Wenger changed the entire starting 11 from Sunday's thrashing of Everton. Although the Gunners had more of the ball and seemed dominant for long stretches, Norwich could very easily have won this game. They had some golden chances not taken, Elneny could have been given a red when we were down a goal, and Debuchy tangled with a Canary in the area and may well have given up a penalty for it. But the referee was charitable and it gave Eddie Nketiah a chance to be the hero, scoring two expertly-taken goals, the first to send the game into extra time, and the second (a wonderful header) to win it. Sweet.
I think we've been rather fortunate that our makeshift back five in the second team have not been shipping oodles of goals. Elneny as center half? Odd. Holding does not look out of place, but Debuchy always seems like a man who knows something awful is about to happen to him. Nelson and Maitland-Niles aren't wingbacks. Coquelin seems out of joint. Jack's all right, but seems a little short on fitness. Walcott was back to his usual frustrating self. Iwobi didn't have his best night, and Giroud didn't have the impact we should expect from him.
Well, a win is a win, and that's what happened Tuesday. A win. West Ham is next. I make no predictions. Before our season opener a couple times back, I told my neighbor, "We own West Ham." Of course, it was the Gunners who got owned that day. If the Hammers can score three on the Spuds to win at Wembley, they can beat anybody on their day. It'll be up to our second unit to make sure it isn't their day when we meet in December. I'd like to see us take this trophy. It may have lost its shine in recent decades, but it's one we haven't won since 1993, before AW arrived. You know he'll want to win it.
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