Birthday Party

From the very first minute, Arsenal seemed determined to make Arsene Wenger’s 57th birthday a special occasion, as the outstanding Cesc Fabregas made his way to the bye-line and pulled the ball back for Thierry Henry to power the ball in with the inside of his foot.

It was the signal for a celebration of real football. Fluent. Compelling. Imaginative. Irresistible. Pure poetry. Rich entertainment. And how the Arsenal manager must have loved it.

If there was a single fault, it was that Arsenal would have hit double figures if only they had taken most of their chances. Robin Van Persie was through in the 11th minute and shot narrowly wide. The adventurous Hoyte had a wonderful opportunity but blew it 17 minutes later. Henry put Fabregas through....the chances just kept on coming.

And so, to be fair, did the goals. A sparkling one-two between Hleb and Rosicky culminated in Hleb’s powerful drive into the roof of the net. Three minutes into the second half, a magical Arsenal attack ended with Henry, Hleb and Van Persie applying the finishing touch to the goal of the game. And after Fabregas had been brought down in pursuit of Henry’s delightful through ball, the Arsenal captain stepped up to make it 4-0 from the penalty spot.

In the end, everyone seemed to enjoy Arsene’s party because it had exactly the right ingredients, the most important of which was the quality of the football, described generously and accurately by Reading boss Steve Coppell as “fabulous”.

It was.