Sunday, March 10, 2019

Arsenal 2 - 0 Manchester United

I had no idea what to expect today, but I did think there'd be more goals.  If Leno weren't so good, there would have been.  de Gea was nowhere near Xhaka's well-hit strike, and I'm glad.  He also wasn't briefed by Lloris on how to stuff Auba's PKs, though after he thoughtfully explained his approach to an interviewer ("I wait until the keeper moves"), you can bet every keeper is going to wait for his weak up-the-middle rollers.

We did not dominate this game, but we did outplay a very strong and confident Man U.  Combined with Spuds' loss and Chelski's draw, this was a very good weekend.  If we play like this Thursday, we have a chance to move on in Europa League.  Since we don't play another top six team this season, there's reason to be optimistic about our top four prospects.  The run-in:

Newcastle (H)
Everton (A)
Watford (A)
Palace (H)
Leicester (A)
Brighton (H)
Burnley (A)
Wolves (A) --will be earlier

All of those teams except Burnley look fairly safe now, and by the time we play them Burnley will probably be clear of the relegation zone.  There are no easy games in the EPL, but we will not be facing clubs desperate for points.Some of our rivals for top four are guaranteed to drop points because they'll be playing each other, and/or are also facing City, 'pool, or both.  Let's take care of business!

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