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.