THE DUTCHMAN is easily my Man of the Match, since he was the one who never stopped trying to create chances, despite playing with a weakened team.
It all stems from his desire and frustration at not winning any silverware for the past four seasons and if Arsenal fail to win anything this season again, he might just leave for another club that would fulfil his ambitions.
THE DENILSON-DIABY COMBINATION
THE PAIR may be lightweight, compared the big-name Roma players such as Daniele De Rossi and Francesco Totti, but they did an admirable job disrupting Roma's attacking play through the middle.
That helped to keep the game a very tight affair between the two teams.
EBOUE'S REDEMPTION
EMMANUEL Eboue has taken a lot of flak from the Arsenal fans lately for his poor performance, so it was quite heartening to see him try hard in this game.
He was one of Arsenal's better players, even though he was playacting a little in the first half.
I wouldn't blame him that much for his glaring miss in the 67th minute, which would have sealed the game for Arsenal.
Eboue is primarily a midfielder, not a striker, so in a way his miss was not as bad as Nicklas Bendtner's fluffed shot.
BENDTNER HAS NO CLASS
HE IS easily Arsenal's worst player in the game, if not of the entire season.
Bendtner lacks the clinical finishing skills to be a top-class player such as van Persie, as we all saw in the 53rd minute, where he could not finish off the chance even though he was unmarked.
That second goal would have put Arsenal in a better position in the second leg in Rome.
Like Bendtner, the injured Emmanuel Adebayor may need quite a few chances before he scores a goal, but at least the Togolese produces the goods.
Bendtner does not, and still has the guts to make all sorts of comments and demands in public.
Arsenal will not miss him if he leaves.
GOAL-SHY GUNNERS
ONCE again, Arsenal cannot produce in front of goal, since their only goal came through a penalty.
This goal-shyness could come back to haunt them in the return leg, since Roma will get extra motivation from the home fans, and the fact that the final would be played in Rome this season.
That is unless Adebayor and Eduardo become available for the second game, or the Gunners start finding their scoring boots again.
ROMA'S DAMAGE LIMITATION
TO ME, Roma did not try hard to equalise in the second half and I put it down as the Italian mentality.
They knew that they could overturn an one-goal deficit easily at home and decided not to be gung-ho and go all-out in the second half, other than looking for chances through counter-attacks.
TRAIL OF MISSES
6th min: First sight of goal goes to Bendtner. Nasri escapes down the right and pulls the ball back to the Danish striker. He has acres of space inside the box, but his first touch is woeful and the chance goes begging.
9: Another opportunity for Arsenal falls to Nasri. Clichy swings over a pinpoint cross, but his fellow Frenchman glances narrowly wide from six metres.
16: Diaby finds Van Persie with a great ball over the top, but the Dutchman can't bring the ball down. His touch just bounces away from him and Doni pounces.
20: Nasri fires inches past the post when allowed far too much space on the edge of the box. Doni didn't move and would have been well beaten had the effort been on target.
32: Sagna's cross from the right somehow eludes a host of bodies in the box and runs out for a goal kick. It just needed a touch from an Arsenal player.
53: Great chance for Bendtner. Van Persie looks to pull the trigger but has the ball taken off his toe. It falls to Bendtner and he lifts over the top from 8 metres.
66: Awful miss from Eboue. He had to score. He took an age to set himself after latching onto a loose ball before firing wide.
87: Nasri glides past two challenges and has a 25-metre effort deflected just past the post.
