Gunnersaurus Stunt Double On A Glorious Derby Triumph
Dec 3rd, 2018 by 'holic
I am still recovering from the events of yesterday so huge thanks are due to our very own Gunnersaurus Stunt Double for covering the North London derby drubbing handed out to the Middlesex Nomads. I owe you, GSD.
To watch today’s derby game I returned to the scene of a few very odd days out for me. A certain pub out in the sticks which I frequent when I’m visiting my old man and Arsenal are playing. Today it provided some weird touches but it was more small town weird than on my previous visits- when it was touch and go if I’d get out with either my life or my sanity (assuming I had any sanity when I entered). The relative normality did mean that I could focus a bit more on the football which, happily, turned out to be a good thing.
We arrived and found a couple of stools in a sidebar with about ten of us. It turned out that there were only 2 spuds and the rest Gooners. Home game then. The match kicked off and straight away the pace was fast and we were on top. No slow start today. Less than a minute in and the camera panned to Unai genuflecting. He knew how much this one mattered.
After a few half-attacks when Iwobi and Mhiki were still finding their range, there was an unexpected moment when Mike Dean decided to award us a penalty. It was such a blatant handball by Vertonghen that even he couldn’t find a way to Dean us out of it. His time would come though. Auba despatched the penalty. It was not a great strike but the keeper went the wrong way, so who cares? 1-0 Arsenal. Even on the poor sound of the TV I was watching it was clear how our fans reacted to that.
We were well on top for a spell. Iwobi went through but dithered. He had another good chance after a quick freekick from Xhaka and pull back from Kola. He hit it well but it was cleared off the line. We had a lot of energy and drive and were looking good. Spuds did however have a couple of half chances, one after a simple ball over the top that caught our defence out, that served as a warning that there were still two teams going for the win.
At this point a scraggly looking bloke walked in, shouted “Come on Celtic!” and left again. This caused me to look past him and register the fruity in the corner for the first time. ‘Baking Bad’, featuring a cartoon Bryan Cranston wearing pants, an apron and a Chef’s hat. That was more like what I expected from this place.
Back on the screen spuds had a freekick. They whipped it in, we had Torreira and Bellerin as our front post markers, Dier got a deft flick on, and in it went at the near post. 1-1. No two ways around it, Leno should have done better. Lichsteiner then seemed to spark a mass tiff between the two sides. There was not much in it from what I saw, but it was nice to see the passion and intensity of the fixture. Rambo got involved with Alli, and that may have added even more impetus to his performance when he came on later.
Next up was a chance for this most frustrating of referees to Dean it up by awarding a penalty against Holding for sliding past Son. On a replay I was able to see some contact. For me though, it was not anywhere near enough for a penalty and Son had already lost the ball. Goalscoring opportunity? Pfff. Kane predictably scored it and the mood went south. 1-2
Spuds had a grip on the game now, mainly due to our defence seeming to panic. Mustafi got a typical Mustafi card. The bloke next to me described him as a ‘hothead’ and ‘a liability’. No one rushed to disagree. Auba was luckily given offside for a chance he should have scored, and which I thought was level, as we came back into it and it was fairly even until half-time. Mustafi was frustrated when the follow through from his overhead kick in the box was caught hard by a spuds defender. It would have been a harsh pen, but I had some sympathy given that he had received his yellow a few moments before for a similar challenge.
At half time the main bar turned up the volume on the heavy metal that was its music of choice. Until, after ten minutes of this, they put on a Christmas album! Who is their DJ?
A new bloke arrived in the pub, asked if some other bloke minded him sitting next to him and was told “no I don’t mind.” He replied “well I would”. This left me scratching my head- I don’t really get a lot of the stuff people say here. Then another guy moved chairs because “maybe this one’s a lucky seat!” Good move that man- It turned out it bloody well was!
Unai brought on Laca and Rambo for Mhiki and Iwobi at the start of the second half. Rambo was well up for it, and he grew into the game. He added some presence to the workrate that had not been lacking, and gave us something extra. It is certain that his attitude and commitment were absolutely spot on today. Soon we were level. Bellerin playing it through to Rambo, who busted a gut and made the telling touch to Auba, who finished like the world class striker he is. 2-2. Everyone went nuts, including Unai. Good to see.
We were dominant from then on. The crowd were roaring us on. Guendouzi came on for Mustafi, who picked up a knock, and we switched to a back four with the midfield sub, Xhaka and Torriera a somewhat fluid trio in midfield. We had some attacks that ended in nothing but the pressure was building. Xhaka sold Dean a yellow card for Alli. I laughed. They had a decent chance after Bellerin gave away a silly one across our box but Leno pushed Son’s shot to safety, well away from the lurking Kane. Then some tenacious work from Rambo saw the ball come to Lacazette. He worked a left-footed strike which deflected gloriously into the far corner. 3-2. Everyone went nuts again. Our players celebrated like a team that knew how big a goal that was.
Soon we had the icing on this delicious cake, the midfield fluidity paying off as Torreira had license to burst forward. Auba played him in, Laca distracted the defender whilst our midfield dynamo finished like Auba or Laca would have dreamed of. 4-2. His first goal for us. What a time to get it.
After that there were a couple more chances but we controlled the game and spuds looked like they knew they were beaten. Winks came on and threw his toys at Xhaka, not realising he was wasting time we were happy to see the back off. And our TEAM again closed ranks and fought for each other. The good Michael took his namesake when awarding 6 minutes of injury time, but it just meant a few more ole’s for the spuds to bear.
Overall it was a great day. We showed a huge amount of togetherness, on the pitch and in the stands. Unai and the new boys got a real taste of what a derby is about, and we came away with all the points. I am not going to say anything negative right now. I am sure there will be time to analyse aspects of what was not a perfect performance. It was however, damned good. Everyone worked as hard as we would expect, the team will grow a lot from performances like this, and the fans had a top day, as well as bragging rights.
Ooh, ooh, ooh to be…
26 Responses to “Gunnersaurus Stunt Double On A Glorious Derby Triumph”
he blessed himself
he didn’t genuflect
don’t come at me witcha fake assery
.
.
.
ps
(brilliant write up)
Best write up I’ve read Landlord,spot on. But you didn’t finish your anecdote though……,
The ensuing riot rendered the chair an accident hotspot…….I get it now ?
i really envy people who have a point
can stick to it
and aren’t arseholes
top marks dino
more than a little jealous
Under new managment?
Landlords in fancy dress – we live in strange times.
Still buzzin’. 🙂
.
.
3 / 4
like shirt no.s
maybe some names should be retired
Cheers GSD!
i’m guessing you aren’t the fresh faced ‘newb’
you profess to be ‘chris’
i’ll shut up for good
if you BEHAVE
Great write up GSD. Despite different vantage points I thought we saw a very similar game .
Lots of things keep occurring to me and one is the penalty. I saw it very well, From above but clearly . There was not enough contact to bring down Bambi on Ice but Son is so fast that he tried to evade Rob Holding’s challenge and slipped ( rather like TTG on Ice which is a sorry sight) . He didn’t deliberately dive but I watched Dean as soon as he slipped and I’m sure I saw his lips crease into a tight smile as he realised he could give them a penalty. Like Bale at the same end a few years ago it was a wrong decision. He is not my sort of ref.
It used to be said recently that we had no leaders on the pitch. Yesterday we had plenty on the pitch and some just off it abusing Donkey Dire, the slowest midfielder in Europe. I see leadership in Leno , Sokratis, Torreira ( God bless his little socks ) Xhaka, Ramsey and even young Guendouzi. The team is full of bristling hard nuts. That’s why Mesut won’t find it easy to get his place back.
Thanks GSD!
Great report GSD. Sounds like the pub had ..how can I put it … character.
As my comments in the last drinks indicated this was a spectacular game to have watched live. But I didn’t end up in The Swimmer like the Landlord ….
Still buzzing. OT on Wednesday when I’m sure normal match report service will be resumed.
It’s gonna hurt when Fellaini nods in a winner in the 95th minute . Hi
Great report GSD, thanks. And props to the landlord for taking a back seat as a new reporting talent is born.
Onward to Old Toilet
COYG CCMUED
Excellent, GSD.
Add the pubs you go into to the aircraft you go out of as things I should always avoid.
Thanks GSD, the report like
the Gunners, saured.
Glad you outnumbered them,
it’s never pleasant to be swamped
by marsh-dwelling spuds.
We get the winners of the replay between non-league Solihull Moors and League One Blackpool in the third round of the FA Cup.
We have never played Solihull, unsurprisingly, and have a poor record against Blackpool in the Cup, winning only one of four ties.
Be nice to get Solihull, we’ve already played
Blackpool in the League Cup.
Damn good Arsenal.
Damn good, GSD.
Shame we will not be playing Blackpool in the League Cup, OM. Much better record against them than in the FA Cup. Unbeaten in five ties.
Thanks for the report GSD – what sort of prizes was the Baking Bad machine dispensing, anything worth paying a visit for?
I’m very happy with Leno as #1 and not too harsh on him for Dier’s goal – a fast flick, bouncing in front of him, split seconds to react, could have gone either way.
I like potatoes of all descriptions but just don’t like Spuds.
Whenever I’ve seen him play, Alli is a snidey little **** who deserves any karma that comes to him. Dier on the other hand just seems a little dim. As for Oldweirdlad making pronouncements about the NLD, “who the f……. hell are you?” Let’s look forward to stuffing them again in the return, wherever the Nomads may be playing then.
Maybe Charlie Nick can make a cameo to score a couple.
Lastly, I’m not sure that Dean is anti-Arse. I’ve watched him ref other teams and he’s usually equally hopeless. Just a crap referee.
UTA.
Great stuff from the prehistoric replica.
What a great day. Thought we were a bit naive for both goals. Silly free kick to give away and an error from Leno. Regardless of what you think of the pen again Holding was a bit rash. But they are very very minor criticisms of an otherwise great day. Both learning points and nothing more.
The rest was great to see. The attitude from the start was first class. I very much agree with TTG when he speaks about leaders. Many really came of age and showed proper leadership qualities. I genuinely don’t remember the last time I’ve said that.
Kolasinac and Bellerin both look far more comfortable as wing backs. Holding grows in each game. Sokratis looks a wise old head at the back. Torreira is what we’ve been missing for years. He reads the game so well. Up front we looked dangerous on each attack.
I loved the fact that when Dier scored that the subs were prepared to mix it and advice the Marshdwellers of their manners. I loved the players reaction when we got our penalty. I loved the fact that Kolasinac and Mustafi were prepared to mix it when Son was the victim of the mythical sniper. I loved the reactions after we scored our last three goals. I loved seeing Bellerin give Vertonghen a big fuck off pill when he got his red card. I love the fact that Emery is prepared to make tactical changes at half time.
This was a day when we out fought and bullied the Nomads. Emery totally outthought Poch and made him look a little insignificant.
We will no doubt get a fine and a telling off from the FA. I almost hope we get fined more than the spuds. That will show how much we were up for it. We would have even won that battle too.
On to Maureen and his dodgy Mancs for more of the same please. Can’t wait do hear what that wanker Sherwood has to say about that one?
Was in Brighton for the game and ended up watching the game in a pub called the Font – an old methodist church converted into a pub that still has pulpits in the balcony no less. Plenty of Gonners in but a few of the other lot too, but they soon piped down. Nothing to add on the game that has not been said already. All in all a fantastic trip to church. And I dont say that very often.
Thanks for all the kind ones above. I’m very grateful. And glad it was up to the high standards that H sets here.
I did not mention Vertonghen’s red but I’d like to say how unimpressed I was. He left one in on Laca, using the fact that he got the ball first as an excuse. He then acted all innocent and pretended that he had not just deliberately tried to hurt a fellow professional. Typical from that horrible team of scumbags.
I hope the team are now focused on OT, as I’m sure they are. Personally, I’m still enjoying the best derby day in ages.
UTA
cba @1. Thankyou.
cba @2. My ass is fake indeed. It’s the tail that gives it away, right? ?
Look at this for a very amusing stat !
https://mobile.twitter.com/ReviewFootball/status/1069261526098423810
Great piece, GSD. North London remains Red!
United preview. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>