Blackburn. Not just Punks

But a weak, weak soccer team. If they were a pop band, they'd be Starland Vocal Band. If they were a Secretary of State, they'd be, well, Condoleeza Rice. If they were an investigative Reporter, they'd be Geraldo Rivera opening Al Capone's vault.

Maybe I'm stretching this a little too far, but you get the picture. December 23rd, 11-man Arsenal demolished the Roofers 6-2 in a game that was probably closer than it appeared. Today, however, 10-man Arsenal sliced, diced, and eviscerated Blackburn in a commanding 2-0 win.

This game looked to go South on the visiting Gunners in the 13th minute, when Rob Styles pulled a red card out of his butt for a retaliation kick from Gilberto Silva, whom was harshly tackled and knocked after the fact by everybody's least favorite arsehole Robbie Savage. Roby Styles. Common sense. That's the last time in this post you'll see those 4 words together unless it is combined with the terms "lack of." Out comes the red for the Brazilian and a measly yellow for the Savage. Mr. styles then proceeded to ignore every other harsher foul by the Roofers the rest of the way.

Nonetheless, it turned out to be to Arsenal's advantage. While Blackburn had gotten some pressure during the first 13 minutes, after the sending off of the important central midfielder, they did not show up again until the 55th minute, when they started creating some pressure. After the sending off, Arsenal went ascendant, passing so beautifully, like only they can do. Blackburn looked the team a man down. They kept chipping away and away.

Finally, a beautiful ball through to RVN and Lucas Neill took him down. Maybe it was debatable whether he was the last man (if the other defenders in the area had jets, they could have had a shot at him), but our resident genius in black, Mr. Styles awarded only a free kick and a canary card to the Aussie. Thierry Henry looped a beautiful ball over the snoozing Blackburn defense. Kolo Toure made a brillaint slicing run in and flashed a headed ball into the near post, which sent the orb into goal territory, while Brad Friedel stood frozen. 1-nil to The Arsenal!

As mentioned before, early in the 2nd half, the Roofers started to wake up and create pressure. Th Gunner D and Jens Lehman were up to the task, however. After about 10 minutes of that foolishness, Arsenal regained equilibrium. In the 70th minute, I was almost not surprised at the sequence of sublime artistry that Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas combined on. Henry taking the ball 30 yards inside his own half took the ball up the left channel, and while baiting and feinting 3 defenders, allowed Fabregas time to insert himself into the play. A quick ball into Cesc, who one-touched at the feet of the slicing Captain, and Henry produced one of the sweetest and quickest one-touch shots to the upper far corner, just beyond the keeper's outstretched hand. It was 2-nil to the Gunners and you could sense that Blackburn's day would now end in futility, despite their underserved advantage on the green.

Ultimately, the Roofers could not provide an additional threat and that's the way the game ended. Sorry, Blackburn.

A couple of notes. Thierry Henry was amazing. He didn't get the ball much, but when he didn't have it, he was working hard off the ball, on defense and running in to space. He roamed the field like a vengeful ghost and when he scored the insurance, it felt like one of those rare moments of justice that occurs once in a blue, blue moon on a football pitch. This man's one for the ages.

Jens Lehman was not tested terrifically, but when he was he was ready. I rate him well above the average on this game. The thing I love about Jens Lehman, aside from his skill, is his attitude. Between the sticks he is the only man in the world who is right. Everyone else is wrong on his pitch. Refs. Defenders. And most of all, the ne'er-do-wells who bump and jostle him. Today, however, he didn't lose his cool over those transgressions.

Aleksander Hleb is a great addition to this team. He has always show great skill at his feet and in posession, but now you can see him feeling his part of the attack and he contributes greatly to it. Having the Hleb and Rosicky at the wings (along with the sublime Gilberto and Fabregas in the center) makes for one of the most creative and sticky midfields in the EPL.

I thought Gael Clichy and Phillipe Senderos were also quite good. Clichy in particular notched up his work rate and contributed greatly to the defense.

All in all, a very good result under adverse conditions.