Tuesday dinner-time at Molineux an injury plagued but steadily ascendant Arsenal, fresh from Saturday’s all-even duel with one of the table’s top clubs, will try to make it a shiny eight consecutive unbeaten matches. Wolves come into the match on a decidedly poor run but we need look no further than this week’s other results in a topsy-turvy Premier League season to confirm that the Gunners must sustain the best of their recent good form to emerge with the coveted points. Having drawn with Manchester United while playing without possibly their three best players (Aubameyang, Saka and Tierney) and with continued availability concerns surrounding them as well as Gabriel Martinelli, Mikel Arteta’s selection dilemma is again to find the right balance between keeping players fresh for the long haul and ensuring that the team has the right blend of ingredients to carry the day.
Arsenal can draw upon the positive energy they showed in their clean sheet against United and in the 3-1 league win at Southampton a week ago Tuesday, their most recent away outing, when a terrific trio of goals by Pepe, Saka and Lacazette made up for an early Saints tally conceded due to a poorly marked corner kick. In both matches Cedric and Pepe stepped up to provide bench strength when Arsenal really needed it while Luiz, Holding, Xhaka and Lacazette among others put in workhorse performances to extend Arsenal’s good string of results. As the January transfer window closes today there is a chance of one or two last minute personnel changes but loan signing Martin Ødegaard got a few minutes Saturday to show Mikel Arteta he may be able to play a useful role in attacking midfield in the season’s last half.
Arsenal XI
Leno
Bellerin Holding Luiz Cedric
Partey Xhaka
Smith Rowe
Willian Lacazette Pepe
I can see little reason to change defensive personnel when on a run of good defensive performances so Luiz and Cedric should keep their places, while Gabriel and KT3 can work on regaining fuller fitness. Pepe deserves to retain his place based on current form, and shouldn’t be shunted to cool off on the bench as he shows signs of improvement. Willian played a useful 45 minutes against United, and I think Arteta may start him to give Martinelli, Saka and Aubameyang a bit more recovery time.
Arsenal play next at Aston Villa in the lunchtime slot on Saturday, and hopefully will have a few rested and ready players coming back into the team then.
The opposition
Wolves have dropped 19 of the last 24 Premier League points on offer, and have underperformed over the season’s opening half for the first time since winning promotion in 2017-18. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side has not made up for the losses of fullback Doherty who was signed by Spurs in the off-season, and striker Jota who was shipped to Liverpool for a handsome profit. Nuno’s men have scored 21 but conceded 30 goals in 21 matches, a performance good enough to justify their spot in lower mid-table but not sharp enough in attack or defence to promise a great deal better. They continue to miss Raul Jimenez, their star striker, since his late September injury against Arsenal when Neto and Podence’s first half strikes secured a 2-1 away win. Between Willian Jose and 18 year old Fabio Silva, who has started 6 league games, Espírito Santo needs his front line to provide more goals in the Mexican’s absence. Neto leads the club with four goals, followed by Podence with three, the same number as Jimenez.
Wolves enter their third straight league fixture against London opposition having failed to score against Chelsea and Crystal Palace. Against Chelsea last Tuesday, Wolves lined up with Semedo at left back, Aït-Nouri at right back until he left with injury as Hoever came in at left back and Semedo switched to the right. Centre-backs Coady and Boly completed their defence. Aït-Nouri did not travel to Palace so his availability is in doubt; Hoever could deputise for him again or centre back Saiss could fill in as he did three other times this season. Traore, Neto, Dendoncker, Kilman, Podence and Neves filled out a team playing without a true striker until new signing Willian Jose came on with 20 minutes left. Neto was their most prominent threat in a side that seemed content to sit back and play for the draw they succeeded in getting.
At Palace on Saturday, Willian Jose got his starting debut but in a game of few chances Palace’s Eze was alloted space by Wolves’ defence just outside the box and he scored the decider a quarter-hour into the second half. Wolves responded by bringing on Traore for Hoever on the right, loanee Vitinha for Podence on the left, and Silva came on for Moutinho. With ten minutes to go Willian Jose nearly converted Neto’s corner but time ran out leaving Wolves winless in eight league matches.
The holics pound
0-2 to The Arsenal, short and sweet.
May we savour three scrumptious points to our utmost satisfaction. Frustrating the hungry Wolves could double our fun and could put us at a preferred spot in the table, but don’t forget to tell the chef to hold the heavy dishes until the lads have done their business because wolf could be on the menu if there is any luck in it.
That was a comprehensive take on our preparedness and prospects for our next game at Wolves tomorrow evening, Bt8. I agree with your team except that with Saka and Auba training today, I feel they will feature (especially if Auba is eligible given the quarantine rules) in place of Willian and Pepe. The rest of them will start but Odegaard will come on in the second half. Given that Neto and Traore have so much pace I would prefer Gabriel over Luiz in defence but I think Arteta will retain Luiz. It will be a tricky game and I hope the boys are ready for it. KT will be missed, of course. An early lead is important for both teams and Wolves will be difficult to play as they are so good at counter attacking.
Well considered preview, bt8. Reasons to be optimistic, but beware the threat that is Podence.
Reasons to be optimistic? Two Marx brothers down.
Well in bt8. Good stuff.
I think your team is right unless Auba is available, when I would expect him to take Willian’s spot. I agree completely on Pepe starting- it would be so useful for the club is he could find some consistent form and he won’t do that on the bench. That will also allow us to rest Saka an extra match.
2-0 sounds good. We already dropped 3 points against Wolves this season. Four points from Manure doesn’t get you that far unless you take at least three from Wolves.
UTA
Edu pulling his finger out this window.
Out of what I am too delicate to ask, GSD.
A comprehensive review, bt8. We should be able to beat them, but need to be on guard against their counterattacks. Traore could give Cedric a torrid time.
I suspect Auba will play if available, with Pepe moving to the right and Willian dropping to the bench. Saka should be kept for Villa, when he will likely be more needed. There is a case for keeping a settled defence and no one in the back four did anything against Man Utd to deserve being dropped.
Seven points from the Man U, Wolves and Villa games is the target. So three points essential on Tuesday.
Thanks for an informative and entertaining preview bt8. I must confess to unfamiliarity with most of the Wolves team. Whoever (see what I did there?) Wolves field, their morale must be in their boots. Thus we should expect the Gunners to approach this match on the front foot and go for the three points. However given our own form earlier this season there is no room for complacency. We will have to work for those points.
I suspect your team is spot on apart from the wide men. I think Auba will, if the regulations permit, start wide left with Pepe reverting to his right sided role though I would personally prefer Saka wide right with Pepe retaining his recently successful wide left role. Willian’s 45 minutes on Saturday was an improvement on his recent performances but that is a very low bar and I don’t think it’s enough to get a start unless your fears about the availability of Auba and Saka prove prescient. It would indeed be nice to see Ødegaard for a slightly longer cameo than his 10 minutes on Saturday.
2-0 to the Arsenal would be a very acceptable result. COYG
Willock and AMN off on loan, but nothing for Reiss Nelson, it seems. I hope AMN survives being coached by Big Sam.
Loan switches for Medley and Matt Smith. Olowu headed for a loan at Wealdstone.
Good luck to Mustafi at Schalke. He has been a better soldier for the club than many acknowledge.
Well said Ned.
Mustafi has worked hard and showed a lot of character. I wish him well.
I am also glad he has gone.
Very good preview Bt8 and I hope your optimism is justified by a fine performance.Im starting to feel that squad strength and ability to manage injuries will be even more key factors this year than normal . So we shed a host of players ! To be fair we were wildly overstocked and we’ve significantly improved the balance sheet this window ..I’m hoping Odegaard might play wide tomorrow with Pepe on the other flank so that we have some legs . The key will be shackling Traore , Podence and Neto.
I’m not a huge fan of NES and his team of Portuguese mercenaries financed by a superagent and this year might see them struggle and I hope we can accelerate this struggle with a 2-1 victory
With Mustafi heading out, we have knocked roughly 650K off the weekly wage bill. Hopefully that will mean a shiny new contract and bump in wages for Saka and ESR if they continue to perform for the rest of the season.
Accurate summary of Wolves current
situation thanks bt8. Like us Wolves
have been struggling in front of goal
so I will go with a 1-0 to The Arsenal
I think.
Done well to ship out Ozil, Papa,
Mus and Kola this window.
Good work on a clusterfuck contract
situation. The real trick will be to
not find ourselves in the same
situation two years from now.
best of luck to Mus, Kola and I
suppose Schalke – they’ll need it
Vitally important we don’t concede the first goal and give Wolves a confidence boost.
As Bt8 points out, they are in an a real form slump as bad we were prior to Christmas.
As for the lineup, i would prefer Willian be nowhere near the starting 11, but given he did a reasonable job in the 2nd half on Saturday, i assume Artet will pick him, which allows Pepe to play on the left where he seems to offer a better balance than when he plays on the right.
Not sure Partey will start, given he was sub par on Saturday.
I don’t think he has adjusted to the pace of the EPL yet.
We may yet see Ceballos, and or Modi and Gabriel in the defensive mix.
I do think the Wolves game should be the one we can win without risking major players who are 50/50 fitness wise at best, the Villa game will be much more difficult given how well they are playing, so our strongest side will be needed for that one.
A good transfer window on the outgoing side, with AMN going to WBA, he must really be desperate for playing time going there, Willock to Newcastle, good move for him, and Mustafi off the books completely to Schalke.
Well done to Edu, who has been in my opinion unfairly criticized in the bar, when we are not privy to what goes on behind the scenes at the Club.
He and Arteta are working very closely on what they want to do moving forward, and we are clearly making progress on the playing side.
Wot GSD and Ned said about
Mus👍.
I guess Clive will be 66.6% happy
as we got PL loans for AMN and
Joe. Good luck to them both.
I will be looking out to see how AMN
does in midfield as he is a possible
partner for Partey (to me anyway)
but never really got a run of games
in our midfield.
Oh, a coincidence. I hadn’t read
yours @15 before posting Clive.
No stories on Nelson so I assume
we wanted to keep him for the
remainder of the season though
he seems out of favour just now.
No LB back—up brought in. An
optimistic sign that KT is ok?
I really hope so.
A thoroughly entertaining preview bt8! Auba seems to be back and smiling in the training photos so he may start. Saka may get a bit more time to fully recuperate before Villa away, with Pépé back on the right side for tomorrow. Wonder if Mikel will take it slow with Thomas and give him longer breaks between the matches in which case Xhaka-Elneny will start. 2-0 win sounds good. A bright start and an early goal will be most welcome.
Must agree re: Mustafi with NBN and GSD @9/10. Second half of last season he fluorished with the (to me) surprising 100% backing of Arteta. At other times it was a decidedly bumpy ride but over 150 matches in the short speaks for itself. Good luck and thank you Shkodran. Sorry it couldn’t have been sweeter.
short = shirt
Damn, I thought I corrected all the typos.
Good luck also to AMN and all those leaving on loan. Exciting times.
And thanks all for your kind words about the preview, it was a fun one to write.
I guess it is accurate to say Mustafi was in the short(s) too. Onwards and upwards (no Trev, not like that) for all concerned.
Clive@15: not sure I agree with you that Partey hasn’t adjusted to the PL yet. What I do think he can’t do yet is last for 90 minutes. That said he had a bit of a Richard Murdoch against Man U.
Ned
I think that was what I was trying to convey.
He can’t keep up for the full monty.
Which in my layman’s terms means what passes for fitness for LaLiga, is not good enough for the EPL.
Matt @17
Re Nelson,
I did read he was going to Spain on loan, but it got complicated,
So agreement made to go in summer on full season loan.
2 clubs were interested, Villareal was one I believe.
Thanks Clive for the info on Nelson.
I wonder why La Liga- is it because that
is where the interest is or is that something
he and Mikel have agreed he needs?
Anyway, be good for him to play a full season
of football
Matt
Just confirmed it was Valencia not Villareal, and the problem was due to number of foreign players on their books.
Thanks for a fine preview bt8.
I was going to say your team is probably correct but I would swap Nelson for Willian. I’m now confused about where Nelson is and for how long….. He has become a mystery. However, Clive seems to know, so I would believe him and play Clive instead of Willian. Anyone instead of Willian. Perry Groves is still knocking around ……
Clive,
Well, we know all about that problem.
Going to be a difficult few months for
Nelson but hopefully things will go ahead
in the summer.
This article quoting Swiss Ramble ( an impeccable source) underscores just how inept our transfer dealings have been since 2010 . Interestingly for the 14 years before that they were both good and immensely profitable . Depressing reading and something that can’t be laid at one person’s door. Several people share the blame !
Arsenal have LOST £236million on player transfers since 2010
Excellent and thorough preview Bt8. I was a bit apprehensive about this game with our absentees but your timely reminder of our uptick in form and the recent performances of Pepe, Laca and Saka have assuaged my fears. We should be able to turn a Wolves side that is struggling at the moment. We need to start fast and be wary of their counters with Traore, who I suspect will give Cedric a horrid time, as well as Podence and Neto who are very tricky customers.
I am not as generous as some of the patrons above towards our departing German CB. He did have decent games but my lasting memories are of him making high profile errors that cost us games, Palace in the league in the 2018/19 season comes to mind, and then completely abdicating responsibility by pointing at others as if to suggest it was not his fault. Technically a good player on his day but prone to rash decisions and mentally feeble. The number of games he played for us is less a reflection of his quality and more an indictment of our squad management. I wish him no ill will of course and hope that he and Kolasinac manage to save Schalke’s season. Although if their performances for us are anything to go by then I fear their fate might now be sealed.
TTG @29,
You probably know or remember the chap who used to sell the Gooner close to Arsenal tube station. Big lad, blond hair, booming voice – “Getcha Gooner !” – there for years. Well I used to bump into him occasionally at the local park / lakes on a Sunday morning and we would inevitably chat about the Arsenal. I won’t give exact details about how it came about, but he had apparently had a lengthy one to one conversation with Arsene Wenger about the state of the club.
That would have been in 2012/13 and as a result he told me that we were finally going to have some serious money to spend in the transfer market in 2014. The sum he told me about was £250 million.
Looks like we chucked it all in the bin.
Clive@24: We are in full agreement.
A La Liga loan would make sense for Nelson. It would sharpen his technical skills and tactical appreciation, while his pace and directness would serve him well there.
MA@30: for what it is worth, Mustafi had a better Opta Performance score last season than David Luiz, Holding and Sokratis and a better one than David Luiz and Sokratis the season before. To your point, that might indicate a paucity of competition, and, no argument, Mustafi made high-profile errors that will always cloud his Arsenal reputation. Yet, for the most part, he was a workman-like Premier League centre half — just not of the consistent top-quality that the Arsenal requires nor perhaps the value given his cost.
TTG@29: Swiss Ramble is always worth the read, and also makes the non-trivial point that on the P&L, depreciation makes many of these sales less costly than they look on a straight cash basis. What is not said is how good these numbers make the early-era Wenger eye for undervalued talent look — perhaps that should be the Wenger-Dein era?
MiddleArse re: Mustafi, You assess his entire history with us very accurately and hopefully we won’t repeat our mistake. I wouldn’t have been as generous as I was yesterday, focusing on the second half of last season, if there had still been a chance Arteta might’ve put him back in the team which he might have if not for Holding’s emergence this season. In my mind that makes Mustafi an enigma if a generally poor and unreliable Arsenal player by the standards of the squad we were hoping to build. Our defensive options are certainly giving me more hope at the moment (assuming here that Saliba is indeed progressing and Chambers has been impressing in training upon his return from serious injury).
Mustafi was a nightmare.
Too simplistic ? I don’t think so. Even on those days where he was dominating a forward with aggressive close marking and not playing too badly, there was always a game changing accident waiting to happen. Poor positioning, losing men he was supposed to be marking, panicked recoveries, losing balance and going to ground in stupid situations giving away penalties and free kicks in dangerous areas. Basically, a lack of concentration, composure and responsibility. That is not what you pay £35 million for.
He made – ah, that beautiful past tense – Phil Senderos look like Franz Beckenbauer.
Trev
I do know the lad you refer to. He has done a sterling job over the years . That information does show how we may have wasted the potential that lay before us in 2010 or thereabouts .
Ned refers to the Wenger / Dein era and I think they worked beautifully as a combination . You can sense in Wenger’s rather vanilla book that Dein is the only colleague he namechecks regularly . They were not quite Clough and Taylor ( classier and more abstemious ) but I think Dein was able to realise Arsene’s ideas in real terms and sell a vision to players like Bergkamp , Campbell and Platt . Dein was effectively a fanatical Gooner with the keys to the piggy bank .
Gazidis was a disaster and while Sanllehi did some good things we have ended up burning piles of cash because of contracts that have run down and signing players to wildly inflated contracts . Estimates suggest we’ve saved £600k per week in this window
I am perfectly happy to be kind to Mustafi now he has left. And I do appreciate that he showed resilience and worked hard to make a comeback (of sorts) when every man and his dog was baying for his blood. But I have seen him play, so I am still glad he is gone.
Does anyone remember the old school ‘soccer’ arcade games? (The really early ones.) There was a button to slide tackle and if you pressed it then your defender (regardless of whether he was already moving or not) would launch into a jumping slide tackle. They looked hilarious if you didn’t get your man at least somewhere near the bloke with the ball.
Watching Mustafi always felt like some little kid in the stands had his hands on the controls and at any random moment might press the button to send Shkodran into a full on slide tackle out of nowhere.
I seem to remember one near Harry Kane that was an absolute classic of its kind.
Cheers Bt8!
UP THE ARSE !!!!
One change from Saturday
➡️
@BukayoSaka87
⬅️
@g_martinelli01
🔄 Auba and Dani in the squad
Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Luiz, Cedric, Xhaka, Partey, Smith Rowe, Saka, Pepe, Lacazette
Subs: Runarsson, Gabriel, Chambers, Elneny, Ceballos, Odegaard, Willian, Martinelli, Aubameyang
Good team I reckon, no complaints. Apart from would like to see back of Luiz at some stage, but he was fine on Saturday.
Hi Esso !
Hope you’re all good !
Wotcher Trev! Not too bad mate, work is mental but first genuine signs of some easing of pressure in last 2 days at least.
What a start it would have been if Saka had scored instead of hitting the upright.
Saka!!!!!
Laca is offside! Shit.
Great start. Saka on fire.
They are systematically kicking Laca which draws a yellow for Moutinho.
Partey looking good.
Good defending Rob Holding
Pepe hits the frame. Not our day so far.
Yellow for Kilman for kicking Saka.
Pepe, get in!!!!!
Pepe scores a fine goal with his right, the weaker, foot. Deservingly ahead.
What a goal with his right peg! Beat three men!
Partey stops a counter, brings down Traore and earns a yellow for his troubles.
Leno caught by Traore and is in pain. Hope it is nothing serious. He appears to be ok.
Luiz pulls down the attacker and gets a red card.
Not a red in my opinion but Luiz goes.
Luiz always a disaster in the making. Stupid ass unless he does it intentionally to help Chelsea.
Why didn’t the ref blow up for half time? But shouldn’t have made the tackle
How on earth does VAR atleast not tell Pawson to have a look at that one. What a joke is John Moss anywhere near a football field!!
I never like Luiz in these situations but that was never his fault. If anything the striker’s foot hits Luiz’ knee. There’s no way he can prevent that… Isn’t VAR employed exactly for these kind of situations?
An eventful half to have missed. COY2HG
So now they slam in a worldie
Not been our day from the beginning and it never rains but pours. Didn’t deserve this situation but that is football with our league’s VAR.
Now our passing has become shit.
Pepe out, Auba in.
Leno sent off now for deliberate handball. Now we will have Runarsson.
Why did Leno walk?
Partey departs and Runarsson comes in.
Will Leno be out for three matches?
Good game to win, as my old manager used to say…
isn’t it a one game ban for that?
I thought it was two game ban, one for handball and one for preventing a goal scoring opportunity
We will be shit tired for the Saturday match against Villa.
Runarsson showing his inexperience. But he has done better than I expected.
Nothing went right for us from the beginning and Wolves were very, very lucky. Drop Luiz for the rest of the campaign and we move on.
David Luiz’s red card and penalty giveaways are comparable to Mustafi’s. He talks a big game and when he plays well he plays very well but he makes too many mistakes.
And that’s 7th goal in the season and 4th in PL for Pépé despite Willian hogging much of his playing time. Inconsistent, frustrating, needs to improve. But delivers in the final third more than many. Was our second last season in terms of goals plus assists only behind Auba.
The Luiz red card decision should be overturned as it was unintentional.
Anyway, the team played quite well and fluently. A bit of poor decision making and a bit of luck by Wolves. We hit the post twice before scoring.
That was worse than a bad day at the office. We just need to move on. At least those who managed to stay on the pitch dug in in the face of adversity.
Both the red cards were jokes in my book. David Luiz wasn’t making a challenge. Jose caught him on the knee with his trailing leg. Nor do I see how you could argue that Traore had a clear goal-scoring opportunity that wide on the pitch, especially as Leno got to the ball so far ahead of him there wasn’t even a collision. Good ref’ing/VAR would have called that accidental handball, which is what it probably was as Leno seemed to be trying to chest the ball out of play but got it all wrong. Yellow card.
Plus we hit the woodwork twice and both bounce clear. Wolves hit it once and the ball goes in. Not our day.
Oh well. As they say.
If your auntie had bollocks…..
Onwards and upwards
Sorry to disagree Doc@78 but Luiz was never at fault for the red today. The striker’s trailing leg hits his knee. Isn’t a defender supposed an opposition striker running at goal with the ball at his feet? And aren’t penalties given for intentional contact to stop a goal scoring chance? If this the decision they have taken especially after review by VAR then I want to see it being applied consistently (especially when the defender in question is a man utd player). And I won’t be surprised with strikers finding a new way of getting penalties – just dangle your trailing leg far enough to make contact with the chasing defender and boom – penalty, and if you’re lucky enough the defender even gets sent off to ice your cake!
You are spot on about Pepe – he delivers in the final third and his goal today was fantastic since it came off his weaker foot. He always plays better when he has a run of games but unfortunately that hasn’t been the case for majority of his time at the club till now. Infact I was surprised with Arteta taking him off tonight. I would have preferred to have seen ESR taken off and Auba playing centrally – constantly making runs in behind and us playing hopeful long balls for Auba to run on to. Unlucky defeat today after having started the game so well. We need to bounce back from this one quickly.
No words.
Sorry Doc – did not see your post@79 when I started typing mine. Btw to your point about them overturning Luiz’ red card now – would that not amount to the referees confessing to have robbed us a player for an entire half despite there being a VAR to prevent the exact same thing?!!
Ned@80 top post and agree with every word of your post. Not our day and we need to move on and stay positive.
I agree with Ned and Desi that Luiz has been shafted by a nonsense law. Although apparently that is a red card under the current wording, so it is the law that needs changing. Personally I cannot even see the contact despite multiple replays. I assume it is there as the trip looks genuine from the Wolves player, but there is no way anyone who is trying to make a deliberate foul could pull that off. Luiz gets a red card because he has given away penalties before and people expect it. Very, very harsh.
I disagree with Ned in that I think Leno deliberately handles the ball. That’s a yellow card. But I agree that that is not denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Craig Pawson is a shit ref and he came over all Mike Dean, he saw his name in lights and he took his moment to shine. And he was backed up by Jon Moss, who is to refereeing competence what, err, some moss is to refereeing competence. Although some moss makes less wrong decisions.
Two very questionable reds. Good, perhaps, according to the letter of the law. Very poor for anyone who loves football.
First 45 minutes showed what an excellent team we’re becoming. Put the rest in the history bin and move on.
‘Nough said.
Good work in-game, ksn. Nice one.
We played well. We should have been further ahead when they scored so we can take the reminder of how important it is to be clinical and make the most of dominant periods (especially when you go down to ten men as often as we do).
We worked very hard all game. Saka, Partey and Pepe stood out for me.
I doubt we will lose much confidence after losing to a worldie strike with 9 men. Just chuck this one the scrap heap and get ready for the next.
UTA
No worries Desi. Luiz is too erratic for my liking when someone like Mari — less technically capable — gives us a better composure and cool head. But it is indeed a very harsh red.
Ned — spot on about Leno’s red card. It’s very harsh because it was not a clear goal scoring opportunity.
Everyone played rather well actually. One of those bizarre matches we are bound to get in a season.
Nutshell BtM @86.
We played better in that first half (before the 48th minute of 47) than we have done for 3-4 years.
I’ve sent the report on to the chaps
Picks it up in midfield. Looks up at forward options. Dithers.
Dithers.
Dithers.
Sees passing lanes are now blocked.
Plays it back to the centre half.
Sighs as I receive yet another nothing ball from Granit.
Cycles it out to the fullback…
What Btm and Bath said. Onwards and upwards
Let’s just go on 16 match winning streak in the league … 🙂
Charges up the wing. Beats a man!
Plays it inside for…
… a familiar face!
Drops shoulder and turns the defender. Heads towards goal and plays it through into the box for…
>>>>>>>>>>>>