I don’t usually do this sort of thing, but I felt compelled to nonetheless. I just learned the reason for Bacary Sagna’s recent absence was due to the loss of his brother and that he had left for France immediately to be with his family. I just wanted to offer my most sincere condolences to Bacary and his family.

It speaks volumes about Bacary’s character that he is making himself available for the AC Milan match tonight so soon after such a personal tragedy.

Anemic. This is the first time this season I’ve been truly disappointed with my team. That, in itself, is a good thing if you you’re a glass half full sort of person… and I am, but… that performance was just abysmal.

I know… injuries, absences, its only the FA Cup, yeah, all that. It’s still a let down, especially to go out with that horrid a showing. I fully realize we have AC Milan on tap in a few days, and we needed to rest key players for that match. Man U was in the same boat. It didn’t seem to slow them down as much though. They were just relentless from the opening whistle. Constant pressure smothering our midfield and harassing our defenders. And, nothing seemed to go our way. Nothing.

To be honest, if the match had ended with no more to tell than that, I would be fine with the loss. I would be able to tell myself, “Ah, it’s just the FA Cup” and be just fine with it. But then, we began to hurt and embarrass ourselves, as if having 11 other players on the pitch trying to hurt and embarrass us wasn’t enough. Emmanuel Eboue went in studs up to earn himself a straight red from Alan Wiley. Welcome home, Emmanuel… now go sit on the fucking bench for a few matches. That’s just great. Let’s see… what could make this night any worse? Oh, I know… how about a spate of diving? Sure! First Phillipe Senderos and then Emmanuel Adebayor. What the hell were you thinking about?! You’re down 4-0 to a side that’s beating you like a red-headed stepchild and you think diving is going to be the magic pill that turns things around for a comprehensive 4-6 win? Are you completely out of your tree? Pink cards for both you.

After seeing Manu dive, I almost shut the match off. I sat there with mouth open for a while because I simply couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing. It was like a bad dream where your beloved team marches out onto the pitch and then impersonates some other hated team. I’ll always love my Arsenal, no matter what. Seeing them lose is hard, but it’s nothing compared to seeing them cheat. I hope I never see it again.

5 points clear. Say it with me, kids. 5. Points. Clear. Certainly, it’s too early to call that enough, but… I do like where we are with just a dozen Prem matches left on the fixture list.

What seemingly began as another 6-2 home drubbing of Blackburn just waiting to happen… Phillipe “I head the ball with all six of my languages” Senderos popped out of the corner fray like ripened wood on prom night to get us our first goal only 4′ deep into the match. And, the gorgeous passing that ensued for the next 15′ or so led one to believe we had another 3 or 4 goals on tap. Not so…

The remaining 65′ of the regular time was marked by frustration and constant loss of possession. Not to say that there wasn’t brilliant individual play by our boys, there always is. We just couldn’t get it together as we had earlier on, and in typical Arsenal style. It was sort of like trying to start a cold, old car. Luckily for us, Rovers were fairly toothless for the duration. They threatened here and there, but the rough riding Rovers we met up at Ewood Park never really materialized. I don’t think they saw a single yellow. But eventually, we got our stride back long enough to put a decent press on near the end. And at 92′, after yet another spectacular bit of play from Alexandre Hleb, who pulled down a long ball, skipped back around the defenders and dumped off to Emmanuel Adebayor… Ade took one touch and then thwacked it into the bottom left, well out of the reach of Brad Friedel. Who, by the way, is not an easy keeper to beat.

Was Manu excited about his goal? Perhaps a little… business as usual for him, right? His 12th goal in the last 9 games. Hell, that’s only one goal less than all of Derby have scored all fucking season. He’s now level with El Miraculo for the top goal scorer in the Prem. But I think what really got him and the rest of the players all wound up at full time was the knowledge that they are now well within the the final third of the season with a 5 point lead over the Red Devils and 8 points beyond Chelski. Earlier in the season Arséne said there’s a bit of lion in Manu. What do you think? Lions can smell good things to eat from a long way off. Me? Well, I think… Arséne knows.

Apart from a Clichy cock-up resulting in a gift to Man City, this would have been a 0-3 match. But you can’t fault a guy who works as hard as Clichy. It might be the first mistake I’ve seen him make all year.

Have I said enough good things about Bacary Sagna this season? Probably not, so I’ll take this opportunity. What an absolute dream right back he’s been, from the very first moment he stepped onto the pitch in Arsenal strip. You just can’t ask for more from this guy. I don’t know what his current contract is, but they need to keep this guy in red & white until he’s ready to retire. So, at 9′, and in typical Bacary form, he slipped and then bulldogged his way around the back line at right to chip yet another beautiful last second cross… and guess who was there to receive it? Say it with me… Emmanuel Adebayor. Rather than simply bulge the net with it, he decided to careen this one off of the prone Micah Richards’ ass first. Extra style points, Manu.

Then at 26′, lest anyone think his scoring ability has cooled a bit since the Everton match, Eduardo Da Silva took a header from Ade, chested it out in front of himself, and then left hooked it out of the air to slam home our second. Eduardo is simply smoother than a gravy sandwich in the box. If that doesn’t get shot of the week from some television dipshit, then aforementioned dipshits must not know their ass from a hole in the wall. There, I said it.

At 88′, Eduardo and Alexandre Hleb put together a nifty little run into the box culminating in (what appeared to be the first fucking back heeled pass to work all match) another goal by Adebayor… his 11th in 8 games. No asses presented themselves for ricochet possibilities this time, so he just buried it.

One final note… if by some strange twist of the universe you’re a Gooner who’s stumbled upon this site without ever hearing about Arseblog, then you need to click away pronto. I nearly pissed myself laughing this past Friday hearing Adebayor reading MacBeth on Culture Corner. At Home with Eboue and Man in the Bar kill me every time too. Arseblogger needs to be given some kind of award, if he hasn’t already gotten one. You go now.