Bolton battered

The second half performance today was possibly our best of the season so far. Jermaine "asbo" Pennant had his best game ever for us. I was starting to get worried about the lad but if he can show this kind of form on a regular basis then he should be confident of staying at the club. Himself and the always impressive Finnan formed a great double act down the right. Gonzaléz wasn't as effective but both players stayed wide to strech the bolton play and pin them back. Kuyt was a dutch master again today. He scored one and set up another. I am glad that he scored. He is a fans favourite already but hasn't really gotten the goals that his play deserves. He's been unlucky with hitting the woodwork numerous times so it was great to see him get back amongst the goals again today. I would hope that he can score around 15 in the league this season. Crouchie got another of his overhead specials. His heading wasn't what it can be today but he made up for it with this spectacular effort here. As a commentator in America once said, that goal was as electricifying as a hairdryer thrown into a bathtub.

Our goals for and against is now 17-1 in our last seven games. The defence has really stepped up and is getting back to the form of last season. Sami was recalled today which didn't surprise me. He is still our best player in the air and is very useful against teams who like to pump it into the box. Isn't it surprising that there is no talk of zonal marking now that we are keeping clean sheets left, right and centre?

Next up is Arsenal in the FA cup and then the carling cup match against them. I would like to win both but I have to say that I wouldn't be that put out to see us drop out of one of the domestic cups. We're fighting on all fronts and could do with a few fixtures less. Winning a cup is great, as we saw in Cardiff last may but Europe is the big prize as we saw in Istanbul. I would trade a FA Cup and a Carling cup for another night like that legendary one we had 18 months ago. Check out my favourite youtube clip here if you need refreshing on the best match ever. Still brings a tear to my eye.