today's game

[I Hate Hleb]

NOT A BIG FAN BUT FLAMINI WAS FANTASTIC TODAY AT RIGHT-BACK.

AS FOR MY MATE HLEB - LET'S JUST SAY THAT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH HIS OWN PERFORMANCE HAD HE BEEN A GOLFER. WHY? BECAUSE THE GUY WAS WELL UNDER-PAR!!

[Cesc is God]

You must have been watching a different game. Hleb was awesome - him and Tomas down the wing were fantastic!

Flamini was my MotM actually!

[26may1989]

Senderos was last man, it was a blatant foul and Kanu was 1-1 on one with Almunia, he had to go. James should have gone as well but the ref was awful,Portsmouth should have had a penalty when Senderos fouled Henderson or whatever their left back is called, Gilberto fouled one of their players in a great position with a tackle from behind but no freekick and we promptly countered as well as the things the ref got wrong against us.

Well you got one thing right, Magic, David James should have got a red, at least if the rules are applied strictly. (Personally, I think refs should try to keep all the players on the pitch, and I wasn't annoyed at James being let off.)

But your calls on Senderos's red and Hreidersson's claim of an early foul are so off beam, are you sure you were at the game??

Yes, it was probably a foul on Kanu (though the contact was pretty minor), but Senderos was clearly not the last man. From that point on, the ref had no credibility in the game and lost control as a result. As was posted elsewhere, this is an obvious case for the card being retrospectively downgraded.

And the Hreidersson incident reminded me of Bobby Pires at his worst (i.e. that game against Pompy a few years ago) - Herman just fell over, there was no foul, end of.

Very good team performance today. Lots of efficient short passing and possession kept well. I was also impressed at the number of times possession was won back. For me, everyone other than Ade and RvP did really well, and even they were ok.

And I loved Kanu's goal, not quite as good as the one he got when we hammered Boro away a few years back, but good nonetheless.

The atmosphere seems better this year too, but that pigging Pompy bell was a pain in the arse today.

[Ben-gooner14]

Sorry cesc is god i wouldn't say hleb was ausesome nor would i say rosicky was neither but they were ok.

[green gooner]

I have to say how great it is to see Fabregas get better and better with every game We have a new king at the Grove, the king is dead, long live the king

Elvis was, and still is, thee king You are a great PR man for yourself One2smooth

[Belfast Boy]

Yes, it was probably a foul on Kanu (though the contact was pretty minor), but Senderos was clearly not the last man. From that point on, the ref had no credibility in the game and lost control as a result. As was posted elsewhere, this is an obvious case for the card being retrospectively downgraded.

And I loved Kanu's goal, not quite as good as the one he got when we hammered Boro away a few years back, but good nonetheless.

The atmosphere seems better this year too, but that pigging Pompy bell was a pain in the arse today.

There is no such thing as, the last man anymore, it's a red card offence if a player is deemed to have illegally prevented a goal-scoring opportunity regardless of the position of the other players around him, and even tho contact was very minimal and Kanu made an absolute meal of it, big Phil does look clumsy and is not the best at tryin to put an attacker off without actually fouling him, and we would probably have been screamin for it if it had been the other way around, whether or not we would've got it is another matter!

I don't know if you were sayin that tongue in cheek or not, but Kanu's goal was nothing more than a complete fluke!

Like most other peeps I agree with ya on the bell, bro

[gus ceasar is a legend]

I thought everyone done well with the exception of Swiss Phil!

Sorry but the guy just looks cumbersome. Who honestly feels he is good enough? A player who is expected to (and usually does) make a balls up in every game surely is not the pedigree we need?

Apart from that my only gripe is conceeding just after we had scored! Think the guys were still lapping up the 3rd goal! Schoolboy error!

Gael was magnificent in my opinion as was Flamini. Diaby should have scored that header and if so we would have had a goal of the season contender but otherwise he done great when he came on.

RvP looked subdued but he can't be god in every game I guess!

Fucking cracking display all round!

[Magic Hat]

Well you got one thing right, Magic, David James should have got a red, at least if the rules are applied strictly. (Personally, I think refs should try to keep all the players on the pitch, and I wasn't annoyed at James being let off.)

But your calls on Senderos's red and Hreidersson's claim of an early foul are so off beam, are you sure you were at the game??

Yes, it was probably a foul on Kanu (though the contact was pretty minor), but Senderos was clearly not the last man. From that point on, the ref had no credibility in the game and lost control as a result. As was posted elsewhere, this is an obvious case for the card being retrospectively downgraded.

And the Hreidersson incident reminded me of Bobby Pires at his worst (i.e. that game against Pompy a few years ago) - Herman just fell over, there was no foul, end of.

Since it was early on, he could have let James off with a booking but no cards? I watched the game on TV, guy tried to go around Senedros, he was brought to the ground and it really did look like Senderos did it deliberately, moving to get his body in the way to knock the Pompey player over.

Senderos was leaping all over his back and yes he was the last man, Kanu only needs a second or two to get a shot in, Toure may be quick but he isn't that quick.

[Ben-gooner14]

I watched tthe second half of the game this morning as i taped it on sky plus, and i take back my comment of rosicky being ok, not just his goal but the hard work he put it in the second half and looked a threat when he had the ball.

[26may1989]

There is no such thing as, the last man anymore, it's a red card offence if a player is deemed to have illegally prevented a goal-scoring opportunity regardless of the position of the other players around him, and even tho contact was very minimal and Kanu made an absolute meal of it, big Phil does look clumsy and is not the best at tryin to put an attacker off without actually fouling him, and we would probably have been screamin for it if it had been the other way around, whether or not we would've got it is another matter!

I don't know if you were sayin that tongue in cheek or not, but Kanu's goal was nothing more than a complete fluke!

There's no specific reference to the last man but under FIFA regs, in assessing whether a foul has denied an attacker an "obvious goalscoring opportunity" (i.e., the chance has to be not just a goalscoring opportunity but an obvious goalscoring oipportunity), the ref has to take a number of factors into account. These factors include "The location and number of defenders", which is equivalent to the last man.

In my opinion (which doesn't matter, it was only Mark Halsey's opinion that mattered), the red card didn't have to be given (and therefore shouldn't have been given) because Toure's position (5 yards or so from Kanu and slightly closer to the goal than Kanu) meant that the goalscoring chance wasn't obvious enough to justify a red card. Magic Hat would disagree but I think as literal an approach to the rules as his would mean many more red cards than we actually see.

Also, in one of Wenger's post-match interviews, when asked if Senderos should have been sent off, he said "If he was the last man, yes." So clearly, he views the concept of the last man or the location of defenders as significant.

Re the flukiness of Kanu's goal, I hadn't watched the game on TV before my post and hadn't realised that it was a multiple ricochet off his giraffe-like limbs. From my seat it had looked deliberate. Perhaps it was my wishful remembrances of his great goals for us over the years that made me see that one incorrectly... Not that I saw the Senderos foul incorrectly, I'm 100% right on that!

I watched the game on TV, guy tried to go around Senedros, he was brought to the ground and it really did look like Senderos did it deliberately, moving to get his body in the way to knock the Pompey player over.

Sorry, Magic, we agree on off the field stuff (about Dein, Usmanov, Fiszman etc) but seems we don't agree about the game itself. Which is nice.

[I Hate Hleb]

You must have been watching a different game. Hleb was awesome - him and Tomas down the wing were fantastic!

Flamini was my MotM actually!

IT WAS OBVIOUSLY YOU WHO WAS WATCHING A DIFFERENT GAME, MATEY!!

APART FROM A CROSS FOR ADEBAYOR IN THE FIRST HALF, AND A ROLE
IN THE MOVE THAT LEAD TO THE CORNER FROM WHICH WE GOT OUR SECOND GOAL, WHAT EXACTLY DID HLEB DO?

COMPARE HIS CONTRIBUTION YESTERDAY TO THAT OF ROSICKY, WHO WAS CONSTANTLY INVOLVED IN THE ACTION, WHETHER ATTACKING OR TRACKING BACK TO HELP HIS DEFENCE. HLEB, ON THE OTHER HAND WAS VERY QUIET AND INEFFECTUAL FOR MOST OF THE MATCH.

I HAVE PROVEN IN THE PAST THAT I WILL COME ON HERE AND PRAISE HLEB WHEN HE DOES WELL. HOWEVER, TO SUGGEST THAT HE PLAYED ANYWHERE NEAR GOOD ENOUGH YESTERDAY IS BLINKERED - BECAUSE HE DIDN'T.

HOWEVER, TO END ON A CORDIAL NOTE, I AGREE THAT FLAMINI WAS
MAGNIFICENT AND ONE OF A NUMBER OF PLAYERS THAT COULD HAVE GOT THE MAN OF THE MATCH AWARD.

[donaldo]

Some very good performances by Flamini,Clichy(how did Diaby miss that header?) and Rosicky but head and shoulders above any other player was Cesc.He just gets better every game and now is starting to score goals. Strange to say but our weakest performer was RVP.Wenger needs to find the right partner for him for us to see the very best of him.

[TheOne2Smooth]

I have to say how great it is to see Fabregas get better and better with every game We have a new king at the Grove, the king is dead, long live the king

Elvis was, and still is, thee king You are a great PR man for yourself One2smooth

Elvis maybe your king but not mine! maybe in 20 years you might think Pete doc and Amy whinehouse as King and queen! I just think there junkies simple as