Sunday, August 14, 2022

ARS 4 - 2 LEI

 The game wasn't televised, and we had a family thing going, so I did not see the game realtime, and had to follow it in Livescore.  I've seen highlights and read summaries.  Jesus's first goal was spectacular; his second a bit lucky, in that Vardy headed it to him on the back post and there were no defenders there.  He could have had a couple more, too.  He's going to score a lot of goals for us.  I would not be surprised if he netted 30 in the league.  Here's hoping he stays healthy.  Martinelli was fantastic too.  It's a rare game for Arsenal when Saka is reduced to a supporting role and the real menace comes from the other side of the pitch, but wow, our youngest Gabriel was a force.

The Saliba own goal was just unlucky.  I've seen him make some very bad errors for Marseille, but this was more a case of him doing what he was supposed to do but it just didn't work out.  The supportive reaction of GK Ramsdale and later the fans was great to see.  Leicester was lively but outclassed.  As the only team in Europe's top five leagues not to have added a player, they look like a squad that's going to finish in the lower half, but have too much quality to be in a relegation battle.  Their problem will be in keeping players like Maddison and Tielemanns.  

Well, six points from two games.  It could not have gone better.  There's plenty of room for improvement, especially in defense, but when Tomiyasu and Tierney are fully fit that will get sorted out.  It's vital for us to stay in all four competitions as long as possible, so there are enough minutes to spread around for players like Nketieh, Smith Rowe, Lokonga, Marquinhos, and other young guys who have so much to offer.

I don't know what the hell happened to Man U at Brighton.  It's a nightmare start for ten Haag, the latest coach who is supposed to save them.  They look to be in shambles and may be focusing on Europa League to rescue the season for them.  I'm hoping for a drab 0-0 draw with six red cards when the Spuds play Chelsea today.  But this year, my fervent wish is that the Gunners don't care what any other team does, because they are focusing on beating the team they're playing, and doing it.

1 comment:

  1. The Chelsea-Tottenham game was a fantastic watch. Chelsea was surprisingly dominant and in my opinion deserved to win, but a few missed fouls contributed massively to Spuds' getting both goals. The coaches nearly fought afterwards and I saw a red card brandished towards Conte. I'll have to read about that/

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