Adebayor 65 – Divers: none

It was a game of two… nah, fuck it, that’s been done to death. The truth is that we didn’t look particularly bad in the first half. It was just that Villareal looked exceptionally good. But, despite the fact that the commentators pointed out that both Villareal and Arsenal were the “Dark horses of the competition” (read:  shit teams who would never make it in such an illustrious contest), the fact remains: these are the quarter finals. Shit teams don’t make it this far. So, I wasn’t surprised to see Villareal playing like Arsenal in the first half. In fact, I was quite worried by it. Ten minutes in, Marcus Senna went unmarked from about 27 yards out and positively blasted one into the top right past a fully stretched Almunia and we went in the tunnel down 1-0. They were keeping possession quite well, and they looked to have enough steam to keep it up for the full 90.

But then Arsène got hold of the lads in the locker room. As we’ve seen so many times this season, a very different Arsenal emerged from the tunnel, and we began bossing the match. Villareal had seemed to lose a bit of tooth as we started creating chances. Then at 65? Cesc Fabregas used his incredible ability to pick out the perfect pass and chipped one upfield to Emmanuel Adebayor who, as we’ve seen him do before, took it on his chest and then inverted himself to nail it home. I’ve read in at least one place that he probably won’t be able to repeat such a feat. But, he’s done it before. I’m convinced he practices these type of shots. Whatever, they’re certainly pretty to watch. And, it was a even prettier as an Away Goal.

So, we’ll have Villareal at The Grove next week for the other leg. Despite the advantage we go into the match with, it won’t be easy. They will probably come storming out at us again if they’re to advance. One home goal and a decent defensive performance should see us through. Although, reports are filtering in that William Gallas’ season may be over. Hopefully not. His form has improved drastically since the weight of captaincy was taken off his shoulders. Also, it looks like Manuel Almunia will be sidelined for a bit as well.

This weekend sees us travel up the JJB for our away fixture with Wigan. They’re coming off a 4-0 thumping at the hands of Everton. You may remember the win we barely scraped over Wigan at The Grove back in December. It was also the match where The Ebooing took place. Well, I never thought I’d be writing this back in December, but: Emmanuel Eboue is doing fairly well these days. Including a cheeky little run into the box last night at Villareal that may have created a late winner for us. Perhaps The Ebooing was just what he needed? Perhaps he can show Steve Bruce’s men what he’s really got? We shall see.