By Walter Broeckx
Arsenal starting this match with : Leno, Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Mkhitaryan, Özil, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
On the beach: Cech, Lichtsteiner, Maitland-Niles, Ramsey, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Welbeck
A low cross from Özil but Lacazette can’t connect with the ball and the keeper can stop the dangerous cross. At the other end a cross hits Bellerin but Holding can clear for a corner. A lively opening 5 minutes with Arsenal starting on the front foot in the opening minutes. Aubameyang caught offside twice. Gradually Liverpool taking over the match around the 10th minute resulting in a bit of pressure but no real goal chances. Arsenal winning the ball in the Liverpool half and Aubameyang has a shot that is diverted just wide. The low corner results in a shot from Xhaka but the keeper can stop it. 0-0 after 15 minutes.
Mkhitaryan wins the header in front of the keeper but the ball goes half a meter wide of the goalpost. The better chances for Arsenal so far. Liverpool score but the flag goes up as Mane scores from getting advantage from his offside position. He was going towards the ball with another player first who was not offside so he was interfering judged by the assistant. Xhaka with a very important tackle when Salah looked to get away. After the corner Arsenal can almost break away but Liverpool win it back and Van Dijck completely unmarked in the middle but Leno with an excellent stop. Both teams have had their chances now. Salah has a shot blocked but Leno with a good stop on the follow up shot. At the other end Bellerin with a shot but it curled wide of the post. Salah looking more dangerous in the last 10 minutes now finding some space behind the Arsenal defenders. Kolasinac with a dangerous cross but the keeper can palm it away and Mkhitaryan can’t control the rebound. Both teams having chances to score and having the upper hand for a while but still 0-0 after 30 minutes.
Arsenal with a good build up but the shot from Aubamyeang goes wide after a deflection. Lacazette has a shot but it is blocked. The Liverpool keeper then has to rush out to stop Aubameyang. Arsenal having the best of the play of the play and Özil plays in Lacazette but he drags his shot wide and seconds later Özil with a cross but Aubameyang cant direct his header and the ball goes over. Arsenal score but Mustafi was given offside when he gave the assist to Lacazette. Both teams having a goal disallowed now for offside. A free kick for Liverpool and Leno comes out too far and cannot get to the ball but the header from Van Dijck ends up against the post and Arsenal can clear. The score after minutes is 0-0 but it could have gone both ways.
Fabinho comes in strong on Lacazette but unlike Coote who thinks touching an opponent is worthy of a second yellow the ref only gives the foul. Mkhitaryan almost away but he can’t get the ball past the last defender. But he gets one a few minutes later when the brings down Torreira with an arm sweep against the chin. A bit later Arsenal just can’t finish a good move after a low cross from Özil causes confusion in the Liverpool penalty area. Firmino almost with a chance but Leno smothers the ball. Still 0-0 after 60 minutes with Arsenal on top so far.
Blimey, a cross from Mane is pushed away by Leno but too central and Milner can convert the rebound. 0-1 after 62 minutes for Liverpool. Just when Arsenal had the best of the play.
Torreira with a shot from just inside the penalty area but the keeper saves it. From the resulting corner two Liverpool players clash heads and need treatment. After 67 minutes Iwobi came in the place of Mkhitaryan. Salah escapes from what looked offside but luckily Mane can’t put his foot around the ball and Arsenal can clear for a corner that is headed wide by Firminho. After 72 minutes Aubamyeang comes off and Ramsey enters the field. Leno with a good hand palming a header from Van Dijck over the crossbar. Liverpool with a few corners putting Arsenal under pressure for the first time in the second half really. Still 0-1 after 75 minutes.
Iwobi with a good penetration on the left flank but nobody making contact with the cross. Kolasinac runs out of play with the ball so the effort from Özil that went in didn’t count of course. After 80 minutes Welbeck came on for Kolasinac. Unai goes all in now. Iwobi with a fine ball to Lacazette who first turned away from the keeper and the chance seemed lost but Lacazette turned the ball in at the far corner. GOAL! 1-1 after 82 minutes. A fine finish from the French striker.
Will Arsenal switch their formation again with now only 3 defenders on the field and having a point? Arsenal with a good attack over Welbeck who gives a cross to the right hand side. The ball ends up in front of Bellerin but he curls it wide with his weaker left foot. 5 minutes of extra time are given by the 4th ref for the treatment of the head wound. Fabinho stops a possible counter by stepping on the foot but no second yellow card. Are you watching mr. Coote? Or one set if laws for Arsenal and one for the rest?
But not much happening in the extra time as both teams look a bit more cautious in their approach and look tired after giving their all for more than 90 minutes.
Final score after a thrilling game: 1-1. Arsenal remain unbeaten in 14 matches under Unai Emery.
Phew some half of football x little chance for a spectator to relax. BT Sprout commentators deciding that the Liverpool! Goal should have counted. Nothing changes.
Can’t predict the result but this an enjoyable match. I would say that Liverpool might have had more chances than us but it wouldn’t be a surprise if we were to win this.
@Andrew Both players were going for the ball so I don’t know how Mane could be ruled inactive.
The commentary I am following, doesn’t say a darned thing about goals being disallowed for offside.
The summary stats at 15, 30 and 45 minutes are:
_ _Shots on target 1:0 _ 2:2 _ 2:2
_ __off target _ _ 0:1 _ 2:2 _ 4:3
_ _Possession _ _ 55:45 53:47 60:40
_ _Corners _ _ _ _ 0:1 _ 1:2 _ 2:3
_ _Offsides _ _ _ _2:0 _ 2:1 _ 4:1
_ _Fouls _ _ _ _ _ 0:0 _ 1:1 _ 3:3
_ _Goal Kicks _ _ _5:0 _ 6:3 _ 6:6
_ _Treatments _ _ _0:0
I would think Merson is eating crow at this point.
COYG!
Commentators talking up Liverpool’s chances. Nothing postive about Arsenal’s play.
Firmino should have been booked first half & Fabinho should have been booked just now. The PGMOL blind mice are getting their 98% correct decisions.
The commentator blames Toreira for being small when Fabinho fouls him.
Arsenal are pressuring the Scouse defense.
GGG Mane could be ruled inactive because he looks stupid!!
Lucky Liverpool. The ball falls in Milners path. They are never better than Arsenal.
Why is Milner receiving all that treatment on the pitch…it’s a bleeding nose…get off the pitch.
Iwobi for Mikhitaryan
Kolasinac’s turning radius at full speed reminds me of my uncle’s old Vauxhall. I wouldn’t want to get in his way, mind.
change in formation? Welbeck for Kolasinac
Lacazette!
How was that a booking? Laca never went into the crowd, he went upto the crowd.
Another PGMOL Arsenal special Law.
The PGMOL Arsenal special comes into play & Fabinho stays on despite 3 serious fouls.
a fair result…not that the commentators will say that. They are still going on about the non-goal in the first half.
The commentary I am following, doesn’t say a darned thing about goals being disallowed for offside.
The summary stats at 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 minutes are:
_ _Shots on target 1:0 _ 2:2 _ 2:2 _ _2:2 _ 3:4 _ 4:4
_ __off target _ _ 0:1 _ 2:2 _ 4:3 _ _4:3 _ 4:4 _ 5:6
_ _Possession _ _ 55:45 53:47 60:40 _60:40 60:40 61:39
_ _Corners _ _ _ _ 0:1 _ 1:2 _ 2:3 _ _4:3 _ 5:7 _ 5:8
_ _Offsides _ _ _ _2:0 _ 2:1 _ 4:1 _ _5:1 _ 6:1 _ 7:1
_ _Fouls _ _ _ _ _ 0:0 _ 1:1 _ 3:3 _ _4:6 _ 4:6 _ 7:7
_ _Goal Kicks _ _ _5:0 _ 6:3 _ 6:6 _ _6:6 _ 7:6 _ 9:8
There were muppets (like Merson) saying that Arsenal would not stand a chance in this game, and what a test this would be. The two sides were equal in my opinion. And now the muppets that were saying it would be a test, will discount this game so that Arsenal still hasn’t been tested. Or some crap to that effect.
Come on Wolves, beat the spuds!
Walter – you are so correct in calling on the Coote from PGMOL to look at how his mates treat a second yellow. Mariner was very careful in how he called the Liverpool captain rather than book one of the Liverpool players.
I came here only to read your spin on the Liverpool goal which was wrongly disallowed for offside. I trusted Walter to put a spin on it and I’ve not been disappointed. Surely if mane was adjudged offside (interfering with play) the linesman would have raised his flag when firminio got the ball. Not only after firminio had controlled the ball, beat the keeper, released the shot, which had then hit the bar and rebounded back into Mane’s path. As an arsenal fan, I think your dishonesty does our protests of bad officiating a disservice. How will anybody listen to us when we are robbed, when we cannot own up when it favors us?
Feel a bit disapointed that we did not win this. We played well for the most part, although they did have a few good chances.
How Fabinho was not sent off for that foul on Ozil , still escapes me.PIGMOB still rule.
And Jim Beglin’s comment that Xahaka was play acting to get a foul, was laughable at best.If only our explayers show the same bias when they commentate. Oh, sorry we don’t get Arsenal players as expert commentators !
Anyway, staying unbeaten is still some compensation .
Now for the Spuds to lose !
Up the Gunners !
Top, top match and a fair result. It’s really enjoyable and surprisingly tenacious football. Has Torreira been out of position yet? Everything else falls into place when he controls the middle. What a player.
“Liverpool! will tear them to shreds ” This statement was made by one stupid and clueless ……(you can complete it)
Watch out for more ranting from that loser..
I was only able to see the last 30 minutes but the statistic of us having 61% of possession confirms what I saw in that all of pool’s attacks were counterattacks and for the rest of the time they defended very deep and in numbers.
I do not understand why stamping on Ozil’s feet is not a foul, or kicking zhaka after the ball has left is not one either.
I was happy with a draw as I was anticipating a heavy loss.
Perhaps seeing pool parking the bus will be enough of a wake up call to the rest of the league that they are not invincible.
I only saw the last 30 minutes but the statistic of us having 61% of possession confirms what I saw that pool’s attacks were only counterattacks and the rest the time they defended very deep and in numbers, otherwise known as parking the bus.
Why Fabinho stamping on Ozil’s foot or someo0ne else kicking Zhacka after the ball has gone were not fouls are a mystery to me.
The bias of the commentators in favour of pool was unbelievable.
Perhaps the rest of the league will see how Pool park the bus like the rest of them and will not be so afraid of them in the future.
Sorry about the double comment. I thought I had lost the first one before I had finished it.
If you are in a offside position and make a move towards the ball you are offside.. I have heard this a thousand times.
I’m watching the lowlife playing in the home kit in an away fixture… Why can’t we?
Smart,
this is completely up to the assistant to make up his mind. I only reported the way he would have looked at the situation.
If Firminho would have scored it would have been a correct goal.
As Mané ran towards the same ball as Firminho one could judge him to being active and interfere with the opposition as the keeper didn’t know who was going to take the first shot. When the ball rebounded the assistant had to make a judgement: did Mané have an advantage from his previous offside position or not. Again if Firminho would have scored the rebound the goal should have been given.
Now the thinking of the assistant was that he got an unfairly advantage from his previous offside position.
That is more or less the thought process that the assistant has made. If trying to explain that is putting a spin on it… that is your judgement.
I agree that the assistant could have kept his flag down and jugded that the previous offside was not gaining an unfairly advantage or not interfering.
And he did a good job with not raising his flag the first moment as he then could have cancelled a valid goal from Firminho who was not offside.
This is one of the moments in the offside laws where the interpretation is down to two possible outcomes.
Forgive me for not going in to it during the match as there was so much happening I didn’t get to that but tried to keep it as short as possible.
I would have accepted if he had given a goal. I blame the law makers for still not (and probably never will) find an offside law that is 100% clear unless they completely get rid of the offside laws….
Smart
03/11/2018 at 7:56 pm
“I came here only to read your spin on the Liverpool goal which was wrongly disallowed for offside”
Which suggests you have a bias yourself before you start.
Personally I think it was a goal.
Now lets hear your ‘spin’ on how Liverpool somehow managed to keep 11 men on the field.
The scum also get an goal against them disallowed when he was the wolves striker was at least a yard onside.. By er mike dean
What I find odd is not how a dyed in the wool Arsenal fan (Walter) tries to justify a 50/50 call in our favour, but how an Arsenal fan would go to lengths to explain why it shouldn’t of gone in our favour !
Smart
Rather than come on here, why not go to a Liverpool blog and see how many of their fans are trying to suggest they should of had a player sent off.
See how many you find?
As I say, personally I would of been disappointed if it had not stood for us, but having read Walters explanation I can see why it was ruled out. As I say 50/50.
It went our way, so what.
You are an Arsenal fan and surely you see the bias that goes against us, yet here you are whinginging when a 50/50 goes in our favour.
I don’t get sonme people.
For those conspiracy theorists on here who’ve been telling us since 1870, that Mike Dean is a Tottenham fan that’s why he hates arsenal, well he just gave wolves a second penalty against spurs. The second very debatable. I believe this also debunks that hypothesis that the pgmo doesn’t give penalties against Tottenham.
I agree with your sentiments, Nitram. Personally, I thought that Mane was active in the first stage and that if the referee’s assistant bottled the subsequent call it simply evened things up.
BUT, today’s result is not about dodgy refereeing…that is a constant. Today is about how well we played and the confidence that we showed to come back from 0-1 down. If people believe that we are far from a finished product, as I do, then we have to be optimistic about the future, given what we saw today. Yes, some things didn’t come off, but if there was a player on the pitch that was not giving 100%, I didn’t see him. Well done boys!
@Walter, so the linesman now goes back to a phase of play that has passed to judge Mane’s offside? Be honest Walter, you would have accepted that explanation if it were arsenal that scored? You don’t have to put a spin on every controversial decision that goes our way. Well, I’ll leave it at that. Goodluck.
@nitram, I’m not whinging about one going for us, if that is what you understood from my comment, then you probably need to go back to primary school. However, I’m not afraid or ashamed to concede that we got a wrong decision go in our favor. In fact I’ll take pleasure laughing at my few Liverpool pals. However, what I won’t do is spin it into a right call and say the refs got it spot on, then the next time a wrong call goes against us, now hypocritically start complaining about ref bias.
OFF SIDE. An active player gains advantage from an offside position? What’s so difficult to understand from that? Be careful, tears falling into your beer will ruin the taste.
I’m sure the MOTD “experts” will spend their time praising the Scousers, so I’m disappointed we did not win what was a typically good example of the Prem.
Also it will be interesting to see if any of the MOTD team mention the quality of Rob Holding!! Unlikely of course as John Stones is the poster boy.
COYG
http://www.squawka.com/en/news/man-city-say-ffp-cover-up-claims-are-an-attempt-to-damage-the-clubs-reputation/1066934#F6UiYL3Dk2ZiwOWE.97
OT, Tony I’m sure you’ll want to sink your teeth into that
Merson telling us that Liverpool will shred apart our defence and expose us for the awful team that we are; well, stuff that in your whiskey bottle you big, red nosed twat!
“Smart” For god sake, please don’t tell me you are the next incarnation of LEON. I mean, what kind of knob-end would you have to be to post under the moniker “smart” in the first place lol.
I was watching NBC and to their credit they actually spoke very highly of Rob Holding. One of them spoke to Steve Bold about him, and according to Steve, Holding is going to turn into some player.
Abdul even allowing for a rather strange sense of humour in your writing, I think you have fundamentally misunderstood the argument some of us have with PGMO. And without that understanding any attempt at humour in relation to the topic falls rather flat.
@Jammy, insults and name calling only shows you don’t believe you have anything rational to say. I’m sure the next thing you’ll say is that, nothing you say will make sense enough to me, you’re probably right, especially when you need to resort to insults to try and force it.
Smart, I don’t think you understand the basics of the ways such matters work. Looking back at your posts, it appears that the series started with you suggesting that Walter was not being honest and would have accepted a different explanation for an event if it went in Arsenal’s favour.
Telling a person that you can read their mind and know what they would do in certain circumstances is singularly insulting, and is something we do try and stop on this site although the programming to pick such comments out is far from perfect. Apart from the fact that suggesting you are a mind reader is not just a bit silly (because I don’t think such people exist), more to the point it annoys people – and I think very understandably. I don’t want abuse on the site, although I most certainly will accept and indeed I do write, criticism with some clear evidence cited. If you want to get insults, then insulting someone’s integrity is the way to do it.
Maybe the way you should start is by looking at the little phrase that has been on the top of this site for ten years plus: football news from an Arsenal perspective. Implying through an insult that you don’t like that seems pointless.
I agree with you smart reference the offside,that is why walter cannot be taken seriously.Im sure he is menace in disguise.What was good to see was that we kept going till the final whistle and got a well earned draw.It was a game we probably would of lost last season but the new manager has added some steel to this side and tactically is starting to show why we changed the manager last season.He isnt frightened of making tough decisions in either leaving players out who dont fit the game plan and makes substitutions when needed and doesnt always wait till the 65th minute.If we carry on improving we can make inroads into the top 4 and maybe more.
Really happy with the way things are going under our new manager. Unai has been our best signing!
For years, Tony (who I respect very much without ever meeting) was telling us that changing managers doesn’t work and we should hold on to an aging AW (for whom I have the highest resect). It’s nice to see well planned change can work so wonderfully.
Answering Smart doesn’t make one smart after all. If you’re sad that Arsenal wasn’t beaten by Liverpool!…take a dive..
Last season 3-3 draw this season 1-1 draw
Last season Arsenal had 4 shots on target this season 4 shots on target. Last season after match 11 Arsenal was 6th this season 5th.
Results wise not much difference. But Arsenal look like they are defending much better than last season.
Don’t get too carried away with the new Manager. It’s encouraging we haven’t gone backwards but we are in fifth place and I reckon if Mr Wenger were still in charge there would not be the same positivity.
There are many Arsenal ‘fans’ that are incapable of making independent analysis of a match except they tow the line of the so called pundits. Why not just go to look up the law of the game as it relates to offside – Law 11. The simple question is ‘Did Mane gain an advantage from being in an offside position when the ball was played? If yes, then what is the noise about? Pundits will always slate Arsenal for as long as the decisions are not against them.
I apologise, that was a fairly crass comment. I do stick by the one about Paul Merson though haha.
Smart…..you haven’t explained how you interpret the offside law (11) to support your conclusion about it not being offside. I am sure your officiating experience is superior to Walter’s but if you disregard that Mané was in an offside position when the ball was played (the replay shows this clearly regardless of the linesman not giving an offside flag), that he was taking advantage of that position to take the rebound off the post and score while still in an offside position (you cannot change your offside position by returning to an onside position, after the ball has been played) and clearly interfering with play by being so close to Firmino and distracting the keeper, then how can you maintain that the goal was legitimate? I gather you don’t read the referee reviews Walter and others used to do, where wrong calls in Arsenal’s favour were also regularly criticized as well as those going against AFC. Walter explained the officials’ decision very well and in a fair fashion….maybe when you actually officiate at his level, then you can say he’s wrong or biased. Otherwise it isn’t too smart to come on UA and accuse Walter or Tony of fudging their opinions.
@OMG, with due respect we all read Walters ref reviews and we didn’t see Walter criticizing any ref for wrong calls that went in arsenal’s favor. Instead what we see are such wrong calls spinned to make them right. The extremely few times the reviews agreed arsenal had benefitted from a wrong decision is where arsenal were so far in front that it didn’t matter( Sanchez’s handball 5th goal against westham in a 5-1 win), or where despite the advantage of the wrong decision in our favour we still lost. Also, if you think smart is not qualified to judge Walters position, what qualifies Walter to judge premier league refs? I doubt he’s reffed a jupiler league game. Even if he has, he most certainly hasn’t reffed at the level of the champions league or world cup, so he shouldn’t criticise refs at those levels. I’ve read reports from experienced refs like Dermot Gallagher, Keith Hackett, and more, and they agree the ref got it wrong. I have nothing against Walter, but saying someone should have reffed to his level before he’s qualified to criticise his judgment is funny.
Also, I believe what Smart said is simple. When Firminio got the ball, Mane was offside. The ref is supposed to judge if he had significantly interfered with play and make the call, if the call was play on, that phase of play is over. Firminio shoots, is Mane still offside? No. Ball rebounds, to Mane, refs judgment call should be, as at when the ball was played was he offside? No. Goal stands. That is the law
As always I would refer you to the prime area of work that was undertaken by a number of referees in this field: the 160 games completed with video evidence. It is still on our site, and is listed in the pages.
Unfortunately our other major effort – Referee Decisions – in which a group of referees who support various clubs worked on doing reviews across the PL has now been taken down. It was up for 6 or 7 years I think, but keeping this sites up and updating them technically is expensive, and we have only a very limited income. But if you can find some people who used that site I suspect they would counter your view.