Once more, Arsenal scores first and then dares its opponents to score, and they do. Richarlison had the ball in the net three times for the Toffees, but was marginally offside the first two times. Arsenal had a 1-0 lead at the half thanks to a lovely finish from Odegaard from a very nice cross from Tierney. The first half was played in terrible conditions and most of it was indeed dreadful as a spectacle. The second half was far livelier. On balance, it was a fair result, but one that leaves the Gunners floundering mid-table instead of challenging for a top four spot. Everton has been hit by injuries and did not look great, to be honest (except for the goals, which were superb), but we gave the ball away far too many times.
Saka was clearly hurt and needed to come out. I'd have put Pepe in. But instead we got Nketieh for Martinelli and the former put a sitter off the post and knocked the rebound over the endline for a goal kick when it should have been 2-1 Arsenal. Well, I should not have watched this one. Arteta needs to get more out of these guys if they are to have any chance of Europe next year. There's plenty of season to go.
I hope there is plenty of season to go. Things are looking down for the moment, but it can turn around in two or three matches.
ReplyDeleteAs for the ups and downs, think about what life is like for QPR fans
ReplyDeleteWe stayed at a B&B in New Zealand about 7 years ago owned by a transplanted Englishman from Nottingham. He is a Notts County fan, and we hit it off when I told him that I liked Juventus, which had copied its jersey from the Notts design. (He was less impressed by my Arsenal shirt, which I wore when we met.) He played a DVD of a dedication friendly Juve played with Notts County at Juve's new stadium. Obviously, he is into it. We exchange emails about County's trials and tribulations. Since we met, County dropped from the third to the fifth division, and has found it difficult to get promoted. Yes, I understand that as black as it looks to a supporter of a team like Arsenal or Palace, most clubs would kill to trade places.
ReplyDeleteIf you have Netflix (I think it's on there), you might enjoy an episode of Ripping Yarns called Golden Gordon, about a fanatic soccer fan. Here it is on Youtube, anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O1pH-NEa6I
That was worth the watching!
DeleteWe stayed in the Queen's Gate Hotel, South of Hyde Park, Southeast of Islington, which Arsenal calls home, and closest to Chelsea and Fulham. Selhurst Park was a long tube ride for us, made even more difficult on a Sunday when the key parts of the tube were being repaired (just like home), so we had to do some on-the-spot creative re-routing to get to the match on time. Many football clubs are packed in a tight area there.
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