Wow, what a game! I can't be upset after that display from both teams. The result was fair, I thought. The Hammers had a perfectly good goal chalked off wrongly for offside, so maybe we were lucky at that. That damned Andy Carroll got us again, with help (twice!) from Gabriel, who deflected his last two past Ospina. I don't want to be too hard on him, because no one on defense looked brilliant today for either team. This was a day for pressing and surging forward once the ball was won, and scrambling back when it was lost.
I thought Wenger had lost it when he took our two defensive mids out for attacking players; I figured the Hammers would score a couple more times. But it didn't backfire. My main complaint is about tactics. With a two goal lead, protect the ball, please. It's the first half, so it's too early to go into a shell; but make sure you don't give it away in your own half. Sheesh. So, one point off West Ham. Funny, before the first game this season I was bragging to a Man U fan that "We own West Ham." Not any more.
The outlook is now cloudy. City hosts us later, so they could very easily pass us in the standings. Man U and Tottenham play tomorrow; one or both will lose points. I want a draw, but I don't know which I'd rather see lose. It's not going to be easy for West Ham to finish above us now, though, so it's just the Manchester clubs we need to stay ahead of.
What a season. The miracle of Leicester, the collapse of Chelsea, the blossoming of Tottenham. Villa relegated, probably with both Northeast clubs, who will be playing the Tyne-Wear derby in the Championship next season.
Europe had some real entertainment value this week. For me, the highlights were PSG-City and El Kloppico in Dortmund. I was also delighted to see Juve down AC Milan today, behind some fabulous goalkeeping by Gigi Buffon. Serie A is not what it used to be; the Bianconeri have gone 21-1-0 in their last 22 games. My rooting interest in Europe is to see Liverpool and City not win the titles, because they'll keep us out unless we can pass Spuds. Even just Liverpool could bump us should City finish ahead of us.
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