fulham vs. ARSENAL - Sat, Jan 19, 2008, 3pm (Barclays Premier League Round 23)

Fulham (from):

niemi, baird, stefanovic, bocanegra, hughes, volz, bullard,davis, murphy, davies, healy, smertin,dempsey,warner, ki-hyeon, stefanovic.

Arsenal (from):

Almunia, Sagna, Senderos, Gallas, Clichy, Rosicky, Fabregas,Flamini, Hleb, Eduardo, Adebayor, Lehmann, Gilberto, Diaby, J Hoyte,Bendtner, Denilson, Walcott.

Fulham vs Arsenal _ 0_1 _ Adebayor by allgoals

Fulham vs Arsenal _ 0_2 _ Adebayor by allgoals

Fulham vs Arsenal _ 0_3 _ Rosicky by allgoals

On the performance...
"We were in control of the game for 90 minutes. We gave a strong performance and scored an early goal. Defensively we did not give chances away so overall I am pleased at the way we responded to the disappointment last week. That shows that the team want to do it and they can come back in a big way."

On the challenge at Fulham...
"It was a derby. The first goal was important today. Fulham played with a congested midfield, it was important for us to break through and we did it on the flanks. We scored three goals through crosses and that is quite unusual for us. We have a variety in our game that allows us to deal with any resistance we get."

On having Adebayor in the side...
"Somewhere the fact that Togo did not qualify for the African Nations Cup helps us because we can now have Adebayor. But I still feel we have players who are coming on well now - Bendtner and Eduardo and Walcott. Even if Adebayor had gone then I am not sure I would have been on the market."

On picking him up after Togo did not make it to Ghana...
"Yes but he is a mentally strong-willed guy anyway. You could see that in his game today. He has personality and he is focussed on what he has to do here at Arsenal. It is first year where he is the main striker and he want to show how good he is.
"He loves to play. Sometimes he loves to play so much that he is not where he needs to be on the crosses. He likes to touch the ball and that drags him out from where he can be lethal. Today he was focussed more to be central. That is where he is more dangerous. He has an unbelievable jump and his timing on crosses was right today. He hangs in the air and today he proved you don't have to head it very hard to score."

On moving Eduardo wide and Hleb up front in the second half...
"The main reason was we were 2-0 in front. We had some room on the flanks to get some cross in and Hleb could find the players on the flanks."

On Gael Clichy's contribution to the first goal...
"Clichy's crossing has improved tremendously. He is much better than he was one year ago. Much cleaner technically."

On keeping his subs on the bench...
"I thought that we were 2-0 up and looked in control. If Fulham had scored I would have changed. But the players who did play today will play on Tuesday so they had a good breather today."
[ Saturday, January 19, 2008]