Arsenal 2 Newcastle Utd. 0: A stuttering start for the redcurrants

Jenas about to get red carded

The applause was as warm as the sun that shone on the smiling old boys as they shook hands and signed autographs to the delight of old and young alike. The past players were led out by Charlie George and followed by amongst others Bob Wilson, Frank McLintock, Lee Dixon, Alf Fields, Peter Marinello, Emmanuel Petit, Pat Jennings, Peter Simpson, Eddie Kelly, John Radford, Andy Linnegan, Paul Davis, Gus Caesar, Perry Groves, Sammy Nelson (who didn’t moon at the North Bank) Malcolm MacDonald and a lot of others whose names I’ll no doubt recall after this report is long done. (Like for example: Johnny Barnwell, David Court, Martin Keown, Derek Tapscott, Brian Talbot, Alan Smith, Graham Rix, Ray Parlour, Stuart Robson? Arthur Milton? - Anyone recall any others?).

1.30 p.m. on a Sunday is not an ideal time to start a new season and we’ll actually have to wait until the end of October for a standard 3.00 p.m. Saturday kick off, but such are the ways of the TV schedulers who run the game these days. At least it wasn’t raining in N5 today, although it did threaten. One neat touch today was the ‘Highbury 1913-2006’ cut into the grass in front of the east and west stands, the same message also now adorns the North Bank stand.

Arsenal started the match with familiar faces on the pitch including a sprinkling of youngsters champing at the bit. On the bench there was of course just the one new name that is easy to spell but rather debatable on pronunciation. I’d just like to take the opportunity, if I may, to pre-empt the redtops with their highly predicable ‘Alexander the Great’ headlines later in the season, although he didn’t really have time to prove that today. Newcastle started with a 4-1-4-1 formation with Parker in the holding role and Shearer the lonely man up front looking to win free kicks. Newcastle defended in depth and reasonably well for most of the game.

The Barcodes kicked off towards the North Bank but it wasn’t too long before Freddie was appealing for a trip in their box early doors, but Referee Steve Bennett wasn’t interested. The early football was rather stilted with little flow about it; neither Henry nor Pires really fired early on. There were the odd snippets like a Cole interception and the occasional decent move but Newcastle’s game plan was to foul as often as possible to both disrupt the flow and get men back in numbers. Typical Souness stuff really. Dennis to Thierry with a great ball but offside. Fine defending by Boumsong who had an outstanding game and stopped a good Gilberto, Ljungberg and Henry move. Dennis had a shot blocked not long after Freddie was rather obviously held back. Shearer headed clear from our naff corner, clearly something we haven’t worked on pre-season. Dennis had another shot saved by Given but it wasn’t a killer strike. Emre showed some class but also showed he’s very adept at hitting the deck unaided by an opponent.

Newcastle’s first chance I recall was when Shearer fired across the face of goal from an angle on their right as Arsenal were caught rather square. Emre left a foot in against Kolo, which went unnoticed, except for Kolo of course. At this stage Arsenal won a succession of free kicks which included one killer ball in from Dennis. Babayaro hauled down Freddie but Bennett’s card stayed well hidden in his pocket, which makes a nice change from the ‘I’m in charge’ early season flashing to which we’ve become accustomed to from refs in recent seasons. Henry was getting caught offside ‘coming back’ and some brilliant play by Cole woke the crowd up for a bit. At the other end Cesc blocked a shot by Emre in a rare United attack.

Henry 'off the mark' with a penalty

For some reason, with the game hardly on fire and certainly a long way from being vicious, Jenas took it upon himself to inflict a nasty over-the-top studs showing tackle on Gilberto who was clearly in pain and helped off by Gary Lewin after extensive treatment. Taking into account Saturday’s sendings off this looked worse to me. Except maybe Campo’s which didn’t even get a yellow, but I was still surprised to see Bennett flash a red card. It was definitely deserved but I just didn’t think he would. The reaction of the men in black and white was just plain stupid, especially that of Parker and Boumsong who talked themselves into the book for endlessly protesting.

Within a minute Boumsong had whacked Henry across the throat but there was only a free kick as a result. From the free kick Kolo went close with a good shot on the turn that was well saved by Given for the corner. In a swift attack by the Toon Kolo once more showed his worth with a truly brilliant tackle on Bowyer. Shearer then netted in Newcastle’s only spell of note during the half, but he was clearly well offside. Toon’s best chances all came from free kicks but theirs were as ineffective as ours. A fine cross from Lauren, that would have had John Radford in the stand licking his lips in anticipation, wasn’t read soon enough by Henry and the great man headed over. Gilberto, Lauren and Ljungberg combined well to win a corner but Henry miss-hit the resulting volley. Nil-nil then half time, at the end of an uninspiring 45 minutes of football from either side.

The second half started fairly lively, but that was the result of a streaker holding up play. Why anyone would want to attempt the splits naked in front the East Stand must remain a mystery.

Arsenal’s early pressure won us some corners but they were pretty naff. Carr then held Henry all the way on a run and of course moaned at the resulting free kick. The ball in from Dennis resulted in a clash of heads between Given and Taylor; both trainers rushed on to attend the wounded. Shortly after this a cross in from our right caused mayhem in their box and it looked like Freddie must score before it was finally cleared for a corner that Gilberto headed over. Newcastle continued to defend in depth and Lehmann must have felt quite lonely. Given the disgusting red and orange kit he was wearing I imagine he’ll remain lonely, maybe the idea is to give the opposition migraine. If so it might even work.

Henry won a corner that should have been a goal kick before Boumsong took out Lauren just outside their box on our right. Dennis won another free kick thanks to Carr, it was in Henry territory but it was blocked. Dennis also had a shot blocked as we continued to huff and puff without looking like blowing their house down. The ball was bouncing around Newcastle’s box and they were riding their luck but also defending quite well. Dyer was replaced by N’Zogbia before Senderos had a shot blocked. Then Shearer gave way to Milner with the captain’s armband passing on to Boumsong. Hleb replaced Fabregas and Van Persie replaced Bergkamp with Pires moving central. A United long throw won a corner, which was as good as it got for them in attack. I think they actually managed only two shots in the entire match.

Van Persie had a shot blocked. Hleb and Pires combined well but without any end product. A crap cross into row M from Lauren had the North Bank howling their displeasure. Robin then had another long range shot saved as it scudded along the turf. The pressure was building and the inevitable happened when a clumsy tackle from behind on Freddie by N’Zogbia conceded a penalty. Henry stepped up and fired home low into the corner with Given diving to his left but unable to quite reach it. 1-0 Arsenal, nine minutes to play and we all relaxed both on and off the pitch. Faye on for Parker. Flamini on for Pires.

It took another six minutes for Arsenal to strike again as a move that started at left back broke right with Lauren, found Freddie who crossed for Robin to steer it home from a very narrow angle on the near post. Well taken and at 2-0 it was game over. More corners followed together with a chant of ‘You’ll never play here again’, we’ll be hearing that one on and off all season. There were three minutes added time during which the highlight was a Lauren run and a one/two from a Van Persie back-heel followed by a shot well saved. So an edgy three points and yet another tight game with Newcastle, they rarely threaten but usually make it hard for us, don’t they?

I’ll settle for another 37 of the same but hope to see some better football at Highbury, and I’m sure I will. On a sad farewell sort of note, the old stadium looks a tad shabby this season and has obviously forgone a lick of paint on obvious economic grounds. Which is a great shame because it will possibly be the most photographed stadium in the world this season, still thank goodness for digital enhancements eh?