The Hammers did not look terribly interested in making it to the two-legged semifinals, and that might be smart, considering that they're in a relegation scrap. I can't remember a real spell of pressure from them and I doubt Ospina had to make more than one or two easy saves. At the other end, we were hardly more impressive. There was a lot of enterprise, and of course we had almost all of the ball, but Joe Hart's work was confined mostly to fishing the ball out of his net after Welbeck scrambled it in and making a flying tackle that missed the ball but brought down a Gunner just outside the box. It was not "an enthralling contest" as the commentators say.
Nevertheless, we go on to face either Man City (who won a shootout over Leicester to advance) or most likely Chelsea or Man U in a two-legged tie. There will be no cupcakes left, unless the big boys slip up tomorrow. The big news from today's win was Giroud's hamstring injury. The guy seems indestructible, and we have Shad Forsythe to work his magic, so maybe we'll see him again in January. Theo captained the team, and was pretty bad for most of the game. He missed a wide-open header (courtesy of a lovely early cross from Kolasinac) and was otherwise wasteful. He's trying, but it's not working out. Welbeck once again looked almost useless, though he was Danny on the spot for the goal, coaxing it across the line with his shin when presented with the tap-in opportunity. Chambers (who looks damned good with a beard) and Holding were excellent. Ospina did his job (he's still punting and goal-kicking past the halfway line). Debuchy and Kolasinac showed some menace and were fine defensively. (I wonder what Matthieu was thinking when Arnautovic was sent in as a sub late on.) Coquelneny were pretty much what's needed in a game like this: steady defense and no cheap giveaways. Willock played his part and did not look out of place.
No matter who we draw in the semis, it's going to be a very tough assignment. I'm happy to see Wenger stick with the plan and leave it to the youngsters and our veteran fringe players, at least in the first leg. If we make it to Wembley, then go all out.
Liverpool at the Emirates in three days. We'll miss Ramsey. What about Maitland-Niles in defensive midfield? He can't be more of a liability than Xhaka. Let's hope AOC isn't inspired to show us why we were excited to have him.
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