Wigan boss Steve Bruce has a fully fit squad available for Sunday's visit of Premier League leaders Arsenal. Ryan Taylor (ribs) is fit again after a month out, while Kevin Kilbane has recovered from a bruised foot.
Robin van Persie could return for Arsenal after recovering from his injury problems.
Theo Walcott is out with a thigh injury while Abou Diaby suffered a calf complaint during the win over AC Milan and Emmanuel Eboue is still suspended.
Arsenal (From): Almunia, Clichy, Senderos, Gallas, Sagna, Denilson, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, Adebayor, Bendtner, Gilberto, Van Persie, Toure, Lehmann, J Hoyte, Traore, Song.
Adebayor Interview- Part 1/Part 2
Arsene Wenger On Flamini
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Fabregas - That goal was maybe the best moment of my career
Cesc Fabregas ranks his goal at Milan on Tuesday as one of the best moments of his career so far.
The 20-year-old, who is fast approaching 200 games for Arsenal, let fly from distance with five minutes left to give the visitors a vital lead in the Champions League Knockout Round second leg at the San Siro.
Although Emmanuel Adebayor added another at the death, it was that fabulous Fabregas goal - and the celebration that followed - which stick in the memory.
"It was one of the best moments of my career and I went straight to the boss because without him I would never have had the chance to play in a game like this," he said.
"Maybe I have not been at my best since my injury, but now I feel great once again. This performance has been very important for my confidence. After I had started the season so well and then had an injury, I was not playing the way I used to and I was a bit upset. I needed a performance like this.
"When you look back on your career, these are the nights you are going to remember.
"We have to be very proud of what we have done. We went over to our fans, and you could also see some of the Milan fans clapping. You could see they like this kind of football and that we played well. "The Milan players all said: 'well done, we hope you win it now'. In Italy, they have a lot of respect."
But respect is not enough, Arsenal need to display the trophies their consistency deserves. Fabregas feel they are 'on order'. "We only have a small squad and have had lots of injuries," he said. "However, now we have important players coming back, like Robin [van Persie] and maybe next week Tomas [Rosicky] and Kolo Toure. So it is all positive. "Other teams now know if they let us play, we can be very dangerous."They close us down and defend, we have to try not to make mistakes and just play our own football.
"The spirit of the team is amazing, and we have to keep going. Now, though, we just have to be focussed on Sunday's game - we have to go to Wigan and win there."
The 20-year-old, who is fast approaching 200 games for Arsenal, let fly from distance with five minutes left to give the visitors a vital lead in the Champions League Knockout Round second leg at the San Siro.
Although Emmanuel Adebayor added another at the death, it was that fabulous Fabregas goal - and the celebration that followed - which stick in the memory.
"It was one of the best moments of my career and I went straight to the boss because without him I would never have had the chance to play in a game like this," he said.
"Maybe I have not been at my best since my injury, but now I feel great once again. This performance has been very important for my confidence. After I had started the season so well and then had an injury, I was not playing the way I used to and I was a bit upset. I needed a performance like this.
"When you look back on your career, these are the nights you are going to remember.
"We have to be very proud of what we have done. We went over to our fans, and you could also see some of the Milan fans clapping. You could see they like this kind of football and that we played well. "The Milan players all said: 'well done, we hope you win it now'. In Italy, they have a lot of respect."
But respect is not enough, Arsenal need to display the trophies their consistency deserves. Fabregas feel they are 'on order'. "We only have a small squad and have had lots of injuries," he said. "However, now we have important players coming back, like Robin [van Persie] and maybe next week Tomas [Rosicky] and Kolo Toure. So it is all positive. "Other teams now know if they let us play, we can be very dangerous."They close us down and defend, we have to try not to make mistakes and just play our own football.
"The spirit of the team is amazing, and we have to keep going. Now, though, we just have to be focussed on Sunday's game - we have to go to Wigan and win there."
AC Milan 0-2 Arsenal (0-2 Ag)
AC Milan 0
Arsenal 2
Arsenal struck twice late on to become the first English team to beat AC Milan in the San Siro and deservedly reach the last eight of the Champions League.
Arsene Wenger's side produced a virtuoso display but had to wait until the 84th minute before Cesc Fabregas fired in a low 30-yard finish.
Emmanuel Adebayor then turned in Theo Walcott's cross in injury time to send the holders crashing out.
Fabregas hit the bar in the first-half as Arsenal dominated almost throughout.
Arsenal: Almunia, Clichy, Senderos, Gallas, Sagna, Diaby, Fabregas, Flamini, Eboue (Walcott 71), Hleb (Silva 89), Adebayor. Subs Not Used: Lehmann, Van Persie, Denilson, Bendtner, Justin Hoyte.
Eduardo is February's Player of the Month
Eduardo has been chosen by the fans as their Player of the Month for February.The Croatian striker's season was cut short in horrific circumstances when he broke his left fibula and suffered an open dislocation of his ankle in the opening minutes of the game at Birmingham. But prior to that Eduardo did enough to show that, when he returns, Arsenal can expect plenty more goals from their summer signing.
Eduardo's finest moments of February came right at the start of the month. The 25-year-old was exceptional against Manchester City, combining well with Emmanuel Adebayor and scoring a fine goal with an overhead kick in Arsenal's 3-1 win. Eduardo followed that display with starts against Blackburn, Manchester United and Milan before that fateful trip to St. Andrews.
This is the second time Eduardo has scooped our Player of the Month award and, on this occasion, he polled 36.4 per cent of the votes. Adebayor, our January winner, was second with 18.4 per cent while Mathieu Flamini was third with 11.4 per cent.
Eduardo 36.4%
Emmanuel Adebayor 18.4%
Mathieu Flamini 11.4%
Others 33.8%
Emmanuel Adebayor 18.4%
Mathieu Flamini 11.4%
Others 33.8%
Arsenal 1-1 Aston Villa
Arsenal 1
Aston Villa 1
Gabriel Agbonlahor's driven, low cross was turned into his own net by the unfortunate Senderos on 27 minutes.
Villa almost added a second but Manuel Almunia did superbly to turn Shaun Maloney's fierce shot onto the post.
As a below-par Arsenal looked destined for defeat, substitute Bendtner poked in an equaliser in the last 10 seconds.
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Senderos (Denilson 78), Clichy, Hleb, Fabregas, Flamini (Silva 78), Diaby (Bendtner 59), Adebayor, Walcott.Subs Not Used: Lehmann, Justin Hoyte
Friday, February 29, 2008
Arsenal Vs Aston Villa Preview
Arsenal will not rush Robin van Persie back from a thigh injury despite the absence of Eduardo, so Nicklas Bendtner will partner Emmanuel Adebayor. Abou Diaby (calf) should return, but Kolo Toure (knee) is still out and Emmanuel Eboue remains suspended.
Aston Villa's Olof Mellberg (ankle) appears to be winning his fitness battle, after returning to training. Patrik Berger has recovered from a hamstring problem and could challenge for a place on the substitutes' bench.
Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Senderos, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, Bendtner, Adebayor, Lehmann, J Hoyte, Denilson, Gilberto, Traore, Lansbury, G Hoyte.
Arsene Wenger's Interview
Aston Villa's Olof Mellberg (ankle) appears to be winning his fitness battle, after returning to training. Patrik Berger has recovered from a hamstring problem and could challenge for a place on the substitutes' bench.
Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Senderos, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, Bendtner, Adebayor, Lehmann, J Hoyte, Denilson, Gilberto, Traore, Lansbury, G Hoyte.
Arsene Wenger's Interview
Monday, February 25, 2008
Flamini - We want to win the title for Eduardo
Mathieu Flamini has vowed to win the Premier League title for Eduardo.
The Croatian striker broke his leg in the opening minutes of Arsenal's game at Birmingham on Saturday. The incident overshadowed the first half and, though Martin Taylor had been sent off for the tackle, Arsène Wenger's side trailed at the interval.
Theo Walcott's brace saw them storm in front 10 minutes after the restart and Arsenal looked to be cruising to a vital three points until Gael Clichy was adjudged to have fouled Stuart Parnaby in the area deep into injury time. James McFadden scored from the spot.
Manchester United's subsequent win at Newcastle reduced Arsenal's lead to three points. It was a tough day all-round for Wenger's outfit but, according to Flamini, Eduardo's misfortune will spur on the side.
"We wanted to win the title before but now we want to win it also for him," said the Frenchman afterwards. "He is not going to be with us for a long time, so of course we want to win it for him.
"We are still three points clear at the top but the way we have only drawn is going to be disappointing because there was an opportunity to win this game. We came back, we showed great character and I think that was the only positive thing from the game."
Of course, the massive negative was the loss of Eduardo, who ironically celebrates his 25th birthday today.
"I genuinely didn't see the tackle," said Flamini. "But I could see it was bad because I saw the result. I have no words to describe what I saw.
"Yes, of course, it was difficult to get over in the game. He is a friend before he is a partner in the team. It upsets you but we're not going to say we conceded the goal because of that.
"We all said in the dressing room at half-time that we had to react. We want to win the title and we wanted to win this game. We came back we scored the first one very quickly and the second just behind.
"I think we should have killed the game. So, yes, we were very disappointed because it is a bad result for us, and especially when we conceded the goal 30 seconds before the end of the game.
"It is clear there was no penalty. We checked on the video so it is very frustrating. But I really don't think we deserved this result."
The Croatian striker broke his leg in the opening minutes of Arsenal's game at Birmingham on Saturday. The incident overshadowed the first half and, though Martin Taylor had been sent off for the tackle, Arsène Wenger's side trailed at the interval.
Theo Walcott's brace saw them storm in front 10 minutes after the restart and Arsenal looked to be cruising to a vital three points until Gael Clichy was adjudged to have fouled Stuart Parnaby in the area deep into injury time. James McFadden scored from the spot.
Manchester United's subsequent win at Newcastle reduced Arsenal's lead to three points. It was a tough day all-round for Wenger's outfit but, according to Flamini, Eduardo's misfortune will spur on the side.
"We wanted to win the title before but now we want to win it also for him," said the Frenchman afterwards. "He is not going to be with us for a long time, so of course we want to win it for him.
"We are still three points clear at the top but the way we have only drawn is going to be disappointing because there was an opportunity to win this game. We came back, we showed great character and I think that was the only positive thing from the game."
Of course, the massive negative was the loss of Eduardo, who ironically celebrates his 25th birthday today.
"I genuinely didn't see the tackle," said Flamini. "But I could see it was bad because I saw the result. I have no words to describe what I saw.
"Yes, of course, it was difficult to get over in the game. He is a friend before he is a partner in the team. It upsets you but we're not going to say we conceded the goal because of that.
"We all said in the dressing room at half-time that we had to react. We want to win the title and we wanted to win this game. We came back we scored the first one very quickly and the second just behind.
"I think we should have killed the game. So, yes, we were very disappointed because it is a bad result for us, and especially when we conceded the goal 30 seconds before the end of the game.
"It is clear there was no penalty. We checked on the video so it is very frustrating. But I really don't think we deserved this result."
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