Not having this...

[Chrono]

"Arsenal were the better of the two sides and led through an Abou Diaby strike..."

Initially, yes, but anyone that thinks we didn't deserve this is wrong. We have won games when we were poor and Arsenal were good but we deserved this and saying anything else is wrong!

[Dhav]

**** em the bitter cunts. Wenger was the biggest proponent of this ****e tonight, raging about the "injustice" of the penalty and that the inferior team won. You know he had his excuses ready becuase both he and his glorified NFL franchise came up short in Europe again.

We won through tonight because we have a spirit, we have a soul, we have a character that a plastic club like Arsenal can only envy.

[knockers]

For the first 20-30 minutes Arsenal played some fantastic football, but the game last 90 minutes and we did what was needed to win the game, maybe with a little help from the ref with the peno. I'm sure if you looked at the stats we had more possesion and shots etc. As much as I admire Wenger he's a real sore loser.

[Venton]

They are a good side and play beautiful football, but when the chips are down their heads go down a bit, they don't have a plan B. Before our goal they started doing all the flicks and playing it up and once we did them at the corner they curled in on themselves. Their break for their goal was fantastic (although I think he should have been cropped at the half-way line) but we didn't lose heart and played all the way to the end.

I thought Rafa made a mistake bringing Babel on. I thought we should have brought on another midfielder and tightened up, but fair play, he put on a striker, and he was a match winner. When we played Arsenal in the cup final and were getting hammered Wenger took off a striker and brought on a midfielder and Owen ran up the other end and scored 2. And yet everyone hails Wenger a genius, and the press would have Rafa lucky. Shower of cunts.

[Joe King]

They were immense in the first 20 minutes but then we slowed the tempo and got the goal and killed their confidence. They had that spell before Torres scored but that was all. We pressed them all over and didn't give them any clear chances besides the two by Adebayor in the second.

[dww]

They are a good side and play beautiful football, but when the chips are down their heads go down a bit, they don't have a plan B. Before our goal they started doing all the flicks and playing it up and once we did them at the corner they curled in on themselves. Their break for their goal was fantastic (although I think he should have been cropped at the half-way line) but we didn't lose heart and played all the way to the end.

If it hadn't been our player if anyone had clipped Walcott unfairly on that run I would have wanted them sent off. Cynical play like that really pisses me off.

You are very right about how the Arsenal players heads tend to go down at times. I think though that earlier in the season that was less the case but since the Eduardo injury they have all looked a bit flaky (bar against Milan).

[slimbimjim]

The possession was 51 - 49% in their favour. Yes they played some good one touch football but why the **** don't we get a mention when we do?

Funnily enough they started long balling it but no mention of that either. ****s.

[Venton]

If it hadn't been our player if anyone had clipped Walcott unfairly on that run I would have wanted them sent off. Cynical play like that really pisses me off.

You are very right about how the Arsenal players heads tend to go down at times. I think though that earlier in the season that was less the case but since the Eduardo injury they have all looked a bit flaky (bar against Milan).

Cynical play on the half way line is worth a yellow, but you can't have a sending off for that - clear goal scoring opportunities are, and that certainly wasn't. On the flaky side I think that if you have Gallas as your captain - a man who wanders off the pitch for a vital penalty - well, you takes your choices! But even before that they do have a track record on the emotional side, all that bollocks about injustice, and their games against united etc. Wenger seems to instill beautiful football, but it's a fragile thing...

[dww]

Cynical play on the half way line is worth a yellow, but you can't have a sending off for that - clear goal scoring opportunities are, and that certainly wasn't. On the flaky side I think that if you have Gallas as your captain - a man who wanders off the pitch for a vital penalty - well, you takes your choices! But even before that they do have a track record on the emotional side, all that bollocks about injustice, and their games against united etc. Wenger seems to instill beautiful football, but it's a fragile thing...

I think you should (send off a player) - it ruins the game for me if it is a blatant hack and encourages useless hacks of players (stand up Phil Neville). Deliberate tactical fouls are a real bug bear and when a player has so much space in front of him I think it really is in spirit admitting you feel he has a goal scoring chance to deliberately take him out and should be treated as such.

Gallas is an odd one he looked a great leader earlier in the season but has really lost it at times. They lack another experienced player IMO (who plays regularly). For them it is a big shame that Gilberto doesn't quite suit their new system and has faded badly as a player in the last year or so.

[Venton]

I think you should (send off a player) - it ruins the game for me if it is a blatant hack and encourages useless hacks of players (stand up Phil Neville). Deliberate tactical fouls are a real bug bear and when a player has so much space in front of him I think it really is in spirit admitting you feel he has a goal scoring chance to deliberately take him out and should be treated as such.

Gallas is an odd one he looked a great leader earlier in the season but has really lost it at times. They lack another experienced player IMO (who plays regularly). For them it is a big shame that Gilberto doesn't quite suit their new system and has faded badly as a player in the last year or so.

Can't agree with you at all on on the first point - I think it needs to be a clear goal scoring chance and someone on the run from within their own half with plenty of people back doesn't count as that for me. To be frank that would change the shape of the game not only here but throughout Europe. That kind of foul is an instant yellow I think, but you can't red card someone for a cynical foul on the half way line.

Agree about Gilberto. They've lacked a Tony Adams for a long time I think.

[Guest]

Mourihno used to say that the 'best team lost' ... Twice he said that ... Now it's Wenger. Do they really have a ****ing clue what they're saying ? It's been 3 times now we've beaten English opposition to supposedly 'superior' teams.

[homer1]

I think they absolutely dominated us for the first 25 minutes & I was praying we would get to half time with only a 1 goal deficite - we couldn't find a red shirt & constantly gave the ball away needlessly

As soon as Sami scored though it was a totally different game - their heads went down and we controlled the rest of the half.

My biggest fear was that we would come out after half time and try to defend and take it to penalties but credit where it's due, we continued to take the game to them and controlled the vast majority of the second half too. Cynical as it may be, I was screaming at the screen for someone to take the little ******* out and when they scored I thought it was going to be one of those nights but enter Babel

I have gone on in the past about the big difference between us and the other top teams is they have more match winners at their disposal - Babel showed last night that we have one more

[spud_gun]

If Arsenal are so much better then us then how come they've not managed to beat us in any competitions this season?

[TheElephantMan]

"Arsenal were the better of the two sides and led through an Abou Diaby strike..."

Initially, yes, but anyone that thinks we didn't deserve this is wrong. We have won games when we were poor and Arsenal were good but we deserved this and saying anything else is wrong!

Where's that from mate? It looks like the quote from the BBC site, but slightly different.

"Arsenal were the better of the two sides in the initial stages and led through an Abou Diaby strike, only for Sami Hyypia to be left free at a corner to head the equaliser on the half-hour mark."

Sounds fair enough to me.

Ian.

[Harv]

The game changed when Flamini went off. He was having a cracking game, and his loss really stopped them passing it around.

We got absolutely mauled in the first 20minutes

After Sami's goal we started playing decent stuff, and regained control.