ARS 5 - 0 SHU and What Happened to Rugby?

 First, some bits and bobs as they say in Merrie Olde England.  Notts County suffered a disappointing home loss to Wrexham.  Juventus won and now sit atop Serie A until the Milan clubs play tomorrow.  Wellington Phoenix won.  

The Gunners thoroughly dominated the Blades, as to be fair pretty much everyone does.  (They have one point in ten games.)  We rested Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Odegaard, and it was the former's stand-in Eddie Nketieh who was man of the match with a fine hat trick before the hour mark:  a super turn and finish, a smash into the upper right after the Sheffield GK's fumble, and a blast from 22 yards into the upper left corner.  A Vieira PK and a Tomiyasu hit off a corner gave a late gloss to proceedings.  We go to West Ham for a League Cup match mid-week, followed by a trip to Newcastle and a home game against Sevilla.  We're going to need Jesus and Odegaard in top form this season, so I hope whatever ails them isn't serious.  The emergence of Tomiyasu and Kiwior as solid defenders is great news.  As long as Rice stays healthy we will do well.

South Africa defeated New Zealand 12-11 in a drab game (don't believe the hype about a "thriller") dominated by refereeing decisions.  The clock was off for long periods as the officials conferred on real and imagined offenses.  There were four yellow cards, one of which was turned into a red, meaning the All Blacks had one fewer player most of the game.  They scored the only try of the game (their first was waved off for what looked like a BS reason to me) but missed the extra points that would have won the game.  The rest of the scoring was from penalties.  It was an awful game to watch, especially for a living room full of Kiwis (citizens and wannabes).  Rugby, in a noble attempt to make this quintessentially brutal game less brutal, has outlawed what would seem to fans of American football perfectly fine tackles.  Add video reviews that catch marginal violations of arcane rules about which direction the ball goes after every incidental touch and it becomes a barely watchable shadow of what it used to be.  I don't intend seeing another minute of rugby, ever.

SEV 1 - 2 ARS: Road Win Puts Gunners Top of Group

 The conventional wisdom about group play in Europe (and the math) is that if you win your home games and draw away, you're going through to the knockout stage.  Halfway through group play, we're topping the group with two of our last three games in London.  We should be in great shape, barring a collapse.  The Lens loss (in France) was a worry, but this win in Spain put us on track, especially since the other teams keep playing draws with each other.  Sevilla is in 13th place in La Liga, but have a new manager and were eager for an upset.  Two fabulous plays from Gabriel Jesus were the difference, the first a dazzling turn and pass to Martinelli, who raced half the length of the field, rounded the keeper, and slotted home easily.  The second was a wonderful curler into the top right corner from 20 yards out.  Sevilla got one back off a poorly defended corner, but we closed things out.  Tomiyasu and Rice joined Jesus as standout performers.  Raya was inconsistent, giving the ball away in a very dangerous area early and nearly punching into his own net late.  Odegaard had another weak game, which is a worry.  But three points is great.  We host Sevilla for the next ECL game.  In the league, it's Sheffield United at home and Newcastle at St James's Park the next two weekends.  In between, we go to West Ham for a League Cup match.  Well, we have a big squad and I like our depth.

Notts County is 2nd in the League 2 table, three points ahead of Wrexham (the other team promoted from the National League this season), who they play this weekend.  Their number 9, Macauley Langstaff, has ten goals.  They're playing with confidence and flair.

CHE 2 - 2 ARS: Great Game, Fair (Though Disappointing) Result

 Full credit to Chelsea, who stifled us for 75 minutes and nicked a pair of nice but fortunate goals.  They started cruising a little early, though, and Rice pounced on a horrible pass from the keeper to get us within one, and Trossard finished beautifully a wonderful cross from Saka.  The Gunners were sloppy in possession and couldn't generate much on offense, largely because Cucurella did a great job on Saka.  I was mentally composing this blog post at the hour mark and was going to write how Chelsea deserved the three points, but then we found another gear and Chelsea tired.  Considering the opposition and the circumstances, I call this a point gained rather than two dropped.  We'll be in third after the Spuds play, but in the mix and undefeated.

Notts County beat Gillingham 2-1 away, and remains near the top of the League 2 table.  It would be spectacular for them to be promoted again, but it's enough just to know they're competitive and certain to stay in the league.

USMNT 1 - 3 GERMANY

 The Germans could have scored twice as many goals had their finishing been better.  The US defense was horrendous.  We could have scored one or two more as well, but we were definitely second best on the day, by a wide margin.  Poor display.

ARS 1 - 0 MCI: Curse Lifted

 Twelve straight league losses is a very ugly record.  That streak was emphatically broken today as the Gunners just barely earned three points against the champions via a deflected strike from returning star Martinelli, subbed on at the half because he's back from injury.  City should have been down to ten men by then, but Kovacic escaped a straight red and then escaped a second yellow for late studs-up lunges into the ankles of Odegaard and Rice.  Earlier, Arsenal was very lucky not to have been scored on as they were very shaky for twenty minutes or so.  It was a team effort and everyone played their part.  Martinelli got the man-of-the-match award from Sky Sports, but for me, Rice was more important and Saliba was imperious as he completely shut down Haaland.  Arteta was beaming in the post-match interview, and who could blame him?

The less said about our limp performance in France the better.  A 2-1 loss to Lens isn't fatal, but our two games with Sevilla now loom large.  Anything less than two points from those games will leave us in perilous position.  

Benteke

 Former CP player Benteke has 14 goals and leads in player ratings for DC United.  I am happy that he is doing well, at the ripe old age of 32,  but DC United is still not a very good team.