A strong Arsenal squad made heavy going putting nonleague Sutton to the sword today. We made few chances and gifted the opponents possession numerous times. We looked too casual out there. Our center backs were trying to put spin moves on their offensive players, and lost the ball a few times. Ospina kicked it right to an onrushing Sutton player, under no pressure. We gave away cheap fouls all over the pitch. And Xhaka once more flirted with disaster by picking up a very early yellow card in one of the dumbest and most obvious fouls you will ever see. Seriously, how stupid is this guy? The only way Sutton can win is to get someone sent off, and Xhaka gets halfway there as soon as he can.
Sutton was prepared and played well. 0-2 is a very respectable scoreline for them. They nearly had goals on a couple of crosses and on a lightning bolt off the crossbar, so this was, improbably, a competitive game. But we had too many poor passes, too many dribbles into traffic, and too many attempts at a Hollywood pass that were nowhere near completion. Theo got his hundredth, and Lucas got on the scoresheet too. Arsenal was on top for the big majority of the match but I wouldn't say they dominated it.
I liked Perez's energy; he was one of the few for us who seemed switched on all game. Holding was fine most of the time but made some scary decisions on a couple of occasions. Monreal was steady. Mustafi did his job, as did Gabriel. Elneny was doing fine before he got hurt. Xhaka did not have a great game. The Jeff was just OK, as was Iwobi. Walcott was fine but I expected more from him. Ospina looked pretty bad. Not only did he present a golden opportunity to Sutton passing out from goal, he failed to get to one cross he came out for and punched clear another only because their forward misjudged the flight of the ball.
Oh, well, Lincoln should give us less trouble at the Emirates. By the semis, we might be playing well again. I hope so. We look very ordinary now.
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