Gunners ‘Cup Team’ Still One Hundred Percent
Oct 19th, 2017 by 'holic
The Arsenal lined up at the Marakana pretty much as predicted in the preview with the exception of Mohamed Elneny dropping into the back three, and fit-again Francis Coquelin slotted into midfield. Would the so-called cup-tie team come up trumps again?
The Gunners started on the front foot but Elneny’s through ball evaded Theo Walcott’s chase and Olivier Giroud couldn’t take a feed from Jack Wilshere in his stride after some smart work by the Arsenal’s number ten. Red Star forced their first corner in the twelfth minute but it came to nought.
Three minutes later the visitors forced a goalmouth scramble and Walcott was denied only by the outstretched boot of the Red Star goalkeeper, Borjan. In the other half a long range effort by Krsticic passed wide of the scrambling Petr Cech’s left-hand post. Red Star had done their homework on Wilshere and he became once again a target for rotational fouling. Midway through the half the home crowd were whistling their displeasure as the Gunners had a long spell of patient possession. That would have been music to the ears of the travelling faithful.
The Serbians did, however go close in the twenty-sixth minute when a free header from the highly-regarded Boakye bounced up onto the crossbar and was cleared by Rob Holding at the expense of another corner. This time the defending was better and Giroud headed clear at the near post. They were denied again by a combination of Cech and Reiss Nelson when Rodic made a double blast from close range.
Nelson next got himself noticed for a mazy dribble at the other end but Wilshere was unable to profit and courtesy of a buffering stream from Virgin’s TV anywhere app I missed the closing stages of a goal-less first-half. It had been an efficient performance if not an entirely inspirational one from the visitors. Given our selections and the potential banana skin opposition the manager and his coaching staff would have been satisfied. Even Stuart Robson had expressed some unexpected praise for his former club at times in the half.
The opening minute of the second-half brought a wonderful last ditch challenge from Elneny to deny Srnic. Quickly awoken from their half-time slumber the Gunners responded but Walcott’s drive was wide of the mark and Giroud was unable to control the pacy ball at the far post. Again Walcott tried his luck and was denied by Borjan who was called upon again moments later to thwart the lively Nelson.
Back came the hosts as the tempo was raised by both sides. Krsticic headed straight at Cech when the opener appeared likely. Elneny’s poor back pass presented Srnic with another opportunity which Cech saved before letting the Egyptian international know what he thought of the pass! The Arsenal’s turn to attack was cut short by the referee’s whistle as Nelson made yet another dart into enemy territory.
Boakye joined first-half cardee Rodic in the referee’s notebook, both for fouls on Walcott. It was the start of a busy spell for the yellow card as it was also shown to Le Tallec for a lunge at Wilshere and Coquelin for an equally wild sliding tackle. Midway through the half the solid Savic made way for substitute Babic.
The tiring Serbians were falling back into ever more defensive positions while reserving the right to launch long balls into Arsenal territory for less than willing runners to chase. The Arsenal’s lack of creativity meant the match was entering a new, more tedious, passage of play with twenty minutes still to go. The roar of the home crowd continued unabated. The Gunners would need a goal to possibly quieten them down.
The second Red Star substitution saw the forlorn Boakye make way for Pesic. Almost immediately Rodic collected a second yellow when adjudged to have elbowed Coquelin in an aerial challenge. Incensed, the home support made all others present aware of their displeasure. Could the eleven men take advantage? Indeed they could. Wilshere’s magnificent break gave Walcott the opportunity to set up Giroud for another spectacular overhead finish with his left foot. A moment of pure brilliance had lit up the evening.
Red Star Belgrade 0-1 The Arsenal
The ten men attempted a comeback but Kanga side footed over from the edge of the box. We also had our answer to would a Gunners goal silence the locals. They seemed to ramp up the volume. It will be a noisy night for the return at the Grove, if mainly in the south-east corner of the stadium. Ben Sheaf and Marcus McGuane were introduced for their first-team debuts with Joe Willock and Coquelin making way.
McGuane avoided the award of a penalty against him when the referee viewed his first challenge in the box a fair one. The five added minutes petered out and the Gunners cup team had maintained their one hundred percent record this season.
The question of the night faded off into the dark night sky. Has Jack Wilshere got himself closer to a first-team recall?
61 Responses to “Gunners ‘Cup Team’ Still One Hundred Percent”
Now that, Guv’nor, was quick
Wilshere-Walcott-Giroooooudd!
Amazing!
Am rather enjoying the Europas…
😀
Very early Zing, ‘holic. 🙂
Must repeat myself from after the zing:
Clean sheet in ze Balkans. /
Three points and top of ze Group. /
90 minutes of playing time for Wilshere, Walcott, Giroud and *Debuchy*. /
What’s to sneeze at?
Lightning quick on the draw there, ‘holic. And of course that was Giroud’s left foot. Theo either has no left foot or two left feet.
Bit harsh on poor Pillock
Seemed a workmanlike performance for an away leg in Eastern Europe. Not much sparkle from us except when Jack drove at the heart of their defence. The answer to your question above, ‘Holic, must be yes, but whether it gets him into the team is a different matter.
Copy editor on duty.
Pillock must be Willock?
Walcott credited with Giroud’s goal?
Refresh fellas, I publish then correct the errors ?
Jackster, You put it a bit more elegantly than I. 🙂
Reminiscence of : https://i.imgur.com/NPfFqV6.gifv
😀
Jack’s Back!
And Bayonne Jean also lightning quick. No need for a junior copy editor then. 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S2jp4xXQcI
See Giroud’s goal before UEFA blocks it.
in the interest of full disclosure
many of last night’s nonsense drinks
did not come from me
many did
I’m sure you could tell the difference
.
.
moooooooooooooooooooooo
[Official]
Thanks for the quick report Holic as always!
I’m glad we managed to nick it towards the end! I was a tad disappointed with Theo and OG but the goal was an icing on the cake!
Kids played well despite some scary moments we held on! Arsene please don’t play Elneny as CB ever again!
BB @10
That goal was amazing! 😀
That is a new kind of goal for me, the overhead lob. As they say in Spanish, Esspectacular.
We seem to be desperately short of fit centre-halfs. We had only one on the pitch tonight and none on the bench. Dasilva is a defensive mid filling in there for the U23s as Bielik and Pleguezuelo are crocked. Mustafi and Chambers from the seniors are also off-games with Kos and Per in cotton wool for the Everton game. After that, we are down to the real kids such as Zak Medley and Jo Olowu, both 17.
The goal made up for the previous 85 tedious minutes. The youngsters coped well with the hostile crowd, Jack gave us glimpses of what might have been and might still be if he gets the chance and thanks to Cech we kept a clean sheet, just.
COYR
Tricky away tie in Europe.
A squad cobbled together from a mixture of youngsters/fringe first team players,and those returning from injury,who have never played together as a team before.
Make sure we don’t concede early,keep our shape and get to half time with our goal intact.
Repeat same 2nd half,then nick late goal,and another famous 1 nil to the Arse.
George Graham would be smiling.
Excellent report. Didn’t see the game, don’t need to now, although I’ll try to catch Giroud’s goal. Sorry that the 2-1 away win didn’t materialise for the ‘pound’ 🙁
Hoping you’ll be in attendance when Spuds visit in November, Holic?
Goonersince54
As so often, nail on head.
I didn’t see the game (6pm ko, meetings in town, train home for most of game). But I have seen the goal.
Holy cow.
Thnks Countryman
and a big shout out to Debuchy.
Career at the Arse blighted by injuries through no fault of his own.
Completed 90 minutes for the first time since ??
I am sure Ned’s Monks will let me know.
Like Jack also back from the wilderness, he could yet have a big part to play in our season,if he can stay injury free.
Good luck to him.
Clive@21: Debuchy last played a competitive full 90 mins for the club on April 10 this year for the U23s v Reading in Premier League 2, where he was playing centre-back incidentally.
His previous first team full 90 was while on loan to Bordeaux, against PSG on May 11, 2016.
His last full 90 for the Arsenal first team was the Champions League away leg against Bayern Munch on November 4, 2015.
His last full 90 in the Premiership was at West Ham on December 28, 2014.
One moment of brilliance involving 3 rusty players certainly did illuminate the evening, but so would a briefly guttering candle. Cech alone played flawlessly. Jack was encouraging. OG scored from a Theo assist.
Can’t think of anything else worth remembering. Oh yes, we won a game. Third in a row for the Europeys in fact. Whoop-de-do.
been there, done that
back to boring, boring….
ZZzzZZZZzzzZZZZ
How do they calculate these weekly salaries in football? Would you multiply by 52 to get the player’s annual salary?
Woke up to an excellent result and extraordinary goal. Whisper it softly: “Could Jack be back?” I sincerely hope so.
Off to read the Guvna now.
I have only seen the goal,as I was at an awards dinner but the result with an incredibly weakened team delighted me. This may show a number of things. That at the heart of the club there is still a quality and passion that emerges from time to time in adversity. That we have a new generation of potentially decent players who will get good experience in this competition. We are effectively through now and can be even more adventurously experimental in our two home games. Jack is showing some of the undoubted quality he has. We desperately hope for his sake and the club’s that he can stay fit. He deserves our support more than Mr. Ozil at present, a man seemingly destined to join Moaninho in due course on a free. Wenger sell him like you should have in the summer , when the window opens. The Europa League is very winnable for us. We have an easy group but even the third placed CL teams are nothing to worry unduly about and if we can manage and strengthen the squad we could win it.
Nelson is a talent albeit one being used in the wrong position at present.
We don’t miss the Ox at all, we haven’t had anything much from Ozil and Sanchez and we should have sold all three and replaced them with talent that wants to play for us.
Wenger has mishandled the situation very badly and destroyed a huge amount of value we could have recouped on Sanchez. We tried to sell Ozil, but failed, maybe we try to broke him out to Inter Milan or someone in January ? I’d rather see Jack and Iwobi and Ramsey and OG playing in their positions than have them take us to the cleaners.
But it’s a night for satisfaction and a little hope. Well done lads it was a good effort in a hothouse atmosphere.
Ox wanted to play centrally, TTG, that’s why he left us for Pool. It’s taken Klopp 5 minutes to realise he’s not up to it and a bench player at best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4uivPpzCGo
Jack was cut down a couple of times, but his ankles survived both assaults. Fingers crossed.
Re: TTG and your use of “genitalia” in the last drinks with respect to young Osei-Tutu. I hope that is to suggest he is in possession of a durable set of cojones. And the other Arsenal youngsters too.
Chris,
A briefly guttering candle wouldn’t
have stuck it in the corner 🙂
Apart from that I agree.
Cheers H! Good stuff TTG.
TTG@28: Well said.
The Ropey League is winnable but equally there are some decent teams in it that could trip us up, including AC Milan, Lazio, Marseilles, Lyon and Villarreal plus who ever tumbles out of the CL.
Checkingおうちtheいーpほね8頭the Apple storehereinTokyoのとoverly胃mpれっせdうぇれあsthat goal last nights忘れsomething else’s great write up具vなlook forwardとあdramaあたりthe usual venue曽大根かんぴえ
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TTG@28,
Couldn’t agree more regarding Mesut Ozil.
According to Goal, Sir A P McCoy (the greatest living sportsman in my opinion) had the following to say about himl: ““Ozil is not worth feeding, never mind paying a contract. He doesn’t look like he wants to be there. I wouldn’t let him anywhere near an Arsenal shirt.”
Hard to disagree.
Heart warming win last night, hopefully more of the same attitude will bring three points at Everton on Sunday.
There was one thought I had
after reading Ned @16 and that
was if we’re willing to play
Debuchy and Elneny in a back 3
then there is no way we’re
switching to a back 4 anytime
soon even if we are short of
CBs.
Morning all.
Cheers H. I’ve only watched the highlights and that was in a drunken haze. Your report gives a bit more understanding to proceedings.
Nice to see Jack play another important role. I’ve said for sometime now that we need a fit Jack back and playing more than anything. With Santi our hevis the only creativity we have.
Same result against Everton will be fine.
TV changes confirm that my first attendance of the season is now likely to be the Newcastle game. I know might also make the scousers 6 days later.
A big thanks to Chris. Having seen the team I had a ten pound bet with a friend of mine that any Chris post would involve the word rusty. You didn’t disappoint.
Have a good day people.
It may be tempting to think the Europa as winnable but we are still in the phase of clearing the early stage dross.
Wait till we get into the knockouts and come up against one of the stronger sides already in it, or any of the CL dropouts, and we’ll all be reminded of how brittle we are.
If preceding league results are anything to go by:
– If we won before we’ll probably lose EL tie
– If we lost humiliatingly before (do we ever lose any other way?) we’ll probably win the EL tie
Danny, Calum, Osp, Mustafi are
out until the international according
to the team news.
I guess the team will be something
like
Cech
Mert, Kos, Nacho
Hector, Ramsey, Xhaka, Kola
Ozil, Laca, Alexis
Unless Iwobi keeps his place.
Macey, Rob, Elneny, Jack, Coq, Theo,
OG, Iwobi or Ozil
Can’t think of another defender for
the bench so I suppose Elneny
will count as one although I can’t
see it myself.
Fine report H. Have only seen the goal and you have nicely fleshed out the rest. Agree fully with TTG re our refuseniks. We really should have sold them all in the summer and brought in players proud to fight for an Arsenal shirt. If what the Mirror says about Ozil is true then I’m in full agreement with AP McCoy as well. Get him out in January if possible.
PR@38: see my 34. Plenty of decent teams in the EL even before the CL drop-outs parachute in.
TTG@28: I hope you were the recipient of the award.
NBN
Well said. Rolling over part timers like Red Star is nothing like taking on someone with a bit of pedigree like AC Milan.
Our lily-livered wastes of space would probably spill their decaff skinny lattes just thinking about playing them. Mentally, we’re second tier in the EL.
#37 … So where’s my 10%, Steve?
It’s plain that Ozil wants away to the enemy, and if he plays any part against Everton I will officially join the Wenger Aaaht brigade.
What is the legal position with a football contract? Can we sell him to somewhere other than Manure if he doesn’t want to go? I assume players have to agree with any change of club, not to mention a club would be crazy to buy a player who doesn’t want to join them.
Time for my Alexis, OG, L’Exocet front row. A player like Ollie who can produce the spectacular could nicely complement the more traditional artisans either side of him. My team:
Cech
Kos, Per, Nacho
Kola, Xhaka
Jack, Rambo
Alexis, OG, Laca
Don’t like the shape of that team Chris. It has only one full-back. I’d welcome Jack back but I’d like to see Laca and Sanchez together to see if they can play off each other-the main idea of keeping Alexis I thought.
We need to keep the ball at Goodison to reduce the confidence of a struggling team. That needs our best pass and move players in midfield.
Ozil is briefing the Sun through a ‘friend’ that the Man U stories are not true and he wants to stay and it is Arsenal dragging their feet. I think we either sell him now or sign him up so that we can sell him if that isn’t a contradiction in terms. If he does genuinely want to stay I want to see a performance or set of performances from him that evidence that . He hasn’t been at it this season and I’m not sure he is speaking the truth when he claims he wants to stay.
I have never liked 3 at the back, TTG, please imagine Kola as a fullback in a back 4 and we can both be happy. Also best to imagine a fluid system with players interchanging a la total football. I’d just love to see Kola given a more central role enforcing in Roy Keane style.
I don’t care what Ozil wants, I have wanted to see the back of him for the past two seasons.
Gotta go, I have some blueberry sauce to make.
Ozil and Sanchez wanted away in the summer. Why we didn’t just sortbthat our then, take the cask and then reinvest will probably be the biggest act of mismanagement by the Club in years. Having pleaded poverty and quoting financial fair play the fact that some decided to gamble with effectively £100 million is quite simply bizarre.
It’s in the post Chris!
Check the typos?????
And that one was stone cold sober.
Ozil must be on Quaaludes.
Which to believe The Sun or
Daily Mirror? hahaha….can I
have option 3 please.
We’ve certainly managed to
accumulate a lot of players
who divide the fan base just
now.
I feel happier about that
Watford goal. Chavs not
playing well again. Costa
was a better fit for them than
Morata.
OsakaMatt
Well they don’t just give up like our lot when go behind, still Watford has put a hell of a fight in that game.
True enough ATG.
4-2 was a bit harsh on Watford but
the Chavs punished them whereas
…. 🙁
Some old fashioned last ditch
stuff from the Huddersfield
defenders.
Udders up your arse Moaninho!
😀 😀 😀
Don’t often give credit to the programme editors etc but the Arsenal Handbook this year is the best I have read. Very informative and though the stats don’t quite match up to the monks at Castle Ned they have very good material on our records against all PL clubs . Well worth a read
From the Black Country. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>