By Walter Broeckx
Arsenal team : Cech, Chambers, Mustafi, Holding, Monreal, Xhaka, Elneny, Willock, Iwobi, Lacazette, Aubameyang
On the beach: Ospina, Mertesacker, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Nelson, Welbeck, Nketiah
So a first PL start for the young Willock. And som important players like Özil and Ramsey getting some good rest. Further no Bellerin and Koscielny in the back line.
A first dive in the opening minutes from a Newcastle player and Taylor falling to it with both eyes open. Newcastle with an early corner as a result from the free kick but Arsenal can clear. A fairly open match between the two teams from the start. Both teams not much to lose at first sight and not much to win either. Both teams trying to go forward but not much openings. A bad foul on Lacazette is not punished with at least a yellow card. It could have been more than a yellow as he put his studs on the foot of the Frenchman. Mustafi then with a long ball to Aubameyang who controls it with outside and sends a cross to the far post and Lacazette is on hand to volley the ball over the line. GOAL! 0-1 to The Arsenal after 14 minutes.
A free kick to Newcastle but Cech with a good catch and then launches a counter attack to Iwobi who sends it to Aubameyang ont he left flank. He cuts inside but his shot is deflected by a defenders hand. Only a corner according to the ref. His hand surely was not in a normal position… A bit later Arsenal again in the Newcastle penalty area and Iwobi with the shot after some footwork but it was straight at the keeper. Arsenal having 70% of the ball so far and looking in control. Aubameyang trying a shot from distance but he slips, not the first payer I see slipping this afternoon. Newcastle surely sprinkled the field before kickoff. A low cross from Chambers has to be diverted for a corner after a good fluent attack. Mustafi with a much needed intervention when Newcastle use the long ball. The Newcastle striker would have been clear on Cech. Newcastle use another long bal, the flag stays down and Newcastle can continue their attack and the cross is finished by Perez at the near post. 1-1 after 30 minutes.
Perez goes past Chambers but his cross is cut out by Arsenal defenders who launch Aubameyang who is taken down but again no card from the ref. Willock being pushed and still playing the ball but Taylor gives a foul against him. Welcome to the wonderful PGMO world Joe. Perez then with a late challenge on Xhaka…. and still no cards. Let us hope this doesn’t end with broken legs. A free kick from Aubameyang ends up in the wall and Xhaka gives the ball to Monreal who heads in front of goal but Chambers can’t finish like Lacazette did and his effort goes out. A corner from Xhaka is headed over by Chambers from 6 meters out. Lacazette wins the ball back gives it to Willock but he completely scuffs his shot. That should have been the lead for Arsenal. Based on the chances we should have been in front but we go in at half time with a 1-1 score.
A rather slow start from both teams in the second half at first. Both teams not really playing fluent football. Too many players not linking up with teammates and trying to force something on their own. A good attack on the right flank Chambers with a good cross to Aubameayng but his attempted header to Lacazette is intercepted by a defender. A nasty kick on Monreal but still no card. Apart from that not much to report so still 1-1 after 60 minutes.
Taylor then wants to add his thing by letting some fouls go. Well when they are committed by Newcastle players. Iwobi with a shot from distance with his left foot but it went wide. After 67 minutes Willock comes off and Welbeck enters the field. Arsenal don’t clear a long high throw well enough and sudenly the ball comes in front of a free Newcastle player and he scores. Monreal had gone to help out centrally and nobody had followed up to cover for him. Arsenal 2-1 down after 69 minutes.
Arsenal attacking but Newcastle with a sharp counter and Slimani has a shot that is deflected and ends up again the crossbar. A 1-2 between Lacazette and Aubameyang is just cleared for a corner. Newcastle again with a sharp counter but the ball is shot in the side net this time. After 77 minutes Maitland-Niles comes on for Chambers. After a cross from Monreal the keeper spills the ball but the follow up shot from Lacazette goes in the side net. The angle was almost impossible. Iwobi goes off and Nelson comes on after 85 minutes.
Arsenal trying but not really with much conviction. Slimani gets a yellow card for time wasting. A combination of a very unfamiliar starting line up, some backup players and some young players who still have a lot to learn and you can’t really expect a good result. Arsenal lose another match away from home. The trend continues but the Europa League is the main target as the line up showed.
Just want this season to end, worst in living memory.
Embarassing…
Awful performance.
Why rest so many players again?
I didn’t expect a victory anyway but I do expect Arsenal to bin Mustafi next summer. Completely unreliable “defender” with no sense for focus and positioning. He was supposed to marshall our defence today FFS.
Europa League IS all that matters as Walter has pointed out but I’m not so sure we can afford to lose our back door for Europa League next season in case we lose to Atletico. Burnley are just two points behind us and our next game is at Old Trafford (squeezed between two Atletico games).
My guess, we never flew back from Russia until Friday so only one days rest. Wilshere took a knock, Ramsey had a serious cut on his calf, Kos needs a bit of nursing on his ongoing back problem.
Don’t know about Bellerin or Ozil.
But a midfield devoid of Ozil, Wilshere and Ramsey was always going to struggle to create.
When people will released that it mainly comes down to Taylor biased referring.
The handball no-call is an absolute joke (and keep in mind, Taylor clearly saw it, otherwise he wouldn’t have given a corner), but that is just one call.
On the other hand, what might be less visible, but is actually a lot worse, and a lot more damaging, is how he allowed Newcastle to get away with anything, especially in the first half. Very early in the game, Newcastle made a lot of challenges that were stonewall yellow card. Had Taylor done his job and gave those early yellow, then either Newcastle would have had to start to play by the rules, or they would have had a player send off.
But no he allowed them to keep kicking Arsenal players. How do you expect Arsenal players to fully engage in any duel, when they know that the referee endangers their physical integrity? Then it becomes a vicious circle, you start to lose more duels, then the Magpies can get some opportunities, then they gain confidence and push a little more forward, then Arsenal players start to lose theirs when they see nothing is going their way…
None of this can happen if the referee gives those yellows to Newcastle early. Obviously that doesn’t mean than everything about the Arsenal performance was perfect, or there isn’t critics to make, but the thing is, I can guarantee you that with a unbiased referee, Arsenal wins this game the large majority of the time.
But that is valid for a lot of defeats that suffered Arsenal since the Riley mafia is in charge. The longer some supposed Arsenal fans keep on trying to ignore this, the club will stay in this position.
That was a birthday gift from AW to Benitez.
Are we officially the worst away team in the country?
Ain’t lived long then have you jet
Please go away to le grove
108,000 signed a petition to stop Dean refereeing an Arsenal game again, it was ignored he got the WBA game and we all know what happened.
The fans are helpless what can they do?
Boycott the games, Sky, BT?
The club needs to sort this out with the FA perhaps get Man City and a few others on board who suffer such crap refereeing
That foul on Lacazette was really nasty. Taylor is rubbish.
@Vince
You do have a point with the PGMO factor and when Taylor is around, you know you will get…well, a tailored refereing or should I say Taylored.
But that’s been a problem for 14 years that our club hasn’t tried to solve. Still, not a single time in those 14 years Arsenal had had five away defeats in a row nor 12th away record in the league after 16 away games. Our defending is non-existing. 45 goals conceded in 33 games is awful return – 8th defence in the league. Today we had an experienced and decorated goalkeeper between the sticks, a German international marshalling the defence, two of most talented English defenders and an experienced Spanish versatile defender. It didn’t help, we could have easily ship one more goal.
I’m worried about our European games as well. Atletico have knocked out Sporting thanks to their defensive mistakes – Coates and Mathieu gave Diego Costa and Griezmann to much to work with and they were two goals down after the first leg. And, it seems that even much worse attackers than Costa and Griezmann are capable of seizing on our mistakes. Yes, I’m aware that Koscielny’s presence will give us more steel at the back and that our midfield will create more with Rambo and Mesut but we have conceded too many goals even with aforementioned players playing.
@Josif
Honestly I might be wrong, but I don’t think the referring bias (not to use another word) was as bas as it has been those last 2 seasons (not just in Arsenal games but all around the PL). Now about the mistakes from experienced players. I’m absolutely convinced that it is mainly a confidence issue, and like I said, the referring bias has a huge effect on confidence.
Last point about Atletico. You’re 100% right they eliminated Sporting only because of defensive errors. But that actually gives a pretty negative image of Atletico, which couldn’t find a way through on their own against a far worse club than Arsenal. I don’t see why we should be worried about it.
I really do not think we can put the blame on the refereeing.
let’s be frank. the defending game after game is appalling.
The attack without ozil simply does not have a clue.
clearly the decision has been made to tread water in the league and to concentrate only on the Europa and rely on home points.
I do not see the benefit in cushioning ozil like this.
I really do not want to watch another of these sterile displays.
if they are on sky then I most probably will but with no hope whatsoever of a decent performance or result.
Arsenal is allergic to defending, the team go into anaphylaxis when oppositions put them under pressure, and the worst thing is most are self inflicted.
Very valid point Vince, espaecially fans should be more behind Arsenal in this ref-con game. even the champions Citieh are helpless if they get disadvsntage by wrong decisions: see citeh – llvpool in CL. You really nailed the real problem, you cant play when the deck is stacked, when will people see that refs really have the power to change the game and cut arsene and his team some slack because the amount of ref bias is staggeri g. When it will go on like this I will loose my interest in football/PL.
Frankly it is embarrassing to our club to blame a defeat like that on the referee. Referees might be poor but they are not biased and we have had the benefit of decisions from Taylor in recent years, most especially in the Cup Final last year.
We lost this because our defence is pathetic and we seem to spend little time on defensive organisation. We have lost a third of our games and have fallen away to most of the teams in the bottom half of the table. Referring to this game we had a legitimate excuse with the game in Russia and a weakened team but some of the mistakes by Mustafi and Cech this season have been very frustrating.
I had a good afternoon at the Women’s game where we progressed to the final at Wembley on May 6th.
Good goals from Danielle Carter and Beth Mead and a wrongly given penalty for Everton well taken by ex gunner Chloe Kelly.
Half time in the other semi final has Chelsea one nil up against Man City.
Are you a fascist
We did not play especially well but were not run off the park, either. A draw would have been fair.
We were lacking creativity and didn’t give much service to the strikers, at all; we missed the creativity of Oezil and the runs of Ramsey.
Our defence had some difficulty with the long balls, but to be fair, the forwards weren’t pressuring their defenders.
The referee did not call a good game. Aside from the hacks at our shins, they pulled down our forwards on about a half dozen occasions when we were breaking and were not given yellow cards. We did not do the same because their long balls by-passed our midfield.
On the upside, Joe Willock played OK as did Holding. Chambers was OK in the first half…less OK in the second and was eventually substituted.
It’s what it is. We played a youngish side and I thought a draw would have been a fair result. They only had about four chances and scored twice. We had at least that many and only scored once.
Thanks Walter. We certainly did not get the rub of the green, but we never were going to with this ref, especially after the Elneny red was overturned , don’t think the PGMOL like things like that.
But that said, our defending was terrible, as it has been for much of the season. Defence wise, I think we have been on a downward spiral since per effectively stopped playing. Our defenders are not bad players, but they are not all good at organising the defence, mustafi is a decent international, but not a good senior partner in the Arsenal defence.
It has been an issue for some time, I am trying my best not to moan, as it is futile, today’s Wenger cannot, or will not sort out defending, I fear it could be his downfall if we do not win in Europe.
That said, there were mitigating factors today, not least of which who were rested
@ Jet
“Just want this season to end, worst in living memory.” How old are you exactly?
Some of us who have stuck with this club through thick and thin over many decades are slightly intrigued by “supporters” who do nothing but complain……..
“Supporter” the clue is in the name!
At 1 nil up I thought how many are we going to get we
were in no trouble at all , why didn’t we go after them to kill the game off
There first goal , no one closes the player down who crossed the ball and Cech beaten at his near post is wrong IMO it shouldn’t happen
The second goal the whole defence moved over , they had all the time in the world to score and did , who’s taking charge who’s talking it seems no one
The referee didn’t help but as others have said it was our mistakes and when we do make a mistakes we always seemed to be punished
Why did the Chicken cross the road?
To get away from the Coop, as teams regularly like to win the league there.
Are you an ageist
Seriously, you are going to pin this on the referee? Wow!
Does referee Anthony Taylor’s anti-Arsenal referring in this match the reasons why the Gunners back four was shit in this match to concede 2 cheap goals? And in most matches they’ve played at away this season in the PL? It has been reported that the Gunners can’t win duels in matches. Even at the VEB Stadium in Moscow against CSKA Moskiva, the Gunners were said did not with any duel in that match. Defensive frailty and not being to scratch in winning duels are weakness that have befallen Arsenal this season more than in the previous seasons despite their signing of: Oezil, Xhaka, Mustafi Lacazette and Aubameyang close to around £220m in 5 years to improve the team attacking and defensive solidity. When Arsenal are signing new players next season, I w’ll like to see them sign players who can win duels and can track back to defend efficiently.
Man Utd today have no any excuse to give for their handing this season’s PL Title to Man City on a plate with 5 games to spare as they incredibly lost to bottom rock team WBA. Well, this is Premier League where the unexpected result can happen and it has happened at Old Trafford this evening.
I think there are man you contributing factors in this loss. It was probably the worst line up all season, but that reflects the significance of winning the EL places on the semiis by the gaffer!
I would have rotated at Wesr Ham as we the new play Athletico, before Ibited and then the return leg.
Mustarfi has all to often played as if it’s his first sighting of a pitch and he hasn’t a clue where anything not is.
I said withdraw him, play him at West Ham and not then United and maybe the second leg. But his inisovual errors leading to goals, with Cech’s are startling and unforced for the most part. And he hasn’t responded well, Lacazette has looked a proficient as Chamakh and that’s nevertheless a good look.
Considering play, the referee ignored an unnaturally positioned hand, moving towards the ball effectively placed to disrupt the path of the ball, this isn’t a penalty. He does likewise with fouls, but they played right into a tactic from Benitez’s archives.
Nobody other than the CB are responsible for gaffs on direct play and id have preferred to see Koscielny given another partial run out, if we hadn’t gone 2-0 up we would have won.
The decision was affected by poor and bias officiating but it’s something you factor in and overcome, but there was avsolutely no leader on a day we deployed inexperience.
An article from Vidic assessment denotes but the clear problem which can Ben addresses, he cited a lack of communication and that is absolute, a number of goals have come due to poor hand overs and not tracking runners or 2 v 1 situations allowed to develop or simply nobody’s given designated roles.
If we don’t win the EL this could well be haunting, but I suspect we might just come good on the one core issue CL qualification.
The thing that the media are not considering and refuse to acknowledge, we unlike Chelsea are poised to ensure we can offer that as well as having space in what hasn’t the bare essence of a competitive squad.
Nelson starts, Kolosinac plays with Monreal, and Niles, we use Jack with Xhaka and Elneny. Welbeck continues with Aubameyang. I’d have changed system with Lacazette introduced and then fielded Iwobi later and brought Koscielny off for Mustarfi.
But I think someone went concesevarice given the EL semi approaching. But I think too much with a week till the run of three important fixtures.
I can see he is trying to get the team to the season end with a clean bill of health and win the EL, so I only hope he isn’t successful.
Raid 3 nice!
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2018/04/15/arsenal-chief-spotted-at-schalke-game-amid-max-meyer-transfer-rumours/
Watched the game in spurts but not surprised. Our boys lack hunger and finishing lacks accuracy. Sloping pitch is part & parcel of what we play on, so expectations are biased.
I will be at the Ems supporting the boys & enjoying the game we play. The result would be great if we win by a few. My granddaughter sums up my passion- she says ‘I don’t like football but I love Arsenal’.
Quit whining, Jet and get some perspective! Matches and life do not always turn out the way we imagine they might. We just live with what we’ve got.
@jet:
I have no idea who you are, but calling people harsh words just because your opinion is different of theirs, is not the way to win an argument. Perhaps you didn’t read one of the recent Untold posts. This has nothing to do with ageism, and hes everything to do with memory span – or the apparent lack thereof from your part.
I put are poor away form down to the Thursday-Sunday syndrome.
I mean our
Someone said before the match that it was good to see Chambers and Holding start because they were the future Arsenal defenders – God help us. We need a couple of top quality CB’s and a top goalkeeper to have any chance next season. Look what Van Dijk has done for Liverpool and we had a chance to get him from Celtic but let him go to Southampton, and we buy Mustafi.
I know it was a nothing game but surely a little pride wouldn’t go amiss? We do have some quality players but the defence is letting us down with too many mistakes and very little cohesion
OT: Officiating (A Spud fan noticing a spud did something wrong)
There are lots of times where people at Untold have called a Gunner wrong. This article about bad officiating (Saturday) has something similar from a spud fan.
http://lastwordonfootball.com/2018/04/15/referees-letting-players-down/
I don’t know what kind of blog this is.
@Andrew E,
Our CBs and especially Mustafi are not as bad as you and the media make it seem. In fact, Mustafi is actually the highest rated CB on WhoScored and in their Team of the Season. That’s based on facts (stats) and not some made up narrative.
It’s amazing how the media say our best players are not good enough and put pressure to get them out of the club. Then after the player gets sold, media says that the player was World Class and can’t believe Arsenal could sell such a great player like that. And some fickle fans like yourself fall for it every single time.
The media did it with Cesc, RVP, Alexis, Ox, and tried with Ozil, Bellerin, Ramsey, Wilshere, and now Mustafi. It’s sad that some people fall for it every single time and can’t just support the players on the team.
Like I said to start, Mustafi is the top rated CB on WhoScored based on his performances this season. Glad you are not in charge of player recruitment.
Did not get to watch the game , and was not happy with the score , but then watched part of the Man Utd vs West Brom game , and felt a little better . Especially as the bottom of the premier league team beating the second placed team away from home – isn’t the EPL grand ?
Ernest Reed
15/04/2018 at 7:52 pm
“Seriously, you are going to pin this on the referee? Wow!”
I see you don’t deny all the decisions that went against us?
All the yellow, possibly red card offences?
The hand ball?
Seems to me you are happy to accept biased refereeing, and even worse, expect us to still win despite it.
Rather than just a sarcastic ‘wow’ why not try to explain to us why you think we should win when the referee is so clearly cheating ?
And, no I’m not saying we where ‘blameless’ and neither is Walter, or anyone else for that matter. But what I, and they are saying is that when a referee is clearly showing a bias towards one team over the other, it makes winning the match much much more difficult than it should be.
Surly being refereed in a fair and even handed way is the least we should expect, no ?
Surely any criticism we may have of the team, or individuals, has to be made with the bias in mind ?
You try winning a race when someone is pulling your shirt.
Although I suppose in your World such a trivial offence simply warrants another ‘Wow’ I cant believe you’re blaming the shirt pulling’ ?
Rules ay. Who needs ’em ?
To me, if you are going to dismiss out of hand such breaches of rules, as your glib comment surely does, begs the question. Why bother with having a referee, or even rules in the first place ?
I ask you.
Surely the laws of the game are in place to ensure a fair game ?
Surely the referee is on the field to ensure they are applied ?
Or do you think the laws of the game, and there correct application to a match is all rather unnecessary ?
I’m sure another insightful ‘wow’ you think the referee should be fair’ type comment will cover it.
Can’t agree, the original responder tells me to leave to another site, the other questions my age!
No spinning, please.
You guys seriously need to get a life. You see things where they aren’t and never were. Arsenal lost not because of refereeing decisions, but because they wete once again poor defensively and tactically overall. Whats with the excuses?
Anyone ever tell you that you have anger issues, Nitram?
Ernest read
Why on earth does my post suggest I’m angry? Do you think anybody who disagrees with you is angry?
Please explain.
Anyway, back to the point.
“You guys seriously need to get a life. You see things where they aren’t and never were.”
Like what? The non given Yellow cards? The hand ball?
“Arsenal lost not because of refereeing decisions, but because they wete once again poor defensively and tactically overall.”
That’s your opinion, no more no less.
Nobody denies we where not culpable to some degree in this defeat, but the question I asked was, does us not playing well excuse the referees poor and biased performance?
Or are you telling me the referee had a good and unbiased game ?
“Whats with the excuses?”
Why is pointing out the referee missed lots of calls, almost all in the favour of Newcastle an excuse ?
In my analogy, is losing that race because you had your shirt pulled an excuse or a reason?
Maybe you think it’s okay to pull the shirt ?
These are all fair questions, so why not try answering them rather than just making sarcastic comments such as ‘Get a life’ and ‘Do you have anger issues’, which don’t really get us anywhere do they.
@Jerry
As for Mustafi, there is a joke that goes like this:
A doctor catches is doing an experiment on the fly. He cuts its right wing and tells it to fly. The fly doesn’t move. Then he cuts its other wing and tells it to fly. The fly doesn’t move again. The doctor takes his diary and writes: ‘When you cut both fly’s wings, it can’t hear.’
Same goes with concluding Mustafi is a top defender just because of his Whoscored.com references. They take his defensive actions into account with valorizing mistakes he makes. His positioning is dreadful, his decisions even worse. He may come out good but it will require a whole change to our defensive coaching.
Arsenal have conceded over 40 goals with five games to go and there is a chance the final number might reach 50 goals. Defenders have to take their share of responsibility for that. Mustafi was praised (at least I did it) when Arsenal had been on a streak of seven games with Mustafi during which we hadn’t conceded. After his horror-cameo v United at home, he has become a liability.
BBC football website having vote today on greatest prem side ever.closes @ 5..00pm
Jerry “Mustafi is actually the highest rated CB on WhoScored and in their Team of the Season.” – Source? Because I’ve just tried looking and he isn’t anything close to the highest rated CB on there. I also can’t see any team of the season list with him in it.
“Maybe you think it’s okay to pull the shirt ?”
Why not ask Wilshere this question?
Your perception is yours, but its more than odd that when things dont go the teams way you all seem to trudge out the referee card as an excuse. Maybe its an Arsenal thing, maybe their place in the standings tells more truth than anything else – or is that too a direct result of poor officiating? Pointless discussion with those who see things without objectivity. Arsenal were poor yesterday it it had nothing to do with the referee – 0 points away from home in 2018 confirms it.
@ Jerry
Re. Mustafi @Jammy and others have replied to your take on my opinion of him. It makes me wonder if you have been watching recent matches or maybe you have a blind spot with regard to Mustafi. He has one good game and three bad ones, not good enough. Oh! and if I was in charge of recruitment I would have gone for Van Dijk who was available at the time and praised by none other than Bergkamp as one of the best CB’s he’s seen, but then who is he to know? He was a panic buy (£35m) and everyone but you knows it, I hope AFC don’t employ you as a defence coach. You say he is the top rated CB, is that in the EPL or just for AFC, if it is the latter then it’s a joke, a defence that has leaked 45 PL goals and have lost 11 times with 5 games left. I criticised the defence including Cech, I only made a passing reference to Mustafi who is part of the worst Arsenal defence I have seen in decades only you don’t seem to think so and you are entitled to your opinion which I disagree with.
@Jammy, @Josif, Andrew E, etc.
Here’s your source since you guys have difficulty navigating Whoscored : https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/2/Seasons/6829/Stages/15151/Show/England-Premier-League-2017-2018
Go down to Premier League Best XI, and make sure it’s on seasonal. You’ll see Mustafi right in the middle next to Vertonghen.
Perhaps reality is I don’t have a blind spot for Mustafi and you’re actually just a blind sheep following whatever the media says.