Rampant Gunners Chasing Third Place
Mar 10th, 2019 by 'holic
Unai Emery’s selection took many by surprise when it was confirmed an hour before kick-off. From the defeat in Rennes out went Petr Cech, Shkodran Mustafi, Lucas Torreira (suspended), Alex Iwobi, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (back). Promoted to a very attacking looking eleven were Bernd Leno, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sead Kolasinac, Aaron Ramsey, and Alexandre Lacazette.
We started with a 3-4-1-2 formation but the ability to quickly switch that was probably in Emery’s mind. The first big chance fell to Lacazette with less than two minutes on the clock but he was unable to apply the finishing touch to a whipped in cross from Kolasinac. The Gunners started well and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tried his luck with a volley that cleared the target.
We were duly warned however when Lukaku somehow hit the crossbar from point-blank range in the ninth minute. With so much attacking talent on the pitch this was promising to be a high-scoring affair. In the 12th minute Maitland-Niles and Lacazette combined to tee up Granit Xhaka for a twenty yarder that swerved into the net with de Gea wrong-footed. Cue “One nil, to The Arsenal” ringing out around the stadium.
The Arsenal 1-0 Manchester United
Three minutes later it could have been two. Mesut Ozil played in Lacazette who saw his deflected effort caught by de Gea. We had another warning shot across the bows when Fred thumped a drive against the outside of Leno’s left-hand post. A richly entertaining contest was taking shape.
A sweeping move from one end to the other ended with Ramsey skying a Maitland-Niles cross that was just under his feet. More of this please. Lacazette found another shooting opportunity which was deflected away for an unproductive corner.
Pogba’s long-range effort was safely pouched by Leno and Rashford failed to get to a hopeful far post cross as the visitors attempted to get on terms. Back came the Gunners with Aubameyang fizzing a ball across the face of goal a yard ahead of Lacazette. We needed, and probably deserved, a second goal. Lacazette tried his luck again when snatching at Aubameyang’s pass under pressure from Young.
Lukaku’s strange afternoon continued when he wriggled free at the far post only to be denied by a scrambling Leno. The fragility of the one goal advantage was again evident. Sokratis was adjudged to have fouled Pogba and booked by referee Jon Moss. For the second consecutive match he would be walking a disciplinary tightrope. The referee was having a reasonable game but his assistants were upsetting the home support with some highly questionable flags.
The moment I typed that Xhaka cleared a threatening United break and was clattered by Rashford as he did so. Kolasinac set up a three on three counter attack situation but Mr Moss whistled to allow the stricken Xhaka some treatment. It was a dramatic end to a wonderfully entertaining first-half. How would we follow that?
Leno was called upon to play sweeper-keeper when Lukaku was left in the clear in the inside-left channel. He had to make an even better save to deny the same striker when he was given the ball inside the six yard box. It was an ominous opening to the half for the hosts.
Astonishingly Pogba was allowed to haul Ramsey down with a choke hold right in front of the referee. There was no further action taken than the award of the free-kick. Aubameyang brought down Pogba on the edge of the box and Rashford lashed the free-kick mercifully wide of the mark. An hour on the clock, and the run of play had definitely changed.
We responded through a blocked Aubameyang shot and a wayward Xhaka effort. That raised the temperature in the ground again. Pressure was applied again and once more Leno was called on to smother Rashford’s effort in a one on one.
The half turned on it’s head in the 68th minute when Fred halted Lacazette’s run into the box illegally. Aubameyang, the miss at Tottenham fresh in the mind, stepped up and sent de Gea the wrong way. We had that seemingly vital second goal. It was sad to see some utter numbskulls invading the pitch, particularly after what had happened earlier at Birmingham.
The Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United
Almost immediately Lindelof misjudged a bouncing ball and Lacazette was clear but just pulled his shot wide when a third goal looked likely. We were back on the front foot. Sokratis headed a corner into the centre of the goal area and United somehow scrambled it clear.
As we rampaged forward again Pogba flattened Xhaka and finally saw the yellow card that was the minimum he should have seen earlier. Unai Emery took the opportunity to withdraw Ozil to a standing ovation from an appreciative home support. On came Iwobi. Aubameyang too was afforded his ovation and Denis Suarez came on for the final ten minutes plus stoppage time.
Suarez and Iwobi opened up United’s left flank and they had to scramble the ball away for another corner. Whisper it softly, but we were seeing the game out with some assured possession football. That hasn’t always been the case, has it? Lacazette got his standing ovation too when withdrawn for Eddie Nketiah. That was the signal for the heavens to open. The Gunners were singing in the rain. “Tottenham Hotspur, we’re coming for you”.
Kolasinac got a last minute yellow for preventing a United break. Five additional minutes were signalled as Nketiah sent Iwobi dashing down the left flank to test Young. Leno was in the right place to gather the unmarked Rashford’s header. Obviously a United goal would not have been unwelcome given the ‘holic pound, but The Arsenal are running into a rich vein of form again in the League, and this welcome clean sheet was a demonstration of that improvement.
Tottenham Hotspur, we’re coming for you.
67 Responses to “Rampant Gunners Chasing Third Place”
never in doubt…for the last 5 minutes.
YES!!!
About time smeagol lost…
😀
and holic, i hope today was further tonic for your lungs and spirits. speaking of which, a palliative glenfarclas 105 on the bar for you.
deeeeep joy ?
.
Bloody hell, ‘H. That’s fast. I had rather hoped you were up the Ems. Sorry your recovery isn’t sufficiently established, I hope you continue to improve and are back on the spot before the end of the season.
Off to read the post.
COYG
Cheers H!
…and a fine report it is too. It brings to an end a rather fine weekend.
For myself, I can’t even get particularly upset about the late-late equaliser down at the Bus Stop.
Eight more good results before te end of the season, please.
COYG
We had a mixed game today with some good attacking and poor defending which is our regular fare. We were lucky Lukaku missed from two yards and we were also lucky to get the penalty as another ref (Atkinson, Dean, Anthony Taylor) would not have awarded the penalty.
Leno’s courage and determination are laudable and he kept us in the game. There was no Mustafi to screw us and Kos and Papa had a good game. Kola had another fine game causing Utd lots of problems on that flank and AMN also weighed in though he was shown up once by Rashford’s pace. Laca was datisfactory as he had an assist and earned us a penalty. Ozil was ok but Ramsey went missing. What I liked the last two league games is that everyone played with commitment and put in the hard work.
Three points are all that matter and we got them today. Last week we were robbed. Great week as all the other contenders for top four dropped points.
We can field our strongest team against Rennes as we don’t have a league game next week.
Nice stuff H.
What a great 3 points. No one, especially me thought we were capable of keeping a clean sheet. Leno seems so show his true qualities when he plays behind centre backs who can actually play the game.
Some great performances all round. I can’t think of one week link. Great to see the likes of Kolasinac and AMN making great attacking runs. It was great to see Lacazette and Aubameyang chafing back and getting tackles in. It was great so see such a positive attitude throughout the whole team.
I’ve spoken to a couple of Spuds matesof mine. They are soiling their undercrackers as I type.
One negative, please remind me again why we are letting Rambo walk away at the end of the season for free???
Good performance. Great result. Excellent weekend.
I’m not letting myself believe we’ll finish in the top four just yet though. But this was a big step in pursuit of that particular trophy.
Enjoyed the report. Your enthusiasm knows no bounds, Holic 🙂
Excellent report guvnor and a speedy one too just like the game we all just watched!
We needed this sort of win to put our mentality it the right place I hope! All around everyone played well it was great to see we didn’t buckle at the pressure in front of us.
It’s a massive win and a the penalty being a little soft you can see there was a push on Laca’s back.
Let’s hope the lads can do more of the same from now on to push for that precious 4th spot!
Utd have had that coming in multiple games against us for years
So many times they’ve come away with an undeserving win but finally justice was served
The pressing and play out from the back seemed to function really well (although granted I have as much tactical analysis ability as a potato, so correct me if I read that wrong)
PS The bleating of Utd fans on 606 about soft penalties was music to my ears. Did you enjoy it too?!
Porco Rosso – I always enjoy listening to Utd fans bleating over no matter what. however, I generally find that listening to whichever jerk the BBC have hosting the show is to high a price to pay.
COYG
Cheers H.
Great result. Get in.
Also, Leno has looked very, very good in our last 2 games. He’s getting better and his presence is growing. Good man.
Third, baby. No qualifier. We’re coming third. You read it here first.
Does that count as promotion?
Excellent post match report H,almost good enough so that i don’t need to watch a replay of the game
But i think i will anyway,and probably more than once. !!!
As for the game,i can understand the angst from our good friends TTG,Bath and a few others,that a draw was the best we could hope for,but my faith in the master tactician to come up with a plan A/B and C against our good friends from up North,has again been justified.
Not one Arse man would have expected Mesut’s name on the team sheet today,yet there he was along with a few other changes to the side that lost,unluckily to my mind,despite the angst in the bar post match.
A test of character courage and belief,against a Utd side brimming with confidence and on an unbeaten league run to boot.
So all credit to Unai and his support staff for giving the players a tactical framework and the encouragement to go out and execute it.
It is worth pointing out that of our 6 league defeats this season, 4 of them have been against City twice,and Chelsea and Liverpool away.
The other 2 were Southampton away,where we had an unbalanced defence with Kos coming back after long injury and Hector going off injured during the game which cost us dearly.
The only other league defeat was where Unai picked the wrong team against the Hammers.
So for us to get to 30 games with 60 pts in Unai’s first season,and be a point of 3rd spot,and have our top 4 aspirations in our own hands,is a major fucking miracle to me.
Long may it continue.
” lost unluckily to Rennes “
Great report Holic.
Today was not a day for a man who is recovering from pneumonia to be out. We got soaked coming out of the ground having to cancel lunch because trees on the line delayed our arrival.
The game was a cracker and again in a big home game Emery surprised the opposition with his tactics and indeed surprises most of the home support with his selection.
Everybody played well. Leno was terrific, Xhaka played the best game I have seen him play, Lacazette worked incredibly hard and the three defenders were sound. AMN had a great second half but the person I want to praise to the skies is Ramsey. His attitude and commitment were wonderful and he and Ozil proved they can play together .
We have a great chance to finish third or fourth if we can summon this sort of display away from home . Now let’s hope we can summon this display on Thursday night!
YES
Apparently it has been 10 yrs since we took so many points off of top 6 rivals at home.
10pts out of 15 this season.
And steel balls to Auba for not hiding from responsibility of taking another game defining penalty.
A big shout to Ollie for playing an attacking game,making it a really open end to end affair.
If Maureen had still been in charge,we would probably still be playing looking for a goal.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go off to the Int’l break with another stellar victory on Thursday to cap off a great week.
A must-win won. The minimum four points from the Spurs and Manc’s games secured. A bonus clean sheet. All good.
I’m with BtM about not counting our chickens too early. By the time we play our next league game, we could potentially be in sixth, four points behind the neighbours, three behind Chelsea and one behind the Mancs, making our by then game-in-hand another must-win.
It is going to be squeaky bum time down to the wire.
I was also looking at our record this year against the top 6. With 10 matches played, we took 13 points. The other 5 teams have only played 8 matches, with Manure at 6 points, the Nomads with 7, the Blue Russians with 11, Poo with 13, and Shitty with 19 (I’m assuming the Monks will make corrections as needed). Other than Shitty, we are right in the mix, although I expect (hope) that Poo will take 6 points off the Blue Russians and the Nomads.
Hopefully next year we can improve our away form and pick up a couple more points against the rivals.
ahhhhhh
now know
we all know ye’ve not only met words
yer shooting for the interesting
yeah
.
.
.
ANYO YOU DAISY CUNTS
GONE A GAME WI THOSE TWATS
.
.
.
.
.
ooooooh
(is that anti something)
as
not a life long labour man
but
a
life long appreciation of you lefties need to Etc. ?
.
it’s always interesting
when …
i remember a blaaaa whatever
wee fart faced fuck
attempting to do a body search on me
at a predominant ly Irish meeting
.
.
i felt like standing on his uninspired neck
but he did give interesting advice
cos
apparently
nazis were outside
and the irish accent chuckles
i’m sure perhaps might ‘ve
stoked their anger
.
.
FUCKIN NAZI CUNTS
.
oooh
there’s 6 of us
d’ye think now might be the opportune moment
to kick him and his groceries up and down the street
.
.
.
“RUPERT , NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”
i always found
people of a juggle
this way or the other
political persuasion
could be silenced by an accent
.
.
.
.
.
“holy shit , he’s a real one”
The Clash
i despair
.
.
.
shitty obvious shite
fuckin can’t stand the clash
d’ye think fakery could be so easily invented?
.
(I dunno,I need ma white traaaaaasars )
.
.
.
.
interesting people
will come
“out of the woodwork”
this week and next
.
.
and i hope they kick appropriately
here you go, cba:
http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/mf_image_16x9/public/78679-saturday-night-fever-hed.jpg?itok=ndUGzlK0&resize=1100×619
proper punk rock
not posh poofy sub Springsteen glar
ned
i think you are taking the piddle
and
lord knows i’m sure you’re aware
the dirty look yoooor getting now
is but a nugget of what you deserve
.
so
if I holster
WILL YOU !
and
oohhh
ohhhhhhhh
Ooooooooooooooh ,ned
Enjoyed that report, thanks Guvnor.
Good team performance, all did
their jobs well with a shout to Leno
as outstanding again today.
I will have to change my thinking
on him.
Now that Spuds have dropped a few
points I think the current table is a
good reflection of the actual levels
– there is very little between the
sides from 3rd to 6th. It’s in our
hands now, pull up those away
socks lads and take 3rd.
Moss was poor in both halves I
thought. With the greatest respect,
his judgment is always arbitrary and
there is no consistent thread except
his own maddening incompetence.
Though it was a stupid challenge
by the Manure player for our penalty.
Watched the Rennes vs Caen
highlights.
Rennes were losing 1-0 and then
Sarr wildly exaggerated after a
foul, the ref fell for it and Caen
were down to 10 men. The same
bloke equalised from a free kick
and Rennes went on to win 3-1.
Sarr is a cheaty little fuck and
hopefully we will be more careful
this time.
To continue waffling to none and
sundry. Our next game is Newcastle
at home and Spudsitup are away
to Liverpoo. I’m looking forward to it.
Our game at Wolves, of unknown
date, is probably the trickiest.
And I hope that UE and the players
understand how much I want us to
win at Watford.
Also we now have 60 points
from 30 games, on course for
76 points this season.
If we do hold form, that will be
13 more than last season.
Progress and a fair effort in
Step 1 of turning things round
I think.
Step 2 will be in strengthening the
squad this summer, and if Monchi
is joining then I’d like to see it
announced during the March break.
Step 3 will be challenging for the
title next season.
I hope the Board is writing this down.
I’m all waffled out so….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfK-WX2pa8c
Step 4 shipping out Mustafi???
The game where we defended as a unit and that is saying a lot considering united did have some good chances and we apart from the 2 goals did not force DeGea a save. It also reflected how Kolasinac as a wing back is terrific and as a full back is almost clueless. Niles grew into the game second half, Xhaka had an excellent game and it is he who is crucial to the pace of our play, Ozil had an average game, Ramsey was there everywhere first half but faded second, Lacazette and Leno excellent and honestly, Auba but for the penalty did nothing.
Yes we won and it was won because Kos, Sokratis and Leno were terrific, so was nacho and it augurs well if we can have the same set play for the next 8 games, our best chance is with them and not Mustafi please.
Thursday we need to lift the tempo and score an early goal, still expect us to go through but then its us, so you never know. Till then, rejoice the moment when laca calls over Auba to take the penalty and says to him, you can do it, that is what our club is- Class.
Shipping out Mus will be an integral
part of Step 2 Vinay 🙂
But I expect Mus to play Thursday
as Papa will be out.
It’s hard to tell UE’s opinion of
Mus to be honest. Recently Papa
seems to have been preferred but
he wasn’t earlier this season.
I guess a back 4 against Rennes
with AMN and Nacho as FBs and
Torreira and Iwobi to start as well
but UE’s team selection is quite
difficult to predict. I think we’ve
already had 5 or 6 different right
backs this season.
I’ve finally descended from Cloud 9 and been able to read the Guvna’s excellent report. The report was as much of a pleasure to read as it was to watch us stand toe to toe yesterday with Smeagol’s Scheisters and emerge victorious. Bravo Unai, for his brave selection and tactics.
Every man put in a shift and did his job. Leno is growing into his role as an Arsenal keeper and displays both agility and bravery. Our defenders stood firm and worked their socks off. The midfielders’ work rate matched the defenders’ work rate and eclipsed the opposition – did Pogba get to play or did he just come down for the wrestling? Our passing was generally crisp and accurate and we pressed well when out of possession. Laca and BamBam were in constant motion and were a handful for the Manure defence.
If we can play with that attitude and commitment for the rest of the season a top 4 place is a real possibility but we have to sort out our ‘travel sickness’. Quells, anyone?
??
other side of the world genius
Oh what a brilliant day! On so many recent occasions we have outplayed Utd, only to be thwarted by one or two sharply taken goals followed by a de Gea masterclass. This time de Gea made a mistake and we got the 50/50 shout for a penalty.
But for an Arsenal fan this game had it all. Great goalkeeping from Leno, great commitment from the defence (how about that Adamsesque block from Xhaka) 100% support from the fans (I didn’t hear a single moan from the fans around me) and a great team spirit. How about Laca going to Auba after the pen was given and saying, in essence, go on mate, get that monkey of last week off your back. United looked class at times but grew more and more clueless as the game entered the last quarter.
We all walked out into the pouring rain buzzing. All around me was excited chatter about the game. Let’s face it, after Spurs, United is the game we all want to win.
We can do this on Thursday. Pick a similar team, barring suspensions, with Ramsey and Ozil and Laca and Auba and we should batter them. They’ll be defending their lead.
What a great weekend. They didn’t even close any roads on me on the way home.
It was a frustrating travelling day, delays on the way up to town and detrained at Ely on the way home to a very slow bus arriving home at 23.30 hours!! Claim form is in the post.
We rode our luck early on but for once capitalised on Lukaku’s miss by scoring a brilliant Xhaka goal within 5mins which set us up for a fantastic team performance.
United had a lot of the ball but didn’t seem to know what to do with it. I had expected more from them and was relieved that they had a poor game while we put in one of our best displays of the season.
Can we put in the same performance on Thursday minus Papa and Laca, who knows? We are the Arsenal and it very much depends on which Arsenal turns up. If we could repeat yesterday’s performance more consistently we might still have a successful season, here’s hoping.
COYR
theresa
.
.
“if you can’t think once
then don’t think twice”
.
Pete Shelley
There is a winner in Aynsley Maitland-Niles, and he proved it time after time against United. Unfair to praise the other defenders, which they do all deserve, but not to praise AMN too.
.
.
.
.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQKlLZCVXWo
herself said – you crying
i’d ‘ve loved have been there
gone now
I fuckin hope the MIGHTY esso was
fuckin love poly and couldn’t didn’t explain
to herself
bla whatever shit etc
an such
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3VfugdCTTU
a fuckin absolute smile on my shite life she was
god rest her
Marianne Joan Elliott-Said
(the dead bugger)
.
steve T
apparently arrived just a shade too late
at the original
his
(the wee flyaway fluffy headbound moddy affectation towards the back of his pride and joy)
hair
wasn’t ready
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okp_A1HqY08
.
.
now
thatsuncalledfor
.
not least cos steve
im guessing could beat me to a fine powder
and im organising a trip goonerwise next year
so I have to keep the muscle marys onside
*Jon moss lino OFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!*
Kolasinac must start as he gives our attack an extra edge and I thing Auba will score with Kola and AMN providing the bullets from the wing.
Vinay,
I agree with all your points but would echo Bath re Aubameyang who far from doing nothing but take the penalty ran his legs off and put the United defence under enormous pressure. The high press by our two strikers added to the terrific running off the ball to provide options for Ozil and Ramsey and Xhaka pulled United out of shape and led to our midfield dominance in the first half.
Credit to Emery for his set-up in all the big home PL games, with the exception of Citeh who arrived very early in his tenure. He has used different tactics for each game and got a very good reaction from the team in each match. We start the big games better than we start most of the others.
As for Thursday we need to play three at the back to release Kola and AMN. Torreira will come back and I’d like to see Ozil and Ramsey continue . We will have to reorganise upfront with Mkhi coming back with Laca out.
Maybe it will be
Cech
Mustafi Koscielny Monreal
AMN Xhaka Torreira Kola
Ramsey Mkhitaryan Ozil
Aubameyang
I’d be inclined to leave Torreira on the bench and play Mkhi Ozil and Iwobi . The wild card would be Nketiah
Oska @ 48
I’m a bit worried about your maths my friend,
We are actually on course for 84pts this season not 76, given we have 8 games left.
You also broke the 2nd tier record for number of posts in a row with 10, but no one will ever break cba’s alltime top tier record of 96 successive posts in a row without interruption.
As for the match itself,having now had the benefit of seeing the replay,
I thought Mesut having been given the chance to play in a big match from the start after being on the sidelines for so long,probably tried a bit to hard to impress,a lot of his passes were going astray and the game at times seemed to pass him by,
But having said that,he didn’t hide during the game,and Emery kept him on for 75 minutes.
A great team effort,and dare i say it,we might just have another top class German goalkeeper on our hands.
United had their chances,and on another day might have scored 2 or 3,but i think they used up all their luck in Paris on Wednesday.
Immense credit to all our players,who after Thursday in France,and the abuse they copped at the airport from some of our so called supporters,must have been well down in the dumps.
But Lukaku’s early miss and Granit’s long range bender changed the narrative of the match on Sunday,and you could see the team grow in confidence from that moment on.
A well deserved win,and that’s why we love the game,when you can go from the depths of despair on the Thursday,and be top of the world 3 days later.
The difference in the mood in the bar thurs/fri/sat,to sunday/monday,
says it all.
With 60pts on the board,we are a whopping 12pts ahead of where we were at the same point last season,and our destiny is in our own hands to propel us back into the CL next season.
It’s down to Unai and his band of merry men to get us there.
One final point,
I do want to acknowledge the difference Unai has made,and his influence on the playing group that has to me clearly made for a much happier squad environment.
In Arsene’s reign,he had a core group of players that were always on the first team sheet no matter what,and this clearly led to resentment from the players that made up the rest of the squad,who unless someone was injured,very rarely started games except in the local Cup competitions.
From the moment he arrived,Unai made it plain and clear to everyone that their were going to be no favorites, it was a level playing field for all,and everyone who worked hard off the field in training would get their chance on it.
This obviously upset a few of the pampered pets,and they clearly tried it on in the early stages,witness Ozil’s strop after being dropped for West Ham game early in the season,but with the odd exception,once they saw that Unai wasn’t for turning,they knuckled down and put the hard yards in.
You can see this clearly in the camaraderie between the players on and off the pitch,which was noticeably absent last season.
No cliques allowed,one in all in, on and off the pitch.
Also given Unai’s approach to every game seems to be different depending on the opposition,the majority of the players in the squad are getting much more game time,and it’s that togetherness that Unai has fostered assiduously,that might just achieve something this season that none of us would have thought possible last August.
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