By Walter Broeckx
A bit different this match report as I was away on a family party but I could still watch the match but was not able to write things down during the match.
Arsenal team: Cech, Holding, Koscielny, Monreal, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gibbs, Xhaka, Ramsey, Özil, Alexis, Welbeck
On the beach: Ospina, Bellerin, Gabriel, Coquelin, Iwobi, Walcott, Giroud
A bright opening with both teams going forward and defending in numbers when they don’t have the ball. United with the first sight of goal but Rooney heads over. At the other end Alexis with a shot but De Gea can stop. United go to the other end and Martial has a shot but Cech with a good save also. And again shortly after Ramsey with a chance to shoot but De Gea again with a good save. Still 0-0 after 15 minutes.
Welbeck at the other end on the turn but his shot is blocked by a defender for a corner. United more with the ball so far in the opening minutes but Arsenal getting better after some 20 minutes in the match. But no score after half an hour.
Alexis to Ramsey who passes it to Welbeck but this time Smalling can manage to make a last ditch clearance for the shot from close range. After the corner Arsenal keep pressing forward and Oxlade-Chamberlain with a dangerous shot but De Gea palms it away. Holding with a pass between Koscielny and Cech and both hesitate and United almost scored if it wasn’t for a great save from Cech. Both teams try to go forward when they can but no score after the first 45 minutes.
United with the fresher start in the opening minutes but not much to show for it. Arsenal trying to go forward a bit then but the United defenders are master of the situation. Arsenal not yet finding their feet with their passing as in the first half. Players not making the right decision when to choose between a pass or a dribble resulting in lost balls. Xhaka gets the ball way out, shoots and…. GOAL!!!!! 1-0 to the Arsenal after 54 minutes. The ball takes a deflection of the back of Herrera and goes in. But they all count.
Arsenal again attacking and when an attack seems over The Ox retrieves the ball back after a good defensive action from Holding. Cross from The Ox and Welbeck heads it in from close range! GOAL!!!!! 2-0 to The Arsenal after 57 minutes.
Arsenal now in control and trying to use the ball sensible and not running forward like madmen. No need to go out and attack and leave yourself open for a counter now with this score line. Rooney tries to score with a long range shot but the ball goes over. Xhaka then goes down and has to come off. Coquelin comes in his place after 76 minutes.
United brought on Rashford and Lingard but apart from some promising runs they don’t create real goal chances. And Koscielny rules the centre of the Arsenal defence if and when a cross comes in.
After 84 minutes Giroud and Bellerin come on for Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Both having a good and great match. The Ox one of the best players and this line up suits him perfectly most of the time.
United not giving up and Arsenal has to keep their heads to it. Rooney who always scores against Arsenal it seems first denied by Cech after a well hit freekick and then Gibbs manages to get the sting out of a shot and Cech can save easily. Arsenal on the counter a few times in the last 15 minutes but not getting that third goal.
3 minutes of extra time are being given but both teams are not able to add to the score line. Arsenal win 2-0 against Manchester United.
The second year in a row we beat United at the Emirates. And the first time Mourinho goes home empty handed from the Emirates. I rather like that and if we had a bit more decent referees over the years something that would have happened a lot earlier.
At last it appears that the team is getting some confidence back and playing with more freedom. The whole team put in a good shift today.
Mourinho was a prick in his post match interview.
Thanks Arsene Wenger for beating that nasty little fellow from Portugal.
We now know the real Specialist in Failure.
Mourinho is always a prick, he can’t change is very essence.
A good performance and a game where by the end the fanbase was entirely behind the team. the cheeky buggers that comprise the United fans were singing about 25 games undefeated playing football the United way – so glad we could put a stop to that nonsense. There were a couple of rousing choruses from the Arsenal supporters about us winning the League at Old Trafford which redressed the balance somewhat.
Thanks for the writeup Walter.
I looked around the press a bit, I didn’t find any kind of report on what Xhaka might have injured.
Time to get back to planting preparation.
Mourinho is a talented manager, I don’t dispute that. Having said that, he isn’t even half as good as he thinks he is.
What concerns me, I mean for goes football and be serious, is that he displays a lot of signs that says he has serious psychological problems. Of course he’s always had a massive ego but perhaps that’s what make him so vulnerable. But the idea that he believes that regularly criticising his own players……well there’s a a bit of a study to be done there.
At the end of the day, I hate the bloke, his arrogance and his team. COYG
Other than a couple of misplaced passes (one which went to a tubby who forced Cech into a good save) I think Holding played a solid game today and is becoming a better player the more minutes he gets.
Nice report. Just watched Match of the Day. Oh how I enjoyed it!
Just heard Arsene Wenger’s comment – he watched the Liverpool match – he watched the penalty ‘that the referee gave – it was very nice’ . Interesting! Also interesting, as someone said, that Klopp threw a water bottle and WASN’T sent to the stands.
It was a good team performance today, with good pressing and some very exciting play – well done the team & manager.
Hope the Odious One enjoyed his journey home.
Very satisfying, this back three is starting to pay dividends.
A fighting chance at least of a strong finish. A good team effort,,and some very good individual performances….Holding looks a bit of a buy
Great win by the team, well done. Let keep this up.
I was impressed by Ramsey’s engine once again and the OX’s speed on the break. Sanchez is such a visceral player that he gets into perfect position without a thought. Cech is really coming up with the brilliant saves we know he can make and Holding is one for the future. I felt United played intelligently but they were outclassed by the Arsenal today. I am beginning to wonder IF Koscielny and Monreal are starting to feel their age but they mastered the defense today as well.
A vital 3 points with a game in hand on City. 4th is still a possibility but we MUST win the remaining 4 games and City must slip up at least once. Liverpool seem to be stalling a bit but unless they melt down totally like last year’s Spuds, we won’t catch them.
Mandy has a point, which is echoed by Kieran Gibbs.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20170507/-this-formation-is-good-for-the-team-
However, I think it is worded wrong.
Every team with a following, has “fans” (30%? 50%?) who think they are capable of being a manager. If the manager changes things, all these experts second guess the manager.
Consequently, if one looks to avoid excess problems, it may be that the only time to actually make changes are:
1. sack the manager
2. in a losing run
If one looks at Arsenal records, by and large a losing run is 2 losses in a row. Three losses in a row has been rare under Wenger, and either 4 or more losses in a row is a single incident, or unknown.
It could be Wenger has been considering 3 at the back for a long time, but the opportunity to change hadn’t presented itself.
In any event, I hope the good results keep coming in. Next up, Wednesday.
I don’t care about how quickly Xhaka could recover but don’t play him at Southampton. Note to Wenger: don’t play him or we will not be able to play him again this season. Moss is the ref….
Thanks , Walter , agree with your match report assesment .
I thought that most of our players played well , and that too with a smile on their faces. Holding impressed me , other that that poor back pass into the box !
I’d have Gabriel back on the right and move Monreal further forward in place of Gibbs .
Coquelin seem fired up and could easily settle in in place of Xhaka against the Saints.
Pat
I made a comment yesterday regarding Klopp throwing the water bottle and was surprised nobody picked up on it.
It’s not the throwing of the bottle itself, to me that’s something and nothing. It’s the massive difference in the way:
A) The commentators make absolutely no mention of it. Measure that against how they highlight every little thing Wenger does on the touch line.
And
B) Of course how there is no punishment from the officials even though the 4th official was 10 yards from him.
As I say, the incident itself is something and nothing, the way it is dealt with by the commentators and officials alike is just another example of one rule for Arsenal/Wenger and one rule for the rest.
Then we have the commentator remarks on the match itself. They seemed determined to discredit it at every opportunity. What was it Jemmie Redknapp called it early in the second half? ‘Dire’ was it?
I thought it was a decent match to watch, as Walter said “A bright opening with both teams going forward and defending in numbers when they don’t have the ball” and “Both teams try to go forward when they can but no score after the first 45 minutes.”
Precisely, so overall a decent first half, I mean, given Uniteds recent tendency to not only park the bus but to hide behind it, it could of been much much worse.
Ok, the 2nd half started slowly but exploded in to life after just 7 minutes when we blitz United with a spectacular double in 2 minutes.
After that we didn’t need to come out so much, but United did.
Quoting Walter again “Arsenal now in control and trying to use the ball sensible and not running forward like madmen. No need to go out and attack and leave yourself open for a counter now with this score line.” Exactly.
“United not giving up and Arsenal has to keep their heads to it.”
Again, spot on Walter.
But save for that opening 7 minutes in the 2nd half I thought it was a good game to watch. End to end for the most part. A bit of ‘cat and mouse’ at times, but to listen to Redknapp and then Phil Neville on MOTD you’d of thought it was a terrible match.
“It was drab” and “It was dour” “It was poor to watch”.
No it wasn’t Phil.
Well perhaps if you’re a Manc loving, Neanderthal, but not for anybody else.
Then we have our very own Martin Keown being unable to resist his little dig with a derogatory: “It was nice”
At the start of the 2nd half Jonathan Pearce stating winging almost immediately, imploring “someone make a tackle, it’s like a Sunday stroll”
At this point we’d had just 5 minutes of the half.
But back to Neville, you could see his agenda from the start by the way he even had to criticise players in the tunnel, especially picking on Monrael.
He actually gets asked “are you just a bit old school and old fashioned” ? To which he proudly proclaims “Yeah”
Says all you need to know about the little p**k.
That guy is the epitome of what is wrong with the English mentality. He seems to think it’s more important to growl at the opponent in the tunnel than to control and pass the ball.
Says a lot about the BBC that they feel he is the kind of person they want analysing football matches.
And to be Honest, Keown did himself no favours either.
One final point highlighted, funny enough by MOTD:
“A Jose Mourhino side last scored a goal, away from home in the PL, against a current top 6 side, back on New Years Day 2015, when Chelsea lost 5-3 at Spurs”
For a guy that manages teams put together at the cost that his teams are that is a joke. Even yesterdays ‘reserve side’ cost around £175 Million I think I heard somebody say.
A specialist in something alright. It may not be failure but it sure as hell isn’t entertainment either.
PS
Referring to my last post.
When I say “Then we have the commentator remarks on the match itself…..”
I was talking from then on about our match, which reading back I didn’t make clear. Sorry about that.
Nitram
I think the word Redknapp used to describe the football was ‘putrid’. A bit like his opinions really.
Regarding Klopp throwing the water bottle he was also snarling and remonstrating with the fourth official regularly and aggresively throughout the match. Quite extraordinary that he was not sent off.
BBC report this am is also derogatory: “Arsenal beat weakened Man Utd.. etc”.
Imagine if we had lost!
I believe they said the Man U side actually cost £250 million. “Weakened Man Utd” my arse. Just another transparent attempt to belittle us.
The way that Neville criticised Xhaka yesterday was absolutely disgusting. They seem to have a certain negative personality that they want to try and attach to our players. With Ozil, it’s that he is lazy and doesn’t care about the match, but with Xhaka, they seem so intent on making him out to be this brain-dead neanderthal.
A few times in that match, Neville specifically called out Xhakas play as being extremely unintelligent. As if he doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing and just runs around doing reckless challenges. Of course, everyone else chimed in, to let us know how much of an awful purchase he was. “For the same money, they could have got Kante!” proclaimed Redknapp. So you know that for a fact, do you, Redknapp? That Arsenal could have easily purchased Kante, but thought better of it? I guess all transfers should be compared to the voted player of the season? Or just Arsenal players?
Doesn’t the magnificent gift of hindsight, just make these pundits sound oh-so intelligent and wise!
And how funny, that when Man U spend an obscene amount on just one player, that is then used as reason to lessen the criticism directed at him, yet when it’s Arsenal, it’s the complete opposite.
I wonder if any players that Arsenal have wanted to buy in the past, were wise to the absolutely appalling way in which our players are treated and because of this, declined a transfer.
Well, Jamie Redknapp has proved himself unfit for purpose.
Apparently, even Louise has realised it!
All of the above comments prove why I am right NOT to listen to commentary of pundits!
Phil Neville is totally unfit for public broadcasting. His attitude is like he was designed by Channel to deliver an opinion. He is truly a waste of licence payers money. There is nothing that he says that is not totally biased by his northern roots with a pinch of northern manure. His previous remarks about the ‘two footed tackle’ that Alexis would get in training summed up his attitude. The BBC tried to pass that of as jocular. They can revisit it now & see bias & animosity.
The BBC do not know the meaning of honest punditry.
Jammy J & Tony – permission to use a phrase or two from your comments while complaining to the BBC about this article – http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39840233.
@Menace 08/05/2017 at 2:36 pm
What could Arsene/Arsenal have done to miserable Phil – real or perceived – to warrant this much vituperation? You guys in the UK ought to stage an intervention for Phil before he also pulls a Piers Morgan. Chai! Despicably low!