ATL 1-1 ARS: No Open Play Goals in Tense First Leg

 Three penalties were called on the field, all of them soft in my opinion, and two were awarded, both converted.  There were chances at both ends, though.  Atleti had the better ones on balance, and I thought we were fortunate to escape with a draw.  Eze and Saka were fit enough to come in as second half subs, which is good news.  Saka is still off the pace, but Eze looks to be close to fully fit.  For me, Rice was our MOTM, but Raya was also excellent.  I expect us to play with more intent in London.

ARS 1-0 NEW: Too Close for Comfort

 We're in first place again, since City was engaged with a stubborn Southampton, City winning late to put themselves into the FA Cup final.  But it was not a smooth ride.  Eze blasted one past Pope in the seventh minute off a corner routine, but that was it for the scoring despite a few half chances for each team.  I wanted a bigger win, of course, but the major worry is the injuries to Havertz and Eze.  Gyokeres actually did well in his hour+ up front after Havertz's exit.  Saka played the last ten minutes plus the seven minutes of stoppage time, and looked lively.  Newcastle has lost their last six by one goal; they are a tougher opponent than their recent form suggests.  But we really should have been more dominant.

MCI 2-1 ARS: The Nearly Men Fall Short Again

 This was an excellent game.  The highlights will probably run fifteen minutes.  Both sides had shots carom off the inside of the post but fail to go in.  City's first goal from Cherki was lovely; Havertz's equalizer came from an ugly Donnaruma mistake.  There were plenty of chances for both teams but Haaland swept in a loose ball at 65 minutes for the final score, though there was lots of drama afterwards.

So, City now has an edge.  If they and we win the rest of oiur games, it'll come down to goal difference, and City's been firing better lately.  They're just one back of us on GD currently, but that'll change in midweek when they play lowly Burnley.  Neither team can afford to drop points.  They have the FA Cup to deal with, and we have Champions' League.  Down to the wire.

English Clubs in Europe

 Arsenal is in the last four of the Champions' League, Villa and Forrest are in the semis of Europa League, and Palace is three games away from a European trophy.  All got there fairly comfortably, beating quality opposition.

ARS 0-0 SPO (1-0 agg): Staggering Into the Semis

 All right, it's an achievement to be one of the last four teams standing in the CL, and this is the second year we've done it.  But the performances against a very good Sporting were underwhelming.  Clean sheets are great, but we had one shot on target, the same as Sporting.  xG was below 1.  (Both teams did hid the post once.)  There was no cutting edge.

The camera focused on Rice after the final whistle, and he looked unhappy.  Yeah, they're through to the semis, but this was not a morale-boosting display before the season's most important game this weekend at the Etihad.

Meanwhile, in Munich, it was a 4-3 goalfest packed with errors, fine goals, and even a dumb red card.  The 6-4 aggregate for Bayern was ten times the total number of goals scored in our dreary contest with Sporting.  We're just no fun.

ARS 1-2 BOU: Second Best Again

 The defensive security is gone, the set pieces aren't producing, and there's no flow or sting in our attack.  Everyone was off today.  At this point in the season, every squad is injury-hit, so the absence of Saka, Timber, Merino, and Odegaard is no excuse.  Bournemouth, a good team but one that had drawn five games in a row, came to our place and looked very comfortable.  Madueke fell asleep for a couple seconds and the Cherries got a great crossing opportunity, then a freak deflection allowed Kroupi to finish smartly from two yards into an open goal.  We got one back with a pen on an unintentional handball.  1-1 at the half.  The second half went even worse, as we produced nothing other than some dangerous corners and Bournemouth scored their winner via an untracked midfielder who latched onto a loose ball in our area.  We never really looked like getting back into it.  Fair result.

We look like pretenders, not champions.  If Bournemouth can ease past us at the Emirates, how could we hope to win games against Man City, PSG, Barcelona, or Bayern?  The Gunners are shorn of belief, and that's understandable.  They look lost out there.  A turnaround is required and it could still come if we can get a fit Saka in the lineup.  And of course City could stumble, but they specialize in finishing strong and must feel that they have a great chance to lift another cup.

Arteta has to shoulder a lot of blame for this collapse.  Where are the ideas?  Every game they try the same stuff that didn't work the last time.  The players are talented but they can't make progressive passes.  It's really easy to stifle us, and way too easy to get quality chances at our goal.  Raya could not bail us out today.  We got one lucky penalty but gave away two sloppy goals.  Saliba and Gabriel are probably ruing signing new contracts, figuring that Arsenal and silverware are not compatible.

The season's not over, and we have a decent shot at winning the league and an outside chance at the Champions' League.  But after today, I am not optimistic.  I dread the comments on Arseblog.  Supporters will be angry, and it's hard to blame them.

SPO 0-1 ARS: Cagey Match, Narrow Win

 My main concern with this match is that Sporting won most of the second balls.  I've noticed this in other games.  But overall, I thought our men acquitted themselves well against a team that hasn't lost in a long time on their home ground.  The goal advantage is valuable, but I hope it doesn't lure Arteta into thinking we can go into a shell and go through to the semis.  We really should press for goals; Sporting was having trouble getting out of their half.