Arsenal For Fans – Gunn them down

Impressive show by our players.Our attacking style totally went rampant.

What’s best,Eduardo’s confidence will go over the roof and with recovery of Adebayor after 2 weeks,we will have 2 pairs of strikers,not mentioning the addition of Arshavin to our team.

Here’s the match game highlight from Arsenal;

In the opening two minutes, Bacary Sagna crossed deep to the far post and Bendtner steered his header back across goal but wide of the near post.

Shortly afterwards Vela sent a rasping shot towards goal from 25 yards that Cardiff No 1 Tom Heaton could only parry into the path of Bendtner. But the on-loan Manchester United keeper would redeem himself by turning aside the Dane’s follow-up.

Heaton seemed to be taking on Arsenal all on his own. In the seventh minute, William Gallas met Vela’s curling cross with a firm downward header at the far post. The keeper saved with his right knee.

For his part, Eduardo was looking sharp and confident. Around the 10-minute mark he sidefooted a low shot wide and then tried to beat Heaton from the halfway line.

Now that would have been a comeback.

This was the swarming, overwhelming, relentless Arsenal of old and it was a pleasure to see them back. Cardiff were the best the Championship could offer on current form and had thoroughly deserved their draw in the first game – but they were being taken apart this evening.

When it came, the goal was typical Eduardo – all about placement not power. Vela did wonderfully well to put the ball on the Croatian’s head from the left flank but the striker’s body position meant he could not put pace on his effort. Instead he simply guided it into the space the keeper had just vacated.

It was the headed version of passing the ball into the net.

To be honest it could have gone in off Eduardo’s backside and Emirates would still have erupted. As it was, the 25-year-old slid on his knees towards to the touchline before being engulfed by his team-mates.

Everybody knew what this goal meant.

Despite the emotion of the moment, Arsenal were not going to sit back and admire their work this evening. They continued to flood forward and might have doubled their advantage in the 26th minute when Nasri’s shot squirmed under Heaton and dribbled wide.

Cardiff were already looking a beaten side and the second goal only seemed to numerically confirm it. In the 34th minute, Nasri curled over a corner from the left and Bendtner raced to the near post and leapt highest to touch home a header into the far corner. Another goal of ruthless simplicity.

It seemed to draw all the remaining confidence from the visitors and Arsenal should have added a third just before the half-time whistle.

Sagna crossed from the right, Eduardo expertly controlled the ball but his shot on the turn was saved by Heaton. Again the effort came out to Bendtner at the far post. The Dane stuck his first shot against the woodwork and his second was saved by the sprawling keeper. An incredible moment.

There was no let up after the interval. Vela waltzed through in the 53rd minute but his shot was blocked, a couple of minutes later Gibbs whipped a cross into the heart of the six-yard box and Darren Purse scooped the ball away from under his own bar.

Despite Arsenal’s invention Cardiff had to chance their arm. Just before the hour, Fabianski was forced into his first serious action when he stretched to save a low drive from Jay Bothroyd.

But the home side would be quick to respond. Cardiff failed to clear their lines after Heaton had saved Bendtner’s shot with his legs and Purse felled Eduardo on the penalty spot. The Croatian got up and scored from exactly the same place.

This time his celebration was more meaningful. He brushed aside his team-mates to hug Tony Colbert, the fitness coach who had worked with him throughout the dark days of the past 12 months.

Ross McCormack saw a free-kick deflected over but Eduardo would have a glimpse of a hat-trick when he tried to lift the ball over Heaton at the far post.

It would be the final act of the game for the former Dinamo Zagreb striker. A couple of minutes later, Wenger replaced him with Van Persie and Nasri with Aaron Ramsey.

Naturally he received a standing ovation.

Amaury Bischoff came on for this first action outside the Carling Cup and, with 10 minutes left, nearly steered home a cross-shot from the narrowest of angles.

In injury time, Van Persie did manage to slot home a fourth. In the final seconds he also nodded against the outside of the post.

But I think our victory came from our attacking style and Cardiff’s game style which did not really play a sticky game with us.This will really boost our posession and motivation.

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