We thoroughly dominated Forest, but it took a horrendous goalkeeping error from former Gunner (and US #1) Matt Turner to break the deadlock in the second half. Then naive play from Forest allowed a 4 on 3 which Saka finished off. Arsenal was cruising until an 89th minute scrappy goal from Awoniyi jangled nerves. But Forest could not get a second, and we took three points ahead of the showdown with Liverpool on the weekend. We will have to play much better than this to beat them. This was our first league double over them in 25 years, and we'd lost the last three at the City Ground.
Villa was soundly beaten at home by Newcastle, a shock result since the Magpies had lost four in a row and Villa hadn't lost at home for nearly a year. I expect the Villans will not be able to compete for the league, but they'll give the ECL slots a go. The game of the day was at Selhurst, where Palace came back from deficits (to Sheffield United) twice and grabbed the points off two goals from Eze, both assisted by Olise, who scored the winner. I don't know what their contract situations are, but every top club in the world could use either of them--and Palace needs them both. Luton pounded Brighton and seems capable of climbing out of trouble, Everton may get out of the relegation zone. There are so many bad teams that the relegation fight could get confusing. The Blades and Clarets are still favorites to drop, but there's room for one more in the Championship next season.
CP 3 Sheffield Forest 2
ReplyDeleteSurvival. For the moment. Not that impressive off an outing, but they fought back against an early deficit against a weak opponent and demonstrated some will to survive. Hodgson may be old, but he still can bring out some resilience in a team, I hope.
Rumours have it that owners of Crystal Palace are feuding with each other and some shares in its ownership are up for sale
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