If you can’t contain your excitement at the prospect of Thierry Henry joining the fray at some point – or just want to share some speculative ramblings – get in touch via conor@thescore.ie, tweet us @thescore_ie or find us on Facebook.
Full-time: Arsenal 1-0 Leeds
According to Arsene Wenger, Thierry Henry has won “everything that there is to win in the world”.
Masterchef?
The striker, owing to a lack of match fitness, starts this evening’s encounter on the bench.
First thing’s first:
Arsenal - Szczesny, Koscielny, Miquel, Squillaci, Coquelin, Arteta, Song, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chamakh, Arshavin. Subs: Martinez, Park, Henry, Walcott, Benayoun, Miyaichi, Yennaris.
Leeds - Lonergan, Thompson, Lees, O’Dea, White, Townsend, Pugh, Nunez, Clayton, Becchio, Vayrynen. Subs: Taylor, Bruce, Brown, Sam, Forssell, Parker, McCormack.
The ball finds Arshavin in that familiar position on the left edge of the penalty area. The Russian nudges the ball forward once, twice, then fires a shot into the nearest defender.
Arsenal threaten again. This time, a through ball finds Chamakh charging through the centre of the field. He turns and rolls a pass into the path of Arshavin. Arriving on the ball at pace, the Russian sends a shot screaming over the bar.
Squillaci gifts possession to Townshend, who toe-pokes the ball past the lumbering Frenchman but can’t keep the ball in play.
Arshavin appears to have adopted something of a free role, roaming hither and thither in support of Chamakh.
Observation: the Moroccan international has an incredibly long neck and resembles a lizard.
Arsenal have settled into a comfortable rhythm, shuffling the ball around in midfield, occasionally lofting balls forward for Chamberlain and Arshavin.
Some impressive footwork from Aaron Ramsay sees him round White in the right corner. He measures a pass to Chamberlain who’s lurking on the edge of the box. In taking a moment to steady himself, the wingers cedes possession and collapses to the ground after launching a full-blooded air-shot.
Moments later, an arcing free-kick from Arteta finds the head of Squillaci whose effort fails to find the target.
Ramsay sends a shot soaring over the bar, drawing a chorus of oohs from the crowd. When Arshavin does the same thing, the tutting is practically audible.
Arshavin is body-checked to the ground, but no one cares. He is the least popular kid on the playground. After a bewildered glance in the direction of the referee, he trundles off, rubbing his jaw.
Townshend has looked lively for Leeds this evening.
He draws a free-kick ten yards inside the Arsenal half and lofts a ball over the penalty spot. A defensive lapse (I’m looking at you, Squillaci) allows O’Dea to drive a volley at goal. Our first proper glimpse of Arsenal’s notorious vulnerability from set-pieces.
Cocquelin has collapsed to the ground in pain. He’s writhing around near the touchline, a hand pressed against his hamstring, but Leeds opt to play on, drawing howls of indignation from the home support.
Ironic cheers abound when Becchio slices the ball out of play.
Becchio manages to turn Koscielny, but the Frenchman, who’s grown increasingly assertive in recent weeks, manages to squirm his way into possession again. Composed stuff.
Arshavin charges at Thompson for the umpteenth time and, for the umpteenth time less one, fails to get the better of him. Frustrated, the Russian skids to a halt on the edge of the box.
Arsenal have completed 199 passes to Leeds’ 105, but have looked entirely toothless in attack. Their strategy seem to begin and end with encouraging Arshavin and Oxlade-Chamberlain to run at the full-backs.
Darren O’Dea receives a yellow card for a rash, sliding challenge on Marouane Chamakh.
Commenting on our “FA Cup LIVE” Facebook post, Aran Kelly asks: “Wha [sic] time is it on?”
A little over 45 minutes ago, it turns out; both sides stream from the field after what John Champion dubbed “an undistinguished half of football”.
Half-time: Arsenal 0-0 Leeds
You can get 7/1 on Arshavin scoring next, apparently. Having sufffered through his first-half performance, I counsel against the taking of that bet.
Arsenal began the game promisingly enough, but a one-note reliance on the pace of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arshavin has allowed the Championship outfit to grow into the game.
A lone gunman lurking amongst the Leeds faithful has lobbed a hot dog in the direction of ESPN’s pitch-side commentary team. Robbie Savage is unimpressed.
POLL TIME! With Arsenal having failed to impose themselves on their lowly opposition thus far, what will the second half bring?
Poll Results:
File under “harsh but fair”:
The second half is underway. Activity on the Arsenal bench – specifically, Thierry Henry’s decision to take a trot down the sideline – elicits the loudest cheer of the evening (so far).
After another Arshavin shot is charged down (and you think my repetition is annoying…), Clayton finds himself with acres of space in the middle of the park. He sweeps a cross the right wing, but the cross is a poor one and the attack stumbles to a close.
Finally! Arsenal threaten the Leeds goal. A low, side-footed effort from Arteta forces Lonegan to stretch and palm the ball clear of his post.
Moments later, a delicately chipped through ball finds Arshavin a yard clear of the Leeds defence. Dashing towards the left post, he only needs to chip the ball over the rushing Lonergan to put Arsenal in front, but he cuts a ball back inside… to no one.
Arsenal are laying siege to the Leeds goal. A hat-trick of chances in the last two minutes has induced a palpable sense of panic withing the ranks of the Championship side.
The Premier League outfit have upped the pace since the interval. The passing is more precise, the pace more threatening…
Seconds after slicing an attempted cross into deep into the stands, a volley from Alex Oxlade-Chamblerlain draws a fine save from Lonergan.
HENRY IS HERE!
Before you go getting all dewy-eyed…
Never forget.
Henry replaces ineffective beanpole Marouane Chamakh, while Theo Walcott jogs on in place of Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The crowd is going bananas.
Henry receives his first touch of the ball, but he’s miles off-side. Just like old times…
Michael Brown, who received a healthy boo-ing when he replaced Vayrynen, is penalised for dragging Theo Walcott to the ground. The resulting free-kick is wasted.
The Gunners find themselves with a corner from the right side of the Leeds goal. A poor delivery from Walcott puts Ramsay in difficulty at the near post, but the Welsh international– who’s been impressive this evening– executes a sumptuous pirouette and fires the ball back across goal. It’s intercepted, but Walcott is there to fire the rebound wide of the right post.
John Champion and Craig Burley are indulging in some passive-aggressive banter about the latter’s decision to name and shame celebrity-chef-slash-petty-thief Anthony Worrall-Thompson.
“I couldn’t resist it.”
“You never can.”
Mee-ow.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Leeds (Thierry flipping Henry!)
Thompson, who’s had an otherwise fine game, goes to sleep (not literally) and allows Henry to drift into his blindspot. When the perfectly-weighted through ball arrives courtest of Alex Song, he strides clear of the youngster to take a single deft touch and dispatch a gently-curling effort past Lonergan and into the far corner.
It looked effortless.
Alex Song, who’s taken up a more advanced role since the break, finds Andrei Arshavin in a position nearly identical to that from which Henry scored minutes ago.
Somewhat predictably, his wild hack finds the side netting.
Who’s going to win Man of the Match? The suspense…
They’ve only given it to Thierry Henry! Shocking.
Rounding successfully on a lay-off deep within the Arsenal penalty area, Forsell forces a save from Szczesny. It’s the Pole’s first real action of the match.
PEEP! The final whistle sends Henry sinking to his knees in victory. Arms aloft, face face skywards, he shouts something along the lines of “Get in!” and wandering over to the dugout.
Egad! YouTube has acted fast to block uploads of the goal. Damn you, copyright legislation!
Henry may have lost a couple of yards of pace and the all-round physicality that made him a nightmare for central defenders in his prime, but his composure in possession made the difference for Arsenal this evening.
If he can reliably receive the sort of service Song offered him, he could become a potent impact substitute in the coming months.
Henry is all disbelieving shakes of the head and expressive, Francophone sighing during his post-match interview:
“I rejoined the club as a fan… Now I know what some of the guys that play for Liverpool or United or Chelsea feel.
“I see the bottle there; I think it’s a joke that I won Man of the Match.”
This has to be the fact of the evening, though:
With that, folks, I bid you adieu!
*UPDATE*
We have the goal:
Hopefully Henry’s dirty little hands won’t touch the ball this time!!!!!!
We need to let go of the anger at Thierry Henry’s handball(s). It was spontaneous rather than deliberate. It was the ref’s responsibility to call him up on it. Football doesn’t have the honour system like golf. Ireland needs to get over it.
Get over the handball incident…I know I’m biased but you have to admit if you were in the same position as Henry you would of kept it in play with your hand too..I know I would and I’m sure any Irish player would too…that being said you can’t deny Titi still got it… WHAT A LEGEND!!!
Yea gotta hand it to henry he can still score a goal.:)
Great composure and pure striker intuition gervino chamakh arshavan Walcott need to learn something here henry could be a good partner to van the man
Henry proved tonight that class is permanent. He is not the player he was. Age has seen to that but it was a Brilliantly taken goal of the highest order.
Eh did thierry ever win the credit union under 12s coloring jamboree competion? I don’t think so arsene! (really hope he hasn’t)
What?
Class by Henry. One shot, one goal. LeProf has done it again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s83GGVNbHTw There’s the goal!
What a beard. What a goal. Legend. You can view the goal in all its glory on the arsenal site.
So if a hypothetical Irish player nursed a grudge against an opponent who said the “wrong thing” to him then took his opportunity to inflict serious harm on the opponent and boasted about it in a ghost-written autobiography, would that player be reviled by one and all or would he be a hero to half the country, (maybe a quarter if you exclude his home county and supporters of one of his former teams), constantly sucked up to by the national broadcaster and held up as a role model for our children? The hypocrisy of a large tranche of our soccer supporters is astonishing.
Yaaaaaaaawn!! I’d say at the end of the day t’is six of one,half dozen the other.
So a sneaky unpremeditated handball is no better or worse than a premeditated violent assault on an opponent? The red thumbs kind of make my case.
The chap is pure class and his 2 month stint, which I will enjoy very much, and the hand ball incident are completely irrelevant to Euro 2012, which I will also enjoy very much.
Emmomac who do you support? I take it your not an arsenal fan.if it was a player from your team I doubt you would be leaving comments like that. What he did was wrong but players handball all the time.if it was caught straight away you wouldn’t be calling him a cheat..it was the officials in charge of the game and FIFA that stopped Ireland qualifying not Henry…get a grip man!
You’re an idiot
Arsenal fan first, Ireland fan second
sad state of affairs
all the irish arsenal fans cheering for that bastard can go pull their plumbs next summer while the boys in green do us proud. get your allegiances in order you traitors. unbelievable
The saddest thing about this is the fact that all of these arsenal fans would be shouting cheat if it was a spurs player that handled in a big game against arsenal. Clubs and countries have enemies. People they will always have it in for. Its part of the fun of supporting a team but Irish people who support English clubs are so blinkered that they are willing to forget their country in favour of a club team who, lets face it, has nothing to do with them. Then they have the cheek to say get over it and time to move on. Its all part of a sad state of affairs where people who claim to be Ireland fans spend more time/ have more passion for an English club. Nothing wrong with following English football, its readily available, covered by our own media and can be great entertainment but there’s a limit and this situation has crossed the line. Henry is our nemesis. Sworn enemy of our national team. Same way every club team in the EPL has enemies. I’m sure most of the Arsenal fans have gone to games and screamed at an opposing player that is hate by the club. Its football. You all need to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what the fuck you are doing. By all means support an English team but don’t let it get in the way of your country. Henry can go fuck himself.