Almunia goal against Manchester United a few weeks ago, so it’s good to know Fabianski is learning from Arsenal’s number one.

And the second goal was just as farcical.

The ball was running back to the goalkeeper with no threat from any Porto player, Sol clipped the ball and instead of kicking it, Fabianski picked it up.

Now, you can debate whether it was Campbell’s or Fabianski’s fault for conceding the indirect freekick in the penalty area, but what happened afterwards was even more farcical. Instead of holding up play (we even do this in my local Sunday league games) they literally handed Porto the ball, and stood off as they rolled the ball into the net.

In a Champions League game of this magnitude and could very well shape our season, we do not one, but two stupid things!

I can’t explain what the hell is going on with Arsenal at the moment.

Arsene can moan about rules and the freekick but the sad and sobering truth is Arsenal are a shambles. We’re not ruthless enough to kick the ball away or waste time nevermind win enough games to win the league.

Are Arsenal’s players just over pampered kids who don’t understand football?

Teams and players that have experienced success know what it takes to grind out a result or get a slight advantage here and there, but none of our players seem to have a clue.

Remember the Thierry Henry days when we were the team that would punish teams with quick freekicks and nice little tricks? That used to be us.

But nowadays we’re seeing the same ridiculous mistakes time and time again from our players, and I’m just sick and tired of it.

Chelsea (2) – (0) Arsenal
Stamford Bridge, London

Well that is Arsenal’s title challenge officially over for yet another season.

Before going into the games against Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool we were still in contention, but now, even before the Liverpool game, we find ourselves 9 points behind Chelsea. Ever since we threw away the FA Cup our form and confidence has collapsed and we’ve draw one and lost two.

Arsenal have suffered defeat 6 times this season, twice to United, twice to Chelsea and once to Manchester City. If anything confirmed the fact that we were a Top 3/4 side then that was it.

Strangely, both the away and home games against United and Chelsea followed the same

At The Emirates, both Manchester United and Chelsea dominated their games against us and completely deserved their victories. We were simply outplayed and tactically they were superior. We had no answer to anything they threw at us and our defensive frailties were exposed.

But today was similar to the match at Old Trafford. We dominated possession, passed the ball well but couldn’t take advantage, and in the end, the clinical finishing (combined with naive defending) was our undoing.

It was the same old story. Lots of pretty passing, decent possession but lacking that killer instinct in the final third. Too many times we were in fantastic attacking positions but the final ball was lacking. With a better final pass, we could have scored 2 or 3 against Chelsea. If you play poorly then you can hold your hands up and admit the other team was better but today was particularly frustrating to watch – a decent performance but in the end the fact is we are just not good enough.

We might as well go through the goals.

Didier Drogba is dangerous at the best of times but to gift him two goals was… I don’t know, ridiculous? naive? amateurish? sloppy? I realise that Arsene doesn’t teach defending and quite honestly when they scored the goals they did I wasn’t disappointed like I usually was, I saw it coming. We concede the same kind of goals time and time again and it’s just frustrating that we don’t learn from it.

Gael Clichy is clearly targeted and almost every attack (in both the United and Chelsea games) went down their right hand side. And why not? Wenger doesn’t change things so once you see a team like United use a particular game plan then all you really have to do is emulate it. So how many Arsenal fans were shocked when the first goal was a set-piece and the second was on the counter attack?

The fact was that Chelsea didn’t even step out of first gear. Their win over us today was easy. We know they can defend so all they had to do was pick us off whenever they could be bothered. In the first half they punished us but in the second they just sat back and strolled to the final whistle. They forced us wide and we had to resort to crossing into the box, which never works for us, and they can cope with easily. John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho can defend crosses in their sleep.

Anyway, the first goal was from a corner. Malouda crossed from the left and John Terry won the header after he lost Vermaelen and the ball fell to the far post where Drogba tapped in from two yards. Drogba was amazingly unmarked (Song lost him) and we gifted Chelsea a simple goal.

I would like to know why we didn’t have a man on the far post though.

Then the second was on the break. Arsenal (like against United) had possession on the edge of the Chelsea box and Chelsea won the ball, played 2 simple passes through and Drogba waltzed into the area and smashed the ball into the net.

22 minutes, and the game was over.

After that, we threatened here and there but never really looked like scoring. There were a few skirmishes but you felt that if Arsenal had somehow miraculously managed to get a goal then Chelsea would just step it up a gear and kill off the game. In all fairness, it was a walk in the park for Chelsea.

There were some positive performances, from Diaby, Song, Vermaelen, Gallas and substitutes Eboue and Bendtner, but that’s not enough. Cesc was trying his hardest to make something happen and he carved out 2 or 3 real opportunities only for his team mates to waste them. Andrei Arshavin had a massive chance at 1-0 to equalise but once again, he let us down.

Arshavin doesn’t really give a shit anymore, and he wants to leave. Partly because he’s being played out of position, and partly because he doesn’t think Arsenal are real title contenders. You can see it in his body language, we strolls around and doesn’t care. Can you blame him? Maybe not, but I expect 110% from anyone who puts on an Arsenal shirt. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one who hasn’t been performing.

There’s the argument that the vast majority of the squad are overpaid and pampered kids who are being rewarded without having won anything. I personally don’t think that’s the main reason why we’re once again not challenging for the title, because players like Song and Diaby have really stepped up this season. The fact is we’re just not good enough.

And that is down to Arsene Wenger. The squad isn’t strong enough. I’ve never been one to shout about buying players (mainly because I don’t ever expect Wenger to spend any money) but unless we strengthen in key areas then we’ll always be also rans.

We don’t need a complete overhaul of the team, we just need to get rid of dead wood like Almunia, Clichy, Walcott and Bendtner. I don’t have anything personal against them (and I’ll always support them if they’re in an Arsenal shirt) but I just don’t think they’re good enough. They are all players who have been at the club for 5 years plus and not improved. Bendtner was okay today but Van Persie is the top quality striker we need.

I am pissed off with today’s game? Not really, we all knew winning at Stamford Bridge would take a miracle. I was hoping something special could happen, but we Arsenal fans watch the game week after week and know what to expect.

I just hope Arsene gets his act together and looks at defending more seriously because we won’t get far in the Champions League with defensive performances like that.