Let’s get the officials out the way. They were poor, very poor. Pogba grabbed Ramsey round the neck as the Welshman went on the break, free kick given but no card. Much later in the game, Kolasinac did the same, not the same kind of foul but cynically prevented Utd from a breakaway. Free kick given and Moss couldn’t get his yellow card out of his pocket quick enough. Pogba did however eventually get booked but this is the problem with the officiating, that card for Pogba should have seen him leave the pitch. Other incidents went unpunished too but today’s not a day for moaning. Not too much anyway.
Amusingly, the Sky Sports pundits were suggesting that the reason Utd started the game so poorly was because of their match in midweek. Clearly forgetting it seems that we too played in midweek, a day later than Utd and for more than half the game with ten men.
Anyway, what a game of football that was, a great result together with a really good performance. The level of commitment from most of our players was spot on. The player who impressed me most was AMN. There was one party challenge he made in the box which was timed to perfection and as Utd tried to throw the kitchen sink at us late in the second half, he was outstanding I thought. Bernd Leno too. A brave, strong and confident performance again. He’s improving game by game. Out of the two keepers on the pitch, he was by far the more impressive. The rest in red and white did pretty well too, especially Kolasinac.
It was him who showed the intention in Arsenal from the off. A sprint down the left, which is a sight we’re getting used to this season, ended with a ball whipped into the box with speed. Lacazette couldn’t get on the end of it, just a poke with his big toe would have been enough. Utd then squandered a chance to go ahead. Lukaku must have thought he was Ozil for a split second, a big mistake as only the German can hit the ball into the ground and over the keeper. And score.
We scored though, or rather Xhaka did. On 11 minutes. de Gea took a hammering from Neville in commentary, forgetting of course that the strike from our midfielder was pretty tasty. Sokratis found Maitland-Niles, he slipped the ball inside to Lacazette who in turn played the ball to the Swiss midfielder. Twenty five yards out, bang. 1-0.
With around twenty minutes of the game left, the unthinkable. Lacazette went over in the box, the sound of a whistle rung in the air and there was Jon Moss, fingers pointing to the penalty spot. Soft? For sure, but a foul is a foul, a touch or just Karma perhaps. Up stepped Aubameyang with another soft one but this time it worked. de Gea took a dive to his left and was beaten. 2-0. Lacazette could, should have made it 3-0 shortly after but dragged his shot wide.
We held out though, comfortably really. Suarez showed he can get stuck in after coming off the bench, Iwobi showed his angry side when a throw in went against him and Eddie earned a few precious minutes of playing time before the final whistle blew.
Newspapers will all favour Utd in their reports. They and the likes of Sky Sports will try and tell us that Utd should have won as they had more chances than us, better ones but they’re kidding themselves but not me. Not you either I’m sure. The possession stats will probably suggest they had more of the ball but as we know, it goals which count. And great defending. We had both. We wanted the ball in and out of possession and we fought hard to get it. At times Aubameyang could have shown a it more determination when chasing a pass down but that’s me being picky. Ozil too was a bit too casual with his passing. Just a few times anyway.
Unai Emery got everything right. He left out Mustafi, phew. Went with AMN who had a super game. He included Ramsey and Ozil which also worked. One more so than the other and although neither Lacazette or Aubameyang scored from open play, one got the second goal, the other worked his socks off and was unlucky. Together they caused the Utd defence problems. Xhaka had a good game too, topped off with a wonder strike and another which drifted just wide. The defence were strong, blocks, tackles, they had it all.
The fans were on form too, they were right behind the team. One idiot who ran onto the pitch won’t be returning anytime soon. All for a moment on camera no doubt, or a bet. Or he’d consumed too many shandy’s. Talking of which, it’s great to see Arsenal doing their bit for the planet with the reusable plastic cups in the bar.
We deserved that victory, 100%. Utd deserved what they got too. Their good run was over and we’d been responsible. A great afternoon which leaves us just one point of the Toots in 3rd place.
Now we need to take that kind of performance and level of commitment into Thursday nights game. It’s just as big, just as important…
Morning Rico and all. A nice upward-facing post.
Yes, the pundits and the press have completely forgotten that goalkeepers are part of the team too and that saves are part of their footballing repertoire. The hulking presence that is Lukaku should have scored but didn’t. Leno made a great double-save at his feet too. Phil Neville, the king of Nevilland, reckoned that United should have won by 3 goals. He too has fogetten that saves are part of the game and Martin Samuel, who used to be a football journalist, dismisses the win as mere blip in the inexorable rise of OGS.
But, we’re used to it. They forget than Laca should have scored a couple and that, as you mention, Pogba shouldn’t have been around to see the final whistle blown after his rather spiteful grab at Ramsey’s neck that temporarily choked him while preventing a breakaway. Of course the copious and rotund midriff of Jon Moss must have prevented him from seeing this and numerous other fouls that left Arsenal players in heaps on the floor as he struggled to accelerate his mass toward the action.
By todays’s dubious standards the penalty was just that. Why should Laca stay on his feet while being jostled by a little Brazilian with the unlikely name of Bert? I bet Harry Kane wouldn’t have. He would have let out an appalling adenoidal scream too I reckon.
All in all a very welcome result, especially given the others at the weekend.
Morning Adam. Thanks.
Double standards really. Utd, Toots, Liverpool and City are all praised for having a top keeper because after all, you win nothing without one they so often preach. We have a good one, a very good one but it’s the strikers who ‘should have done better’ against him.
Leno seems to be settled now, he’s certainly making some excellent saves. Even the shot from Fred which hit the post, he had covered.
Excellent post Rico, I’ve seen nothing of the game just read a couple of reports. How nice it was to end the Mancs unbeaten run.
Seven hours by bus today and a hotel with no pool, but we do have a nice big Jacuzzi type bath, which I’m just about to sample. Catch you all later. 🛀
For once Moss’ inability to be in the right place helped us with a tenuous decision. From his view point it looked more of a penalty than it did when the slow mo dissected every moment and subtle nudge . This highlights the difficulty of VAR . Where we argued that a panel of mysterious ex referees might have disallowed Kane’s goal last week would we hace accepted the same faceless bunch waving Lacazettes claim away ?
Anyway they couldn’t and Moss’ decision stands and probably in the light of the way the game is played and refereed nowadays rightly so.
Here we are back on track ?
Thursday we need a minimum 2 nil win , a clean sheet without Sokratis ?
Many imponderables here.
Thanks Cicero, you should watch it when you get home, it’ll be worth it..
I’m not overly fussed about whether or not Moss got his decision right, it didn’t change the outcome of the game, unlike Kane’s.
We’ve had so many decisions not given to us this season, it makes a nice change for one to go our way.
A bit of an update on our young loanees from the express :-
Kelechi Nwakali, AM, N/A
Nwakali joined Porto in the summer, but has struggled in their B team.
Nwakali has not been named their last two match-day squads, but did feature in eight of their nine previous games before then.
Krystian Bielik, DM, N/A
Bielik has been on loan with League One side Charlton Athletic this season as they target promotion.
Charlton battled to achieve a 2-1 victory over Portsmouth – but unfortunately Bielik missed out through injury.
Reiss Nelson, RW, N/A
After a blistering start to the season Nelson’s tally grew to six goals in seven appearances.
Unfortunately, Nelson’s form has dwindled and the 18-year-old has not scored since November.
The youngster was not in the squad as Hoffenheim beat Nuremberg 2-1 on Saturday.
Emile Smith-Rowe LW, N/A
Smith-Rowe’s loan to RB Leipzig excited fans during the January transfer window.
The youngster is yet to make his debut – and missed out on the 0-0 draw with Augsburg through injury.
Brings back the question on just how useful some of these loans actually are.
Well, isn’t THAT a fact Rico.
Good morning everyone (afternoon to you Cicero).
I was astonished to see Moss point at the spot but, it WAS a subtle nudge in Lacazette’s back. Then panicked at seeing Aubameyang take possession of the ball. Yes he scored but, not with a lot of conviction though?
Good all-round effort but am slightly concerned that both Auba and Laca are missing chances which would have sown the match up and not left many of us sitting on the edge of our seats.
I needed a stiff drink after the whistle went.
Keep thinking that we’re losing a good player in Ramsey…….. done and dusted sadly.
Anyway, on to knock Rennes off their perch and Newcastle on Monday.
Some of the away matches are not easy 3-pointers either so we need to keep the standards up.
Morning Gooners
Morning Rico, nice post.
It’s interesting hearing how varied the opinions of pundits can be, Alan Shearer for example said it wasn’t a penalty, but I’m sure he would have been screaming for one in his playing days and as for the manager of the England woman’s team, he’s hardly going to be unbiased is he?
To be honest I expected a slanted view of the game on the BBC and I wasn’t disappointed.
Frankly I don’t give a shit, Fred pushed Lacazette in the back, it was a foul, a soft foul yes but it was intended to knock him off balance and the decision to give a penalty was correct in my view. It took courage for Aubameyang to take it, so credit to him, now he should celebrate by treating himself to a proper haircut.
It was a season defining win and it should set us up for an exciting run to the end of the season, now the manager has to come up with the right system to repeat that 2-0 result against Rennes this Thursday and I’m sure he will…
Interesting to note that both Arsenal and Man Utd, according to the BBC, created 14 chances each, well where were all those Arsenal chances on the highlights then?
Biased editing???
Well that was enjoyable.A good performance from all,Leno,Maitland-Niles,Lacazette especially I thought.
We did to United what they’ve done to us many times.Great goalkeeping performance,their strikers missed the big chances (ours missed some too mind)
We survived an unbelievably biased referee,funny to see so many in the media get worked up about the penalty.It was soft but you see that given against us all the time.Payback time!
Good post Rico, the guys all did great. I hope it is not because of the victory, your rating of AMN appears too generous. He was a tad ponderous and still gives the ball away.
Afternoon all and nice post Rico.
Didn`t surprise me either with the biased highlights on MotD, so I watched highlights on Arsenal Player aswell which kept it even as roughly the stats portrayed.
It`s going to be close for top 4, we are in driving seat, but we know this season we haven`t been as up for it against the “lesser” teams.
Think we are really going to miss Ramsey and he has been giving it his best even though quite a few thought he would take it easy, shows the character of the man imo.
U21`s away to leaders Everton tonight..
Afternoon Kev, all. Thanks re the post.
Not the best day to have an electrician 8n the house. I must have thought we’d lose when booking him… 😜
H/T and 0-0
No Saka !…………………is he in the EL squad then ?
https://twitter.com/ArsenalAcademy/status/1105173570542620673
Or Willock !
Arsenal players will be sold if they refuse to sign new contracts when they have two years left on their existing ones. No more being allowed to run their contract down and leave on a free. About time too.
Gedion Zelalem has signed for Sporting Kansas City……on a free!
Good Cicero. Although where’s that come from?
New post up now