Stunning Gunners Recover Discipline To Progress
Mar 14th, 2019 by 'holic
Unai Emery made the expected two changes to the side that defeated Manchester United. Petr Cech reclaimed his cup-tie goalkeeping role and Shkodran Mustafi returned as replacement for the suspended Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
The first half-chance fell to Alexandre Lacazette who was just beaten to a through ball by goalkeeper Koubec. Moments later we had the dream start. Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Aaron Ramsey combined on the right and the latter’s cut-back was turned in by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Could we build on that whilst staying secure at the back?
The Arsenal 1-0 Stade Rennais
One became two before a quarter of an hour had been played. Aubamayang played a one-two with Ramsey and crossed to the far post where Maitland-Niles was the surprising finisher with a well directed header just inside the post. Game on, indeed, and the same trio had combined for both strikes. Television replays at half-time suggested that Aubameyang was in an offside position. One that went our way, that.
The Arsenal 2-0 Stade Rennais
The first card of the evening went the way of the visitors Mexer for planting an elbow into the back of Lacazette’s head. It was the trigger for some tit for tat incidents that we didn’t need to be involved in.
Aubameyang somewhat foolishly took a cheap studs up shot at Da Silva and was extremely fortunate that the officials missed it. The last thing we needed at this early stage was to be reduced to ten men again, as last week’s match demonstrated. Lacazette’s lunge on Andre earned him a yellow card and was similarly unnecessary.
We remembered the task in hand and Aubameyang’s spectacular over head effort when teed up by Mesut Ozil wasn’t as bad a miskick as it looked. He was a millimetre from the contact that might have brought us a greater reward. Ozil again and Lacazette turned providers for Ramsey but the Welsh international’s snapshot was claimed by Koubec.
As the half played out a rampaging Nacho Monreal appeared to be taken out in the box by Traore but the referee didn’t agree. To be fair to him there was a lot going on with both sides showing a lack of discipline. Four added minutes at the end of the half was a reflection of that and the half-time whistle was a welcome one.
We started the second-half on the back foot. Niang smashed a shot against a post and the only saving grace was that Bensebaini was flagged offside. We reacted with a Lacazette header just over the bar. Ramsey sprang Aubameyang but Koubec recovered to claim the cross.
Grenier’s insistence on hitting the deck at every opportunity whilst squealing like a stuffed pig was grating more and more. He himself was lucky to avoid a booking for fouls on Ozil and Ramsey. Sarr’s late challenge on Xhaka also yielded no punishment. The referee lost his patience when Bensebaini feigned a near-death experience and at least Grenier was finally booked for his part in the ensuing shenanigans.
A magnificent sliding tackle by Sead Kolasinac denied Sarr a shooting opportunity at the far post as Rennes sought the goal that would swing things back their way. As if we didn’t already know, a reminder that a third goal was needed for something far more important than the ‘holic pound. If Rennes were destined to score the earlier the better so we had time to strike back. Bensebaini hit the far post with a spectacular volley but again the assistant referee’s flag was raised. Nervous times.
In a bid to wrest back control of the game Emery sent on Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi for Ozil, the recipient of a standing ovation, and Lacazette, similarly lauded by the home crowd. Almost immediately Iwobi was found on the edge of the box by Xhaka but he sliced his drive wide of the target. The substitutions paid off, however, when Mkhitaryan released Kolasinac and his awesome cross was knocked in by Aubameyang. Out came the promised mask, and the referee’s yellow card!
The Arsenal 3-0 Stade Rennais
Mkhitaryan’s funny five minutes were capped with a yellow card for his first foul, relatively innocuous in the context of what had happened before. The game had clearly entered a dangerous final phase. Could we see it out as Rennes were forced to chuck everything at us? That left the occasional gap and Aubameyang was denied his hat-trick in a one on one with Koubec. Seconds later he missed a sitter when Ramsey put him in on an open goal.
Somewhat sensibly Lucas Torreira was sent on for Ramsey with three minutes remaining. The crowd again showed their appreciation for the substituted player. Ben Arfa found himself one one one with Cech, who was not to know the offside flag had been raised, and made a brave save at some expense to his head. Hearts were in mouths in the first of five added minutes when Ben Arfa engineered another opportunity greeted by an offside award.
Kolasinac saw yellow for time-wasting in perfectly understandable circumstances. Traore followed after an altercation with Iwobi. It was a fractious end to a niggly evening. Cech claimed one last effort to his chest and the whistle blew on a very good night as we became the sixth English club to qualify for a European quarter-final. Job done!
91 Responses to “Stunning Gunners Recover Discipline To Progress”
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Wakanda Forever.
Beat me to it Tobias! 🙂
Congrats on the Holic pound!
Quicker than Sarr, Guv’nor. Niggly game but job done, a clean sheet and the ‘Holic pound secured. All good.
Good stuff Guvnor, and a winning
wager to boot!
Happy to beat them, they were an
unlovable bunch and now they can
fuck off back to mid table obscurity
in Ligue One.
On to the QF draw.
Great report Holic and we both got the score right. Rennes weren’t exactly surrender monkeys but they were niggly, cynical bastards and tried to replicate the sending off last week.
Emery got the initial team right and made good subs at the right time. Mkhitaryan is a very important player for us now as is young AMN who did very well.
Top report. Top result.
UTA
Some more than decent sides in the quarterfinal draw: Chelsea, Napoli, Valencia, Eintracht Frankfurt and Villarreal, plus Benfica or Dinamo Zagreb and Slavia Prague or Sevilla. This is going to take some winning.
Good win against a difficult team.More heart in mouth moments than I would have liked!
I think an English team will win it, Ned.
Fine win by the boys.
Got the early goals and despite a few minor scares,won well in the end.
Thnks for info previous drinks Ned.
And the Ladies won 4 nil tonight as well,to keep us in pole position to win the WSL and qualify for CL.
Wouldn’t that be a great double for next season if both men’s and Ladies teams are in the big one.
The squad off to Dubai now for a well earned rest while we suffer another Interlull.
Just a quick shout for the Post.
It’s been staunch for us in our
last 2 games.
Benfica and Prague round out the
final 8 from Ned’s post @8.
Some decent sides and Chavski
still in it but no one as good as
Athletico last year.
Cheers H!
Bookies agree with you, BtM. Unfortunately, they think it will be the wrong English side.
Excellent report Guvna and congratulations on your punt. Apart from a couple of scares, this team looked in control and achieved the minimum objective smoothly. With a tad better concentration BamBam could have given us a couple more goals and a less anxious last 5 minutes. Nonetheless every man did his job well.
A virtual magnum of Pol Roger on the bar to toast Sr Emery’s March achievements.
It’s a long wait for our next game
How to filler the time?
Analyse our last 10 games…..
Home
Played 5, Won 5
15 goals for, 1 against
Away
Played 5, Won 1, Drew 1, Lost 3
5 goals for, 9 against
I’m noticing a pattern there.
Perhaps I’ll tell UE, and who knows
a job in our world renowned
Stats & Stuff department will come
winging my way like a Kola cross
With that kind of meticulous, methodical
and medically proven analysis,
together with some Top Tips like
—- don’t play away from now on
—- if you do, stop fucking up
and I’ll be running the Data & Useless
Facts For Emery & Raul Sanllehi
department toot sweet.
Course once I’m in charge it’ll be
top seats and free single malt for
all holics. Then, I’ll hand over all
my work to the monks and take
a well-earned sabbatical.
OM – you have my vote!
I was watching BT sport coverage yesterday and neither Stewart Robson nor the other dull muppet commentating had any clue what Auba’s Black Panther mask was. They did not get the reference at all. One even said (something like) “don’t ask me to explain the significance of that mask”. With a chuckle. Like it was an Auba in joke.
I’m not gonna read things into that that I have no way of knowing. Maybe they just don’t watch Superhero films. But the days when MOTD (featuring Hansen, Shearer, Lawrenson and hosted by Lineker) was criticised for being a middle-aged white man’s show suddenly seemed a lot closer.
And I had a moment when I reflected that Stewart Robson can do one to the nth degree as I considered that I would prefer Spurs stalwart Jermain Jenas to be commentating as he would be less biased against Arsenal.
Anyhoo, still very happy with everything the team and the manager did yesterday. Superheroes all.
I was not amused by Auba’s Mask stunt ( old white man speaking). Anything that gives a vital player at this stage of the competition a booking is immature and unnecessary . That could come back to bite us on the bum.
Unfortunately I think the club were complicit in it. He was interviewed in the programme on Sunday ( I’m the bloke who still reads it) and the interviewer asked him if he was likely to celebrate a goal with a mask again. Auba mentioned he had something in mind. I think it was a stunt inspired by the club’s PR department .
I’m getting too old for this lark
With you there again TTG. I too thought the mask was an unnecessary and self-indulgent element in the increasingly puerile ‘celebration’ culture that has developed in our top level football. Having grown up with a tradition that a simple hand-shake was the appropriate celebration of a goal and that this occasionally stretched to a single pat on the back for a particularly fine goal, I have learned to accept that grown men occasionally hug each other and have even imported the Gallic habit of a kiss on the cheek.
The recent appearance after goals of dance routines or elaborate multi-participant pre-prepared gyrations seem ridiculous to me but when its an Arsenal goal and I’m at the game I’m usually jumping up and down and high fiving the people around me which is about as close as I get to a dance routine so I really shouldn’t criticise the players. Moreover if donning a mask after a goal makes PEA feel more at home at Arsenal and results in more goals then that’s alright with me. I think he’s smart enough to keep an eye on the card count.
TTG.
You’re obviously not the demographic that the mask stunt was aimed at, so fair enough if you’ve got no time for it. And I agree that an unnecessary yellow is not a good thing. (When do they get wiped out?)
I also think that a lot of people and young people especially will have connected with that celebration. Everything it stirred up and highlights, the coverage and debate that it has already inspired, make it well worth a yellow card in my eyes.
Why is that even a rule? Who does talking a shirt off harm? Or celebrating with your fans? Or wearing a mask? Who even made these rules? How do we have owners of football clubs who made their money in ways I’m not going to touch with a ten foot pole? Betting companies sponsoring clubs? And Ray Winstone etc. advertising in the TV ad breaks? The rules and regulations are arbitrary beyond belief. Why is that?
Ahhh. We arrive back at another panel of middle aged/old white men.
Also, since money seems to be the only criteria that matters in football anymore, they had better change the rules.
Not only legalising masks but making some form of over the top celebration mandatory. That’s how you get viewers!
Think of the benefits. Alan ‘one hand up’ Shearer would’ve been rendered useless, for starters. Oh, wait…
I’m with TTG @24 – too old and not impressed. Given his two misses afterwards, where was his Dopey mask? I love his enthusiasm and persistence but now I will add “no more masks” to my previous “no more penalties” request. Just score lots of goals.
Whilst I’m being Grumpy Old Man, I’m so over the knee slide celebration from every Tom, Dick and Nobody who scores a goal, whether a cracker or a rebound off the arse.
Having got all that out of the way, well done lads, The first 20 was good, the next 60 not so much, allowing Rennes a sniff, but saw it out well in the end.
Not sure how Dubai is relaxing at any time but enjoy it anyway. Third place please anytime over a Europey cup. Jon Sammels still my favourite.
UTA.
GSD,
A veil is drawn over the yellow card
slate after the quarter finals so if
that is Auba’s first booking he is in
no danger
A win and progress to the Q/F’s. Well done to the lads and a shoutout to Kola, Ramsey and Niles in particular. Kos and Nacho safe as a house and Mhki played his part when he came on. Auba did what he is good at and we are lucky that his misses did not come to haunt us. We never looked fully comfortable but then Rennes with their theatrics and the ref played their part in that.
2 weeks of no football is sad but in between if the lads are well rested and the ones who are going to their national squads dont get to play( rested), we are in for one final run in before May. A top 4 and a Europa league win will be extraordinary but then what is wrong to hope, Chelsea Arsenal final, anyone??
Some interesting ties in the CL
and Spuds have to play Shitty 3
times in 2 weeks which can only
be good.
Now on to the big one…..
Was the Auba mask stunt product placement?
Its Napoli in the Europa. Not my first choice.
Napoli then and why not let’s get them out the way first!
Napoli (ITA)
v
Arsenal (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP)
v
Valencia (ESP)
Benfica (POR)
v
Frankfurt (GER)
Slavia Praha (CZE)
v
Chelsea (ENG)
Semi-final
ATG that’s the spirit, UTA
Not overly taxing draw for Chelsea.
While Salzburg was eliminated, they managed to stuff 3 past them at home.
Our away leg will be the key (surprise surprise), any decent result and at home we can finish them off.
Semi-final draw
Napoli (ITA)/Arsenal (ENG) v Villarreal (ESP)/Valencia (ESP)
Benfica (POR)/Frankfurt (GER) v Slavia Praha (CZE)/Chelsea (ENG)
Won’t the fixture be changed because
Chavski are drawn away 1st Leg too?
These were the provisional dates, not sure how it will pan out
Indeed UEFA switches Arsenal home match to the first date to avoid two London matches on the second date. Abramovich dosh put to work.
Apparently Chelsea are ranked higher
than us because they qualified by
winning the FACup rather than by
League position and therefore our
match will always be switched first
in this seasons Ropey League
Hopefully the travelling faithful will
be once bitten twice shy after the
Rennes nonsense
So Watford away between the
2 Napoli games. A month to work
on our away day problems
I remember beating them at home in the Champions League a few years ago. Mesut scored a sumptuous volley
Kinda off topic, just finished watching 89. Oh man, tears in my eyes, what a story, guess only winning the Big Ears might top it. Soon, hopefully soon, at least in my lifetime ?
well, if you are eighty 4 years old then forget it
in the next life
SSY not that old, got a few more in me
I don’t know if many have been following it but Reiss Nelson is having serious problems in Germany. He is apparently estranged from Nagelmann the manager, it is some time since he played regularly for Hoffenheim and he is suspended for disciplinary reasons .
This is the other side of the loan system. It can be tough for a young man in a foreign country and it can illustrate what sort of character a player has.
Maybe it’s homesickness, or frustration at the club but it provides Unai Emery with a dilemma
TTG@50 (congrats on the half-ton), mr. emery seems just the kind of coach to bring someone with those types of problems into the fold, and to help him get over those issues. remember, in his short time at lorient guendouzi fell out with his manager (https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/matteo-guendouzi-profile-who-is-he-arsenal-signing-transfer-lorient-story-behind-him-a8492171.html). but at arsenal, excepting the nitrous balloon incident, he has been great, and mr. emery is getting wonderful play from him.
so if anyone can relieve nelson of half his problems and make him productive and happy again, it stands to be mr. emery. i’d love to have him back, and in the team.
Interesting article about Guendouzi, scruz, and if Nelson does half as well back at Arsenal next season he should be pleased with himself.
Thanks for the link about Guendouzi, SCG. Interesting read. The player depicted seems a good match to the player we see, both his strengths and weaknesses. The talent is undoubtedly there. The question is whether he will learn the self-discipline to make the most to it. Emery may be the teacher he needs in that respect. The evidence of this season is that he is.
The Reiss Nelson situation seems to be a parallel example of a player of talent, ambition and abundant self-confidence losing his way and not having the surroundings or mentors to enable them to get back on track. Loans must be difficult for any young player, having to re-establish themselves as the new boy in new surroundings after being a star in a cosseting home set-up. It will be even more challenging in the context of a loan to a foreign club, and especially when the success of Sancho at Dortmund is the benchmark. It is, as TTG observes, a test of character as much as footballing prowess. So the question for the club is, will Nelson choose to learn from his setbacks, as Guendouzi seems to have done.
If you haven’t read it yet
https://arseblog.news/2019/03/szczesnys-hilarious-assessment-of-former-arsenal-teammates/
Nice mix of good insights, honest fuck-who-cares assessments and hilarious comments …
So happy his career turned out as it deserved to be, even if not with us. Maybe will be back one day.
Swansea are giving Pep’s City a horrid time and after 30 mins lead 2-0. If Swansea somehow win, it will be the upset of the year.
Swansea lose with a lot of help from the ref/linesman.
Disgusting refereeing, Man City need all the help they need!
TTG @ previous
re Reiss Nelson,
I notice he was on the subs bench today for Hoffenheim,and got some game time today,so whether fences have been mended or not i don’t know,but one would hope so.
I don’t think Unai would be too impressed if he came back to the Arse with a question mark over his attitude.
Without knowing the full details,i have been following his progress during the season,and it could be simply a case of frustration at not getting much game time that has caused the friction with the manager.
He seems to have spent most of the season coming off the subs bench,which rather defeats the purpose of going there in the first place.
Hopefully the situation has been smoother over.
Although i do note that ESR has not played a single minute for Leipzig since he joined them on loan,whether due to injury or not,i don’t know.
On a more positive note,i see our under 18’s had a n excellent 5 – 2
win away at West Ham today,keeping up their good run of form.
VAR is shit and it will kill football.
It’s shit because when it’s not being used, dummy spitters who suffer a dodgy decision want to know why. When it IS used, it is being used to decide matters of opinion and not matters of fact.
So we get a situation in the Champions League where something that’s never a penalty in a million years is given as one, because some bloke in a booth gets in the ref’s ear and he takes so long looking at replays, instead of just telling Booth Boy to fuck off, that he is almost obliged to give it.
Tonight we had Martin Atkinson over rule his own red card on advice from Booth Boy, when all he really needed to ask the interfering twat was – did he completely miss making contact with the Wolves player, thereby making it a clear error? No? He went through him? Red card then.
When they bring VAR in to the Premier League it is going to destroy it and I reckon (and hope) it will such a farce they’ll drop it after one year.
Fair point Cynic. Although I didn’t
think so initially I now think it
may be better to let Booth Boy
make the decisions and save the
time that incompetent refs like
Atkinson, Moss etc waste looking
at replays. Or limit VAR to offsides
only to start with next season.
Another option could be the
umpires call approach they use in
cricket. I’d like to have accurate
decisions without the long delays
and that might work. I’d also like
to protect the ref’s authority but
the PL refs are just too bad.
Wheels coming off for Ole GS I hope.
And our 13 FACup wins will remain
the best for another year.
OM, the sheen is wearing off, the wheels are coming off, the honeymoon is over for Solskaer and he now looks a little sad and lost compared to the huge smile he was sporting after the PSG result. MU will probably get a new coach if he doesn’t qualify for next year’s champions league. I would have preferred MU to advance in the FA Cup as that would have presented them with a fixture overload. They have been winning without looking too convincing and Wolves made them look ordinary today. We have to play them away and that will be one tough game
ksn,
yep, mean of me but I much prefer seeing
his sad face.
Quite agree, Wolves away is our
toughest remaining game.
Hopefully the upcoming semi-final
will take up their attention but I
don’t know when our game with
them will be played.
Matt
Only gap for Wolves game at the moment is between Palace home and Leicester away at end of month.
Although if Napoli beat us,then a couple of options open up early May.
Oh I see, thanks GS54.
The Ropey League complicates
things a bit.
Clive@58: ESR arrived at RB Leipzig with the groin injury he had before his loan started and he still has it, so hasn’t been available for selection. Which is an interesting situation, given both sides must have been aware of his condition when the loan deal was arranged. Which makes one wonder if there is some long-term plan behind it.
This profile the Bundesliga put out when he joined RB Leipzig has a couple of interesting tidbits in it:
https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/who-is-emile-smith-rowe-rb-leipzig-arsenal-england-3161-2016
Thnks Ned
One wonders if his loan deal extends to next season. ??
My thought, too, Clive
toff
eeeees
Arsenal will have a decision to make at the end of the season . Nelson will come back to the club , Amaechi will be the subject of much interest and Saka will also be closer to firstbteam consideration .. for someone. ESR will hopefully be fit and will have had little football since he went on loan. In addition Eddie Nketiah will be probably sent out on loan because he is getting much experience at the moment. Balogun is also coming through very quickly in the U18s.
If we make the CL we will have less opportunity to use young lads in European action as the standard will be much higher than the Europa League. We may have to make some tough choices and sell off the less glittering jewels. I’m not sure if we will ever see Reiss Nelson in a first team shirt again if we can get a significant fee for him.
Chelsea lose. Nice end to the week.
Bad day for the Boys from the Bus Stop.
(Cue for a Yosser Hughes joke, but hanged if I can think of one.)
COYG
That’s a very handy result at Goodison. With 30 games played for all we are one point behind Spurs, two points ahead of United and three points ahead of Chelsea.
It’s in our own hands now.
Reminders this weekend that our trips to Wolves and Everton are no bankers.
Couple of proper Gooners in this uplifting tale:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-africa-47586733/why-arsenal-s-mesut-ozil-sent-a-kenyan-boy-football-boots
nice result at goodison.
sorry to hear david ospina, late of north london and currently napoli’s number 1, collapsed on the pitch near halftime after an early clash of heads resulted in a bloody gash. off to hospital for observation.
get well soon, sir!
Was the bus late or something? How did the boys get home? Deary me. ?
You might wonder, here in this critical stage of the late March run-in, which of the London clubs is in the best form. Championship pretenders must be on the top of their game at this stage, of course so the mighty cannot be hiding under a rock, one might think, but a tale could be told from the points table from the last five league matches:
Arsenal 13
West Ham 9
Watford 9 (not sure where Watford actually is but almost London club?)
Crystal Palace 7
Chelsea 7
Tottenham 3
Fulham 0
Maybe Fulham and Tottenham should be thinking about forming a league of their own?
A reminder yet again at Goodison that you have to take your chances when on top.
Everton were so dire in the first half,that they would have made the Ramblers look like an EPL side back in the day.
They somehow get to half time level,and then nick a goal early 2nd half,and confidence grows and the rest is history.
We play both Everton and Watford away,before and after Napoli home leg, and fortunately for us we play Palace at home after the away leg.
Looking at the dates, i cannot believe we are still expected to play the Watford away game on the Monday night, 3 days before the away leg in Italy.
Crackers
“not sure where Watford actually is but almost London club?”
tell that to Watford Jon or Daryl Smith and they will tear you apart
I see our Neighbors are trying to do an under the counter deal with London Transport Stations Heritage Council,to rename White Hart Lane Station, ” Tottenham Hotspur “.
Apparently they have been insanely jealous for decades, that the only class football club in London has it’s own station.
They have been trying to sell the proposition as a big Commercial deal with a naming rights sponsor for the Stadium who also wants the Station naming rights as well.
The Heritage council apparently agreed,only on the proviso that the Spuds pay a shedload for the privilege.
Which of course being cheapskates,they have been trying to circumvent.
The full sordid grubby details are in the Guardian,which i am sure someone can post in the bar for the patrons to read.
2 things to round out the evening.
1st,
It would appear Mr Monchi late of Roma, has agreed to join Sevilla as Technical Director,thus thwarting our plans to hire him.
I gather Mr Overmars,late of this parish,currently residing at Ajax as their TD,is now top of our wanted list.
2nd,
I am confused about VAR,
Apparently it was in use at the Wolves/Utd Cup tie,saving Lindelof from a red card,but not in use at the Swansea/City tie where Swansea were dudded by a blatant Sterling dive [ now there’s a surprise ] and an Aguero offside goal.
I can understand it not being used in early rounds,but surely with only 4 games to cover in qtr finals,it could have been implemented for them all.
Anyone know why. ??
The two ties where it was not used are not Premiership grounds, so may lack the facilities.
Clive@82: At your service:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/17/london-train-station-to-be-renamed-after-tottenham-hotspur-club
The Guardian article says TfL says the name change has to go out to public consultation. As civic-minded members of the public, all good Gooners residing in the area covered by TfL could, I am sure, offer may alternative suggestions for TfL’s consideration.
Thanks Ned.
Time to move from Osaka to a new
home in Seven Spud Shitholes Road.
Hmmm, maybe not.
Shitennoji-mae Yuhigaoka Station must have a few spare signs they could send over which could be used with only slight modification.
🙂
funnily enough, that is a shithole
too Ned.
The results have really been coming
up Arsenal recently. Hope that
continues for another two months
Here’s the perfect name change for the station up Seven Sisters Rd:
Shite Fart Lane Station, Tottenham Hotspur
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