Van Persie - Opened the scoring, set up nicely by Adebayor who broke the offside trap, collecting a pass from Cesc. Van Persie added a 2nd (Arsenal's 3rd) early in the 2nd half. Great finishing (8).
Adebayor - Had the assist for the winner. Scored a header from a corner, heading it into the ground, the ball bouncing off the underside of the crossbar and in. Scored a penalty late in the game that was earned by Bendtner. Missed a few chances as well (8).
Cesc - Just missing a little bit of edge that he had at this time last year, but a sure bet to keep his spot (he was out of the world around this time last year) (7).
Denilson - Had a fair game in central midfield, although his spot could be vulnerable (6).
Nasri - Had some fantastic touches in the first few minutes, and had a nice bit of skill that had the crowd raving later in the game, but was a little off the pace at times (6).
Clichy - Cleared a ball off the line from a poorly-defended corner. Was flying in open play. My vote for Arsenal's form player (8).
Sagna - Very active getting forward and putting in crosses. When he's at his very best, he gets in behind the defense and cuts the ball back (7).
Gallas, Toure, and Almunia - Mostly comfortable (7,7,7).
Walcott - Had some incredible runs. With more end product he could be the world's best player (7).
Eboue, Bendtner, and Vela came on. Vela showed flashes of being a really exciting player.
I'm keeping a close eye on the goal tallies of Adebayor and Van Persie. I'm pulling for them to both score 20 goals in the league. If they could both hit 30 in all competitions, that'd be even better. Van Persie has a unique style to his finishing; ruthless, to be fair.
2 hours ago
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2 deflections:
What's the overall take on Nasri so far by the WD intelligentsia? I remember lots of puff pieces on him gracing these pages through pre-season, but I don't seem to be seeing as many Zidane comparisons recently. Is Nasri already being worn-down by the superior physicality of the EPL?
Nasri, I think, has a bright future in EPL. He has fantastic close control, pace (albeit not as blistering as Walcott's), good finishing, and is not afraid to have a go 25 yards from the goal. He has a very good partnership with Clichy on the left flank. He certainly has what it takes to be a match-changer any day but we need several more years before we have enough evidence to compare him to Zidane.
I finally finished watching the game tonight and just couldn't help but marvel at the ease with which Arsenal dispatched a very competent Porto side. How can this Arsenal side lose to Hull city? One can only put it down to complacency. These Arsenal players were thinking about Porto while they were playing Hull.
How do you like Eboue's cross-over practice late in the match? I am still laughing about it. Maybe next season he can give C. Ronaldo some competition in the cross-over department.
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