By Walter Broeckx
First of all my best wishes to all Untolders and to The Arsenal for the New Year!
As I think some players are a bit sick as Wenger said in his press conference a few days ago we had a bit of some unfamiliar names and some people not involved.
Arsenal made a few changes in the starting line up with Elneny starting and Coquelin finding a place on the bench. It was the last chance to use Elneny before he would be off to the ANC for the rest of the month.
No Özil to be seen and Iwobi took his place behind the striker. Also Lucas in the starting line up in this match.
On the beach we had Mustafi back and also Oxlade-Chamberlain was back after his minor injury at City. Also a few unfamiliar names. Matiland-Niles one of the surprising names.
Arsenal team at the start: Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Elneny, Xhaka, Iwobi, Alexis, Lucas, Giroud.
On the beach: Ospina, Maitland-Niles, Mustafi, Coquelin, Ramsey, Reine-Adelaide, Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Arsenal winning an early corner but Gabriel just couldn’t get his foot against the ball that went in front of the goal past everyone. Alexis almost puts Lucas one on one with the keeper but he rushes out the penalty area and can clear. Xhaka with a ball to Monreal but both Giroud and Lucas can’t put the ball in the goal and then the shot of Elneny is cleared for a corner. Arsenal keep on pressing and a shot from Alexis just goes wide. 0-0 after 15 minutes.
A low shot from Iwobi after a back pass from Lucas but the keeper can stop it. Crystal Palace get a free kick and hoof it forward. Lucas intercepts the attack from CP slides it to Bellerin who plays it to Giroud. A lay off from Giroud to Iwobi who sends Alexis away on the left flank. Alexis with a cross to Giroud who bakcheels it over the line from the crossbar. GOAL!!!!! 1-0 to The Arsenal after 18 minutes. And what a goal that was!
Monreal almost with the ball away after a bad control from Townsend but the keeper first on the loose ball. Another Arsenal attack comes to an end with a low shot from Elneny two meters wide. Iwobi sends Lucas away but he misses his control and the keeper can pick up the ball. Still 1-0 after 30 minutes.
Alexis with a cross to Giroud who chests it down but Monreal was judged offside. Alexis with an attempt to curl it but the shot goes wide. After 36 minutes Cech has to make his first easy stop. Alexis with a shot but straight at the keeper in the last minute of the first half. Arsenal with a last attack after some errors at the back Alexis had a last chance but he shot against the legs of the keeper. That should have gone in. 1-0 after 45 minutes and the score really should have been bigger.
Crystal Palace break after the restart but Benteke heads just wide. At the other end Lucas shoots but the ball is deflected for a corner. From the resulting corner Arsenal has 2 or 3 shots but always a defender in the way and then Elneny shoots wide. Arsenal keeps on trying to score a second goal but a cross from Lucas goes behind. Monreal being put out wide and his cross can’t find an Arsenal player but the ball goes in the air and Iwobi heads it over the defenders. GOAL!!! 2-0 to The Arsenal after 56 minutes.
Crystal Palace get a corner as the assistant judged the ball went over the line. Cech has to make two stops in a row after dangerous situations and concedes another corner. At the end Arsenal can clear finally. A bit of pressure from Palace as a result of the corner. 2-0 after 60 minutes.
Crystal Palace going more forward now and trying to produce something and Cech being given some work now. Flamini puts the ball out for a corner but the ref gives a goalkick. Flamini is no longer an Arsenal player, ref. A bit later some confusion in the Palace penalty area but the ball ends up in the arms of the keeper. A shot from Xhaka is diverted for a corner. That looked dangerous.
After 71 minutes Ramsey and Coquelin came on for Elneny and Lucas. Arsenal in control of the match and still 2-0 after 75 minutes.
Iwobi went off and Oxlade-Chamberlain came on. Alexis with a cross to Giroud but he just came short and the keeper could get the ball in the end. The Ox with a good run and a low cross but Palace can clear. Monreal going in the book for a foul when he stopped Zaha from getting on a counter. Arsenal now not really in search for a third goal but more looking to control the match. Ramsey with a low shot but it went wide. Tomkins got a yellow card for bringing Ramsey down. Xhaka with a free kick but the ball was headed away by a defender. The Ox with a low shot but again a good save from the keeper.
A strong performance from the whole team who worked hard. The score could have been much higher.
Walter,
Maitland-Niles is something of a utility player, he was probably there as cover for Bellerin today but is equally at home anywhere in midfield. A useful squad player at present, probably still looking for his best position.
Good pun from the commentator. Fat Sam had to put up with a scorpion. He must be fed up of stings!!!
A nice win and well deserved! Happy New Year to all Gooners who celebrate it at this time and great success in 2017!
Lol!
Brilliant goal from Giroud, absolutely brilliant.
Let’s try to get the outright winning streak record back, come on Arsenal, you can do it.
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A decent performance from Marriner? Looking forward to the pgMOB review as always.
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A half-fit returnng from injury Oxlade Chamberlain did more in 15 minutes then Andy ‘Goal Kick’ (& ***** first touch) Townsend in the entire 90. I think we can all understand why the Palace owners might have been unimpressed with Alain Pardeux (Trading Bolasie for Townsend…?).
< The effective Townsend was hooked after sixty odd mins.
How did the grit sniffing cart horse snag the no.10 shirt!!!
Happy New Year to all, I wish good fortunes to you and your love ones in 2017.
Giroud is clearly the leading ‘target man’ about at the moment. And has been for a little while (Ibrah is past his peak).
I think that is a fair and reasonable comment!
A good win against the team managed by a doubly disgraced manager – who is still much loved by the mudia (the unclear and unclean media!)
Overall a very entertaining performance, two good goals one of which was exceptional – worth watching over and over again!
As for the bandit in black – he didn’t cost us the game, but seemed to let a lot of fouls go – not unexpectedly!
Happy New Year to everyone!
Some lovely play today. Bellerin had one of those games you think – who developed him, where was he developed, who wants him to play football? As for the Giroud goal – Brian Clough used to say it takes 30 seconds to score a goal, this was a thirteen second wonder
Andy Townsend? Is he still playing? He must be in his fifties. No wonder Palace are so crap.
Good performance and result.
A little sad to see a player like Flamini managed by a manager like fat Sam.
Gets doubly worse to see Flamini getting trolled like this, wish it was another player like ward or whoever else;
https://mobile.twitter.com/SeanPaulKearns/status/815600402523705344
It’s far to easy to confuse one clogger that played and supports Tottenham with another. Something about a consistent record of having diving cloggers associated with that club I suppose.
Much easier then not reading a ref review before a failed attempt at trolling (both he ref review and this match review hence the lack of comment on theta half football) and a successful effort at self humiliation.
Don’t hit yourself with the door on the way out
< on the football
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HNY to all at Untold
🙂
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Ugh
Andy “get in” Townsend* played for Gazprom. Even worse.
Do we think someone might be upset that after scoring four goals that they still have to, you know, mind the gap?
finsbury
You’re not often right and you’re wrong again, but let’s put you out of your misery before your embarrassment is complete.The player you keep referring to now and on other threads in the past is ANDROS Townsend. How the fuck can you continuously confuse him with ANDY, they’re not even from the same generation.
I made my match comments on the live thread before Walter’s match report, so don’t see the point in repeating them here.
Have Arsenal regained their PL winning mentality back after losing back to back games? Their game away to AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday which the Gunners should win with some ease will inform us if they had.
We missed Ozil’s passing, getting into the opponent area/box trying to score and of course his breathtaking assists. I think Iwobi who Le Prof used in his place behind Olivier Giroud today gave a good account of himself for Arsenal in this game. But Perez performance for Arsenal today left much to be desired as he was sloppy in his passing to give the ball away to the opponent player on many occasions before he was taken off. And he was fortunate twice not to be booked at least once for his 2 clumsy tackle and strongly pushing the opponent players.
I don’t know much about footy but clearly I know more then the the kind of trolls that come on arsenal blogs and attempt to rate players like Townsend over he likes of the arsenal players.
Of course a troll would never exhibit the grace to admit such because in order to do so one would have to exhibit it the kind of behaviour not generally associatied with sociopathic troll. You know the kind of loon that would hilariously and inaccurately label someone laughing at their stupid attempts to troll a blog as an SWP supporter.
Clearly we are in the presence of the kind of football (& political) genius that has led England to such recent success against e likes of: Iceland, Costa Rica and Ecuador.
We know our place.
Good performance, no nitpicking here. Can’t even gripe on Marriner; he let a lot go a lot by Arsenal as well as Palace. Solid, well deserved clean sheet.
A great way to start the year. May the winning streak long continue. Happy New Year 2017!
Agree with g72
Anyone else agree with my opinion above re: Giroud?
Some pudnit finally put a definition on what they mean by Arsenal collapsing in November. Arsenal do lose games in the Wenger era, but it is unusual for them to lose more than one in a row. I think their longest losing streak in the Wenger era is 4 games.
Okay, revisiting my numbers (a week or two out of date), the longest losing run is 4, which happened once. This is across all competitions, not just EPL. We have 4 runs of 3 losses. two of which occurred “back-to-back” (a single non-loss between them, or end of season).
finsbury
You’ll need to come up with some evidence regarding me rating Townsend above any Arsenal players. You’ve previously mentioned Walcott & Ox Chamberlain but can’t back it up with proof. So I’ll challenge you again. I suppose you think that if you repeat the same lie continuously it will become the truth (post truth?).
I remember noting that when he was subbed on for Walcott in a recent England game he was as improvement, and I wasn’t the only person who thought so. I’ve got the links to the thread if you doubt my word. That’s the only time I have ever compared ANDROS Townsend (who you still refuse to acknowledge) with any Arsenal player and it was only for a few minutes in one international match. So really your attempts to discredit me have always been pathetic.
As for suggesting you’re an “SWP pussy”, it’s hardly surprising considering that ridiculous bizarre politico-speak gibberish most of your comments are made in.
Oops, hit post too soon. First paragraph not changed. but now I need to break things up.
Okay, revisiting my numbers (a week or two out of date), the longest losing run is 4, which happened once. This is across all competitions, not just EPL. We have 4 runs of 3 losses. two of which occurred “back-to-back” (a non-loss of some kind between them, or end of season).
Happy new year to all Untolders. Good win, good start to the new year. Now let’s have a long winning streak.
The only time palace threatened in first half was when pigmob gave a corner for a pass that Cech cleared on the line. A shame that we didn’t get to see a replay.
We need that video ref asap. Wenger’s comments after our defeat to mancity was totally ignored. Is either the FA sanctions him or take video ref very seriously.
COYG
Most of our “runs” of losses consist of two losses in a row. There are 4 occurances where there were two losses in a row, some non-loss and then 2 losses in a row. There were 24 isolated runs of 2 losses.
We then come to isolated losses. Some of these are loss, non-loss, loss, non-loss, and so on. These things described as non-loss are not necessarily one game, it is just something to break up the run of “loss”, even if it is only a single game (or end of season).
But with isolated losses, we have these loss/non-loss repeats that are up to 12 long. Lots of 3’s in there.
But in general, if Arsenal loses a game, it is unusual to lose the next one as well.
Would you call that a collapse?
Pudnits do.
Thanks as always Walter. Just got home after the game – atrocious weather, I got a wet foot stepping in a puddle and the Swimmer was shut so had to find another pub.
But to have been there to see the “Work of Art” as Mr W called it, is a memory to savour. When they show that goal in years to come I shall say, to myself if no one else, “I was there.”
Palace fans, normally so very noisy were silent today most of the time; all that bravado suddenly gone. Just silence mostly. And if anyone dares say the ground looked less than full, just dig out details of the weather. It was atrocious, and the game was on TV.
Leon
I don’t know that Finsbury was deliberately mis-spelling Andros’ first name, you knew who he was talking about. And you decided to be pedantic and call him out on it more than once.
How many times have you been similarly pedantic about Gabriel? His name is not Paulista, nor does it contain Paulista. It is Gabriel Armando de Abreu.
So, if you want to be pedantic about names, be pedantic about the name of an Arsenal player.
Brilliant football.
Exceptional Giroud goal.
Great performances by Iwobi and Elneni.
Cech was assured in goal.
Thanks Arsenal for an entertaining game that I really loved to watch.
I however would have loved to see more goals because I was never really at ease throughout the game. By not taking more of our chances Crystal Palace were never truly down and out. I was always fearing that Fat Sam’s team might score a lucky goal from a corner or some long ball.
We never really missed Ozil today.
Thanks Prof. Thanks Arsenal for a brilliant and classy performance.
The next “big” Premiership game is Spurs vs Chelsea.
I regret to say with embarrassment and a heavy heart that I DON’T want Spurs to lose this game. I would prefer a Spurs victory or even a draw.
I don’t want Chelsea to equal or beat our record of 14 consecutive victories.
I don’t want Chelsea to continue “running away with the league”.
We need Chelsea to drop points so we can catch and overtake them.
In Wenger we trust.
Going back 10 year for November, and possibly a day or 2 into October and December.
2006/07 EPL DLWDLLW 8/7_ _ All DDLWWDWLLW 15/10
2007/08 EPL DDWWW 9/5_ _ _ All DDDWWLW 12/7
2008/09 EPL DLWLLW 7/6_ _ _All DLDWWLLWW 14/9
2009/10 EPL WWLL 6/4 __ _ _All WWWLWLL 12/6
2010/11 EPL WLWWLW 12/6_ _ _All WLLWWLLWW 15/9
2011/12 EPL WWDW 9/4_ _ _ _All DWWWDLW 14/7
2012/13 EPL LDWDDL 6/6_ _ _All WLDDWWDDL 13/9
2013/14 EPL WLWW 9/4_ _ _ _All LWWLWWW 15/7
2014/15 EPL WLLW 6/4_ _ _ _All WDLLWW 10/6
2015/16 EPL DLD 2/3_ _ _ _ All LLDLWD 5/6
If we call a collapse, less than an average of 1 point per game over the interval, the only collapse we have is 2015/16 across all competitions, we got 5 points from 6 games. In the EPL in 2012/13 we only did a point better, we got 6 points from 6 games.
Whether one looks at EPL only, or across all games, we have never had more than 2 consecutive losses in the last 10 years in this interval: 2006/07 EPL, 2008/09 EPL, 2009/10 EPL, 2014/15 EPL, 2006/07 All, 2008/09 All, 2009/10 All, 2010/11 All (twice), 2015/15 All and 2015/16 All.
By some measure, this presence of “runs” of losses, 2010/11 would rank among the worst. We had two runs of losses! And we still managed to get 15 points out of 9 games.
In this interval (and I sometimes got sloppy on including wins or draws on either end, so I may not have enough games), we have played 10 games once, and 9 games three times.
I don’t think November is significantly worse, but I know it is typically our busiest time of the year.
Gord
You know fuck all about this issue (that goes back a few months), but I’m sure the finsbury fool must be delighted with the support of such an upstanding crank.
And FYI read the very first line of this Wiki page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Paulista
IT’S WHAT HE’S KNOWN as and it makes no difference to my issue with the finsbury fool what I or anyone else calls him in relation to what I or anyone else calls Andy/Andros Townsend, but in typical fashion you see an opportunity to do a little bit of rear tackling.
So just stick to your list & charts.
Perhaps it would help if the troll read the lists and charts (going back some years now) in the referee reviews, looked at the pictures, clicked on the links etc. whilst failing to troll the referee reviews that it apparently can’t read. Read. And click. It’s not too much to ask. You’d hope.
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Concluding a comparison of A. ‘Goal Kick’ Townsend (A.’Get In’ Townswnd was the plundit today!) with the brief cameo from Arsenal’s English crop from today’s amazing Arsenal football match I’d just like to repeat what I often say: the Arsenal English players are amongst the very best English players (well Wilshere is the best, and hopefully next season back to full power!) and England would’ve been far better off these past few tournaments if they hadn’t been clogged off the park when playing for the Arsenal . there hasn’t been one second where the former Tottenham clogger has ever been “better” then Walcott (on a football pitch!). If there had he’d have spend a fair few years playing for a club like the Arsenal. This is all fairly simple stuff.
Giroud’s finish after the length of his sprint both cross and upfield, charging along at beserker speed, that was not simple!
.
How can inexplainable?
A. Townsend (Jnr) is a poor footballer relat
Oops
A. Townsend is a poor footballer relative to Bolasie let alone anyone else.
Palace fans must’ve been upset by that one.
Zaha & of course the Welsh national ‘keeper had better performances then their team mate.
Glad you were at the match to see that brilliant goal, Tony. Great start to the year. Happy New Year all Untolders! I like it that Arsene Wenger included the goal in his top five Arsenal goals. A nice gesture towards Giroud.
OT
Does anyone know who the ref is for Chelsea v Tottenham? Seen stats showing Dean has awarded 5 penalties for the spuds, gave 3 red cards to the opponents, in the last 7 games he’s done for spuds. Oh, and they won 6 and drawn one.
My guess is that it would be Dean.
Did you see the story about witchcraft being outlawed in some African country on the football pitch? You could think that little dance Dean did was witchcraft.
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Wayne Rogers (a year ago) and William Christopher (yesterday) both gone. MASH was very much the antithesis of modern football coverage. It was about the good in people.
And here on Untold, we are stuck with Leon and other vermin.
Yeah saw that little witchcraft clip, Gord, real funny?
Perhaps if it’s Dean he might ensure the spuds don’t lose, not sure how to feel bout that one. A draw would be in order..
I stopped paying attention to the likes of Leon a while ago, it’s the attention that he craves. Expected us to believe that he was a regular visitor to UA for years without posting, yet he can barely go an hour without posting now? Puhleeeease.
I think a few years ago, PGMO would have put Atkinson in charge. But with the new TV deal and sooooooo much money, last year they had a change of plan. Last year they worked it so an outsider got more help than usual, and they won. This season, they have forgotten about giving them consideration, and they are back where they usually are, mid league (or lower). They hate that Arsenal had that record alone, so the alone part is taken care of now. If they let Chelsea get the record outright, they stand a danger of giving Chelsea more of a lead than they can deal with later on. So, it would be convenient to end the run sooner, rather than later.
But I think at the end of the day, money is going to be what is behind this. It may be that PGMO are following the example of Real Madrid and Barcelona with their tax dodging deals. They aren’t forcing players to do a darned thing, but they are making the knowledge available. Oh, just call Barney, he’s a banker who has a friend Fred who is a bookie. And slowly, various PGMO staff are filling their brown bags with something to tide them over. Hey, if Blatter and the rest of FIFA can do it, why not them?
And nobody is under instruction. The reason the PGMO is short staffed, is that it is hard to find new referees that are predictable in their natural biases.
Linux and FOSS (and people involved in trade secrets) found out a long time ago, information wants to be free. Eventually this is going to come out.
And other stuff may eventually drift out as well, such as where Fergie time came from.
Remember AW just saying that the PL this season has not brought us anything spectactular yet? 🙂 : )
With that little smile of his that makes you wonder: what is he planning now?
And then Giroud with the most spectacular goal, not forgetting the build up play to the goal; this was a team goal of the finest.
OK, OK, may be just coincidence.
WOO HOO , HOO ! A great win to start the new year . Well done the boys. The ref did not punish us too much , which was a surprise in a way . Probably still in the spirit of giving mood !
As for the Spuds / Chelski game , any result would be ok for me , but am rather inclined to go for a Spud win to reel back Chelski .
Up the Gunners . And a very Happy New Year to all Untolders .
“Walking”
is the best exercise!!! ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
*Walk Away* ? from
arguments that leads you to nowhere but anger.
*Walk Away* ? from
people who deliberately put you down.
*Walk Away* ? from
any thought that reduces your worth.
*Walk Away* ? from
failures and fears that stiffle your dreams.
*Walk Away* ? from
people who do not care for you and who are opportunistic.
The more you
*Walk Away* ? from
things that poison your soul, the happier your life will be.
*Give Yourself A Walk*?
Towards love, peace, kindness and goodness
*Give Yourself A Walk*?
to God’s house and worship Him in Truth and in Spirit. May God help us daily to walk in the right direction, to walk towards Him and with Him. ??
*A poem by the late Khuswant Singh at age 92!*
*The horse and the mule live for 30 years, And know nothing of wines? and beers?;*
*The goat and sheep at 20 die, And never get a taste of Scotch? and rye.*
*The cow drinks water by the tonne, And at 18 is mostly done, Without the aid of gin? and rum.*
*The cat in milk and water soaks, And then in 12 short years it croaks.*
*The modest, sober, bone-dry hen, Lays eggs for others, then dies at 10.*
*All animals are strictly dry, They sinless live and swiftly die.*
*But sinful, ginful, rum-soaked men, Survive for three score years and ten,*
*And some of them, though very few, Stay pickled till they’re 92!*
*So shed a tear, drink a beer, Celebrate the past, toast the future and have a Happy New Year !*????????? *2017*
As sublime as Giroud goal was, it was one of the finest counter attacking goals ever. Started by Lucas, helped by Giroud with a backheel flick, driven forward by Iwobi, then a cross by Alexis (although a bit behind Giroud) and then the Goal.
I agree with Finsbury, Giroud is the best out and out striker available. If he was playing for other team in PL, the very haters would’ve slagged Mr Wenger for not signing him.
Giroud’s actually very good at retrieving a slightly misdirected pass as he proved with a wonderful volley from behind to score from Gibbs cross with his first touch in the game against Sunderland. It’s those longs legs that does it.
@Zuruvi “We never really missed Ozil today.”
Nor did we miss Santi? Oups, sacrilege…
@Alex…don’t forget the opportunity cost…Yes, we won 2-0 :)…but what would a healthy Santi and Mesut have done?
Gord & Finsbury enjoy the Untold blog & ignore the Dross (including Andros).
Giroud is an incredible forward who has both heading & kicking ability.
I still think that Arsenal need to refer to The Art of Kicking by none other than The Menace. It teaches how to spin the ball & control its flight. A technique that anyone can learn & few will master.
Just watching Dean at work – still under SAF control. A real example of PGMOL select waste.
HapI. New. Year to All Untolders nd D Arsenal Family world wide! A gud result to begin d year, we must not dispair , we must give our all in support of d Club, players, manager et al bcos dis is a year of fulfillment! Shalom!!!