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.