CESC FABREGAS’ choice of analogy was not surprising given the scars Arsenal had once again suffered in the heat of battle.
“When you see your team-mates playing like warriors, it is really good to play next to them,” he said in the wake of the 1-1 draw at Villarreal in the first-leg of the Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night. “I feel really proud and they should be proud as well.”
A recurrent theme of Arsenal’s season has been injury setbacks but even so, the events of the first-half at El Madrigal appeared to stretch credibility. No sooner had the club’s creative options begun to return, with Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott all playing their second matches after lay-offs, than their defensive options dwindled.
As Villarreal teased Arsenal with bursts of incisive football, first goalkeeper Manuel Almunia with an ankle sprain and then centre-half William Gallas with knee ligament damage were forced to depart. At 1-0 down and clinging on for half-time, Arsenal’s European season hung in the balance. That it was revived with a jolt, courtesy of a steely second-half performance, defined by Adebayor’s stunning equaliser, spoke for the courage in the team’s youthful ranks. Eight of the 11 players that started the second half were aged 23 or under.
“We could have done a bit better,” said Fabregas, “but we can’t really complain because 1-1 is not a bad result considering we lost Manuel and William in the first-half. Conceding a goal [to Marcos Senna] in the first 10 minutes is not easy but we showed character to come back.”
Almunia and Gallas had scans yesterday and while the former got positive news – the goalkeeper hopes to return for the second leg at Emirates next Wednesday – Gallas is not expected to feature again this season. Lukasz Fabianski, as he did on Tuesday night, will deputise in goal for the visit to Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
It is in defence where Wenger’s resources have appeared thin all season. With Philippe Senderos and Armand Traore out on loan at Milan and Portsmouth respectively, he has only six established players in the department, although midfielders Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue can provide cover. There is also the 19-year-old left-sided player Kieran Gibbs.
Wenger preferred to spend €16.6 million during the transfer window on another mercurial attacker, the Russia’s Andrey Arshavin, who is cup-tied in the Champions League.
Arsenal, however, have repeatedly dug deep to find a consistency in their results. Since the 3-0 Premier League defeat at Manchester City on November 22nd, they have gone 17 league games without defeat while they have also progressed in Europe and the FA Cup, where they face Chelsea in the semi-final on Saturday week. Fabregas is ready for the final push.
“I don’t feel 100 per cent fit yet, as Villarreal was only my second game back,” he said, reflecting on his knee injury lay-off of over three months. “I need three more games to be at my best. But when you are like this you can finish the season better than the players who have played whole season.”
Meanwhile, Uefa will await reports from the referee and match delegates before deciding whether to investigate the throwing of objects by Villarreal supporters towards Fabregas.
He was taking a corner when what appeared to be paper boxes were hurled in his direction from the stands. The Spain international removed one of the objects from the pitch, showing it to Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo before taking the corner.
The English FA have written to Fabregas and Arsenal to ask for their observations regarding the claim the captain spat at Brian Horton, the Hull City assistant manager.
Guardian Service
