By Walter Broeckx
Arsenal: Cech, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Xhaka, Monreal, Torreira, Guendouzi, Ramsey, Mkhitaryan, Iwobi, Aubameyang
On the beach : Martinez, Lichtsteiner, Koscielny, Elneny, Willock, Lacazette, Nketiah
A first corner for Arsenal and Mkhiaryan flicks it on but Monreal can’t get on the end of the ball as he was pulled back but Moss didn’t see it. Iwobi and Ramsey with a good combination but the shot from the Welshman goes one meter wide. At the other end a cross to Alli but he heads over under pressure from Maitland-Niles. Then a great move between Mkhitaryan and Ramsey sends Mkhitaryan through on goal one on one with the keeper but his shot is too close to the keeper and he can save it. That should have been the opening goal….. 0-0 after 15 minutes with Arsenal playing the better football.
Out of nothing really Tottenham keeper kicks the ball out to the centre of the field. Sokratis slips and suddenly a gap and Son can go on his own towards Cech and he doesn’t miss like Mkhitaryan did a few minutes earlier. 0-1 for the visitors after 21 minutes.
Guendouzi to Aubamayang but he drags his shot wide. Mkhitaryan almost with a shot after a corner but Lucas can just hook the ball away from him and Tottenham counters but Sissoko shoots over. Still 0-1 after 30 minutes.
Lots of midfield football then. Arsenal win a corner that falls to Maitland-Niles but his shot goes very wide. Aubamayang then putting pressure on the keeper who hits him with his clearance. The ball falss to Ramsey who could shoot on the turn but tries to give a pass to Mkhitaryan but a defender an clear. A cross from the left goes to Ramsey who takes a first time shot with his left foot. The keeper pushes it against the goalpost and then the ball bounces against his head and the tottenham can clear. That was unlucky…. Maitland-Niles with a cross that goes towards the goal line but the keeper can keep the ball in his hands. Guendouzi goes in the book for chopping down Lucas in the last seconds of the first half. 0-1 after 45 minutes.
Koscielny comes in after 45 minutes in the place of Mkhitaryan. Arsenal press Tottenham back but a shot from Maitland-Niles is blocked by a defender. Tottenham win a free kick but Cech pushes it out for a corner. It was going wide but the corner leads to nothing. Son escapes in offside but not given but Cech can intercept the pass. It was a very clear offside…..how on earth could he miss that? After 57 minutes Lacazette comes on for Iwobi. A long ball to Alli goes over the top and he scores. 0-2 after 60 minutes. No central defender put any pressure on Kane when he received the long ball from the keeper. Two similar goals in fact.
Arsenal react and an attack over Monreal and Aubameyang ends up in front of Lacazette but his shot goes out from the post. The second time we hit the goalpost. After 64 minutes Guendouzi comes off and Nketiah comes on. Arsenal trying to go forward but the tottenham defence can clear the crosses most of the time. A spectator throws sometig against the head of Alli…. I can understand why Tony didn’t go… this is awful…. I hope they find whoever did this and remove him from the stadium forever. The visitors now in full time wasting modus. 0-2 after 75 minutes.
A cross from Aubameyang hits the crossbar…. that is the third time we hit the woodwork. Xhaka gets a yellow card when he gets very angry after being penalised for handball. Sissoko bundles Maitland-Niles over just outside the penalty area but Moss is Moss and sees no wrong. Maitland-Niles a bit later having cramps and needing treatment. Tottenham counter but Cech palms the shot over. Alli gets a yellow card when he was clearly offside but kept on playing. Kane then goes in to Koscielny who falls badly. Well at least Moss gave the foul….
4 minutes of extra time. Not a lot when the ref had warned the visitors for time wasting… Not that we really went for it to be honest. Finally Eriksen getting a yellow card for time wasting in the last minute of extra time.
Arsenal missed the best chances at 0-0 and hit the woodwork 3 times in this match. The visitors scored with their two first shots between the posts after some very sloppy defending when putting no pressure on the player on the end of a long kick from the keeper. That is now two defeats in a row. A bit like the start of the season one could say. Let us hope we give the same reply in the next 22 matches from now on. And the good thing is that it will give us a bit of a breather in January with two matches less to play.
two shameful performances in a row, with the same lineup. but unai seems to hate so much those he regards as “wenger men” (elneny, lacazette, özil, ramsey – even if aaron did play tonight) that he’ll pick the same again sunday, with guendouzi/iwobi/mkhitaryan running about the pitch like headless ducks. what a petty, envious way of dealing with headcoaching a great football club. he’s all praise for the spuds manager, but hasn’t even uttered one single syllable of respect for arsène; i can’t stand it any longer.
You Wanted Wenger out you got Wenger out deal with it!!!!!!!
It seems to me that without Ozil we are toothless.
With 3 strikers on and no one to provide the defence-splitting passes, is it surprising that it seemed such a lack-lustre performance.
I think, more than anything without our full defence we seem too vulnerable.
Arsenal has players that can hope to emulate Ozil in part. Having Ozil there, to instruct/guide players is something not available to other teams.
Other people bitch about us not scoring when we have the chance. And the solution to that is to kill them (or sell them at the earliest opportunity).
Other people bitch that the entire team is hopeless.
This is an Arsenal fan site! If you cannot write a comment which says something good about Arsenal in the game they just played; you are _NOT_ a fan!
Please go take a long walk on a short pier and leave us alone. Go bitch somewhere else.
Ah , well , that’s that as far as the League Cup goes.
While Spurs march on and their manager gets even more attention , which may just about land him the Man Utd job.
They may just win it if , with their luck , they play Burton Albion in the finals. And Pooch can leave as a winner .
Anyone buying this ?
And I truly hope to get back to my WOO HOO, HOOing ways this weekend !
Up the Gunners !
Her : ” If the world were to end in 10 minutes, what will you do ?”
Him : ” I would make love to you.”
Her : ” And what will you do with the remaining 8 minutes ?”
DANG !
https://giphy.com/gifs/beyonce-lemonade-d1DsYsp2OLAWjES4