Hull 1 - 2 Arsenal
Andrey Arshavin opened the scoring
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Saturday, 13, Mar 2010 07:31
By Darren Estwick.
An injury time goal by Nicklas Bendtner ensured a hard-fought 2-1 victory for Arsenal over Hull in the Premier League's evening kick-off on Saturday.
The result ensures Arsenal stay very much in the title picture whilst Hull remain in the relegation zone as an early goal by Andrey Arshavin, an equalizer by Jimmy Bullard and a sending off for George Boateng all preceded the dramatic winner by the Danish striker.
In a bad tempered game it was Arsenal who took an early lead. A slick move involving ten short Arsenal one touch passes eventually found its way to Arshavin who managed to bundle his way past two defenders and poke the ball past Boaz Myhill.
The goal rewarded the away side for their bright start, and they continued in much the same way after the goal. Hull struggled to gain any possession and were often left chasing shadows before being thrown a lifeline.
Halfway through the first half, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink broke clear of the defence and found himself in the area. Sol Campbell attempted to get back at the attacker but his clumsy effort only served to bring the striker down for a penalty. Campbell escaped further punishment even though he was the last man.
Jimmy Bullard stepped up to take the penalty and rifled it past Almunia to turn the game on its head.
Arsenal were the next to threaten but Arsahvin blazed over when well placed before Hull midfielder Boateng pushed the self destruct button.
The experienced enforcer had already clashed with Bendtner off the ball where it appeared that the Dutch international had struck the forward, before receiving his marching orders for an over the ball challenge on Bacary Sagna.
At this point Boateng was lucky to still be on the pitch when a 50-50 challenge with Sagna resulted in a potential leg breaker for the right back and a red card for the Hull player. There were no complaints from any Hull player as Boateng left the field in disgrace.
The one man advantage for the away side didn't initially seem apparent as Hull continued where they had left off. Bullard had an effort outside the area which flew over the bar at the start of the second half as Arsenal tried to regain their impetus.
The introduction of Theo Walcott helped in this aspect and it was his pace that almost managed to engineer a goal for Arsenal. The speedster managed to cut the ball across the area to the waiting Arshavin just outside the six yard box but to everyone's disbelief he shot high and wide.
The pressure continued to mount on the Hull goal heading into the final 15 minutes. Bendtner found himself with two opportunities, the first found him hooking over the bar and the second was blocked by a last ditch challenge.
With 90 minutes up the board for injury time showed 6 minutes to the despair of all those in the home corner. Two minutes into the added time Arsenal grabbed their crucial winner. Denilson shot from outside the area was parried poorly by Myhill straight to the waiting Bendtner who placed the ball past the hapless keeper and secure a vital three points.