|
We looked moderate and a tad sluggish before the break, the cohesion wasn't quite there and there were far too many blind alley solos. Reyes to Henry to Bentley with a rather snatched shot that went for a corner was the best of our early chances. A chance shot over from Jorginho at the other end followed soon after by a scrambled clearance from Senderos. Lehmann parried a long-range effort from Benni MacCarthy's free-kick and then took it at the second attempt. McCarthy got clean through on one occasion but hit a poor shot. The match was unexciting to be blunt and we badly missed a ball winner. Hleb's display was encouraging though because he has a very good touch, looks seriously handy on a run and hits some very sweet passes with either foot.
We finally looked to be in charge when a Thierry Henry cross from the right was met by a header from Hleb that was easy for Baia (?) in goal. What seemed like seconds later Henry created his own space on the right to whip in a fabulous cross - Flamini's run to meet it was well-timed but he steered a golden opportunity over the bar. Parlouresque or what? Unfortunately Porto went up the other end and a great cross on their right by Jorginho (?) across the face of our goal was met at the far post by Lisandro Lopez who beat the sleeping Lauren and Senderos to knock it home. 1-0 Porto after 36 minutes. Porto deserved to retain their lead up to half time and they did so.
At the break David Bentley and Jose Reyes were replaced by Bergkamp (to a huge ovation from the Ajax fans) and Ljungberg who, unknown at this point, was about to steal the show. Jens made a good catch before we levelled when Cole to Henry central had it half cleared off his foot but it fell to Freddie on the right side to place it low inside the far post 1-1. Now we started to play.
Henry to Pires, to Cole but his cross in from wide was held. Dennis had a shot blocked. Dennis, Thierry and Rob on a break. Alexander and Thierry won a corner. More good play, more good pressure and when the ball came to Flamini he cut it back to Freddie who took a good first touch and another low controlled finish to slot home with his left foot. 2-1 Arsenal. We were rocking now, moves flowed and there was a quickening of movement. Nice run and cut-back by Hleb – he'll fit right in but still tends to overplay the ball, then again it is very early days for our new boy. Henry to Dennis who was almost in to score.
Toure and Eboue came on for Senderos and Lauren. Postiga was given too much space but he shot wide from range. Emanuel had a free header at our far post following more poor defending – zonal defending still sucks. Kolo who looked fast, strong and sharp saw off McCarthy with ease. Toure has looked by far our best central defender to date and we need his pace. There was more sweet moving football from Arsenal as Porto made four substitutions in one lump. Jens did well to tip over a cross/come shot from Jorginho. Some good play from Alexander was unfortunately followed by a poor cross. The powerful Djourou came on for Pires. More pressure from Porto and Jens cleared an awkward backpass from Cygan.
Hleb, Bergkamp, Ljungberg and Henry were involved in another fine move. Arsenal were tiring visibly, but Henry still had time to set himself up with an overhead scissors kick that was off target. I think the captain looked pretty sharp but played well within himself. A foul on Hoyte, on for Cole at left back, was not given and whoever it was who fouled him missed a fine chance with a shot that was wide.
The Ajax Tournament works on the basis of three points for a win, one point for a draw and one point for a goal. In the other match Boca beat Ajax 1-0 so the final table finished:
Arsenal 9 pointsPorto 6 points
Boca 4 points
Ajax 0 points
Albeit they have just been pre-season friendlies – but that's one trophy in the bag and six wins in six games. The very impressive Freddie Ljungberg also won the Player of the Tournament. Bring on the real stuff!