Middlesbrough 1 – 1 Arsenal
13 December 2008
A frustrating match for the gunners, who dominated possession and created some great chances, but failed to convert them and must settle for the draw. Adebayor opened the scoring from a Cesc Fabregas corner to put Arsenal a goal ahead but Middlesbrough equalised 12 minutes later to go into the break at 1-1. Match report here.
Cesc Fabregas had an excellent match and definitely deserved to be a winner today, but it wasn’t to be. First of the pictures from the match are in the recent photos section You can see Video of full MOTD highlights from the game here.
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yes JJ.. da new boots are very plain but it looks nice on him also..
i personally like his pair of boots which he wore during da Man Utd match (da red one) & da Euro 2008 campaign (da black & blue one).. he really like nike Tiempo alot cuz most of his boots are from dat collection..
yes…agree with jordy…..Arsenal better be in the top 4…otherwise no champion league next season.Next games…with Liv on 20th n with Aston Villa on 26th…..no joke.must win these times .
TA… I know this will be biologically difficult…but could you please TRY not to be such a boy. Sigh.
Thanks Bri. I had a great time. I’ve been spending too much time online so it was good to un-plug
i don’t like the new boots too much they kinda boring he should wear red boots like he has in the past more cute for him!!
stop talking about the title and start praying for 4th as if there is no champions league football to be had Cesc might really leave soon
ok the cialis would be bad but wheres the harm in a few ads for russian porn?
Gallas has actually been better in recent weeks all credit to him he hasn’t sulked. I do think hes probably gonna leave but as there’s been a lot gone on behind the scenes and seems very likely that he would want out.
well i hope you had a nice weekend mj take your time theres no big hurry anyway
It was nice Plu… he must have sent them to everyone who sent messages of support. It’s nice to know he got the messages people sent. You always wonder if these things will actually get to the players so it was good!
Hi Hi!! Sorry I’ve been off-line almost all weekend. Thanks for taking care of everything Rose and sorry to everyone that I’ve been slow to post your comments today. I’d take moderation off but there were 23 spam messages when I just checked now and the site would be flooded with ads for cialis and russian porn if we didn’t do it this way
Good old West Ham United and Hull City we owe them a beer! It is a shame we didn’t win though as you say George imagine if we were just 6pts from the leaders. Within 6pts is in the race to me. At the moment we have a chance and can still get back into the thick of it. These next two games are massive for us.
I thought Arsenal played quite well. It is a shame people say Gallas will leave because he and Djourou seem a solid pairing. I think Song is a better partner for Cesc then Denilson was, Cesc has played better in the middle since Denilson has been on the wing. I think he has more faith in Song’s defensive skills.
Chelski drew God must be a gunner…so no change! Still 8 points off the pace.
Chelsea drew 1-1 with West Ham United!! A great result for us! Shame we didn’t get the win we’d be 6 pts off the top. I always think if you are within 6 points at xmas you’re in it. So we still have a chance.
Cesc played great yesterday he was the best player on the pitch.
We really need to buy in jan transfer window Other wise I can see
our top players leaving the club.
Just need for Chelsea to slip up this afternoon……..
ah. Just read that actual article. Villa as a replacement for ade…i really do hope ade doesn’t leave. I haven’t thought about the fact that he might at the end of the season….and tbh, he probably will want to go if Arsenal win nothing….
bri- i got an email from eboue as well. That was really nice of him. XD
I highly doubt we will sign Villa.Virtually impossible. If he was going to get sold, he would go to a big spanish team. Otherwise maybe to a club like chelsea, man united, or man city, who are able to pay lots of money for him.And do we really need him? We need midfielders, and another defender. Striker wise, we can do well with the ones we have.Edu is coming back soon, and vela looks very promising.
I really liked the new boots. His old ones were kinda boring looking these are a bit more styley! lol
Thanks George
Be careful what you wish for – although I’m sure Arsene won’t sign just anyone 
Hi MiLa
I noticed that, they were pretty eye-catching very bright white! lol
Hi Bri I got an e-mail from Eboue too it was kind of surprising to get a ‘thank you’ e-mail like that. Awwww poor man. I hope he bounces back!
btw; Captain Cesc wore a new pair of boots in yesterday match against Boro!!
juz wanna tell u guys!! hehehe..:D
yeah George I tend to think that’s just gossip I’d be very surprised to see us go in for a player like Villa as nice as it would be to see in the red and white.
hey i saw this thought you guys might be interested probably just rumours to get our hopes up,,, but I like the idea of Villa. Hell I like the idea of almost anyone at the moment. Desperation will do that.
Daily Mail story
feel sorry for capt cesc….he had done what he supposed to but no finishing touch to his superb passes.I think he might as well
try to score himself…..rather than passing the ball n to be wasted just like that…its so disapointed watching.
we wasted 2 good points……just imagine with 3 points n liv n man u just get 1 point…..we will be nearer…but 1 point is better than nothing .watching last night game i miss Edu,Nasri n Theo so much….Cesc wiil have more aid with them around.There are not easy games after this…..we will face Liv n Asthon Villa again.Hope n pray for the best.
Fabregas and Djourou men of the match! I hope we can beat Liverpool
Sorry for lost
Thanks for pics! love his new boots!
Fabregas the captain tried to motivate the team on numerous occasions, he talked to the players and tried to encourage them. He tried all game to lead by example and drive the team forward. I was very impressed. He is a good captain. It was a shame that we drew but it was not our worst performance of the season by any means and there are signs the team is getting better. I think we are just a couple of players short of being a winning team
I got an email from Eboue before the game btw. He had e-mailed… from what looked like a personal account from hotmail… a list of people to thank them for their support. I thought that was a very sweet thing to do. I am now a hard core Eboue fan so don’t nobody ever diss the boy to me again. I’ll kick your ass
A few more thoughts… now that I have re-watched the match. I thought Ade, Djourou and Cesc were our three best players today.
I actually thought we had a few bright moments. Our lack of width, because we have no natural wingers on the pitch, hurt us.
We should have won that, Cesc created enough for us to win it, we should have done better.
Towards the end when Boro had decided a draw would do and put 11 behind the ball and we had no space, it got a lot harder for us offensively. The lack of width was especially telling in those final 20 minutes.
I don’t know what Wenger should do about Nicklas Bendtner, I always liked him but he is having a crisis of confidence and Wenger is trying to keep the faith in the hope that he turns it round, but his first touch is poor and I don’t know how much longer Arsene can justify persisting with the lad.
hola sandriita sà un poco lol muy muy muy poco
mj es mejor 
Thanks TA, well that’s good now fingers-crossed results go our way tomorrow!
poor Cescy he look so sad he play good but others let him down
We’re still playing as individuals rather than as a team. There is a chasm between the effort of some players like Cesc who has a real sense of urgency and players like Denilson who’s head goes down a little easy.
We were nervous, we scored, we totally dominated, they scored and half our team mentally collapsed. I still believe this team is mostly afflicted with issues of confidence and a lack of mental strength.
Sorry for Captin Fab he must be so disappointed ;( he tries so hard and he look so sad at da end
Rosie Manchester United drew too so now we have to wait for Chelsea’s result but at least others drawing are keeping us in the race for 4th although obviously we’d like better…
Alguien sabe español de aqui???
Fab was the best of our players and Ade, Gallas, Djourou + Sagna showed up too but otherwise a bit flat. Big Al made a great save but there were clear signs he is not communicating clearly enough with his back 4 and Song was actually quite good in the tackle and worked hard but he’s a little way off the finished product. I’ll post more tomorrow.
I’m going to go watch the spaniards down the pub! I think Barca will do it no worries. I hope Cesc won’t be watching it thinking, I wish I was in that team.
Everyone has been saying that if Cesc plays well the team plays well. Well Cesc played well and…
So it’s time to stop expecting 1 man to carry us ffs. Cesc is the main thing between us and being a mid-table team. Does Arsenal have ambitions or not or are we just a nursery now?
feckin hell that wasn’t good
Do Denilson and RVP have a contest going for who can fall over the most?
Well it was a shame to drop more points and I doubt that Chelsea will be held by West Ham United tomorrow but miracles happen…
Hi Plu
Ditto to what you wrote except I didn’t think Song was quite as bad as you did but otherwise I think you sum things up well. Cesc was man of the match for us but that won’t be much consolation to him. Our finishing was off and both van Persie and Bendtner failed to convert better chances than Ade had to be fair.
Liverpool and Hull drew so that is some good news for us. Though Aston Villa won and so we are back in 5th. We have Liverpool next.
Here is what Arsene said after the match
mj has gone to an el clasico party and I have to go offline too now so there won’t be anymore photos until later today!
I no understand why we only made 1 subs. And did is out of form Bendtner. have little faith in our bench?
Exactly. When you see the team sheet you know Fabregas has to play at the very top of his game to make up for the midfield short comings. Song wins a few balls but its not much good when he gives twice as many away.
Denilson works hard but he’s too light weight.
Disappointing.
Cesc seems to be the only person in midfield recently. I swear the other midfielders do nothing. This midfield depresses me. We need proper wingers, and a dm who is worthy enough to play alongside cesc. Song today was just argh.
And rvp!!!!He could have won the game for us on two occasions.Those were damn good chances.
Clichy’s mistakes this season have practically always led to us conceding a goal.
Ade was good today.
Overall, I was disappointed with the result. However, we haven’t won against Boro for years….and we did play fairly well..and we did create some good chances.
we need to buy players in jan and sell/loan out denilson eboue diaby song and bendtner they are not good enough to play for arsenal. we are being outplayed by mediocre teams and it because we have mediocre players in too mnay positions.
Felt for el capitan today. It must be depressing for him. I hope he doesn’t get fed up and leave. He’s the one really world class player we have
Theres a point bri when you stop cursing and move onto a kind of resignation,,, I think I’m there is all. Robin had plenty of competition in the player who sucked the most category,,, I’m fresh out of rants but never fear I’m sure it’s only temporary
George… are you feeling well? I was sure you would be talking about van Persie’s wastefulness but seeing as you haven’t… and I am the biggest rvp fan here… let me be the first to admit that he didn’t have a good game today.
Arsenal played badly today; not all of da players but some..
i mean what da hell are da strikers doing?? they can easily put in more goals during da match!! but NO, they didnt!!
and i muz say dat Wenger really needs to change his strategies for goodness sake!! he should change players when he sees them not playing well.. i mean; why is he buying young players when he didnt use them in da EPL matches?? is it only for show or wat?? it kinda frustrates me though!! sometimes; he should give da youngsters a chance to shine!!
diaby really gets into my nerves.. he was weak & he seems scared to get close to da opponents!! if he’s scared; why is he playing in da first place!!
i’m sorry if i rant too much abt da game but i cant take it anymore!! i wanna see Arsenal winning games!! it seems to me dat Arsenal dun really put in enough effort to win a match when they’re facing other teams as compared to da Big Three (Man Utd, Liverpool & Chelsea).. i’m rather disappointed!!
Cesc played out of his skin. He was brilliant. He really showed some amazing skill but he can’t do it on his own. He needs better quality around him in the midfield.
Bugger. I really thought we were gonna do it but we seemed to lose our way a bit in the second half.
so theres not much to do except pray for a good draw next Friday and hope the FA Cup campaign goes well. We had some very good periods of play today,,, it’s a real shame to have dropped points,,, mid way through the first half I thought we were looking good for it.