BHA 0-1 ARS: How the Hell Did We Win This One?

 Short answer:  defense and a freak goal from Saka.  (The keeper was fooled by a tiny deflection and it went between his legs) 

 For most of the game, Brighton played better, at least until they approached our penalty box, when they looked toothless.  Is Arteta playing five dimensional chess here with sitting back and letting opponents take it to us?  As long as it works, I'm OK with it.  City managed to drop points to Forest while racking up some nice stats.  Here's a comparison of the two games:

#BHAARS: • xG: 0.80 – 0.43 • Big chances: 2 – 0 • Shots (on target): 11 (3) – 7 (2) • Possession: 60% – 40% #MCINFO: • xG: 2.02 – 0.97 • Big chances: 5 – 2 • Shots (on target): 21 (6) – 9 (4) • Possession: 70% – 30%

Brighton and City had twice the xG of their opponents and lots more possession and shots. But we won and Forest drew. I really don't think we can play like this the rest of the season and win anything, so I'm going to hope we improve. Anyway, it's a seven point lead (City has a game in hand) and all we need to do is win seven of the last eight--six if we draw against City--to win the league. Fingers crossed.

FA Cup this weekend against Mansfield Town, Champions' League midweek at Leverkusen, a home league fixture against Everton, hosting Leverkusen, and on 3/22 there's the Carabao Cup final at Wembley. Then the players all go to an international break to prepare for the World Cup.

Happy St Totteringham's Day

 From ESPN:

Arsenal fans can celebrate the earliest 'St Totteringham's Day' in Premier League history after north London rivals Tottenham fell to another defeat on Sunday.

St Totteringham's Day is an unofficial celebration for Arsenal fans that marks the date on which the Gunners are mathematically guaranteed to finish higher in the table than Tottenham.

ARS 2-1 CHE: Vital Three Points, Unconvincing Performance

 Three Arsenal players scored on corner kicks today, though unfortunately one was into our own net.  In Hincapie's defense, Reece's corners were extremely hard to defend.  As were Rice's, and Saka's.  I love the ones Saka hooks a little past the far post and close to the endline.  Our guy can usually beat the defenders to this position, and a really good header (like Gabriel's on this first goal) sent across the box might be met by a Gunner head--in this case Saliba's who powered it off a defender's back and past Sanchez.  Just to get that first part right is amazing skill.

1-1 at the half after Hincapie's own-goal.  The second half saw Chelsea on top for the most part, although Arsenal got some good chances.  We could not hold onto the ball against Chelsea's pressing defense.  We pressed too, but they started theirs somewhat farther from our goal than we did from theirs.  Chelsea's indiscipline again proved fatal.  A foul on Saka allowed a free kick that Sanchez could only punch for a corner, Rice's great kick met Timber's head, and he nodded it down to beat the keeper from close range.  Soon after that, Pedro Neto got a second yellow for taking out Martinelli who'd skipped past him.  For the third time in a few minutes, referee Darren England stopped play for a foul by Chelsea when we were breaking.  The crowd was somewhat mollified when the red came out.  They, like I, must have expected Arsenal to close out the game easily.  But the Blues outplayed us right to the end, with Raya having to reprise his heroics to prevent a Garnacho cross from going in.

It was ill-tempered, high energy, nervy football with plenty of misplaced passes but very few missed markers in open play.  Well, it's Brighton next, followed by Mansfield (FA Cup) and Leverkusen (ECL).  We're having more cup games than league games in the next half-dozen or so.  

TOT 1-4 ARS: Break Over

 There's nothing like a thumping derby win to rekindle interest in football.  Wolves got that today, beating Villa 2-0, and we got it Sunday when sorry Spurs were dismissed in front of their disgruntled supporters.  I was on a plane to Puerto Rico during the game so had to catch up on my phone.  Three points was a necessity, and the +3 goal difference might be important in a close title race.  City dropped five points to Tottenham, so if we do win the league they'll have made a crucial difference.

Eze and Gyokeres got two goals apiece, which is really good news.  If they're going to start firing, we can weather Saka's goal drought and Merino's injury.  There was no midweek game for the first time in months, which is great.  If we get Havertz back, I'll be happier.  

Taking a Break

 The succession of dropped points has been dispiriting, but the reaction on the blog I follow from  alleged "supporters" of Arsenal has been much worse.  It's a stream of profanity-laced invective against a group of young men who were only two months ago hailed as heroes by this same gaggle of football addicts.  It's embarrassingly stupid behavior.  Most of the posts assert that the Gunners are perennial "bottlers" and Manchester City is now certain to win the league.  And it gets worse.  I can't follow these people where they're going.  The second post in this blog was sage advice to myself, and I'm going to follow it by dialing back my angst and putting some distance between me and Arsenal.  I may post after games if I feel like it.

WOL 2-2 ARS: Miserable Conditions, Miserable Result

 Substandard all around from the Gunners, I thought.  This may be looked back on as the moment we lost the title.  Wolves showed plenty of fight, and their first goal was real quality, but the equalizer was a sloppy gift.  With a two goal lead, it should have been over.  But worst drew with first and you could see the belief draining out of the Arsenal team at the end.  

ARS 4-0 WIG: Just About What You'd Expect

 We scored four times in the first half hour.  There were substitutions for the second half and the Gunners took their foot of the gas, and we went through the rest of the game comfortably.  The injuries are piling up again, but maybe most of them are slight.  We'll need everybody.  Players who got much-needed confidence boosts were Eze (two fine assists), Madueke (good goal), Martinelli (even better goal), and Jesus (best goal).  Norgaard was his usual dependable self, and even got an assist to Jesus.  Kepa and Setford both had a turn in goal.  Salmon played at CB in the second half.  A good day at the office.

BRE 1-1 ARS: Fair Result

 Disappointing for sure.  It could have been worse.  Both goals were nice.

BHA 0-1 CP: Great Place to Get a Win

 After 12 games without a win, dragging Palace into the relegation conversation, the Eagles earned three points at the home of traditional rivals Brighton.  New acquisition Strand Larsen had a good game, and it was Sarr who got a 61st minute goal from a Guessand assist on a counter.  

ARS 3-0 SUN: Professional Win

 We're nine points clear of Villa and City, albeit the latter has a game in hand tomorrow against 'Pool.  We dominated the Black Cats but it took 40 minutes and a fabulous strike by Zubimendi to put us in front.  Gyokeres replaced Jesus in the second half and scored twice.  Sunderland never really looked as though they were going to get anything out of this game, but they made it hard for us to win.  Zubi and Rice were excellent.  Havertz continues to progress; he had an assist today, playing in the right 8 role.

ARS 1-0 CHE (4-2 agg): Ugly Game, Beautiful Result

 The conditions were awful again.  Players were slipping in the rain, and the referee let a lot go, so it was not great football.  Chances were few, far between, and not gilt-edge.  It was torture to watch, as it looked as though a mistake would decide this one.  The only goal came at the very end, when Chelsea overcommitted in a desperate attempt to send this into extra time, and we broke from the back with a 3 on 1.  Havertz rounded the keeper and that was it.

City will undoubtedly finish the job at the Etihad against Newcastle--they're 2 goals up--so we will play them in the final at Wembley next month.  We still have to go to Manchester for the league, and we may meet them in Champions' League and the FA Cup too.  Sheesh.

Eze started and was virtually anonymous.  Rice was MOTM for me, but a lot of the men played well.

ARS 3-2 COR: Arsenal Women Are World Champions

 Of course they were going to have a women's version of the world's club championship, and we were in its inaugural edition by virtue of our winning the European championship in June.  After a walkover with AS FAR of Morocco, we played Corinthians in the final.  They were tough and physical, but in the end we managed to edge them after extra time, which we had to have due to a last minute PK that allowed the Brazilians to tie the game.  Fortunately, we put a shot past their keeper in extra time and held on, with a long delay due to one of their players pushing one of ours into our GK, causing a concussion.

Congratulations on a hard fought history making victory!  Here's the winning goal:

In other news, both our closest pursuers in the men's table dropped points today.  Villa was beaten 1-0 by ten man Brentford, while City allowed the sorry Spuds to make up a two goal deficit in the second half and earn a valuable point in their struggle to avoid relegation.  (A guy can dream.)  That leaves us six clear of City and seven up on Villa.  So, just win every game, lads.  Simple!

LEE 0-4 ARS: Could You Guys Please Do This Every Game?

 The TV commentators were saying that Leeds was poor, but I didn't see it that way.  The Gunners were just better. We suffered a blow a few minutes before kickoff when Saka pulled up lame in the warmup, just when we'd reached full strength.  But not to worry--Madueke came in for him and put in a man of the match performance.  He assisted the first goal, crossing for Zubimendi to head expertly past the Leeds GK.  For the second, he took an exquisite corner (he's been fabulous at that in all his recent games) that was curling in past the near post and needed stopping, but three Leeds players got in each other's way and helped the ball into the net.  It was scored an own-goal*, which I thought was harsh on the GK and Madueke.  It gave us five own goals in the Premier League, equal to our top scorers.  After the interval, Gyokeres fought through a bear hug from the defender marking him to get onto the end of a good cross from Martinelli.  Jesus came in for our big Swede and scored with an expert finish after setting himself up in the box.  A near perfect day, really.  

We'll see what happens tomorrow with City and Villa, but all Arsenal need to do is win their games.  It's in their hands in all four competitions, and you can't ask for more than that.  Leeds is not a pushover at Elland Road, but Arsenal bossed the game today.  We need to close out Chelsea on Tuesday at the Emirates in the Carabao semi next.

*  The FA reviewed the goal and awarded it to Madueke, which is good news for him and the Leeds keeper Darlow, but a blow to Owen Goal, who's now down to four in the PL.

ARS 3-2 KAI: Impressive ECL League Campaign

 A perfect record in the league phase is nothing to sneeze at.  This game was strange; we should have had at least two more goals.  But it was comfortable and we gave some important players a rest.

This was the second game in which an Arsenal player scored against a team whose first three letters matched his first name.  Kai Havertz scored against Kairat Almaty in this one, and Lee Dixon scored against Leeds a few decades ago.

ARS 2-3 MU: Exactly What We Deserved

 The Gunners came out looking as if they thought their victory was inevitable.  United struggled to get out of their half early, but they expected that.  We got another own-goal at 25 minutes, and then came the pivotal play.  Zubimendi, in lots of space, hit a thoughtless pass he probably intended for Raya, but short.  Mbeumo pounced and slotted it in routinely.  Dorgu hit a great shot into the upper right corner and we're down.  In the second half, Merino scrambles one in off a corner, but then Cunha strode into the middle and blasted a beauty inside the right post.  Fair result, and we're just four points up on our pursuers.  

Give United credit for solid defense and for a couple of great goals.  But we were sloppy and I thought a bit arrogant.  We should learn from this.

INT 1-3 ARS: Much-Changed Starting 11 Outplays Inter

 This game, expected to be a close tactical battle, started with a bang.  It was 1-1 after 17 minutes, both teams laying siege to the other's goal for stretches, though Arsenal had slightly more big chances.  Gabriel Jesus scored early and late in the first half, first by redirecting an errant Timber effort and the second on a header two yards out after Trossard headed a corner, glancing it over Sommer's arms and off the crossbar for Jesus to power past defenders on the line.  The game was iced after Martinelli released Gyokeres, who'd made a great run into Inter's half.  A quick attempted interchange with Saka ended with him stroking the ball, in stride, just hard and far away enough from Sommer to glance off that GK's outstretched hand and ripple the net.

Eze, MLS, Mosquera, and Jesus started.  Gabriel and Rice started on the bench.  Not everything went our way.  I was very impressed with Thuram's play.  He held the ball up beautifully and involved the other attacking players.  We got passed several times through midfield.  But we escaped all but that once, when they powered a shot Raya could not touch.

This means the game against Kairat, the worst team in the ECL, is meaningless for both sides.  Arteta can rotate the hell out of the squad for that one and still almost certainly win at home.  That's useful.

NFO 0-0 ARS: Gunners drop points but increase lead in table

 The comments on Arseblog were angry and bitter.  I was disheartened by the scoreless draw at Forest, which is a team we should be beating easily.  But City's loss in the Manchester derby, and Villa's loss at home to Everton, means we actually are one point better off than we were on Friday.  Crazy.  So, opportunity lost all around, just like last week.  Realistically, only City and Villa are close enough to overhaul us, and neither is terribly convincing at the moment.  Had we won our last two, we'd be eleven points clear now and with one hand on the trophy.  But we're still in good shape, and if we ever score again, our chances of lifting that trophy look bright.  Villa's McGinn was injured yesterday, which will hurt their chances of making a run at us.  City has spent another $100M to shore up their defense (Guehi) and offense (Semenyo) with top quality players and are the more dangerous title chaser.

We need more goals.  Can Havertz supply some?  Gyokeres isn't contributing much, and Jesus isn't the electric player he was before his knees got operated on.  Eze is not trusted by Arteta.  Odegaard's form has dropped, and Saka is not the almost unstoppable winger he was last year.  Rice looks gassed at times.  The defense is obviously doing well, but a full recovery of Calafiori or Hincapie or Mosquera would be very welcome.  Timber can't play every game, can he?  Zubimendi is overused too.

Well, every squad gets hit by injuries over the season.  Ours was built to cope with that.  On to Milan mid-week, then United comes to the Emirates on Sunday and...two games a week for a few more weeks, thanks to the happy fact that we're in all four competitions.

CHE 2-3 ARS: Gunners Seize Slim Advantage

 Chelsea's Garnacho made this a competitive game with two good goals, but Arsenal should have scored at least one more.  I like our chances in the second leg, but they'll have Palmer and Caicedo back and might make a better showing at the Emirates.  It's just a one goal lead.

There was a lot to like about our performance.  Two of our goals were heavily enabled by the Chelsea GK's ineptitude.  Sanchez flapped at the corner White nodded in, and he spilled White's cross to Gyokeres, who swept it in under pressure.  Our third was a nifty move and finish from the player at the bottom of every alphabetical list, Martin Zubimendi.  It was a great game to watch, with lots of action.

I don't think anyone was injured (a Chelsea player was subbed after a collision; hope he's fine).  Kepa was pretty good but looked lightweight for their second goal.  Timber was playing left back, which has to be because Arteta has lost confidence in Lewis-Skelly.  It would be great to have Calafiori available, or Hincapie.

POR 1-4 ARS: Gunners Too Much For Lively Pompey

 I was actually not worried when Portsmouth's all-action Bishop blasted into our net in the third minute.  I figured our much-changed side would be able to overpower the injury-hit home side.  And so it proved.  Portsmouth was aggressive and showed some real skill, but they couldn't hang with us.  Corners led to our first two goals, but Martinelli had two golden chances he spurned, the first wide and the second off the post.  Our medium-sized Gabriel potted two more goals to go with his first half header (seen below), one from a very nice flowing attack and the last was another header from a Madueke corner.  (His corners have been superb lately.)  And Madueke put a penalty kick wide.

The positives I took from this include a fine 30 minutes from Kai Havertz, who looked sharp at comfortable.  Madueke was dangerous (except from the spot).  Martinelli was very productive.  16 year old beanpole Marli Salmon gave Gabriel, the only starter from last game, the last half hour off and looked good.  Nwaneri seemed to be playing his part.  Ben White was pretty good, but was hauled off in the second half carrying a yellow card.  Merino ably filled the 6 role.

Th negatives:  Eze was off the pace.  This was a game he should have bossed, but he seemed lost out there, unable to impose himself in a meaningful way.  Once again, Lewis-Skelly was poor.  He's our only left back option now, but he's a weak link.

Well, on to the next round, eventually, after Chelsea, Forest, and Milan away at least.

ARS 0-0 LIV: Missed Opportunity

 The top three all drew this match week.  Driving rain put the offenses at a disadvantage, but there was some good play from both sides and Liverpool did enough for their point.  This is ten games unbeaten for them, so they are in decent form.  We couldn't break them down.  Gyokeres does not offer enough up front; Merino might have done better.  Jesus did do better when he replaced Gyok.  Havertz has to play himself into form, because he'll be necessary if we're to lift a trophy this season.

BOU 2-3 ARS: Just Enough to Win, Again

 A dreadful early error from Gabriel put us a goal down, but he powered in a rebound at the other end to level things.  Two good team goals, scored by Rice, gave us a two goal lead, cut to one after a fine strike from Kroupi.  But three points again.  Madueke started and put in a good shift.  The Cherries looked quite sharp at home but lacked the quality to get a result.

We're in a great place right now.  We have no one at AFCON and the injury list is short--just Mosquera, White, and Calafiori, I think.  The games are coming thick and fast, but this squad really should be able to handle it.