Arsenal vs Sheffield United - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 23rd September 2006

Whilst on the way to the stadium for this game, I walked past the local piece of art by the guerilla (or graffiti) artist Banksy. Located on Martineau Road in N5, just off Drayton Park, this proves that Islington is the capital of the cultural world, and that Highbury is indeed the centre of the universe. Classic modern art, literally on my doorstep - somebody's house wall is worth a bit of extra cash. Since Banksy's Paris Hilton stunt, people even seem to be stopping to take photos!

This game was the one where everybody was hoping/expecting, at long last, to get the first league win at the new stadium. Admittedly against a team that will probably be going down at the end of the season, we needed to register a win, if only to stop all the press and doom-mongers from piling the pressure onto us.

As it turned out, we got the win, but only after a very frustrating first hour. Sheffield United defended pretty well, and Arsenal certainly contrived to make them look a hell of a lot better than they really are. After around an hour, and amid increasing pressure, we got the breakthrough - Gallas's first goal for Arsenal, which sparked a huge celebration both on and off the pitch. After that, it was really only a question of how many Arsenal would score, as United heads went down, and they started to collapse.

There were a couple of strange shirt-related incidents in this game. Firstly, the Sheffield United left back had no name or number on his shirt for the first half. Mysteriously, he appeared with name and number in the second half, which makes you wonder why his numbered shirt couldn't have been there earlier. Secondly, late in the first half, Fabregas needed to change his shirt, and there was no spare one with his name and number. So, he played the last 10 minutes of the first half in a shirt with "49" on the back - a nice reminder of the unbeaten run! Again, somebody managed to get to the Megastore at half time, and all was rectified for the second half. Arsenal and Sheffield United both have full time kit managers (and how difficult can that job really be?), I suspect that they should be getting a rollicking on Monday morning.