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I had been nervous about this game. The late kick in the teeth from the winner in Porto deep into added on time had changed the mind-set completely. Suddenly we had to score twice to win during the game, with the possibility of extra time and even penalties. And all against a side with Champions League pedigree and nous. Whereas it was many years since we had been in the competition regularly and even more since we’d progressed in the knock out stages.

So as we walked down the steps to Block 7, row 9, in the North Bank, it was with a fluttering in the “tummy” as Mikel likes to call it. The flags were dotted around again and as we got closer to kick off were being waved with enthusiasm. It had absolutely chucked it down for most of the day in London, although it was a mild evening, and as the flags were waved the accumulated raindrops from them formed a fine mist, soaking us. ‘North London Forever’ and the CL theme, all added to the grandeur of the atmosphere. Arteta had gone with the same team as against Brentford, bar swapping Raya in for Ramsdale (and how important was that to be!). 

This isn’t going to be a play by play report. I didn’t get home until 1.30 am and still haven’t watched the game back. But I want to talk about Porto. They are a schizophrenic team. They specialise in the dark arts and showed us in the first leg how they will waste time, collapse without being touched, con the referee and argue incessantly. Why would you want to watch a team like that I hear people asking? Well ask the passionate Portugese in the sold out away section or back at their fortress of a stadium. Because they are a highly skilled team, with a great defence and lightning fast wingers. They were good on the ball and, although they proved not great in the box, outplayed us for portions of the game. Respect. I remember back in the early 90s watching Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle play John Beck’s Cambridge United in what is now the Championship. You could see the Newcastle players being flummoxed by the über long ball tactics and complaining to Keegan. He bawled back at them “Don’t moan about it! Do something about it!” It’s the same with the Portos and Brentfords of this world. If they can make it work they are entitled to play their way.

So how about Arsenal? Remember we were still playing late on Saturday evening in a tough physical game. So it was a short turn around with essentially the same team. So no wonder we didn’t marmalise them as we have many PL teams lately. I thought Ødegaard (who is approaching Berkamp levels for me), Kiwior, Raya (who apart from his penalty heroics made key saves in each half) and Rice were outstanding. Trossard for me had a poor first half. He lost the ball four times out on the left wing, due to a combination of a poor touch and being out-fought and I was terrified that each time it was going to lead to a counter-attack and a goal for Porto. We badly missed Martinelli during that period.  I was among many others calling for Leo to be subbed off for Jesùs at half time. And then of course it happened …. just before half time as the crowd were just starting to get nervous.

Ødegaard picked up the ball in central midfield. He juggled with it, exchanged passes with Leo on his left, manoeuvring the ball to get it just right and (I think he took four touches using both feet) then, as Leo started his run, unleashed a defence splitting pass that took out three men deep in the penalty area, right into Leo’s path. Leo finished beautifully, guiding the ball through Pepe’s legs (ha, ha, ha). We were level, at a key moment in the game. And that, gentle reader, is why your correspondent is third from bottom of the GHF prediction league and Mikel Arteta is paid the big bucks. 

The second half and extra time didn’t produce a great deal of chances. We had the ball in the net, but it was chalked off for a foul called on Havertz’s tug on Pepe. It looked, all the time, as though Porto were playing for extra time and penalties. And so it came to pass. 

The first roar came as our captain won the toss and pointed to the North Bank. He then won the second toss and we got to go first. Afterwards, David Raya said that we spend a lot of time preparing for penalties, both outfielders and goalkeepers (why does this not surprise me?). We looked visibly confident as we stepped forward. Ødegaard, of course, led the way and smashed his penalty home with verve. As the Portuguese players stepped up they were met with a wall of noise and twirling scarves in the North Bank. Their first penalty sent Raya the wrong way. Havertz came up and did his hop skip and a jump to score. The Porto left back, Wendell (who I thought was excellent) went to Raya’s left. Our ‘keeper got a hand on it, pushed it onto the post, and somehow it didn’t go in off him. Next up Saka, who looked the picture of confidence as another great penalty went in to make it 3-1. Raya almost saved the third, getting a hand on it (I loved the fact that afterwards he was visibly disappointed that he didn’t save that as well). 3-2 and here comes Declan Rice. He put the ball down, took a deep, calming breath, gathered himself and smashed home his penalty con brio. Is there anything this man can’t do?

So Porto were now at the point of no return. Ironically their scorer from the first game, Galeno, was the man tasked with keeping them in the game. He struck it again to Raya’s left. Our ‘keeper guessed correctly, got two big hands on the ball and we were in the quarter final. 

Cue huge celebrations. I loved the fact that Ramsdale was one of the first to give Raya a huge bear hug with a huge grin. That tells you all about the spirit of the team and also what a big man, in all ways, Aaron Ramsdale is. Saliba was jumping about like a mad thing, clutching the flags and celebrating with the fans. Lovely to see. This is a very together bunch.  

The Porto manager proved himself a bad loser by claiming Porto were the better team and Arteta had said something about his family in Spanish. He refused to shake hands. He has serial form for this type of antics. Well, cry me a river. As Arseblog said this morning, fuck off back to Portugal and I hope Ryanair lose your luggage. 

I think this game was absolutely critical for the rest of our season. We are top of the league and in the CL quarters. We’ve played 11 games since Bahrain, won ten and only lost at Porto, which we put right last night. We await the draw for the quarters. We now have six days off before the international camps start and 19 days off before our next game (cough, away at City). From that point on March 31 we are playing football twice a week through April and May. Tough on the players and the fans.  During the dark periods of the last 20 years (last year excepted), at Easter, bar the odd FA Cup and trying to get top four, our season was over. We are where we want to be, with a talented young team and an incredible manager. Wherever you are watching, in Asia, Australia, the USA, Africa, various parts of Europe and the UK, or for the lucky few who are going to the games, we are privileged to be Arsenal supporters right now. 

Keep the faith!

Trás os Defensores

Two hours or so inland from the city of Porto lies the northeastern Portuguese province of Trás-os-Montes, or Behind the Hills.  I drove that route nearly 30 years ago but recalled it this week because Arsenal will have been working on some clever ways of getting in behind the Porto defenders to prevent a recurrence of the away leg when they failed to score a solitary goal.

In that first leg, played in Porto on February 21st, the home side scored in the last minute of stoppage time to take a one goal lead coming into Tuesday night’s deciding game in the Champions League Round of 16. Arsenal struggled to create many attacking opportunities, and the laissez faire referee allowed Porto to frustrate the Gunners with a nearly constant stream of borderline fouls.  The match was Arsenal’s most difficult and disjointed of 2024 to date, but the one goal deficit leaves the Gunners in decent position to score a come-from-behind victory and advance to the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2010.

Mikel Arteta set the stage in his pre-match presser, saying “You can’t wait in these situations, you have to go and make things happen and that’s the approach tomorrow.”  He added, “Now we know (Porto) a bit better. We have played these kind of games many times in the Premier League, we played one two days ago.”

We know that Brentford, who Arsenal defeated over the weekend, were taking a page from the Porto playbook, attempting to prevent Arsenal from playing their free-flowing football. We also know that Arsenal figured out a way to score two goals in that game, and should have had at least one penalty if the referee had gone by the rule against yanking on an opponent’s shirt in the penalty area and pulling them to the ground, so assuming that Porto play similarly (or even if they don’t) the Gunners should be in with a decent shout of overturning their deficit.

Porto

Porto is the most decorated Portuguese team in Europe with seven trophies won, including the 2004 Champions League and the 1987 European Cup.  As one of the big three clubs of Portugal, Porto have been regular participants in UEFA competitions.  They have qualified for European competition in every season since 1974–75, and share second place in the total number of Champions League group stage appearances with Bayern Munich, one less than Barcelona and Real Madrid. Porto are third in the Primeira Liga table with 55 points, trailing Sporting by four points, but sport the league’s stingiest defence having conceded only 17 times, three fewer than the next stingiest club, second placed Benfica.  They last played on Thursday when they defeated Portimonense away by 3-0 in the southern beach town of Portimão.

Arsenal

In the first leg Arsenal had no attempts on target and their last minute sloppiness put them in something of a hole when a draw was looking a certainly. But many a Premier League side has tried to stop them from scoring multiple goals in the last two months and none has succeeded so they have reason to feel confident. But they need to defend staunchly for 90 minutes and every second of time added on.

At left back Zinchenko is back from injury having come off the bench against Brentford, and he is probably the better choice for this match, to deliver some smart balls in behind the defense, although Kiwior has been very good recently as a more traditional left back. Gabriel Jesus also made a successful return recently, but Gabriel Martinelli remains out with a cut foot, so the starting team should look something like this:

Raya
White – Saliba – Gabriel – Zinchenko
Odegaard – Rice – Havertz
Saka – Jesus – Trossard

The ‘holic pound

It’s our moment to shine. This is our home leg and we must play to our potential, and show the Portuguese as little hospitality as Arsenal received in the first leg, but I think we will manage to do all of those things. Arsenal 3 Porto 1 is my prediction, with Bukayo Saka getting in behind os defensores and scoring a late beauty to moot any consideration of extra time and penalties, and send Arsenal to march on to the quarterfinals. This young squad is due for just such a coming of age moment. If so, be sure you have emerged from behind the couch with two eyes open.

Have a good one, ‘holics.

A dramatic night at the Home of Football saw us (eventually) restored to our rightful place at the top of the Premier League with a late header by Kai Havertz. It decided a bad-tempered and tense affair pockmarked by Brentford’s play-acting and simulation of head injuries. The ball was in play for less than fifty minutes in a game that lasted nearly a hundred! 

A comedian once told me that there are only seven types of joke and I suspect there are only a limited number of types of football match. This game fell into the bracket of a very one-sided game turned on its head by a catastrophic error by an Arsenal keeper playing only because his replacement in the first team line up was ineligible to play against the team from which he is on loan. Given this scenario, football dramas dictate that the replacement keeper saves a penalty or compounds his errors. Ramsdale did neither but made two fine saves in the second half in what may be his valedictory performance as an Arsenal keeper.

The game degenerated as a spectacle as Brentford employed every underhand trick in the book to waste time, dupe the referee and wind up their opponents. There are many Arsenal fans tonight who will, as a result, be hoping Brentford’s plunge towards relegation goes into free-fall.  Their demeanour was ghastly and their shithousery raised the temperature of an already febrile Emirates to boiling point. 

Yet it had looked relatively routine throughout a very one-sided first half. 

Arsenal began with Trossard replacing Martinelli in the only change from Monday’s cakewalk in  Sheffield. Toney was called on to clear a Rice corner off the line in the second minute. Our tempo was electric, our interchanging bewildering but Brentford’s low block held firm until the 18th minute when Benny Bianco curled in a right wing cross which Declan Rice glanced wide of Flekken in the Brentford goal . 

Arsenal 1 Brentford 0

We switched the ball constantly between wings and Havertz had a shot blocked by the keeper before screwing wide after a beautiful Jorginho pass. Trossard was put through by a brilliant piece of distribution from Ramsdale but lacked the pace to finish and Saka drilled just over. All seemed set fair until just before half time Gabriel nudged the ball back to Ramsdale who dallied on the ball allowing Wissa to deflect the ball into the net. Before too many sages reflect that Raya would never commit such a mistake may I refer you to his error early on in the crucial game against Manchester City when he almost let in Alvarez.

Arsenal 1 Brentford 1 – Half-time 

The half-time interval felt similar to the one against Liverpool where they scored a freak goal on the stroke of half-time. As the enormity of Ramsdale’s error dawned, he was comforted and encouraged by several team-mates. I reflected how fortunate it was that the odious William Gallas had retired.

Arsenal tried to up the pace from the start of the second half but Brentford dropped into a narrow and deep block. We forced many corners which saw farcical pushing and shoving matches and the ineffectual referee Rob Jones exercise a degree of tolerance that I thought was far too generous to a cynical Brentford side. We had two decent shouts for penalties for fouls on Trossard and Gabriel but Brentford felt Havertz who had already been booked was guilty of simulation in going down too easily about fifteen minutes from the end.  Our two best chances saw a Gabriel header blocked on the line and Declan Rice fire a fine effort following a corner onto the angle of post and bar. But Brentford were dangerous too. Toney tried to take advantage of Ramsdale’s advanced position with a dangerous effort that Ramsdale tipped wide at full stretch. With twenty minutes left Collins, a perpetual nag to the referee popped up in the Arsenal box to fire in a header which Aaron tipped athletically over.

We were just trying to estimate the amount of injury time that the referee would  add (predicting that it would be woefully inadequate) when Benny Bianco produced another excellent cross this time to the near post and Havertz arrived to head firmly home off the bar. Cue pandemonium and wholesale disapproval at the inordinate amount of injury time (seven minutes) that  the referee had allowed! 

Arsenal 2 Brentford 1 

We managed to survive the seven minutes with few alarms and thankfully the labyrinthitis which had spread through the Brentford team throughout the second half, miraculously disappeared. 

Full Time – Arsenal 2 Brentford 1 

It was the sort of messy, highly charged game that occurs in our situation at this stage of the season. It is about a year since Reiss Nelson’s last-second ‘worldie’ against Bournemouth. We had nothing like as late a goal today but it was tight and tense and ultimately triumphant.

Ramsdale, while not completely redeemed, did not cost us any points and made two terrific saves. I was taken by the intelligence of Jorginho whose passing is a delight, the runs between the lines of Havertz who is really developing as a 2024 version of Martin Peters for those of older vintage, the consistency and effectiveness of Ben White who is now such an effective attacking weapon and the industry and quality of Rice and Ødegaard who are players of the highest class. 

A narrow squeak, but one of those games I felt we were always going to win. Now for Anfield and hopefully an eagerly contested draw! 

And so to the Stadium of Stone on Saturday, when Brentford are our visitors as late afternoon turns to early evening and twilight brings the promise and menace of the night (OK! For a 5.30 kick-off).

Our home league record against the Bees is surprisingly flat. Although we’ve lost only once, in 1938, we have only two wins in the seven games, a 2-1 in February 2022 when Saka and Smith Rowe scored (the lesser spotted ESR has only scored one other goal since) and a 2-0 in May 1939 when Ted Drake and Alfred Kirchen scored. Both, like Eddie Hapgood and ‘Gentleman Jack’ Crayston, were playing what would be their final league games for the club as the storm clouds of war gathered. 

A side note to that game is that it was filmed for use in the movie version of the best-selling caper whodunnit, ’The Arsenal Stadium Mystery’. Brentford played in white shirts and black shorts, the colours of The Trojans, Arsenal’s fictitious opponents in Leonard Gribble’s original story, which had been serialised in the Daily Express. Presumably, Brentford would not have played in their customary red and white stripes anyway because of the colour clash. 

The mystery revolves around the death of a Trojan player during a charity game at Highbury. Cliff Bastin and Hapgood had cameos, but only manager George Allison got a (small) speaking part. Drake’s goal was shown in the film making the score ‘one-nil to the Arsenal’, giving Allison the line ‘And that’s how we like it.’

You can watch the film here if you have a mind or just can’t be arsed with the rest of this preview.

In the actual league match, Drake’s goal was the second, near the end of the game. Kirchen’s opener was controversial. His shot hit the bar, bounced down to the ground and spun back into the field of play. To the fury of Brentford’s players, the referee adjudged the ball to have crossed the line and whistled a goal. Where was VAR when you needed it? Thankfully, still three-quarters of a century away.

The opposition

Unlike us, Brentford comes into this Saturday’s game on a poor run of form. Two wins in their past 15 games have dropped them to 15th in the league, six points clear of the relegation zone. Last weekend, they drew at home with the mob from the Bus Stop, having been behind and then ahead. Holding leads is a problem; Brentford has dropped more points, 28, from winning positions this season than any other team in the league.

That points to the Bees’ potency and porosity, which makes the game another potential banana skin. To be sure, Arteta has hit on a simple solution to avoiding banana skins: scoring five or six. Yet Thomas Frank and Brentford are a cut above hapless Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United. We can expect stiffer resistance than that offered at Bramall Lane on Monday evening, even if, in the end, one trusts, it will prove just as futile.

Frank has settled on a 3-5-2 set-up after chopping and changing his formation in the first half of the season. His team plays an intense, high-pressing game but without dominating possession. It averages 35% this season, the eighth lowest in the league.

David Raya’s replacement, Mark Flekken, will be between the sticks. Frank’s defence is missing Ben Mee, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey and Ethan Pinnock due to injury. Thus, the back three will likely be Denmark international Mathias Jørgensen, who goes by the name Zanka, Ireland international Nathan Collins, and Norway international Kristoffer Ajer.

Look for the five across the middle to comprise wing-backs Sergio Reguilon, the Spaniard on temporary day release from the Marshlands as part of his rehabilitation back into society, and talented young Dane Mads Roerslev, outside of fellow Dane and club captain Christian Nørgaard, Nigerian international Frank ONyeka and the former German U-21 international Vitaly Janelt. Yet another Danish international, Mathias Jensen, will be an option from the bench when Frank finds his starting midfielders stymied by Rice and Ødegaard.

Up front, it will be Ivan Toney, possibly to be seen next season in a shirt of a different arrangement of red and white (although I wouldn’t bet on it), alongside DR Congo international Yoane Wissa. French-born Cameroon international Bryan Mbeumo, top scorer this season, and summer signing Kevin Shade are out with injury. Unfortunately, the grody Neal Maupay is fit and available.

Toney and Wissa are a threat. Toney is one of the few to give Saliba as good as he gets. Stifling the supply to the Bees’ frontmen will be crucial. Yet, one of Arteta’s less heralded tactical successes this season has been to cut the opposition’s main men out of the play. Bowen barely had a kick against us but scored a hat trick in his next game; Guimaraes and Gordon were anonymous for the Barcodes, ditto Fernandes for the Red Mancs.

Toney is also a threat at set-pieces. With Ramsdale in goal because Raya is inelligble against his parent club, Brentford wll likely try to engineer opportunities to test the theory that the Englishman’s cross catching is inferior to the Spaniard’s. We have conceded fewer free kicks than any other Premier League side this season. That discipline will need to be to the fore against an opponent that has shown twice before against us this season its willingness to scrap even in a losing cause.

The Arsenal

Picking the team is an unusual challenge compared to the stability of selection in recent games. We must consider this game and Tuesday’s Champions League second leg. Thus, I think Jesús starts against Brentford but comes off after an hour to rest for a start against Porto. Partey starts on the bench in both games but will get minutes in both. Jorghino will step down to make room for Havertz. This assumes Saka and Martinelli pass late fitness tests. Vieira and Trossard, respectively, are likely replacements if they do not, though some will hope for ESR. Thus:

Ramsdale

White – Saliba – Gabriel – Kiwior

Ødegaard – Rice – Havertz

Saka – Jesús – Martinelli

There is no need to rehearse our record-breaking AD (™21CG) run of seven wins. The team’s energetic, intricate attacking has been a delight, but its goal-scoring is an outlier. Our xG for the seven games in which we have scored 31 goals was 19. As for our defence, three goals conceded when the xGA was barely two. What can one say? Means will reassert themselves at some point, but even if they do, this team, emerging like a butterfly from its chrysalis, should still be playing winning football.

Every game is a must-win from here on in. Arteta will keep the team focused on Brentford and on dropping another three points in the poke, to use BtM’s argot. Do that, and we will be top, at least until Sunday, possibly longer, depending on the result at Anfield. 

Enjoy the game ‘holics, near and far.

Men vs Boys

Arsenal just keep breaking records, and they smashed another one in Yorkshire tonight as they became the first team in all four divisions of English professional football to win three consecutive away matches by five goals or more. 

In the lead up to the game much of the talk was centred around the number of goals Arsenal were going to score rather than the outcome of the match. That was considered to be a foregone conclusion against what the table strongly suggests is the worst in the league. A touch of arrogance? Perhaps. But as soon as the game commenced it soon became apparent that this arrogance was justified. 

With barely a minute gone Arsenal were within a whisker of a very early lead as Saka rattled the bar from close range before the ball rebounded to Martinelli who saw his fierce drive cleared off the line with the ‘keeper beaten. It set the tone for what was to follow and moments later Arsenal were ahead as Martinelli fed Rice on the left and the Englishman’s cutback found Ødegaard who slotted home with ease in what has become his trademark finish. 

And in a flash, it was two. Saka skinned Auston Trusty, formerly of this parish, drove into the box and his low cross was inadvertently bundled in by Bogle for an own goal. And then we blinked and when we opened our eyes again it was three. We cut through the Blades like a knife through butter and Kiwior’s cutback found Martinelli who found the bottom corner via a slight deflection, but it was undoubtedly his goal. 

It was becoming humiliating for the hosts who opted to make an early substitution as Ollie Norwood was replaced by Ben Osborn on the quarter hour mark as Chris Wilder opted for a back five in a bid to prevent a cricket score. Barring injury, I think that might be the earliest substitution ever.

But it had little effect as Arsenal added two more before the break, firstly through Kai Havertz who drilled home for his third goal in three games. 4-0 inside twenty-five minutes! And not long after it was five. Ødegaard found Saka who turned the defender inside out, cut it back for Declan Rice who duly converted for his fifth of the season. 5-0 inside 40 minutes….

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a sixth before the break which would’ve broken yet another record, but we can’t have it all. Saka was replaced by the returning Fabio Vieira as a precaution with the game already won. Arsenal continued with the same intensity and before the hour we had another. Jorginho clipped a sumptuous ball over the top which was brought down expertly by Havertz who took a touch inside and fed Ben White who clumped the ball home for number six, equalling our biggest away win in the Premier League era, only a few weeks after we put six past West Ham. These are heady days indeed. 

Arteta then brought on Partey and Jesús – the former making his first appearance since early October. Both understandably looked a little rusty but getting those minutes in the legs can only be a good thing as we head into a crucial phase of the season. The game petered out from this point. Of course, it would’ve been nice to score more goals, but we have a big game on Saturday night at home to Brentford followed by that huge tie at home to Porto as we look to overturn the one goal deficit from the first leg. Those games are more important and when you’re six goals up with a third of the game to go you can afford to plan ahead. It’s a nice luxury to have and it is a luxury we have created for ourselves. 

That’s 31 goals in seven games which is really quite something. To put that into context, that’s more goals than Sheffield United, Burnley and Everton have managed all season. In fact, it is only six fewer goals than Manchester United and their billion-pound squad have managed in the league all season. 

We have now scored the most goals (68) and conceded the least (23) in the league. Basically, we’re quite good. And yet we are still third, two points behind Liverpool, one behind Manchester City. The good news is both those two face off this weekend so at least one will drop points, ideally both. But we will need to beat the Bees first and if we do, we will go top for 24 hours at least. 

Goal difference is another factor that could well come into play come the season’s end. Ours stands at +45, six better than Liverpool’s and ten better than City’s. Pre Dubai our GD stood at a comparatively paltry +17 so it is quite the turnaround. If we win the league, I think we should refer to this season in two parts- BD for before Dubai and AD for after Dubai. You never know, it might catch on. 

COYG!

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