Losing Losing Arsenal

Not a bad effort by Fulham...Caught the last half of the Fulham-Reading match. Fulham was down a man and a goal, but they by and large outplayed Reading in the 2nd half. Not that they could get any closer than a Brian McBride screamer that just whistled past the right post, but they held the edge of posession and intensity for the half. They were perhaps unjustly defeated, but they held nothing in reserve in trying to secure the equalizer

....and Arsenal, well this habit of giving up the early goal has got to stop. Sure, it's more thrilling to come from behind, but you'll note that MU and Chelsea have been ruling the top 2 spots the past 3 years by just focusing on scoring the winner and preventing opposition goals.

Anyhow...on to the game (which i'm watching right now)the goal by Bolton was another crap piece of defending on a set piece. The Bolton attacker was left free to roam in the box. Probably one of the easiest goals he'll ever score.

Lucky for the Blunderers because Arsenal is dominating the posession, despite playing poorly in the midfield, losing more balls on bad touches and poor passes than I can recall from them.

Some excitement: Kevin Davies raises both hands to push over Eboue. Should've been sent off but only gets a yellow. Jens Lehmann getting himself a yellow card for complaining to the ref about...well, nothgin. Replays show he tripped over himself.

And then, in extra time they're down 2-0. A great Kevin Davies cross finds Nicholas Anelka, who strikes an incredible shot over Lehman. Game over.

Wrong! 10 seconds later, Cesc's cross finds a flying Gilberto, whose completely free header puts it back in reach.

And after dominating for most of the 2nd half, Arsenal let the match out of reach. A beautiful through pass from Campos to Anelka (who was a touch offside, but oh well), a deft touch and 3-1 to the Blunderers.

Too much posession and passing but not nearly enough net action. It's an old story this season.