Arsenal:
                Lehmann
        Lauren Cygan Campbell Cole
Ljungberg (Parlour 72) Vieira Gilberto Pires (Edu 67)
      Henry Aliadiere (Kanu h-t)

As it was, without Mendieta and Juninho they were pretty non-existent going forward, the little Brazilian appearance on the hour made a bit of a difference but it was far too late by then. And they left us plenty of room at the back, and Southgate and Ehiougu just didn't look the wall that they have done in the past. 4 goals was nice after only making it past 1 in the league once since November. But really, it should have been more.

Schwarzer helped in the Boro goal. He came back from injury and made a great save after just a minute. Aliadiere had been put clear down the right, and struck a low shot inside the near post from just inside the box. It had the keeper going the wrong way, but he just managed to get his foot on the ball. Boro got the ball up the other end and crossed through a crowded box with no-one getting near it.

There were just too many Arsenal chances to write about. Easy enough to remember Boro's first half attacking: it was a cracking long-range shot from Doriva which swerved a lot and was heading under the bar when Lehmann reached up to parry it.

We took the lead on 36 minutes. Pires robbed Boateng near the halfway line, took it forward and slpped it into the path of Vieira who was bursting into the box. He tapped the ball forward but Ehiougu caught him and at the pace Paddy was going he was always going to go down. Danny Mills, who had cast himself as pantomime villain for the day, tried to wind Henry up by standing in his path and facing up to him before he took the spot kick. Words were exchanged. In the end Vieira ran up from the centre circle to impose himself between the 2. After scoring the pen, Henry may have made a point of celebrating in Mill's face, although he did turn round straight into the former Leeds man so maybe Thierry didn't know he was there. Pires did though, making sure he barged into Mills as he made his way over the congratulate Henry. I'm not sure what Sol was saying when he then ran over to have a word with his former England colleague.

The Danny Mills thing became an entertaining side-plot (the next development being just moments later in Arsenal's next attack when Pires made a point of nutmegging him over on the left wing). But it needs to be stressed that he didn't do anything too bad in the way of thuggery. Just some winding up that got shoved back in his face (the poor guy was well outclassed in terms of football today). When Keown behaves like that, we applaud his commitment (well I do, anyway).

Vieira is coming back to fitness, and as well as bossing the midfield (and how!) he's getting involved in attacks a bit more again. Aliadiere looked really good and was unlucky neither to score or create a goal. A couple of times he went on a terrific run and could have had a shot but instead tried to play the ball in for Thierry or Bob only to misjudge their runs and play it behind or between his teammates.

Near the end of the half Thierry took a couple of free kicks. The first was from the left, about 15 yards outside the box. Pires made for a position behind the wall by the near post and Thierry curled the ball towards him. The way the ball was coming from behind him it was hard for Bob to get a touch, a shame because any touch would have been enough as Schwarzer was stranded. As it was it nearly went in anyway, the free-kick slamming back off the foot of the post.

Aliadiere got injured straight after that one. It looked pretty bad to start with but he got back up after treatment and finished the half. Didn't make it out for the second half though, Kanu coming out instead. Let's hope Jeremie is ok for next weekend because there's no guarantee that Wiltord or Bergkamp will be, and Kanu may have been forced to go to Nigeria by then (and even if he's in England still, FIFA might bar him from playing).

Right before the end of the half Henry took the second free kick. From the same angle but closer to the penalty box, this time he swung it in towards the far post. Ljungberg was running in to that area and must have caused a bit of a pnic in the 2 defenders who were behind it, because Quedrue stuck out a foot to guide it past Schwarzer. Cygan's late run into the box, heading towards the other side of the goal as Henry made his run-up, probably helped the confusion.

So, Kanu on for Aliadiere, and much more of the same especially at the start of the second half.

12 minutes after the break Henry found himself with the ball just inside the box on the left. He tried to thread it through to Kanu closer to goal on the right but it was cut out by a defender. The ball fell nicely for Pires who passed the ball past Schwarzer in classic style for 3-0.

Half an hour to go and Juninho and Maccarone came on (for Job adn Doriva) and, in the long run anyway, gave Boro a much more effective look.

5 minutes later Edu came on for Pires, and a minute later Kanu's presence and positioning created another. This time 3 defenders came across to deal with him in the middle of the box, and one of them left space for Ljungberg on the right. Kanu's shot was blocked but he reacted first and managed to poke it wide for Freddie who squeezed his shot under Schwarzer and inside the far post. Like Pires, Ljungberg was taken off soon after scoring, with Parlour making a popular appearance.

Boro had a few attacks once it got to 4-0. Juninho got a shot in which Vieira headed clear. Henry got hold of it and ran the lenght of the pitch, but in knocking the ball past Quedrue to run after it, he let it get too close to Mills allowing him to make a brief non-comical contribution to the game.

Near the end the Arsenal defence went to sleep allowing the Boro subs to fashion a consolation goal. Juninho's quick thinking got the ball through for Maccarone to run at Lehmann from the edge of the box. He tapped it past Jens and went down under clear contact. Possibly only the fact that the ball was running a bit far and wide saved Jens from a card. Danny Mills didn't disappoint, sticking his oar in. I can't guarantee what he was saying to Maccarone but it looked like he was asking to be allowed to take it. Ah, bless! Anyway, the Italian took it and took it well.

Henry hit a speculative very long-range effort just before the whistle which was heading just inside the left hand post. A keeper would always expect to be able to get behind such a shot, but it pitched just in front of him so credit Schwarzer with a good save.

But the best moment came just before that, a back-heeled nutmeg from Henry. The victim... yep you guessed it!

So, 2 out of 5 Middlesbrough matches out of the way, and we're 8-1 up on aggregate. I do hope they enjoy their trips down to London. Maybe not many will turn up for the next one, in the League Cup. But I have to say that after the substitutions there was just about enough to suggest that they might not quite roll over again against our second string. They went one goal better than last time we played. At this rate, the last match of trhe series will be a 4-4 draw.

One of those days you're glad we dropped the "Woolwich" from the name. Arsenal and Man Utd have identical points and goals columns, so we're top overnight on alphabetical order. They play Newcastle tomorrow (Sunday).

Rupe adds...
Freddie's goal was his 50th for the club. Hence the big celebration (all the outfield players joined him in the Boro box for a big group