Arsenal 2-0 Middlesbrough

"I believe that what is important on Wednesday night is that we're at our best. When we are at our best we can beat anybody."

- Arsene Wenger, bigging us up for the match against Utd

2-0 to the Arsenal last night, with two goals to Fabregas and some clever link work with Arshavin. The Owl didn't score any goals and only provided one assist, so it was a pretty poor performance by his standards. Still, we won, so I'm sure he's happy and eager to make amends next game.

Nasri played deep in a holding midfielder role. It's an interesting place to put him. Nasri's a chunky little player, with good ball control. It a bit of a waste of his talent, but he can perform as a holding midfielder adequately. Plus, he's the most hideous Arsenal midfielder since Flamini, and we need a bit of ugliness in the centre of the park. Might be an inspired decision by Wenger. It'll be interesting to see whether he gets a similar role against Man Utd, maybe partnering Song in the centre with Fabregas given license to roam. 

However, halfway through the second half, I realised I really didn't care about the game anymore. We were 2-0 up, the field was open, Arsenal were cruising... and it all seemed quite pointless. Sure, we're 6 points behind Chelsea and 3rd place is still very achievable, but it doesn't seem to mean much to me. 

I'm much more anxious about the game on Wednesday night. Man Utd in the semi-final. That'll be a good game. Our season hangs on the semi-final tie, and our semi-final tie hangs on that game. We're starting to get players back (Almunia and Djourou) and Silvestre's injured, which is always a bonus. If we can keep the defence tight, and not concede more than, let's say five goals, then we're in with a chance at the Emirates in a week's time. I know it's asking a lot of our defence, but it's doable. 

It's going to be a couple of nervy days until the match.