I’ve got a couple of mates from Sheffield (one supports Wednesday, the other United), but I’ve only been to the Steel City twice and neither of them was for football. My mate the Blade is always bragging about Beautiful Down Town Bramall Lane (BDTBL) and there’s no doubt it’s got history. It’s the oldest ground in the world still hosting pro football and has been Sheffield’s United’s only ground since they were founded in 1889.
This was the game we really wanted to win. The fanbase and this bar are ambivalent about whether we want European football next season, but we are always up for the Cup. The boss rang the changes after the welcome win against Southampton. We again played three at the back with wing backs, with Luiz, Kolasinac and AMN returning. A midfield of Xhaka, Saka and Willock was behind Laca and Pepe. Basically a fluid 3-4-3, at least in attack.
We started really poorly, slow to move the ball and looking very jittery at the back. In particular, we looked dodgy in the air and badly missing Rob Holding who was all conquering there at St Mary’s. After just 8 minutes a cross came over from the left, McBurney won the header at the back post and Lundstram bundled in it. I certainly didn’t spot the offside first time round (and nor did the lino) but a VAR check showed Lundstram to be two foot offside and the goal was chalked off.
We continued poorly until mid-half, but slowly found our feet. AMN and Pepe were linking well down the left and Joe Willock began linking defence and attack very effectively, coming short for the ball, making ground and making telling passes. Tierney was playing really well, further forward than in the last game, putting in lovely crosses.
On 23 minutes, after a corner was defended it came back in to Lacazette with his back to goal. Basham clumsily kicked his left leg, just inside the box and Laca went down. A clear penalty, although the highly annoying McManaman thought it was soft, until he saw a replay. Pepe, with an excellent penalty record, stroked it into the far corner. Laca seemed to be hurt, but came back after some treatment.
25 min Sheffield United 0-1 Arsenal
You could really say it was against the run of play, but it seemed to bring confidence to the team, as we dominated the rest of the half. A truly lovely move saw Pepe to Laca who returned it immediately and Pepe struck an excellent shot which was well saved. We started playing quicker, with Willock to the fore and finished the half without further alarm.
Half time. Sheffield United 0-1 Arsenal
No changes at the break, but the home team started much the better. From a free kick United had the ball in the net but again it was offside, this time given by the lino and confirmed by VAR.
Luiz limped off with a knee problem and Holding replaced him, greatly improving central defence in the humble view of this scribe. After a few more minutes, Eddie and Dani came on for Laca and Willock. A delightful move saw Eddie and Saka combining until Saka, with space to run into, was cynically chopped down on the half way line by Robertson. Yellow card. Robertson had been lucky not to be booked in the first half for a similar foul on Laca.
Again crosses into the back post caused problems and the dangerous McBurney and Sheffield United could have had at least one more. A bizarre kick from the United goalie brought back memories of Jennings against Stepney in the 60’s but Martinez had it covered.
Finally we were undone by a long throw. Kola had a great chance to clear his lines but just kicked it against Holding’s back. It fell for McGoldrick who scored with ease. Same old same old.
87 minutes Sheffield United 1-1 Arsenal
United battered our defence with two good saves by Martinez. Five minutes of extra time.
After a minute of extra time another smooth move saw Saka find Eddie in space. He ran on, drew his man and played in Pepe. He got to the by-line but had to turn back and Ceballos took over. He drove into space and smashed the ball into the net with his right foot.
Dani Ceballos
Dani Ceballos
Drinks Estrella
Eats Paella
The boy is fucking magic!
91 minutes Sheffield United 1-2 Arsenal
Little happened in the remaining minutes. Sokratis came on. We saw the game out. I thought Holding made a real difference, constantly clearing the lines as the Blades went route one. Willock, Saka, Martinez and Tierney were excellent. Pepe had one of his better games for us and, rightly, lasted the full 90. We were the curate’s egg, good in parts, bad in parts. But we got the job done.
In the studio, Van Persie was audibly and visibly gutted that we had won and expressed himself unimpressed with our performance. Suck it up snake.
“I’m wearing it for The Arsenal ‘cos we’re going to Wembley!”
Wembley, Wembley
We’re the famous Arsenal and we’re going to Wembley!
Into our 30th semi final.
Come on you Gunners!
Full time. Sheffield United 1-2 Arsenal
well to start pretty much as i saw it, c1000. well played, and t’were quickly done. you must’ve skimped on that second helping of roast 😉
i hate to agree with mcmanamanaman, but i had the same reaction as he did to the penalty (i, too, revised on review). hopefully i am not as annoying (hush, now) as he is!
holding didn’t look as assured as last game, but he came in on the heels of an injury. once he got warmed up he was very good. odd he got the last arsenal touch on the last two goals against us (or 2 of 3).
hat tip to pepe and ceballos, both were much more involved than their last.
and i do love me some eddie/saka/joe/tierney.
on to wembley!
We need to get you to more games Scruz. Once you’ve stood on the North Bank a few hundred times those red tinted glasses tell you that every time one of ours falls over in the box it’s a pen. 😜😜
An excellent and rapid report CM100, matching the Guvna in speed and eloquence. Very much as I saw it though my match was interrupted as we had to go and collect our roast dinner at the second half water break. I saw news of the equaliser on my phone on Arseblog’s Liveblog as I waited for the roast beef to be plated up and was pretty gutted to see it went in on 88 minutes and the prospect of extra time filled me with despair given how we had been under the cosh for the whole second half but Ceballos’ winner hit the net just as we walked back to the car bearing our victuals. It made the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding taste even better to watch the last quarter on catch up knowing the outcome.
Martinez, Tierney, Willock and Pepe deserve mention in dispatches.
A morale boosting result and a day out for the players at our second home. Pity we’ve drawn Shitteh but maybe it’s time for the pupil to best the master.
Great report thanks C100.
Being a cup tie the only thing
that counted was the result
and we got it, though just about
in the end. 3rd time lucky vs
Sheff Utd this season and let’s
hope that continues vs Shitteh.
Largely agree with your report
though I was worried when we
didn’t get a second goal in the
first half. Anyway, job done and
well played lads.
Thanks for a very enjoyable report C100. I’m largely with you except I thought Holding regressed some way from his imperious game against Southampton . We looked like we might concede from almost every cross all game and before Kola lashed the ball against Holding for their goal , Rob had missed a fairly straightforward header .
But I would agree with all the other observations. Tierney was very promising and I thought Mustafi was solid . Emi Martinez is a very capable deputy for Leno and his save at 1-1 was very important.Pepe played very effectively, took his penalty well and his movement was too much for a rather pedestrian Blades defence .
It’s a pity we have Citeh because they are very strong but lost to the Chavs on Wednesday and we beat them last time we played them in the semifinals.
Who wrote this piece, and what has he done to the real Countryman100? I refer the honourable drinkers to para 2 of the second half: “the humble view of this scribe”. Forsooth!
Otherwise an admirable report, for speed, for accuracy and for balance.
In late-breaking news, I see the real C100 has returned @3 above.
I look forward to beating both Manchester teams at Wemberlee to round off the season. (I yield to no-one in the rosiness of my tinted spectacles.)
Tell me again, what did she wear?
COYG
Pangloss, like Uriah Heep, I’m ever so ‘umble.
Cheers C100 for a very speedy & astute match report. It was never going to be a walk in the park against a limited but well drilled physical team. The penalty was 100% correct – we have been penalised ourselves for similar circumstances, it’s a rare change for us to be given one.
The 2cnd half was more of an attrition, which is to be expected when away from home. Personally I thought Rob Holding merited a start in the match, not only following his fine performance at Southampton but he is the only CB we have who is capable under an aerial bombardment- tactics which come normal to a tall physical opponents. As per normal we conceded the most comical of goals ( we must hold the highest number in the league ) but a well worked move ended with Dani boy slotting home the winner. A match not high on quality or excitement but I’ll take the win every single day of the week.
That yellow ribbon is getting exceedingly worn 🎗🎗
Always up for the Cup and a comeuppance for the highly annoying McManaman.
A highly excellent read c100 to go with a highly excellent vic’try. COYG
pangloss@6, c1000 is baff?
Quick and sharp report, C100. Love the simulated singing.
We saw much the same game. One thing I would add is that now football is a game of four quarters, the Arteta tactical talk during the first drinks break was critical in turning the tide of the game in our favour. Sheffield did not look that threatening for the rest of the half as we got some modicum of control of midfield.
I thought the defence was OK given it was an FA Cup quarter-final, except for the goal and the two chalked off for VAR, where we were back to the same old same old. But otherwise they mostly dealt with what was thrown at them. There is something inherently less than calming when Luiz is on the pitch, so Holding coming one settles the nerves. Tierney (K, not P) looks better with every game.
No doubt in my mind about the penalty. My first reaction was a clear foul but expected Tierney (P, not K) to give it as a free-kick on the edge of the box. Pepe always looks useful when he gets into the game. For once, he was involved a lot, and shined proportionately. His penalty was better than it looked. Martinez again solid. He is no Leno with his feet but I like how he will hoof it long when he feels he would be in any danger playing it out short.
and a note about emi. his passing to a closely-guarded teammate at the D is going to lead to easy opposition goals. so stop doing that, please.
Enjoyed reading your fine report, C100. SU dominated the second half and when they equalized, I feared the worst. Ceballos coming on for Willock (who had an excellent game) did not fill me with confidence but he took his chance really well. It is worrying that most teams (Brighton, Southampton and SU) have been giving us a tough time defending, something which Arteta has to fix. A win was, however, very satisfying and look forward to the next game against Norwich.
I think playing three CBs helped
Pepe as AMN was able to get
forward more to support him.
Just watched the game again
as my memory was a bit hazy
after I dined too well.
We were a little better than I
remembered. I also noticed Xhaka
returned to the captaincy,
KT was better going forward but
not great defending. Emi was
solid, Mus was ok but his passing
was poor, the Japanese commentary
called the penalty immediately (I
wasn’t sure til I saw the replay) and
the ref did quite well.
SU are a very limited side in attack
and their goal was shit lucky. I’m
annoyed all over again that they
are above us in the league.
My only criticism is we should have
been more ruthless in front of goal
Oh, and we fully deserved the
win, fuck van persie and mcmanaman
(who is infinitely more annoying
than scruz) 😉
scruz@12: That short pass to a team mate in the D, often Xhaka, who then sends the ball out to the flank, is a tactic to beat the high press. Arteta has them using it a lot. That said and to your point, it wouldn’t be our defence if we didn’t screw it up once in a while. 🙂
Excellent summary Countryman.
Is Rory Delap in SU’s coaching staff? It felt much of their second half tactics was around getting a throw-in near our penalty box and then catapulting the ball into, if possible, the net.
7 wins in last 10 matches. Before that our 7 wins came in 27 (shudder) matches. At least the free fall has been arrested. And the team looks like they know what they are supposed to do. Not all of them are consistently capable of doing what’s asked of them, but that will need time, training, change of personnel.
Pepe I think has started to become used to the idea that more he contributes on our end of the pitch more chances he will get to do his magic on the other end. Him and AMN had a good partnership going yesterday, better than what Bellerin has been offering lately. Sure Hector will come into full fitness and form next season.
Tierney, Saka, Gabi — our left side is sorted for a while. Let’s just keep these three talents together, fit and happy.
Seems Balogun may be leaving,
according to Ornstein anyway.
I’ve never seen him play to be
honest so I’m not sure how much
of loss he will be.
Very disappointing that Arsenal is to sell Folarin Balogun, a very promising forward from our academy, as he has not agreed to an incentive based contract offered by the club. He I very highly rated and his case is another example of how poor our club is at players contract management. In a few years he will be worth £40-50 million like Serge Gnabry and Donyell Malen are worth today. I don’t know if we will ever see him in senior colors. A big loss.
You are just a bit faster to the draw, OM.
Since I read the headline (and only the headline), some people might consider me to be Jack Grealish’s friend, but let me assure you I am most assuredly nothing of the kind.
ksn, It is interesting your bringing up Donyell Malen’s name in this context. Gnabry is certainly the one that got away to my knowlege, but not having heard Malen’s name in a while I looked up his Transfermarkt page which indeed shows he is doing well in the goals and assists department at PSV Eindhoven, but it also says he is recovering from knee surgery (not that his recently getting injured has anything to do with the reason why he left Arsenal).
https://www.transfermarkt.us/donyell-malen/profil/spieler/326029
Sorry to hear Balogun is or may be leaving. https://www.goal.com/en/news/arsenal-to-sell-balogun-contract-talks-break-down/15ki2l2jud2hf1v0y2dpc3tcca
Balogun situation is complex. He is an outstanding prospect, but the question is, is he sufficiently outstanding to oust Nketiah or Martinelli from the first-team squad, or to ease ahead of John-Jules in the pecking order. From the club’s point of view, paying him richly only if he succeeds in doing any of those things, makes financial sense, but I can see Balogun’s agent would prefer the security of substantial wages up front. (He has the same representation as Nketiah, as it happens.) It is also notable that even though Arteta is willing to give youth its chance, he does not appear to have had Balogun involved in first-team training unlike many of the U-23s (eg, Smith, Ballard, Clarke, Medley, Swanson, Hilson). For those arguing that the club is about to let another Serge Gnabry get away, the question to answer is, would they sell Nketiah or Martinelli to make room for Balogun?
https://talksport.com/football/604653/donyell-malen-arsenal-sold-https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/06/05/report-napoli-eye-35m-deal-for-arsenal-linked-striker-donyell-malen/
Bt8 – the above articles (I don’t know how reliable the sites are) give an indication of how well Malen has progressed over the last three years at PSV and a number of clubs, including Arsenal (unbelievable) are showing interest in signing him.
I think we I’ll regret selling Balogun just as much.
NBN – I agree that the Balogun situation is complex but wouldn’t it make more sense to try him out in the first team before taking a decision. Of course, those (Ljungberg, Mertesacker etc) who see these players day in day out may have concluded that the youngsters in the first team are better than Balogun and, therefore, selling Balogun would be acceptable.
I’ve seen Balogun play live at youth level and he did well but as other correspondents have said we have a glut of young strikers ( Sam Greenwood below him is extremely highly rated ). Brentford reached agreement with him in the summer but Arsenal have been trying to get him to om it but that’s proved impossible . Regular watchers of the youth teams that I know felt John- Jules had a better chance of making it and he has made more progress although he got badly injured going out on loan to Lincoln a few months ago.
It’s all very well to criticise the club but you can only have five strikers or so in a squad The way forward seems to be to get a sell-on clause which rewards Arsenal if he does get sold for a large amount.
To the list of those who got away don’t forget Ozyakup who is exactly the sort of creative midfielder we now crave . But Mourinho let go De Bruyne , Salah and Lukaku for modest fees and football is littered with similar stories .
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