SPORT

- reported by Osiris.

For the first time since the match against Charlton on Boxing Day, Arsenal have recorded an away win after 2 league defeats and exits from the Carling Cup and FA Cup.

Arsenal went to St. Andrews Stadium with 8 regular defenders ruled out of the match, leaving Wenger with no option but to send in a make-shift defense with an averaging age of 21 and comprising of 2 midfielders. Freddie Ljungberg and Robin van Persie were rested while Robert Pires started on the bench, but Jose Antonio Reyes and Csec Fabregas both came back from suspension.

To be honest, none of our staff watched the game and only Osiris listened to the commentary on the BBC, so Rotters International is unable to give you the full events which happened during the game.

Emmanuel Adebayor made his debut for Arsenal after returning from Togo's elimination from the African Cup of Nations. The former Monaco player's performance was impressive considering that he resumed training with the Gunners three days ago and in the 21st minute he scored a header, the ball coming from another Arsenal youth Abou Diaby's rebound following Thierry Henry's instinctive flick.




Emmanuel Adebayor is congatulated after putting the Gunners 1-0 up.






Arsenal continued to apply the pressure but Birmingham did have a few chances wasted. Jermaine Pennant was eager to shine against his former club and his cross was nearly headed home by Emile Hesky.

Adebayor could have made it 2-0 when he received a good ball from Reyes. However after running in front of goal, his shot was not powerful enough and Taylor saved comfortably.

3 minutes past the hour, skipper Henry scored. He latched onto a slide-pass by Fabregas and lashed a shot to beat Taylor and make it 2-0. That goal also set a new record for Henry and Arsenal - the Frenchman is the first Arsenal player to score 200 goals for the club. Coincidentally, back in 2003, Henry's goal against Birmingham made it a 100 goals scored by the striker.




Henry celebrates his 200th goal for Arsenal.






Birmingham made a tactical change by substituting Mikael Forssell with DJ Campbell, the latter playing his first Premiership match. He created some trouble for the Arsenal back-four with his charging and crosses but the defenders held on strongly to their 2-goal lead.

A goal for Birmingham would have pleased the fans but things got worse for Steve Bruce when Emile Hesky receiveda second yellow card after knocking into Flamini in the 83rd minute and was sent off. Hesky was booked earlier for fouling Senderos and the player was unwilling to leave the pitch even though referee Mike Reily had shown him the red card. In the end his manager had to drag him away from the field.





Hesky refuses to leave after being shown the red card by Mike Reily.





So the final whistle blew and the Gunners recorded their first away win since Boxing Day and Theirry Henry set yet another remarkable record for a remarkable player. Arsenal are still in the race for a Champions League spot, one point behind 4th-placed Tottenham who play Charlton tonight. The Gunners have a game in hand and must use it to their advantage if they want to play European football next season.

Arsene Wenger was pleased with his team's performance, given that the back-four was a makeshift one.

"We had 8 players under 21 out there but they did very well. It was a great team performance and the team can be very proud."

On Emmanuel Adebayor, who scored on his debut, "He brought a great presence to us. He added size to the team and that was important in this kind of game."

"It was all about winning challenges in the air. I think Thierry took advantage of his presence as well."

Steve Bruce was left fuming after the send-off of Emile Hesky. When asked for comment, the Birmingham manager grumbled, "Fuck off, I'm not in a good mood."

Osiris is an Arsenal fan and believes that Tottenham does not deserve a Champions League spot. He hopes that Arsenal can win the Champions League this season even though their European form sucks.

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