Bendtner To The Fore

There has always been a feisty contest each time Blackburn play Arsenal. More so since the FA Cup semifinal at Cardiff when Arsenal crushed Blackburn 3-0 despite the rough treatment meted out by Mark Hughes’ men. More so since Van Persie was elbowed by Andy Todd immediately after he turned to reel in celebration of his second goal.

Arsene Wenger has been very critical of Blackburn’s style of play. His thoughts were echoed each time his players return from those matches with more bruises than points. Last year’s FA Cup defeat still rakes in my memory. Arsenal was total control of the match but unable to finish off the opponent. On came the former Porto striker, McCarthy and the rest was history.

Now was Wenger’s chance to put one over Hughes at Ewood Park. What’s more, this was a chance to put one over using his second best team. A team made out of Fabianski, Traore, Song, Hoyte, Randall, Denilson, Diarra, Diaby and Bendtner among others assured that Arsenal had a first team line-up averaging 20 years old. Up against them were the seasoned pros of Tugay, Nelsen, Santa Cruz, Dunn and Friedel.

The final result proved two things. First, there is a whole pack of hungry and talented youngster who can stand side by side with the best in the Premiership if not Europe. Secondly, this young bunch of players have the resolve and maturity to handle the pressure of losing a 2-0 lead at the away ground of one of the league’s toughest opponent.

Eduardo may have hog the limelight with his two well taken goals. This guy does not really need to be in the game. Just give him a chance or two and you can be sure that the ball will end up in the back of the net.

However the star of the show was really Nicklas Bendtner. This lad reminds me a lot of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Good touches on the ball for a big lad. Never panicking and can lead the line on his own and buy his team time. Twice I’ve seen him picked out his partner with a cross into the box of such accuracy that it would be a crime to not score. Mark him out, this boy’s going to be a star.

Next up, Carling Cup semifinal will be against the archrival Spurs. Funny things these draws. A movie could not have written the script any better. Chance for Spurs to gain revenge but as things are going at the moment, that seemed too far fetched even for Juande Ramos.