Did you expect this week to be any better? We won against Chelsea and United, Brentford restricted Spu*s to a point and Arsenal back to 4th place? Neither did I!
Arsenal v Manchester United : 3-1
Mikel went ahead with the expected line up. Elneny retained his position and ESR started. Nketiah was up top, Tomi made it to bench (and got few minutes of game time), Tavares was shown confidence against at LB.
In 3rd minute, Xhaka whipped the ball to Saka whose shot was saved by De Gea but landed in front of Nuno Tavares, who didn’t mind scoring his first Arsenal goal from 2 yards. That had me buzzing, a 3rd minute goal at Emirates.
Luck favoured us when Dalot’s shot hit the woodwork in the 23rd minute. Couple minutes later, Nketiah had a one-on-one chance to score but de Gea made an excellent save. He didn’t let go the next chance 2 minutes later which deemed offside eventually by VAR but then there was a foul on Saka before it reached Eddie. His offside position was ignored and a penalty was awarded. Saka took it and scored.
It made Saka the highest scorer for Arsenal – 11 goals till now from a 20-year old winger. Kudos!
A 2-0 is a winning score unless you find yourself playing against Ronaldo. A pass from Matic was put in the nets by Ronaldo in 34th minute. Ten minutes in the second half, Manchester United earned a penalty for a foul by Tavares, which Bruno Fernandes MISSED. Did you see Ramsdale celebration in his face? If not, stop right here and watch it first. Another goal from Ronaldo was ruled offside. It was getting shaky and Ramsdale had to make a brilliant save, getting his fingertips to a shot from Dalot which guided it to the post.
Well, someone has had enough of this nonsense. Xhaka decided to go full Ronaldinho and scored a sensational goal from 30 yards outside the box! In the process, he also taught Tavares how to knee slide after scoring.
We won 3-1 and climbed back to the Champions League spot. It was a nervy game but with twists every other minutes but it’s good to see us winning rough these days. Tavares need to work on his defending and knee sliding (in case he scores again), Eddie is picking up his chances and showing a glimpse of his record scoring in U-23. Xhaka and Elneny had a very solid game in the midfield. Ramsdale has been making some poor decisions lately but we can forgive him because of his celebration 😉
Good week for gooners!
In other news, Edu has been talking to ESPN Brazil and giving us hope for couple of signings in next season. This is what he had to say.
The budget we used last summer, we prefer to use it to rebalance the squad, there was no point in hiring one or two players, the squad was not prepared to absorb two players, we needed to rebalance the squad. Maybe next season we can go to one or two athletes. Today we find a much more balanced cast.
source: ESPN
If it’s going be a CF and an experienced midfield player, I will have no complaints for Edu.
Well, we can lose 3 games in a row to bottom half teams and beat United and Chelsea back to back. It’s a rollercoaster ride for an Arsenal fan expecting to earn his place in Champions League but we are holding tight. Lets hope we win rest of our games and Spu*ds do a spursy.
Am I too optimistic to say we might get a chance to celebrate Saint Totteringham’s Day this season?
I’ve improved the typography a bit, realised the text needs to be darker and a bit bigger for the comment section to make it easier to read. Do let me know if something worries you.
Nice photo Hoopah
Caption competition
Odegaard to Ramsdale
Get in! Great idea cutting that hole in the crutch of your shorts in order to put off ratboy. Oh fuck, you haven’t got a boner have you? I’ll get the gaffer to pull you off at half time…
I’m sure someone can do much better than that.
What about this –
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTx1qtIVAIgvxDADfYAXWRg6P2vvjg3G0lefg&usqp=CAU
Almunia
Hi mate. I guess your nose is back at the grindstone after Easter. I think I’m glad Robertson went out tonight. I’m no massive fan of Lisowski, but would prefer someone other than NR to be there when the matches start getting even longer. I’m not sure of the last eight line ups but some star quality left. Trump? Ronnie? Bingham even? Anyone but Higgins please.
Read Rambinho’s post shortly after he posted and said to myself “I will not dignify such rubbish with a reply”. However KP you have a talent for shoving things where the sun don’t shine, my hat off to your reply.
Hi Killroy
It’d be nice to think he’s got the message but I’m not holding my breath. I should have suggested that he takes his nonsense to reddit!
Incidentally, it’s been good reading your stuff over there (as well as here) . You’ve had him and his alter egos and hangers-on by the short and curlies.
Feeling good about the Hammers game. They’ll be more fatigued, they have an insane number of defensive injuries, we tend to do well in that stadium (except the first half last season!) and their minds will be elsewhere. Apart from the erratic/chaotic nature in which our manager sets us up, what could possibly go wrong?
Looking forward to tonight’s match, hope city do them. Never a fan of either Spanish superclub and while city are being artificially powered, Real have existed in that state permanently. As for tomorrow I’ll be switching allegiance and cheering on the la liga team,someone stop those scousers please!!!!!!!
Kroenkephobe,
Up to my watch now for the next 5 weeks and then I can relax. Reading through Othello essays til near midnight last night,I didn’t even get to see the snooker. I backed Trump,the Mrs backed Williams but if I was to pick a winner now I’d say Ronnie looks the best bet,he’s had a nice draw,should be plenty left in the tank. He’ll play your nemesis Higgins in the semi if results go to form.
As for the Arsenal I think Hammers will be down to the bare bones,so pretty hopeful there. Also glad it’s a daytime game,hate playing them at night,their fans are always up for it. Newcastle away is beginning to look tougher by the day,the NLD is what it is and both Leeds and Everton are fighting to avoid d drop. As finishes to seasons go,it could have been better but when you’ve lost the games we have….. Still if I was to bet on it I’d say we’ll get 4th. Then an open top bus parade around London for Tets and the boys. I hope the Kroenkes have plenty more cash set aside……
West Ham will do what Mourinho did with United when he was in charge, played 2nd string teams in the league and played the stars in the EL which he eventually won. I think the Hammers will do the same, so I think this should be an easy game.
United are a bunch of demoralized players that have no direction and don’t know where they are going. 5 players leaving on a free, a lame duck manager and 5+ players told to find a new club. If they finish in the Conference league they will be fortunate and we have year of chuckles ahead of us.
That only leaves Sp*ds and the NLD will not be a forgone conclusion a draw can be viewed as a win as long as we don’t do an Arsenal on the other games, concede the first goal and then fold.
Which now brings me to Newcastle, we will play away and they have just finished winning 6 straight at home, that for me is on the same level as the NLD. Hopefully we will just have peaked to get enough points for the UCL games next season.
Off to watch City v Real on Paramount+ with Henry And Jamie C. as pundits. Hoping for a City win with them meeting Villarreal in the final and Villareal winning it. That would go over like a lead balloon in certain circles.
Footballing gods have a strange way of punishing profligate teams. Really hope City don’t throw this away,some serious chances spurned. I thought Pep was going to run on the pitch and give Mahrez a kick up the hole! What an infuriating player…..
Christ Almighty just as I said it…..
Benzema bringing Madrid back in the game.. exciting contest but I missed first 30min trying to figure out where my new article went 😐
hahaha…
Lads
Luckily I don’t have the euro footy bug unless we’re playing. As a result, I’ve obviously seen even less of it this season! The last remotely exotic games (if you can call them that) were the draw with the Hun and that loss to the Hibees in our disastrous pre-season.
All this gossiping about Jesus isn’t inspiring me either. He’s always struck me as a diver and a bit of a baby. Besides, we already have a Brazilian messiah waiting for his chance in the middle. I think we need a taller guy, bit of a hardman and capable of heading the ball and holding play up. No, not Chris Woods.
Almunia – in terms of remaining games, take some solace too from the fact that the Spuds have to go to Anfield. Almost certainly a loss. Did your brother say anything more about the derby on Sunday? I imagine there’s some internecine tension given he has bragging rights. My brother’s a Chelsea fan… So just as bad in the grand scheme of things.
I enjoyed Othello but I bet you know it word for word. One of WS’s more complex plays for me, exemplified by that clever little bastard Iago.
Going to catch up with the snooker now. Don’t know how the draw brackets are arranged but a Ronnie v Williams final would get my vote.
I thought Pep was going to run on the pitch and give Mahrez a kick up the hole
I’d definitely tune in if that happened… I’d forgotten arses and ring pieces were just called the ‘hole’ in your neck of the woods. Priceless.