Goonerholics Forever

Arsenal arrived in Prague to play Slavia on the heels of an impressive team defensive display Sunday last at Anfield, which brought us to a 1-0 victory. We are undefeated in this year’s league phase of the Champions League, with the only apology our 2-2 draw against Bayern. To say we arrived on a bit of a high might be incorrect, but I wouldn’t put it past our squad to feel like purring into Prague feeling something…asiprational (tipping hat to Trev).

While we ran out winners 2-1 and ascended the league phase table to 3rd (one of only 4 teams to remain unbeaten), it was such a game of two halves. In the first half we scored two, and could have run up towards a scoreline that resembled what Como did to Lens (9-1!), but our profligacy very nearly came back to haunt us as Slavia pulled a goal back late in the second half…

The First Half
In his preview Trev called the squad excepting Rice and Gyökeres started rather than MLS and Bruno. Arteta thus rang in 6 changes from who started at Anfield; I would have preferred it be 7 or 8 changes, with Rice and Gabriel starting from the bench, but those decisions why they pay Mikel the big bucks. Surprisingly, and frighteningly, Saliba made the bench. We started thusly:

Raya
White – Konsa – Gabriel – Hincapié
Zubimendi – Merino – Rice
Madueke – Gyökeres – Eze

And very quickly it was shown to be a good lineup. In the first few minutes we had a couple of attacks fizzle out, one for offside and one due to a slightly overhit cross cleared by Slavia’s defense. Then, after a break by Slavia Raya cleared the ball past midfield for Gyökeres to bring down, hold up, and in the same motion lace the ball upfield ahead of Madueke. Noni beat his defender to the ball, and after a couple of fine touches snaked a sharp shot through the legs of Slavia’s keeper Domchak for Arsenal’s first goal. It was outstanding work from back to front; kudos to Gyökeres for his awareness and skill to get the assist, and to Madueke for his control and shot placement.

Arsenal 1-0 Slavia (Madueke, 9)

We continued as we started, and as the half wore on we had half-chance after half-chance. On 24′ Merino headed over after good work again by Gyökeres; only three minutes later Merino would test the keeper after a lovely move involving Madueke feeding White, who cut back to Merino from the byline…only to have Domchak stick out a strong hand to block the goalbound shot. In other circumstances we could have been up 3-0 and away…

Arsenal were having their way with Slavia’s defense, but Slavia kept threatening to break. Our defense held, but one such foray led to a Slavia throw-in from the right side facing goal, about twelve yards from the corner flag. They played the near-post routine almost perfectly, and a Slavia player connected with the flick-on putting it just outside Raya’s post. It would have been a miracle goal, but it certainly served fair warning to our defense.

On 38′ Merino won the ball back in their half, feeding Rice to drive forward, finding Gyökeres. He played a 1-2 with Merino, then took three exquisite touches to sit Slavia’s defense and curl the ball into the far corner of Domchak’s net, off the post. A truly beautiful goal.

Arsenal 2-0 Slavia (Gyökeres, 38)

Fair play to Slavia, they didn’t let their spirits drop, though they were distinctly second best to our second goal, and beyond. Gabriel nearly made it 3 with a header saved by a Slavia defender, and we went into half time after a minute of stoppage time. We had something like 75% possession in the first half, and could easily have been up 5-0 on another day. Our defense showed the same energy and solidity it had showed at Anfield, and all we needed was to play the second half like the first to run out easy winners.

The Second Half
But of course, it being Arsenal, it didn’t work out that way.

Slavia made two changes, a defender and a forward, and within the first minute of the half Kubiak’s shot on target forced Raya to save low to his left. That should have been a warning to us, but again it went unheeded. We looked like we’d shifted down a gear, almost to a level of somnolence, and Slavia seemed to take heart from our torpor. The were first to balls in the second half that we were first to in the first and they won free kicks all over the pitch. Fortunately none of them led to anything other than poor attempts at goal, but they were picking up speed even as we were shedding ours.

On 62′ Arteta appeared to have enough of this. Mosquera came on for the yellow-card-burdened Konsa, and Tzolis replaced a very quiet Eze. The hope seemed to be that the subs would gee us up and bring us back into the game, which was beginning to pass us by. Rice earned a yellow card for kicking away the ball in annoyance at a soft foul called for his slight touch of Slavia’s masked man; I think that was the opportune moment to substitute either MLS or Bruno and give our man Declan a chance to rest. But no, he stayed on.

On 72′ Madueke nailed Domchak with a stinging shot to his chest, one that he knew little about. Another chance missed. And a couple minutes later Slavia threatened from a corner, and it led to two chances; the first Gabriel headed away, the second Raya blocked. In that passage of play Slavia had a penalty shout, but Merino’s aerial challenge was deemed legal.

Arteta’s next move to rouse his slumbering troops was to bring in Mø and Timber for Vic and White. Bravo to Victor for an excellent game in the first half, though he was as anonymous as the rest of the squad in the second. My only thought, at that time, was “No Injuries, Please”. After another round of Slavia substitutes they played in a right-sided cross that led to a goal-bound header past a beaten Timber. Raya tipped it onto his post, then used all of his hands and head to keep the ball from crossing the line as he gathered it into his control. The closest call yet!

Until the 90th minute. A Slavia throw-in led to a left-sided cross into the box; Timber and Gabriel marked the same man, getting in each other’s way. The ball bounced through to an unmarked Praguelodyte who laced it into the top of the net. There will need to be some discussion about this one…

Arsenal 2-1 Slavia (Nowak, 90)

And that was pretty much the end of the game, though some inability of the Arsenal defense to clear the ball led to a very last-second shot that was easily gathered by Raya. We’d made it through with another victory, though we lost the clean sheet. It was a game we should have had out of sight at the half, but a combination of good enough defense from Slavia and poor finishing from those who should finish better meant we were limited to our two goal advantage going into the second half.

And was a horrible second half it was. That may be an overstatement, but we looked slow, tired, and nowhere near the squad we’d looked in the first half. Were Slavia a better side they could have punished us; it’s our luck that we faced them tonight rather than our next Champions League opponents Dortmund, who are pushing to rise from 12th into the top 8 by the start of the knockout stages. That Dortmund team just today gave a very good Betis team their first loss.

Well, onwards. Rice needs a rest, and with Max’s 3-game ban in the league we’re thin beyond Madueke up front right. Victor had a man-of-the-match performance tonight; can he continue in such a vein of form in the league?Saliba is clearly ready to be involved (but please have him be “injured” through this coming Interlull!), and our defense as a whole looked good, regardless of the goal. We just looked tired. One more game before we break for two weeks, home against Hull. Can we win that and hope some of our internationals can catch some rest while away on duty? Newcastle away awaits us upon our return to league play, and then Dortmund and C115y* to round out November. Let us pray to Dennis that our tired legs see some healing and renewal in the meantime.

COYG!