I don’t normally watch other teams’ games live and certainly not our nearest rivals’ matches but yesterday at midday I put it on the TV in the hope that I would possibly see the Eastlands Mob drop a couple of points yet again. But never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that the Oilers would be so comprehensively outplayed and to such a degree that losing the game 2-0 actually seemed like a good result.
With that in mind my thoughts switched to the City Ground, Nottingham where on their day Forest can give anyone a tough examination, especially if the referee is lax, so I knew the Gunners would need to be on their mettle especially after such a tiring few days in order to take advantage of United’s win.
Arteta had Mosquera returning to the squad which was great but his defensive options otherwise were pretty much none. Norgaard dropped out of the squad for Mosquera and the other main changes to the midweek cup-tie at Stamford Bridge was Madueke and Martinelli in for Trossard and Saka who both got a sit-down and of course Raya for Kepa. No Nwaneri again which will annoy his fans but I suspect we’ll see him in the group in Milano next week?
With West Ham winning at Tottenham the Forest fans were aware of how important this game was and they created a big atmosphere that motivated their players who on top had a full week to rest and prepare. By contrast the Arsenal players were coming off of the back of a tough midweek semi-final vs Chelsea and probably needed to play sensibly to save a little in the tank and so the game settled into a pattern. Arsenal dominating possession but Forest breaking out of their low low block to suddenly have periods of pressure, not that Raya had many moments of concern.
Mat Sels in the Forest goal was far busier and was named man of the match, sorry player of the match. The opening 17 minutes saw Arsenal probing for Forest weaknesses and Forest shutting the door. Michael Oliver our old mate, turned a blind eye to some quite rough house Forest challenges which saw Odegaard fairly anonymous early doors. Zubimendi was also being closely policed by Anderson and on 24 disaster almost struck when the ball found its way to Hudson Odoi who looked through on goal, fortunately Raya was on guard and he executed a perfect sliding tackle to clear the danger, how lucky we are to have him in our goal.
On 28 a great cross into the box was just missed by Gyokeres and Rice and a minute later Madueke had a shot from the edge of the box, a Forest defender got a slight touch and it ran to Martinelli at the far post but he somehow put his shot wide. It would prove to be a precursor for our finishing throughout this match. Two minutes later Zubimendi sprinted into the box and calmly sent his low shot wide as well. By then we should have been cruising.
Forest came back and built up a head of steam and on 38 Hudson Odoi skipped past Timber and was brought down just shy of the penalty area. Anderson took the free kick but Raya saved it comfortably and it was back to Arsenal domination. On 41 a pass almost put Gyokeres away on goal but Murillo stopped him as he threatened to burst clear and that was that for chances. Half-time 0-0
Gabriel Martinelli is the cup goals king for us but doesn’t take that form into the Premier League which may have played into Arteta’s decision to replace him at half-time, he’ll probably score in the San Siro on Tuesday. As it was Leo didn’t have a huge impact either as Forest’s tireless closing down stymied any Arsenal attempts to create. Arteta didn’t hang about and 12 minutes after the re-start he took off the disappointing Madueke for Saka, the tired looking Odegaard for Merino and Gyokeres for Jesus.
On 59 Saka showed his class by getting past his full back and crossing invitingly into the box, Rice met it but his shot wasn’t clean and Sels saved. On 64 Trossard put over a great cross but Merino, of all people, missed his header. A minute later Rice surged down the left and his pinpoint cross was met by Saka who looked to have found the top corner of the goal with his header until that blasted Sels tipped it around the post. Great save damn him. On 70 minutes Saka again put over a tantalising cross but you-know-who saved Merino’s header. Two minutes later a Rice free kick floated into the box but Merino unluckily headed wide. On another day he would have had a couple or three goals, maybe he’s saving them for the San Siro?
Then on 75 minutes came the incident that had me scratching my head in disbelief but not surprise, the co-commentator called it as a penalty and they’re not often wrong when expressing an opinion beforehand but VAR inexplicably waved away Arsenal’s penalty appeals when a Forest defender clearly controlled the ball with his arm. Arteta mentioned it in his post match so he was obviously fuming. But for me that decision was exactly in line with all the other poor, average and lackadaisical officiating we saw during the game. Maybe the PGMOL wants to ensure that the title race goes the full distance, only for the good of the product and TV viewers of course?!
Eze replaced Zubimendi on 79 and almost got on the end of a through ball immediately but it came to nothing and even with 5 minutes added time Arsenal couldn’t make the breakthrough, but at least we didn’t pick up any injuries and when you have a chump like Oliver as referee, that’s always a worry. All in all it was a great day so we shouldn’t be too disappointed, I just hope we don’t get Oliver anymore this season.
We march on….
By Kev
Apparently, as Declan Rice he went to applaud the travelling fans in the away end, he could be heard/sern saying: “F—–g s–t. Every f—–g time!”
Morning Kev, all.
Must have been tough writing that Kev, thank you.
Something is wrong with our attacking unit. Odegaard, Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli and subs were off. Really disappointing performance.
What a great chance to go 9 points clear!! Sorry Arteta got this one wrong with his starting line up. Why the hell didn’t he start Saka, Trossard, Eze?! If he had I believe it would have been a different result. Ok they gained a point!
We all have our eyes on MC but let’s not forget AV! For me they are the more dangerous out of the 2. Hopefully they will snatch a draw today.
We want to see rotation and then when Arteta does rotate, he gets criticised.
Players need to take a bit of responsibility imo.
And am sorry but Gyokeres should have scored! It’s getting embarrassing and laughable where he is concerned. The fans for the last two seasons were screaming for a Striker. Arsenal went all out and through hell and high waters to get him and he hasn’t lived up to anyone’s expectations! He needs to buck up asap or Arsenal seriously need to re-think in the Summer of getting in another Striker! Sporting Lisbon must be laughing all the way to the bank!
Rice is right! “Every f—-ing time” when we get to this stage! Get it right Arteta and some of the players or we will see the title slip away from us rapidly!!!
Rotation I agree with but do it wisely and with a lot of thought. This was the game we needed to go out and put it to bed early and then rotate.
Morning Gooners, it’s quite mild out thankfully.
Morning Rico, yeah it was difficult, we huffed and we puffed but we needed a break and that was the penalty.
As for the selection, wasn’t Trossard carrying a knock before the Chelsea game and Saliba? Maybe Leo wasn’t 100% and Arteta mentioned in his post- match that Saka was also carrying a knock. People can complain about selection, I saw Gunnerblog moaning about it yesterday, but let’s be clear, the players Mikel selected imo should have been good enough to do the job…
I saw some absolutely crazy comments on Arseblog News yesterday by posters who are usually quite reflective in a sensible way but went right OTT. Yeah I was disappointed that we didn’t extend our lead to 9 points but have some balance ffs.
What, after a midweek game against Chelsea? We were playing Forest, not City.
The opportunity imo Kev fell to Martinelli, his left foot isn’t that reliable though. The penalty shout was an odd one. I thought it was a pen but other than Arsenal fans, few do.
Good morning Kev, that was a hard result to swallow. too many wasted chances, tired legs and the denial of a nailed on penalty.
I wonder how Gyokeres feels when he’s subbed in favour of the ghost of Jesus past. A player who just does not fit the Arsenal profile any more. Poor to bad pressing of the ‘keeper, lacking pace and conviction. In my opinion not a player to come on in the last fifteen when we are in desperate need of a goal.
Odegaard is knackered and desperately needs a week off. He shouldn’t even travel to Italy on Tuesday. I’d like to see Havertz in his place, or perhaps Nwaneri with Havertz alongside Gyokeres up front. Something different, something a little less predictable.
Yes Rico, Martinelli miskicked with his heel, I thought he did the right thing aiming for the far post but his execution was wrong.
Merino is usually so efficient with his finishing but he couldn’t do it yesterday, even the guys who came on who should have been rested didn’t improve things, what did Jesus do, or Madueke or Eze?
No wonder Rice was moaning to himself, but I wouldn’t read too much into that, he’s a winner and he was p’ssed off.
Morning Cicero, probably the same as I felt. Disappointed. Jesus is just so weak.
I’m glad to see Rice disappointed Kev, he should be. They all should be..
Morning Cicero, yeah, when we needed a goal I don’t think that Jesus was the answer, tbh Harriman Annous could have done what he did.
There were a lot of heavy challenges going down and that’s why I don’t think that Arteta risked Havertz, we didn’t need the two Forest monsters at the back putting Kai back on the treatment table, he’ll be fine for Milan.
With half the season gone I fail to see why we bought Eze and Madueke, they have not been the revelation we expected to see based on the pre-purchase hype surrounding them.
Yeah, I get that Cicero, over £100m as well, but maybe the Champions League is where they’ll shine and they allow Arteta to rest Odegaard and Saka, although Merino came on for Odegaard and other than his finishing I thought he had a decent game.
A compact defence always causes us problems..
Odegaard needs a week in Dubai, warm weather training… 😜
Re Eze, I get the frustration but imo, he’s not played enough, he doesn’t look as sharp as he did when he was playing regularly. Madueke just causes confusion, for himself as much as anyone else.
Yes Rico, Eze has paid a big price for not tracking that Villa player who gave them the lead a few weeks ago, he needs a few more minutes for sure – and he can score goals.
Exactly Kev but other players who make errors aren’t ostracised as much..
Afternoon Rico and all.
I personally think the reason why so many fans get angry at Arteta is because he very seldom comes out and blames the players for a poor performance, as much as he would like to keep his anger behind closed doors, once every now and then does not hurt to see him show the players and fans his frustration during and after a match,