Saturday, December 11, 2021

Arsenal 3 - 0 Southampton; Arsenal Women 0 - 4 Barcelona Femeni; Notts Romps over Southend

 After a hesitant start, the Gunners turned on the style and turned up the heat, and the Saints could not stay with them.  A lovely flowing move saw a slick cutback from a driving Saka finding Lacazette, whose emphatic finish made it 1-0.  The lead was doubled six minutes later when the red hot Martin Odegaard scored a rare headed goal.  It was all Arsenal in the second half, though they added only one goal from a lovely header off a corner by Gabriel, assisted by Odegaard.  They needed this one after losing three of their last four.

Arsenal Women were blown out at home by Barcelona in Champions' League.  It's a rough patch for them, having been skunked in the FA Cup final 3-0 by Chelsea last time out.

Notts County put the Shrimpers to the sword 4-1, to stay in the mix near the top of the National League.  Wootton scored twice.  Juve was held 1-1 at Venezia.

Aubameyang did not make the Arsenal roster due to unspecified disciplinary reasons.  This is a second offense for him, and combined with his poor form this year, it asks questions about his captaincy.  I'm not sure who would succeed him were he ousted.  Lacazette will not be offered a new contract, Xhaka may not be with us much longer either, Partey has not really led by example, and everyone else who starts is 23 or younger.  They may settle on Partey by default, and it may give him some much needed confidence.

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