Tomáš Seals A Win In A Derby With Fulham

20.01.2008

Fit again following a bout of flu, Tomáš Rosický got back to the Gunners' line-up and sealed a 3:0 win at Fulham. Adebayor scored the two preceding goals in the first half – the first one started from a pass by the Czech national team captain who, besides scoring the third goal, hit the post early in the second half. "I seem to be in good scoring form and I am glad about that,” said Tomáš for his website right after the match.

Before appearing at Fulham, Tomáš had played his last competition match on the New Year Day. The line-up for the following two Carling Cup games was made up of players who usually sit on the bench, and then he got ill ."It wasn't pleasant at all, but I got over it rather quickly. I spent two days in bed and then, on Sunday, I started with low load training, gradually increased the load over the week and felt completely fit today," said Rosický after the game in which he'd scored his sixth goal in the current season.
Having doubled his last year's goal-scoring productivity, he has showed again that his current role in the team is exactly up his street, although the opposition side did not really check Arsenal's defence on Saturday. “Although you may not have noticed that, Fulham played it cool at the beginning, and the whole match would have been a lot more difficult  if we hadn't scored the first goal this early. The game always changes once one of the teams scores the first goal, and we suddenly had much more space.”
There was a number of moves in the first half in which Tomáš was involved, but he became really dangerous after the break. “The Manager reshuffled the line-up a little after the first half and I got closer to the right wing. It is our great edge that many players are able to play more than one position. We got control over the game and didn't let them get off the hook," says Rosický who nearly scored a goal on 50 minutes when hitting the post after Eduardo's individual move.
The situation in front of the goal after 81 minutes resembled Tomáš's previous effort a lot. "That' s right, the two moves were very similar. Eduardo often pulls it this way and my task in a situation like that is to find open space as I arrive from behind. I was quite a hassle to get to the box for this particular goal, because I was quite far from there at the beginning.”
Arsenal are now playing a further two cup competition matches. The first one is a return match at Tottenham after the 1:1 draw in the first game. Although Manager Arséne Wenger tends to use young players in such games to spread the load evenly, Tomáš had a break of nearly three weeks, and so the coach may make use of his good form. "I really don't know whether I will play, the line-up is going to be announced on Monday afternoon," says Rosický.