By Walter Broeckx
As could be expected a few changes compared to our cup match at Preston last weekend.
Cech back in goal for Ospina was expected. Koscielny and Mustafa in the centre was also an expected pairing. At right back Gabriel started and that is something that I also had thought would be a wise thing to do. Monreal completed the back line.
Özil also started his first match of the year after having been out ill since the start of the new year. Alexis also came back and Lucas dropped to the bench. On that bench a lot of attacking options with Welbeck, The Ox and Lucas. The other subs are rather very young and inexperienced.
Arsenal team at the start : Cech,Gabriel, Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal, Ramsey, Xhaka, Ozil, Iwobi, Giroud, Alexis.
On the beach : Ospina, Lucas, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Holding, Reine-Adelaide, Maitland-Niles, Welbeck.
Both keepers completely unemployed in the opening 10 minutes that saw lots of midfield play from both teams. Naughton then with a shot but Cech could push it away and the resulting corner ended with a shot well off target. Nothing from Arsenal in the first 15 minutes so a 0-0 score so far.
Koscielny almost with an error when he tries to head the ball to Mustafi but the latter could clear for a corner. Swansea quicker and stronger in the 50/50 challenges so far. Arsenal get a first corner and the ref blows for a not visible foul against Arsenal. Arsenal now with most of the ball but not creating chances. Alexis with the first shot but a good stop from Fabianski on the dipping shot. Still 0-0 after 30 minutes.
Giroud limping a bit for a while now and not looking 100% fit after having suffered an early kick. Dyer with anothr kick on the ankle of Monreal but the ref keeps the cards in his pocket, it wasn’t the first such foul on Monreal in this match. Arsenal lacking the overlap from Bellerin on the flank. Arsenal then finally with a real attack. Özil to Ramsey to Iwobi, back to Özil who plays it to Ramsey on the flank but Giroud can’t get on the end of his low cross. Alexis picks it up on the left flank, a cross to Özil whose header is blocked by a defender and falls in front of the feet of Giroud who scores with his right foot. GOAL!!!! 0-1 to The Arsenal after 37 minutes.
Giroud indicates he can’t continue and has to go off. The Ox prepares himself. And that would mean that Alexis would play in the central striker role again. Ki goes down in the Arsenal penalty area but the ref gives a free kick for a dive and a yellow card and on the third replay it was visible that Ki stuck out his leg and Koscielny pulled his leg out of the way, so a correct decision from the ref and a great spot. Gabriel then with a bad pass but Dyer his shot went over. Arsenal with 11 players on the pitch but only 10 fit as Giroud really looked in serious trouble. 0-1 in favour of Arsenal after 45 minutes.
Giroud still on the field at thet start of the second half. A good attack from Arsenal after a good turn from Alexis at the start of the attack but his cross is cleared in front of Giroud. Iwobi with a good run but Alexis sees his shot blocked. Another attempt from Iwobi but again a defender in the way. Ramsey then with a shot but a good stop from Fabiasnki and it all ends with a corner. Swansea can’t clear the ball completely and the ball ends up in front of the feet of Iwobi who has a shot that takes a deflection from a defender and loops over Fabianski in the back of the net. GOAL!!!! 0-2 to The Arsenal after 54 minutes. The relentless pressure paid off there.
Swansea trying to do something back now but not getting close to Cech. The Ox finally coming on for Giroud after 60 minutes. So probably Alexis up front now. Iwobi on the left and The Ox on the right flank. Still 0-2 to The Arsenal after 60 minutes.
Arsenal a bit less going forward now and trying more to control the match. Swansea get a corner that ends with a tame shot over the goal but more or less a promising position for Swansea. Özil with a great ball to Iwobi who faked a shot, a cross and then whipped it in front of the goal only to see how former tiny totts player Naughton scored for Arsenal. GOAL!!! 0-3 to the Arsenal after 67 minutes.
Arsenal again with a dangerous attack that ends with a shot from Xhaka that went well wide. Alexis with a shot that went past the goal but the attack continued and Iwobi again very much involved and using his strong body to put himself in a good position, a ball to The Ox on the left and his cut back pass was played in the path of Alexis by a defender who simply tucked it home. GOAL!!! 0-4 to The Arsenal after 73 minutes.
That took the sting a bit out of the match and Arsenal now leaning backwards a bit and Swansea facing a shear impossible task. 0-4 after 75 minutes.
Giroud had his foot packed in ice and Alexis with some show booting, and then Özil and Iwobi again with a good combination but the ball wouldn’t fall quick enough for Alexis to pull the trigger again. Fer goes in the book for a wild challenge on Ramsey. After 78 minutes Lucas came on for Alexis and Welbeck came on for Özil. Alexis not happy as usual when being taken off. Wait for the he’s off in the next week….
Arsenal just playing the ball around a bit everywhere on the field but not really trying to go for that 5th goal. We sometimes are too kind for teams who are down on the floor. A good attack on the right with a low cross from The Ox that is cleared to Xhaka and Fabianski with a good stop on the low shot. At times it looked as if we felt sorry and tried to give Swansea some chances with giving the ball away too cheap. But even then it lead to nothing for Swansea. Another low shot from Xhaka and another good stop from Fabianski.
Naughton with a two footed challenge on Ramsey that got the ball but be careful to not get any injuries my dear Gunners. Gabriel with a good block and a clash of heads between McBurnie and Koscielny ends up with the latter needing some treatment. 3 minutes of useless extra time is added.
TV also thinks it is enough and showing a Swansea fan going home for a minute or so…. I don’t pay to see that, I pay to see the ball moving around on the field. Borja with a diving header for Swansea in extra time when the Arsenal players were almost in the dressing room with their heads already. Worse was Mustafi limping a bit holding his groin after that… That useless extra time…
Arsenal win with a high score in what was a times a tricky ground for us in the past. Iwobi was my man of the match for the way he pulled the strings after half time. I have reserved my praise for him over the last year but he really seems to be growing and growing and has a lot of potential.
Brilliant Walter, many thanks.
Now if you can arrange it for both Man City and Liverpool to lose tomorrow, then I think that would be a perfect weekend.
Any news on Giroud’s injury?
That’s the Swan players with 2 goals and 2 assists. Why not, we take them goals in any way possible.
Well done Giroud; 5 goals in 5 games. But I think Iwobi contributed the most.
In the end a good win maintaining some pressure on our rivals. But once again we seemed to start slowly – or perhaps Swansea were being successful in their early pressing – aided by a generous ref.
The longer the match went on the stronger we became & after the first goal we basically controlled the game – but the slow starts worry me.
Agree that Iwobi played well, but it was a good overall team performance.
Re the two own goals – agree the second one is a clear own goal; but the first seemed less clear – would Iwobi have a claim on it?
Very average performance against by far the worst team in the league. Got lucky with couple of ogs.
Let’s all hope Fat Sam (Never got a team relegated) Allardice leads Crystal Palace down to the Championship.
@Tony
Whilst I agree with you about the Everton v City game, I think the best outcome for Arsenal tomorrow would be a draw at Old Trafford. United are high-flying right now, they can’t get a red card unless they start using machine-guns on the pitch and The Hideous One is the flavour of the month again. Also, from the practical point of view, they have a high-quality squad that will be tougher opponents to us on the long run than the Liverpool one. Given that, widening the gap between us and United to four points looks like a better option than to keep this third place on the goal-difference.
Liverpool have been rather slow lately and the absence of Mane will probably hit them hard this month. I expect them to drop more points than United in the forthcoming weeks so we should leapfrog them eventually even if they stay undefeated tomorrow.
@ tony, uefa just released a list of top 10 greatest managers of all time and José mourinho made it into the list but our Wenger. If not Wenger, then at least include Chapman in the list, the man who actually revolutionised football with his famous w-m formation
Besides which, Liverpool are nowhere near as obnoxious as Man U.
A bit worried about all these kicks on the ankle, Walter. Let’s hope they don’t result in injuries. Referee light on the yellow cards again. However, a great victory! The Arsenal fans on Arsenal.com agreed with you and made Iwobi man of the match. Another great performance from the young man!
How Naughton stayed on the pitch was a miracle of selective vision. His tackle on Monreal from behind with a stamp on Monreals left foot was the star of a targeted attack on our left back. There were many such fouls on Monrael during the first half but none drew the requisite yellow card.
Despite this Arsenal went on to win, hopefully with minimal injuries.
Great win by the Gunners despite adversity.
I’m not seeing anything about injuries to Koscielny or Mustafi. Giroud has an ankle problem, but how serious isn’t known.
Leicester, played like expected I guess.
Here’s hoping for Everton and Liverpool to do well tomorrow. Well, I want ManU Liverpool to be a draw, so not too well.
No mention of the Sanchez tantrum again Mr Walter?
This is a player who is at the peak of his powers, the leading man for our club, the team deserves better. This comes off the back of us having to read countless stories about his reaction against Bournemouth because he couldn’t control his emotions there. I’m all for people caring, I’m all for his incredible contribution to the side, but his increasingly bratish behaviour is becoming a hindrance in the media and I do wonder what the impact of having a player beyond discipline is like for the other players.
Chelsea dropped Diego after a bust-up with Conte. Would Wenger have the balls to do something like that? He did back in the day with Thierry Henry when he benched him against Middlesborough. Can’t help but feel Wenger needs to get his star man in check before this spills over into team morale.
Another day or three of not working on November. But it is really hard to get up the gumption to do more work (I have one more path to follow), when people like Trev pop up.
I guess we should arrange to hijack Alexis when he next goes on a run with his dogs, and hang him. Eh Trev? Will that satisfy you? Of course, you’ve never been petulant in your entire life, and you have never known anyone who was petulant.
The media will look for whatever it can possibly find to create stories, whether there is fact there or not. Have you seen that Alexis has responded to allegations made by people such as yourself? Do you think Wenger would keep Alexis around, if he was the negative influence you think he is?
Maybe you should try a little harder to be a supporter.
People were asking for Arsenal to pick up Balotelli, and that bloodsucker now in Spain. Don’t you think those two are just a little bit (or more) worse than what we have seen from Alexis. What, twice now?
But what do I know? I hardly understand any of this social interaction stuff.
Zuruvi, I think Fat Sam was in charge of West Ham when they went down, although he did join them late when it was near impossible for any other result.
Gord, I think HFB has a toe injury rather than an ankle injury.
Also I think you’ll find Balotelli is in France with Nice.
HFB?
If you are talking Giroud, there was mention in some medja reports that Giroud is often seen limping. I presume the word slightly is being dropped, because being medja they have to sensationalize the story. Which is what Giroud had as a problem at the beginning of the season, a toe injury. I will suggest it is a big toe injury. The other toes really don’t do much, but the big toe does have to work in walking and running.
But, Wenger said ankle. So, maybe it is ankle? Or both?
If your heel hurts, you can walk on your toes. If your toe hurts, you can walk on your heel. If both hurt, you can’t walk. Or maybe you walk on the side of your foot (I’ve done that).
But, if opposing players are coached as to likely injuries present in our players, it is easily possible that they target certain places in the hopes of aggravating an (old) injury.
I’m really surprised that Monreal is not injured, his thigh took some battering, (deliberately as i think). Trying to weaken our defence.
Yes a draw at old trafford will be good and everton managing to defeat or hold city.
Still, it is a bad taste having to depend or hope on other results this much.
Off topic:
So Chelsea is back to winning ways…speaking of which…there’s got to be a little Schadenfreude over them having players’ heads turned by people with deep pockets. 🙂
Trev,
we are different than the rest so I didn’t mention it more. I did in fact started to write a bit more about it. But then I thought: the “others” will talk about that and make a meal out of it. But Untold is different so we do it differently. And just mention it, like the man leaving the stadium that cost me a minute of my big paid match time…. Nobody would mention that, except Untold.
Let me say I will not have the TV companies dictate my report 🙂
WOO HOO , HOO . Well done boys !
3 well deserved points away from home , 4 goals to the good and a clean sheet to boot . No complaints from me . Any other team would be praised to high heavens for their work rate , commitment , graft and never say die attitude .
But the Arsenal ? Nah ! It’ll probably be about Alexis and his gloves and his head in the
hood etc . Not to mention his regular , ” Puta !” , utterances . And the not given penalty and the 2 goal ‘assists ‘.
Ah , well – Up the Gunners !
I feel sympathy for Fabianski. He has played consistently well for Swansea and can’t be faulted for any of our goals.
Naughton own goal was some compensation for him having been allowed to remain on the pitch despite his fouls.
Spurs seem to be coached to commit those kind of fouls. Rose and Dembele do it repeatedly – when not diving. Remember the injuries inflicted on Sagna and Theo.
Hisham
Won’t the assists be Iwobi’s?
Alexis is just a hard working player that wants to play, he did nothing wrong. He didn’t have a bust up with somebody. He just showed that he is ready to fight for Gunners all the time. AW wanted to protect him and his ankles. Anyone comparing this to Costa incident is a misguided.
I don’t see why there should be an issue with mentioning Sanchez’ strop over being substituted. He looks dejected each time he’s brought off and if body language is anything to go by thoroughly pissed off. No harm in commenting on it at all.
Anyway, it was another opportunity to get some match minutes for Danny who is going to be so important to us during these next few months.
Important and convincing win. Seems to be a tactic, take the sting out of high energy pressing teams, and hit them as they get tired. Perhaps risky, but worked yesterday, not sure what Swansea are usually like these days, but they threw everything into the start of this game.
Glad to see Iwobi doing so well, and a great……and this season, a rare spot but very good spot from the ref on a player diving in our area.
As for Alexis, suspect Wenger will have a quiet word behind the scenes, nothing more, nothing less. Interesting, in the opinion of Martin Keown yesterday, he believes Alexis is more likely to sign than Ozil, contrary to conventional wisdom out there
Thanks Walter!
And well said at 5.12 (am!)*
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*Imagine going onto to someone else’s blog and telling them what they can and cannot write about! That would be: strange behaviour.
Almost as odd as going onto a site with a database and record of information and attempting to argue against that data, without quite being able to muster the footballs required to mention that data. Oddballs and footballs it’s a funny old game I suppose. Which takes us to that admirable call by the offical against the diving Swan yesterday:
What is the difference between the diving Swansea player and the constantly diving Tottenham players in this league: the agent? Their passport?
What could be the rational reason to explain why the pgMOB Rules (ok?) football code indulges constantly observable diving by some and not by others? What is the “game management” that drives such a variable code?
That’s funny finsbury was watching that with a Tottenham supporter I said he didn’t get away with doing a harry Kane. There’s a lot of weirdos out there they can express themselves more freely as there’s less internet police.
Fair to conclude from what we have been observing that Young Pep and Abu Dhabi City do not have Riley’s favour this season.
Perhaps some of the City fans who enjoy commenting on Untold could try and submit some ref reviews? Be interesting reading for sure.
Va Cong I was thinking more of Alli and Rose but you’re correct Kane has also become a consistent diver with their habit being indulged by the officials
Arsenal were once attacked for weeks by the upstanding hack dwarves after Eduardo avoided a collision.
Tottenham players can be observed to be diving multiple times in every single match this season and the last.
Interesting contrast.
Gord, Yes, The Handsome French Bloke = Giroud, of course 🙂
Posted before finishing…
After HFB was subbed the medical team cut the end of his sock off to look at his toe. Maybe it’s both and the ankle is the serious bit…
thanks
Liverpool leading, on a penalty. I wonder if that was a good/accurate penalty?
Watching Iwobi, especially in the second half where the Swans folded their wings and went for a sail, was invigorating and very reassuring! This lad has it all;
a) great potential and still only 20, playing like a star and as agile as a cheetah!
b) ready to shoot whenever he gets the chance,unlike some others who hold it too long,
c) always positioned to receive a perfect pass, pick off a rebound or intercept a clearance,
d) is developing a defensive skills as well,
e) his mobility is impressive and must be a nightmare for static defenders,
f) has the right attitude and is a true Gunner!
I remember that finsbury and Walcott getting roasted for saying he dived unlike Rooney who tried to kill Milner against Liverpool no card shock horror
I think the Tiny Totts’ new found love for diving can be attributed to their coach, Pochettino. Since he took over, he probably must have been encouraging them to dive some more as conning the referee is believed to be a desirable skill set in South America especially Argentina where he hails from.
Rubbish.
Clearly the bot typing the above gibberish has never watched Alexis Sanchez play football. Neither can it understand why he so quickly won over the fans here…let alone the rest of the Football. Nevermind eh?
As for the team from Middlesex:
They’ve always been a bunch of diving cloggers