It’s a dull, grey day in London but it’s really not too cold,
And information seems to indicate we’re not going to be too bold,
Juninho’s on the bench again and ‘keeper Schwarzer’s back,
Leaving Joseph Job in isolation to lead the Boro’s attack.

Southgate’s put immediately under pressure by Aliadiere,
Who got around him in the box with terrific speed and flair,
He passed the Boro captain as if blown through by the breeze,
Leaving Schwarzer within seconds having to save one with his knees.

Boateng’s well up in attack and has the beating of Cygan,
He puts the ball across the goal but fails to find his man,
Nemeth is the closest but he can’t take it in his stride,
Sixty seconds have been played with a chance already for either side.

Another great ball towards our goal and Boro can’t defend it,
It’s left again to Schwarzer as Henry tries to bend it,
He’d stolen only half-a-yard, and more he did not need,
But Schwarzer once again ensured that the Frenchman didn’t succeed.

Arsenal’s pressure is incessant and another corner’s won,
Then a brilliant delivery sees Vieira about to start a run,
He responded oh so quickly but his header lacked direction,
Flying high above the bar; not one for his collection.

It’s very early days and yet the bench begins to mutter,
As Arsenal cut through us just like a hot knife goes through butter,
We’ve simply got to hang on when they attack in shoals,
But one thing seems assured; that we’ll certainly see some goals.

Cygan gives the ball away showing total lack of care,
Leading to a Boro attack that has so far been so rare,
Then Doriva shot from distance and the ball seemed on its way, man,
But it was somehow clutched, amazingly, by the Arsenal ‘keeper, Lehmann.

Alladiere’s tremendous skill left Ugo Ehiogu sprawling,
Yet home fans are almost silent and that really is appalling,
Their team has had the lions’ share and they really should be roaring,
Yet, strangely, we’ve come the closest yet, of any team to scoring.

With Boro really hanging on: the Gunners’ play’s a joy to watch,
They’ve been crisper, much more accurate and quicker throughout the match,
Vieira looks to pull the trigger then plays one pass too many,
Will Boro get anything from this game? I wouldn’t bet a penny!

Henry again turns on the style and Southgate’s easily turned,
But great defending by Boro’s Ugo meant the Frenchman was then spurned,
Henry then fired the corner towards the waiting Arsenal bunch,
But Schwarzer once more won the day with a terrific clearing punch.

There was foul play by Sol Campbell on the man in Boro’s goal,
But this constant Arsenal pressure must soon surely take its toll,
Vieira shot from distance as we constantly backed off,
Leaving Steve McClaren fuming and looking totally hacked off.

At last some Boro pressure when Joseph Job presents the threat,
He’s homing in on Arsenal’s goal, making Pascal Cygan sweat,
The ball was squared to Boateng and we’ve now played half-an-hour,
But Vieira slid in to stop the shot and rob it of all its power.

Now it's Arsenal doing what they do best, attacking on the break,
When Danny Mills’ touch deserted him, which led to a mistake,
But Pires tried to walk it in and his effort was rather weak,
Though one must be totally honest; that was another narrow squeak.

Boro are being swamped now by an ever-flowing tide,
And they’ve not contained the Gunners, no matter what they’ve tried,
Our dependable defence has fallen into many Arsenal traps,
Should they continue banging on our door it will surely collapse.

A priceless interception by French Franck, who’s such a hero,
Blotted out Henry so the score-line remains at zero,
But the hosts remain encamped in the Boro half of the field,
With Job alone, and trying to break a defence that will not yield.

Pires pinched the ball and in the box picked out Vieira,
Who was deemed by referee D’Urso to have been fouled inside the area,
A penalty was awarded and our players protest and cussed,
But Ugo was the culprit and the ref’s award was just.

The protest by the Boro men was loud and lasted long,
But that didn’t affect Henry, a player who is right on song,
Though Schwarzer guessed correctly and flew down to his left,
He was beaten by the power, which left the visiting fans bereft.

With minutes now remaining Arsenal step upon the gas,
When Henry with tremendous pace accepts a Pires pass,
One feels the Boro are now praying for the arrival of half-time,
For the way that things are going we have a mountain now to climb.

And then things go from bad to worse when Henry hits a post,
We’ve been totally ripped apart and Arsenal want the points the most,
In added time a free kick sees Henry heading the queue,
And French Franck deflects into his net to make the score nil-two.

Breathtaking was the Arsenal play; we’ve seen them at their best,
They demonstrate the chasm between the elite and all the rest,
Their display was oh so painful for the Boro fans to view,
And it was really just poor finishing that kept the Arsenal haul at two.

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So the second half begins and with many Boro hearts jumping,
Hoping they’re not going to see a really massive thumping,
Riggott has been introduced and we’ve seen big Ugo go,
In the hope, I would imagine, that we can somehow stem the flow.

Sadly, these hopes were not fulfilled and it was never going to be,
As the Gunners really toyed with us and quickly made it three,
Pires was the scorer after Southgate failed to clear,
Like taking candy from a baby and I can only say, “Oh dear!”

They’ve knocked the stuffing out of us, now come the party tricks,
And Ljungberg scores another and it might well have been six,
It’s becoming most embarrassing and shoulders now are sagging,
It only goes to show how awfully far behind we’re lagging.

‘Macca’ and the ‘Wee Man,’ who’d come on to help the cause,
Combined to win a penalty to the sound of fans’ applause,
Juninho showed great speed of thought and passed the ball to ‘Macca,’
Who was fouled and took the penalty, the little Italian cracker.

It was no real consolation and in one’s throat one feels a lump,
As Boro were brought back to earth with one almighty thump,
They must now lick their wounds but let us not have any bleatings,
For, after all, in the coming days, we can relish three more meetings.