ARS 2-1 TOT: A Must Win Game Won

 Tottenham is a mess right now.  They did very well to beat Liverpool in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi, but they've lost six of their last eight or nine games and are in 13th place.  Their injury problems are as bad as ours.  We still managed to make this a tight game by not putting away a bunch of very good chances.  We'll have to do better against Villa on Saturday.

The talk after the game was about Myles Lewis-Skelly, who at 18 years old put in a fabulous shift, throttling Kulusevski and Johnson.  He's a star in the making.

The goals all had asterisks.  Son's opener was deflected past Raya, who had the shot covered.  The equalizer came off a corner that probably should have been a goal kick, and as it turns out was an own-goal, Gabriel's header caroming in off Solanke's chest.  And Trossard's winner, while a fine shot, bounced a few inches above their keeper's outstretched hand; he really should have made that save.  On the balance of play, though, Arsenal definitely deserved the three points, and this time they got the win.

Palace has gained a bit of security at the expense of Leicester.  They're even on points with Spuds and (for now) a point better than Man U.

Cup Flameouts Mean Silverware Extremely Unlikely

 We got beat 2-0 by Newcastle in the first leg of the League Cup semis and after penalties by Manchester United in the FA Cup.  Our forward players can't score a goal.  Another lost season.  It looks as though we'll need to up our game just to secure a Champions' League slot.

BHA 1-1 ARS: Back Down to Earth

 I think the players out there for us did fine.  But they couldn't outplay a sharp, energetic side who made chances and took advantage of their best chance, which was of course the PK.  Saliba was unlucky to be penalized, but it was a mistimed header and a clear foul.  That equalized Nwaneri's very well taken first half strike.  Both teams had chances to score, but it was just the one apiece.  Very competitive, a good watch for the neutral.

This result pretty much takes the Gunners out of range to catch Liverpool, who in any case look like never dropping points again.  There's plenty to play for in the league, particularly a top four slot.  But any silverware would have to come from cup competitions.

BRE 1-3 ARS: That's More Like It!

 Brentford at home are not pushovers.  Today, however, they got pushed around by an Arsenal squad that snapped into tackles, pressed with intent, and finished their chances.  Mbeumo's goal was very well taken, but that may have been their last real chance.  It took a long time to get our first goal, but they came more easily in the second half.  The Bees never looked particularly dangerous.

We lost Timber for Brighton due to yellow card accumulation, but I don't think there were injuries.  The attack functioned pretty well without our star man, and Havertz was ill today.  It's a case of having to grind out win after win in every competition now with a squad that's quite thin, but that's the case for almost every team at this time of year.  Other big clubs (see Chelsea) have slipped on a couple banana peels in recent weeks.  Only Liverpool cruises serenely on, but no team goes through a season without losing form for a stretch or two.

There was talk of recalling Fabio Vieira from his loan to Porto, but that does not appear to be in the cards.  It's unlikely that we could get a truly useful transfer in the door this month, but I'm sure they've got their targets and will explore all options.  We can't get any more loans from EPL clubs so if we go that route it would have to be from another league.

ARS 1-0 IPS: Underwhelming Performance, But Three Points

 In a must-win game, we ground out a narrow win but were dominant.  With Saka out for two or three months minimum, and a game every three days, the situation is tough.  We're going to need all the players to step up, and why can't they?  We'll be using 17yo Nwaneri, and 18yo Lewis-Skelly was great today.

Liverpool is up six points on us with a game in hand.  They've been magnificent and they'd have to undergo a significant drop in form to make an Arsenal or Chelsea title challenge realistic.

Jesus Lives: ARS 3-2 CP and CP 1-5 ARS

 Can we please play Crystal Palace every week?  After Everton blanked us, we needed something, and two games against a high-flying Palace with delusions of being able to play an open game against us was just what the doctor ordered.  Best of all, Gabriel Jesus remembered he's a pretty good footballer and put three into Palace's goal in about an hour across the two games.  I did not mind seeing Eddie Nketieh bury one of the best headers I have seen either, since it didn't cost us any points.  I hope Saka's hamstring problem wasn't as bad as it looked.  We need him.

The stupid two-legged semifinal of the League Cup means more rotation for our banged-up squad.  We better deliver the goods against Zagreb and Girona to avoid the CL play-in games.  We're far enough back of Liverpool to make a title challenge appear unlikely, but you never know.  We have Chelsea to catch too.  Man City is imploding, which is annoying because it has come two years too late.

FUL 1-1 ARS: Tough to Take

 One early lapse from Kiwior was all it took to put Arsenal behind, and despite a lot of huffing and puffing, we were able to score only once, on a corner.  No complaints from me about the referee, who let the game flow, or the result.  It's disappointing to have the late Saka goal chalked off for a marginal offside in the buildup, but those are the rules.  This makes our title challenge look increasingly quixotic, but if we keep playing this well, we'll win a lot of games.  Give the Cottagers credit--they've been very good this season.