Month: February 2012

ARTETA WANTS A WIN

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta has said that Arsenal do need to perform extremely well in the FA Cup match against Sunderland.

Arsenal come on the back of the humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of AC Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The result has all but ended their hopes of getting through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. As a result, there is every chance that Arsenal could once again end up without any trophy at the end of the season. Due to this reason, Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta has said that the club needs to quickly erase the memories of the defeat in the Champions League by performing extremely well in the FA Cup, which is the last tournament Arsenal can win this season.

Arsenal will be facing Premier league opponents Sunderland in the FA Cup match on Saturday. Arsenal faced Sunderland in the Premier league only a few days ago, and came out on the victorious side. Hence, Mikel Arteta believes that Arsenal can once again repeat the performance on Saturday as well. The 4-0 defeat against AC Milan will certainly be tough to take, but Arteta reckons that a victory in the FA Cup will help erase the memories.

“We have to try to digest this result. We have another great game on Saturday in the FA Cup and there are some big ones coming up soon. We have to be mentally ready when we get back because it will be a very tough game against Sunderland. It is very, very hard to take this one,” Arteta told to the official website of Arsenal. Arsenal are currently in the fourth position in the table, but only on the amount of goals scored. Chelsea are a close fifth, with both teams on the same number of points.

IBRA SAYS SORRY

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said that he now takes full responsibility for his red card against Napoli during the weekend.

Ibrahimovic was sent off in the match after just 19 min into the second half, which meant that AC Milan could not move up the gears to secure the victory.

AC Milan and Juventus are currently locked in a fiery battle for the Italian Serie A title. Undoubtedly, this 0-0 draw with Napoli is something that seriously hurts the chances of AC Milan winning the title, although Juventus not winning the match in hand certainly helped the matters for Massimiliano Allegri and his men.

As a result of Juventus not winning, both Juventus and AC Milan remain extremely close to each other, although the rest of the chasing pack have caught up. Juventus still lead AC Milan by just one point, although AC Milan have played a game more than their opponents. Juventus will have the opportunity to extend their lead to a four point one with a victory in their game in hand.

Ibrahimovic slapped Napoli player Salvatore Aronica in the face, which left the referee with no other option to send him off.

“I did a stupid thing. It happens, it happens. [But] I have to learn from my mistakes. I don’t need the television cameras to know what I’ve done. I made a mistake. I have confidence in the team. They will do well without me,” Ibrahimovic said during an interview after the match.

AC Milan will be facing Juventus in the semifinals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday night, before taking on Arsenal in Europe, where according to the online Champions League bet markets, AC will be in the rare position of underdogs.

The 30-year-old Swedish striker is widely known for his temperamental behaviour, and it was largely responsible for AC Milan not to take three points in their tough match against Napoli.