Entries from December 2007 ↓

Arsenal post a two goal lead, let it fitter away, go down to ten men, and then come back in dramatic fashion in extra time to win tonight’s Carling Cup quarter-final at Blackburn.

The young Arsenal side looked in top form as Abou Diaby, and then Eduardo both scored to put the Gunners up early. However, Blackburn were up for it, and came roaring back so that with about 30 minutes left in the match, the score was tied 2-2.

The match was all set to go to extra time when Denilson, who was already carrying a yellow card for an early challenge, made a stupid tackle and got a straight red from referee Mike Riley.

Going into the extra period with only ten men, things didn’t look good for the youngsters. Things got worse when seventeen year old Nacer Bazarite was carted off on a stretcher, complete with oxygen mask, due to a separated shoulder. However, shortly after play resumed, Eduardo scored his second of the night to book the Gunners ticket to the semi-finals.

One step forward, two steps back.

In a “win, and you’re in” scenario, the Giants shot themselves in the foot, losing at home to a division rival to fall to 9-5 and make an almost certain playoff berth a bit more difficult to bank on. The Giants now have to win at Buffalo this weekend, a task that will made that much harder now that Jeremy Shockey’s leg is broken, meaning he’s done for the year.  The focus has to be on this game, as the last game is against a Patriots team that will most likely be looking to put the capstone on the first undefeated regular season since the Dolphins in 1972.

I had an absolutely awesome day on Friday hanging with Brian, Robert & Mitchell at Sly Fox Brewery’s annual IPA Project. For those unfamiliar with the IPA Project, here’s the deal…

IPA Project Day: Odyssey Imperial IPA Release
The culmination of the annual IPA Project! This day-long IPA celebration will feature 11 single hops versions, casked versions of the brewery’s flagship Rt. 113 IPA and Odyssey Imperial IPA 2006 and 2007 plus the draught version of the latter, a total of 15 IPAs which can be sampled in three flights of five beers each. Every flight will feature one cask beer. 2007 Odyssey will also be released in 22oz bottles. The varietals: Amarillo, Centennial, Chinook, First Gold, Galena, Pacific Jade, Magnum., Nelson Sauvin, Phoenix, Southern Cross & Target. This is the largest IPA event conducted by a single brewery with only its own beers in the world and it’s all day long! Pay as you go.

The best of the day were of course the cask conditioned 2006 & 2007 Odysseys, however, the Nelson Sauvin was quite good, as was Phoenix. In fact, only Magnum disappointed, and I didn’t have to drink much of that, as I ended up knocking my glass over and spilling 80% of it all over my corner of the table and onto my lap, as you can see in the photo gallery by clicking on the photo above. All of the pictures were taken with Brian’s camera, and you can read his account of the day on his blog, Fool Circle.net.

Captain Mohawk does his old team in with a headed goal in first half stoppage time to give the Gunners their first win over Chelsea since 2004.

Arsenal welcomed back Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini and Alex Hleb from injury, while Robin van Persie was named to the squad, but started on the bench due to lack of match fitness.  The difference Cesc, The Flamster, and Hleb made to the side was remarkable from the start.  Arsenal started much brighter and played with an incisiveness that had been missing from their last few matches.

However, Chelsea were up to the task, and were matching the Gunners in desire, and created several chances of their own, which Manuel Almunia was able to keep out of the net to keep the thirteenth clean sheet of the season.

Being an Arsenal - Chelsea match, there  was of course the added drama of the first return of Ashely Cole to Highbury/Ashburton since his controversial move to Chelsea in August of 2006.  How sweet it was then, when Gallas, the player who Chelsea sent to Arsenal in exchange, scored what proved to be the winning goal. Almost as sweet was the boot in the side Cesc gave Cole when challenging for the ball in the Chelsea penalty area deep into second-half stoppage time.  Cesc got a yellow card, but he’ll probably think it was worth it.  I know Arsenal fans world over do.

Abou Diaby and Robin van Persie both started and played extremely well (the former opening the scoring just eight minutes in, the latter setting up Nick Bendtner’s 40th minute winner), while Theo Walcott used the opportunity to show further glimpses into his potential as the Gunners cruised to a meaningless 2-1 win over Steau. The result was rendered moot by virtue of three second half goals by Sevilla over Slavia in Prague to give the Andalucians top spot in the group.

Finishing second means that we will have to play one of the group winners. Eliminating Sevilla and the English teams, we could be drawn against any of the following teams in the first knockout phase, which takes place in late February and early March:

Porto

Real Madrid

Barcelona

AC Milan

Inter Milan

Each one’s a tough challenge, to be sure. We’ll find out which of those teams we’ll be playing when the draw is held next Friday the 21st.

The Giants conjure up another second-half comeback to complete a season sweep of the Eagles, winning 16-13 in Philly this afternoon. (More later, as I’m currently watching Rangers v Devils).