Morning all.
I was planning to describe the passage of play before Olivier Giroud scored his goal yesterday but The Mail have done me a huge favour.
As much as the finish was outrageous, the build up was vintage Arsenal. Quick, clean passing followed by a not particularly good cross from Alexis Sanchez but somehow, Ollie managed to steer the ball into the back of the net with what’s known as a ‘scorpion kick’. Did he mean it? Of course he did otherwise he wouldn’t have tried it but as the big fella said after the game, there was an element of good fortune. So what, if you don’t try, you don’t score and I don’t care what Souness said after the game, he hates all things Arsenal so there was no surprise he chose to give Ollie little praise for what he’d just done. Carragher however gushed over the goal and for once he made me laugh when saying had he tried that, he’d ‘have done his groin…’
What amazed me more was the ground Ollie covered in the first place to actually get into the box…..
But he should have scored earlier in the game when just like last week, all that was needed was a toe on the end of a perfectly placed cross from Monreal.
1-0 at half-time when really the game should have been put to bed but with such a small advantage, Crystal Palace were far from being out of the game and soon after the second half kicked off, they nearly grabbed an equaliser but Benteke totally fluffed his lines in front of goal.
Lucas, Iwobi and Alexis all had chances to increase the lead but those chances went begging until just before the hour when Iwobi (via Joel Ward) headed home our second. That would be enough to kill off the visitors I thought and it was but for just a few minutes, Palace had a good spell. Petr Cech was up for the challenge though as he made a string of fine saves from Benteke, Yohan Cabaye and finally Townsend.
That was that, three points and back into third place.
We play again tomorrow night in what is a ridiculous fixture schedule. Why on earth we are not playing on Wednesday beggars belief, especially as the Totts, who played before us yesterday afternoon are. They face Chelsea, a team who will have had four days of rest. All we get is 48 hours before travelling to Bournemouth and yesterday, I thought one or two looked shattered, Alexis in particular.
As Big Sam said yesterday, whoever sorted out the fixtures over the festive period, should be sacked!
So should he for wearing such a silly hat!
Over to you to pick the bones out of the performance…..
Morning All
Morning Rico, good post.
Interesting you mention the effort Giroud made in getting up to support Sanchez. I wonder if he’s been working on his pace whilst being out of the team because I’ve never seen him move so swiftly before.
Mind you, he arrived in the Palace box without a hair out of place.
Morning Kev, thanks.
I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing… 🙂
One was a good goal and one was offside so the question doesn’t really come up. As for Alladyce , he has no love for the media and despite having been hung out to dry by them I was surprised to hear him criticising the fixtures on the programme of the main reason for the problem in the first place . Perhaps if he keeps it up I might have a bit more respect for him, at least he could become entertaining. However chances are that they will find a fat envelope somewhere to shut him up.
I doubt he’d accept another fat envelope…. lol
Morning, good post rico. Thanks for all your comments about my mum yesterday, much appreciated as I was floored. My dad, long gone, came from Islington, played as Goalie on Hackney Marshes and an amateur Cup final at Highbury, it was the roots in the family that made me an Arsenal fan.
Unbelievable goal yesterday from start to finish, I’m actually pleased it came from Giroud at the end as he’s acted with dignity all season. Yes, he looks a show-pony at times, but lets just love him for what he is. I really don’t believe that many footballers could do what’s happened twice in a week, our one will live on more because the other is tainted by the fact it should have been disallowed.
We have a lot of pace already in our team, Giroud adds height and skill.
Morning Andrew, thanks.
Nice one re your Dad…..
Good point on Ollie, he is what he is and on days like yesterday, he sure knows how to surprise. Shame he didn’t score the easy chance though… 😉
Morning Andrew…
Rick, what do you make of the Zelalem to Borussia Dortmund links…
Personally, I reckon that he should go, we can always insist on a buy-back clause or a percentage of any future transfer fee, because he’s not making it at Arsenal anytime soon, imo…
He has Maitland-Nile, Reine-Adelaide and Willock in front of him as it is…
Always a good read. It’s nice to highlight the collective effort Giroud put for the goal, not just the outrageous kick. In the replays I noticed Perez was bursting up the right flank, and Giroud kept the pace in the middle!
Our fixtures really are the worst. Am sure there is a stat out there showing we have the least rest time in between games.
Fat Sam only accepts pies as bribes, oh and a large portion chips and gravy. For that bed get anyone the Crown Jewels! He’s not called fat Sam for nothing!
Great goal by Diesel boxers boy. A cracking goal. A goal that legends are made from. Well done Olly if only that he was determined to get something on Sanchez’s hit and hope cross!
Morning all cold and frosty here, again!
Thanks Marshall..
Thought Lucas had a really good game, nice to see him getting stuck into Zaha, even nicer to see Marriner let him… lol
Morning all and thanks Rico.
Cold frosty here and I`ve had Man Flu since Friday, but still managed to party at the famous Jamaica Inn on new years eve !…….fcuking bargain £12 for all you can eat buffet, DJ……nope, didnt eat him……..and best of all the pool table was free and no one could get me off !………..new year honour for my bravery I thinks ! 🙂
Sounds like most are already making excuses for the Bournemouth game if we lose because of fatigue !…….they`re athletes !………and we wont here much about it if we win !
Running 90 mins with a 15 min rest is a piece of piss and remember, they all dont run that far….especially Cech !. 🙂
Plus I dont know if any of you can remeber this ,but some time in the game we are allowed to bring on 3 fresh players for the “fatigued” ones ! 🙂
I watched the drama Lc, it was good, albeit a bit of a struggle to hear some of the chit chat.. Sounds like you had a good evening…
Surprised me, Rico, the change at Jamaica Inn.
I deliver there and years ago it got done by the “food police” for being a shit hole, but someone bought it and (according to my boss ) spent £2M on doing up the kitchens alone, it is spotless now. plus the place is well haunted, so a great evening and will book up next eve as well….touch wood. 🙂
You should book it for Halloween Lc.. 😉
My mother in law lives in the annexe next door so i`m well conditioned for the scary stuff !. 🙂
They do Ghost tours and murder mystery nights…………..need to bring Kroenke along for a real one ! hahaha
Take Arsene with him too…
yes, we play tomorrow but Leicester and Boro are playing now with a little more of 48 hours.
They had played at 3 p.m. on Saturday. I thing, they made 5 changes each one,
Tomorrow, we made one, at least: Elheny. I didn’t understand why Sanchez was not replaced yesterday. Bournemoth is a very difficult game.
Belated condolences Andrew, my thoughts are with you and your family.
Mike Dean’s in good form again!!
I just switched it on Rico. What a ghastly, odious little man he is.
Isn’t he just Adam…
Jose sucking up to Bilic is embarrassing…
And an offside goal too.
Yep, and a wrong red card…
https://twitter.com/paddypower/status/815980577975398400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
That’s good Lc, so apt!
Catch up tomorrow guys..
Nighty…
Just watching MotD, good to see Mike Dean being the archetypal shitbag we know and love….
Apparently Southampton have had to play 3 games in 117 hours, the worst in the EPL…
How can the Premier League allow this despite the money TV pays?
Calum Chambers seems to earning some encouraging reviews from his recent performances…
I know that the Chelsea game next month is being touted as the shit or bust game of Arsenal’s EPL campaign this season, but that game is gonna mean fcuk all if we don’t win games like today’s at Bournemouth…
It’s a huge huge game with a banana skin written all over it.
Wenger complaining about fixtures already sends out the wrong message almost giving our players an excuse.
I’m very worried about this game because if we fcuk up today then the Chelsea game is basically meaningless….
Night All
Morning all,
Mike Dean is an utterly disgusting creature. How they are not answerable is what makes the EPL a shit show sometimes. Having the officials have a great influence of the league table is baffling. Last season winners it was all officials, Spuds, Utd are having points thanks to poor/impartial refs.
For example it’s being touted Mike Dean will officiate our away game at Chelsea, the entire football world know there will be only one winner…yet the FA still allows it to happen. FTS!
Morning Marshall and all.
Dean is a disgrace, so is Riley…
Morning Rico, Marshall and all. Dean has been getting away with this stuff for years now and we have usually felt the bad side of his nasty, corrupt little ways. His performance away at Chelsea last year alone should have seen the end of him as a PL referee, but he is Mike Riley’s legacy on the pitch these days and doubtless does his bidding in influencing games to suit his master. For any serious journalist who is prepared to do the digging, there is a massive story just waiting to be broken.
Hi Rico, Adam.
We need that breaking story soon if you ask me. The media is out there over-hyping the league while overlooking the obvious ugly dark side of it, especially the officiating of the game. Who is supposed to create awareness? The fans? When we say he’s (Dean) corrupt they say we are mourning sore losers.
How Mike Riley made it up there is what is wrong with the entire set up. Really, about time the referee gets accountable for the indecisiveness. It’s like offside doesn’t apply to some teams and others are guaranteed penalties every other weekend.
Marshall. I agree.
Morning Adam.
I can’t believe there hasn’t been a journalist brave enough to uncover the corrupt ways of Riley and his boys…
Couldn’t agree more Marshall. You’d think Sky Sports would put their financial weight behind the goings on…
I think Niall Quin summed up Dean quite well. ‘Likes to be the centre of attention and is arrogant’…
Morning all.
In all sports, the best officials are those who go largely unnoticed.
Dean is the complete opposite, so without touching on his biased officiating, he’s a woeful referee.
Agree Scott..
New post up now..
Rico. I think the answer to that is, as always, ‘follow the money’. The amount in the EPL these days is gargantuan and there are an awful lot of snouts in that particular trough.