Happy Birthday , Arsene

The Arse 4
(Henry 1st, Hleb 39th, van Persie 50th, Henry pen. 70th)

Reading 0


Outrageously sublime. A religious experience. Magnificent. Or maybe Spectacular, Spectacular. One runs out of superlatives in describing this Arsenal performance at the Madjeski Stadium, a venue where Man U had stuttered and Chelsea's keepers maimed.

Stung by a tentative display in darkest Moscow where they were overrun by the Brazilian duo of Vagner Love and Daniel Carvalho and where the referee redefined the Malaysian footballing term, Referee Kayu (a term of endearment inferring the stimulating intelligence of dead wood), the Arse strode into the light determined to prove a point.

Bursting into action right from the start, the Gooners displayed verve and vivacity in their movements; guts and commitment in their tackles and blocks; as well as an insistence in never backing down from a side expected to employ 'whatever' means necessary - as they did against Chelsea, who ironically are the current proponents of the 'win ugly' mindset.

When Fabregas tore down the left and pulled back a perfect pass for le capitaine to stroke home the first goal, the expectation was that Reading would get stuck in, with tooth and nail if necessary. But the fire was out - seemingly banked by the furore that erupted over their taking out of Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini the previous week.

But they did try and though the Arse created enough chances for a 5 goal margin at halftime, they were profligate - van Wussie the main culprit, shooting when he should have passed and hitting wayward passes that would have disgusted a Malaysian midfielder.

In contrast, the triumvirate of Fabregas, Rosicky and Hleb were rampant - their inter-passing so sublime that some found it almost epiphanic.

Their joy as they celebrated Hleb's goal, Arsenal's second, would probably be viewed in the future as the defining moment - their collective attainment of integration into what promises to be a side that would rival Arsene's 49-game Invincibles.

Any Reading hopes of a comeback in the second half was swiftly dashed by an intricate movement involving Toure, Fabregas, Rosicky and Hleb before the latter touched back the final pass for an undeserving van Wussie to get his name on the scoreboard.

This goal is my candidate for goal of the week, mainly due to the almost telepathic understanding between more than 4 players which resulted in a movement that the Reading defenders simply could not stop.

Fabregas earned a penalty in the 69th minute that Henry converted; capping a superb display. Thus he celebrates his signing of a new 8-year contract with the Arsenal this week in style.

And in also being named the Man of the Match, the young lad, ably supported by his team mates, handed his boss the perfect present for his 57th birthday.

Happy birthday, Arsene. Thank you for making the game beautiful again.