Thursday evening sees us return to everyone’s least favourite competition away at Olympiacos. It is one we must take seriously though as it offers silverware and a possible return to the holy land of the Champion’s League. After a long Winter break between the usually dull group stages and the latter rounds we can now look forward to a straightforward knockout competition featuring some decent teams and a smattering of good ones, maybe even a couple of excellent ones. Which category will we fall into?
A confidence boosting thumping of the barcodes will have done us no harm and Arteta will field a strong side. Expect changes, but the difficulty of how we rotate the squad and keep getting results will increase should we go deeper in the cups and find ourselves closer to the fifth place that it now appears may be enough for automatic CL qualification. That situation is pie in the sky without a strong showing in the tie against the Greeks. It is worth noting that Holding, AMN, Guendouzi and Nelson did not even make the squad at the weekend, despite being fit, so our strength in depth should see us able to compete on multiple fronts if we need to. Arteta will be pulling no punches tomorrow. Expect him to demand that his players build on the last result.
As for our opponents, we have drawn them in our group four times in the Champions League since 2009, winning four and losing four and managing our only away victory in 2015 courtesy of a hat-trick from Olivier Giroud. This year they sit at the top of their domestic league, into the semis of their domestic cup and find themselves slumming it with us in the Europa League due to a third place finish in their CL group featuring only one big opponent in Bayern Munich. Their danger man is El Arabi, a striker who has netted 17 goals so far in the Greek League and their head coach is Pedro Martins. I can tell you that he is Portuguese but little else about him. Without ever having seen him I am sure his hair is not as good as our manager’s and therefore his team will probably lose. Expect Arteta to focus on his own hair and not worry about what Martins is doing with his. And if that doesn’t satisfy your need for insightful analysis then I am afraid you are reading the wrong preview.
Presumably Arsenal have scouted our opponents better than I have but I expect we will continue to setup with the emphasis on our own performance and attitude. Just as we should.
The team is hard to guess for this one but I’ll go with:
Martinez
Bellerin, Luiz, Sokratis, Kola
Torreira, Xhaka
Pepe, Özil, Martinelli,
Aubameyang
That may prove to be way off the mark. At the time of writing I do not know who has flown to Greece and who has stayed in London. Therefore Nelson, Lacazette, Ceballos, Willock and Nketiah might start and the bench will be interesting. Will Holding or Mari play any part? Is Guendouzi back in the squad? We know Tierney, Chambers and Soares are out.
The Holic’s pound is going on a tough 2-1 win which can be had at around 8-1. Shop around to improve that slightly but nowhere is offering great value on a popular scoreline. I think we will have a little bit too much for them but may struggle to keep a clean sheet.
I would expect us to turn them over at our place, so a win is not vital but we would all love to see us build on the attacking fluency we found in the second half as we checked out the barcodes.
Good luck Arsenal and happy viewing to Holics everywhere.
Going chronologically, and no offense to your new post GSD, which I will read but have not yet, I wanted to point out the great drink by Esso at the end of the last drinks. Only up for a few hours before GSD’s new one but worthy of a post entirely to itself.
Ozil and Torreira staying in London. Swap ’em for Ceballos and Willock.
Excellent work, GSD. I loved the part about the hair. Let’s hope Papa doesn’t lose control in his homeland and run over to the Olympiacos bench and rip all the hair out of the non-descript Portuguese coach’s head.😅
Retsina is on the bar for you, Dino.
GSD
Thanks for an excellent preview which I am reading having been stuck in a traffic jam because of a serious accident . If anyone has been on the Isle of Sheppey they will know I am about to chew off my own toenails .
Anyway it appears Mesut has not travelled as his wife is about to give birth . That may suggest Ceballos might start at 10 or Willock may come in . Whatever we will record a 2-0 win
gsd, well done. i’d like to see ceballos turn into a little santi…maybe we can even bring back the maestro next year, keep dani, and have them work together. dani’s feet aren’t as sticky, but…
esso at the end of last bar, top post. so glad you had a good time, and that your son reconnected so deeply with the arsenal. and the pintage, i double-taked, then realized y’all there in blighty have the right to drink beer at 16!
@5
You can always spot the well bred fans. They swap pintage for pinotage.
@6 pintage of pinotage would be a toughie…north london would definitely be red, though!
A fine preview GSD. Only one away win out of four against the Greeks shows that this is no gimme. One interesting thing is that the travel arrangements are being changed by Arteta. The team will be staying in Greece overnight and flying back during the day on Friday, rather than flying back straight after the game. Personally, I always find day flights less tiring than night flights so I get this. We will see on Sunday.
Even with his Turkish heritage there was little likelihood that Ozil would be keen to take up arms in Piraeus tomorrow night. I was there for our last game, it’s an intimidating venue, not to Mesut’s taste at all. Willock will be a better bet.
I had expected to see Torreira start for midfield solidity. If he isn’t on the plane, it looks like we’ll see Ceballos and Xhaka accompany Joe in midfield.
A tough place to win (even if our head coach’s hair parts the waves and gives our crew a head start, it won’t be a snip). I’ll be happy to see us draw and win the tie at the Emirates.
Very enjoyable read thanks
GSD 👍
Spud belittling, hair glorifying
and a decent stab at the team
and score – what more could a
gooner want?
Personally I think the type of
scrappy game I’m expecting
will suit Guen and I hope to
see him start.
Not sure why Torreira is left
at home.
Our record against Olympiakos
looks iffy because the 3 defeats
were with 2nd string sides at
the end of CL group stages when
we didn’t care. Happy to go with
Dino’s 2-1 forecast
I believe Torreira has stayed at home because of ‘illness’. He certainly didn’t look pregnant on Sunday so we can rule that out as a cause
Excellent preview GSD. I do like the way you wove the coiffures in and added a tint of Arteta-esque style to your piece as a highlight.
I think your updated team selection with Ceballos and Willock is spot on except I think that Laca will get an opportunity to build on his newly rediscovered marksmanship in preference to BamBam who will get a well-earned rest on the bench unless needed in the second half.
Props also to Esso for his lovely piece in the last Drinks.
Nice one, GSD. If it all comes down to the hair, we have the wild cards in Luiz and Guendouzi.
BBC says Torriera will fly out to join the squad if his condition improves. Maybe he has been visiting the same Cotswold eateries as TTG.
Great preview squire! Any win will do for me.
@scuz
No mate – he (Patrick) could not imbibe. But Tollington don’t even let U18s cross the threshold. ‘Insurance reasons’ they’ve always quoted to me over the years.
Bollox. So they can cram more adult pure drinking people in there before and after.
Which it what is has now become. A beer dispensary for ‘Arsenal’ supporters, i.e. anyone who can show a ticket on the day etc. No sense of community anymore. Shit hole. IMHO obviously.
Nice one GSD; excellent stuff; I like your team (with Willock and Ceballos for Torreira and Özil) and your result.
BtM@9 – next time you feel tempted to embark upon a sequence of hair-related puns, I recommend you mullet over first, and then resist.
COYG
esso, that’s my misunderstanding, then. i thought it was 16, but it’s 18. i understand about the tollie, but i liked it, and drank there with c100 and ttg the night pepe put two beautiful freekicks into the north bank goal for the win against vitoria…so i have great memories only. 🙂 but i get it.
pangloss, tell baff if he doesn’t stop we will cut him off, and get the sweeper in…
scruz,
Tollie was OK to me for several years, but my spiritual home was always The 12 Pins (formerly Finsbury Park Tavern), but was always a problem with Pat and his elder brother before that. And then they barred my mate Lee for fuck all. Went right off the place.
No competition on either the Barnet or the designer stubble front.
http://www.madeirafutebol.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/pedro-martins.png
Esso
Meant to say how much I enjoyed your post in the last drinks . I know exactly what you mean by that reconnection . It feels like a very different club now !
esso, i hate that. right now we’re enjoying a long run at a particular establishment blessed with an outstanding barman and excellent bar food…spending altogether too much dosh there, but have a great time doing so. i’d hate to have some sort of falling out with the proprietor, or if the barman were to bail.
i’ll try the eaglet next time i’m in london; i went to the gunners with my then 17-yo son after charlie george led us around TNHOF on tour. i enjoyed it, but imagine it gets at least as crowded as the tollie on gameday. also looking forward to el molino and pappagone, too.
Gérard Depardieu lookalike, Pedro Martins, is 49 and seems to have had a reasonably successful journeyman career as a DM in the top tier of Portuguese football between 1998 and 2004, during which he won one full international cap in 1997.
His managerial career started after he retired from playing, as an assistant at Vitoria Setubal. He worked his way up through the leagues as a head coach via several Portuguese clubs — notably Maritimo — before joining Olympiacos from Vitoria Guimaraes in July 2018. He did not win ny cups or titles but he brought European football to both Maritimo and Vitoria Guimaraes.
In Greece, he has coached 89 games, winning 61, drawing 17 and losing 11 for an average of 2.25 points a match (vs around 1.5 points with his Portuguese clubs). He likes to play a 4-2-3-1 formation but used a 4–3-3 in some of the Champions League group games this season and has been using a 4-4-2 a lot recently in domestic competitions.
The Olympiacos defence was uncharacteristically leaky in the CL group games, conceding 14 goals in six games, against nine in 24 in the domestic league. Overall, Martins’s team concedes 0.7 of a goal a game. We shall need our firepower to be firing with both barrels.
Esso, I share your views on the Tollie. It used to have a great atmosphere but for a couple of years the only reason I went was to meet the Guvna to chew the fat. It’s far too rammed for comfort and has a pathetic range of malts. The Coronet on Holloway Road lets teenagers in and has more elbow room thatn the Tollie allowing a much more leisurely beverage.
Depardieu has him beat on the looks front. Unless you are talking about a completely despondent, where I have to say this guy is definitely in the ballgame.
Does anyone know the Horatia pub on Holloway Road on the way down to H&I tube? I’ve been using it with my son this season because that’s where my parking permits are now for (used to be the other side of the stadium, near the Tollie).
We’ve enjoyed it. Large, several TVs, no shit, rammed of course, five minutes before the ground (I enjoyed Bath’s Faltering Fullback but it’s a bit of a hike for me) decent pint of Guinness.
I’m delighted to hear the Eaglet survives, good old fashioned boozer on Seven Sisters/Hornsey Rd junction. Was a bit run down, hopefully the new owners will spruce it up a bit ( nearly killed me 12 months ago when the leg of my chair went through a hole in the floor). Saw the Away Boys there a couple of times.
When I lived just off Blackstock Road my local was the Bank of Friendship. Loved that pub, areal Irish boozer.
Bath the Coronet is a Weatherspoons. Whilst I am not not evangelical about not putting money in that man’s pocket, and will accompany mates who want to go there, I won’t got to a Spoons as a matter of choice. My son loves them for the cheap beer (but he is a University student).
CM, I’ve been in the Horatia before she transitioned from Lord Nelson to Horatia, a change that so many people seem inclined to do these days at the urging of the luvvies of our MSM and the leadership contenders for the LP! It was quite a good pub when it was a man. 😉
What is undoubtedly true is that there are still a number of real pubs, with real memories, where one can sup well, within walking distance from our new ground. My West Ham fans tell me we are truly blessed.
David of course was known and a welcome face at all.
While we are promoting eating establishments, and if you like Cypriot food , try The Apollo on Seven Sisters Road, near the Eaglet. Mention my name (Paul Brooker not Countryman100) to Nick the landlord and you will be guaranteed a warm welcome. I’ve just booked for next Thursday before the Olympiacos game.
ned and bt8, i thought a cross between depardieu and william hurt. he has that confused “hurt” look down pat.
c100 you’re taking a chance. is nick greek or turkish cypriot? who knows what olympiacos fans will be doing prior to the meeting… better sharpen those kebab skewers.
Nick is London born, but his parents are from Nicosia. He is definitely supporting Arsenal next week against the old enemy! Most North London Cypriots are from the East, Turkish, side of the island. I love the food, the hospitality, and the very warm welcome. I go in there about five times per year and are greeted like a member of the family, complete with complimentary metaxas, every time. Cyprus is a favourite holiday destination of ours, although the many Russians there now have spoiled it a bit (noffence to anybody).
so definitely sharpen the kebab skewers, and have a couple of extra shots of metaxa 🙂
C100: Back in the day, Camden Town was Greek Cypriot, though maybe you consider the NW post codes not to be Norf London. You would take your life into your hands if you mistakenly asked for a Turkish coffee to round off your meal.
Scruz@30: That is what Kathleen Turner will do to you, or so I have been told.
ned, so i have heard, too. 🙂
Evening all. Apologies for my lack of input these past few days, I’ve been bowling mon eve, tues aft, tues eve & wed aft all around E Devon ( Scruz will know Honiton, Sidmouth & Axminster ) – each match lasts about 3 hours so a bit knackering even for a youngster like myself.
Firstly thanks to Dino for an interesting, amusing & informative preview – it was a very enjoyable read. It’s good to see the football manager dinosaur get shown up by RB Leipzig tonight – the visitors were light years ahead in modern football and showed how the game is played today. The marsh dwellers were lucky to only concede 1 goal.
With reference to our food correspondent’s ( c100) guide to eateries around the new HOF, I’ve dealt with many Cypriots in my business past and whether Greek or Turkish background there is no animosity between them over here and readily eat in each other’s establishments and the welcome is always most friendly.
Just read Mikel’s comments
about wanting to see our young
players step up in a hostile
atmosphere plus we don’t need
to rest players as they’ve just
had a break and we will play
our normal game.
From that I guess some of the
youngsters will play and there
will be few changes from the
last game.
Personally I’d have played a
similar side to Dinos but now
I think Emi for Leno and
Joe W for Ozil may be the
only changes from the Newcastle
game.
Cheers all. Glad that went down well.
It has flown under the radar but personally I liked the title. In a nod to the Greeks of old it is a self-affirming proposition that relies on a homonym to turn it into a pun. Cos title has two meanings, innit?
At least I amuse myself!
@17 Some live in dreadlocks of them, Pangloss, but I’m not Afro-aid and never crimp on the chance to curl a greasy one straight into the bee hive to ginger the place up in colourful style when everything has gone limp and grey, just like a Charlie George at Wembley. I Beatle over to my ipad like a pageboy on rollers, bobbing and weaving and my first thought is to feather in as many fine waves as possible to scissors kick things off. Sometimes I make a complete Sweeney Todd and spray nonsense as I did after the match at Barnet which was very shaggy, but smooth and glossy is the style I go for every time, even if application of some conditioning is needed afterwards to blow heat and fluff things up. Run your fingers through this and let me know what you think. 🙂
And that’s neither a pony nor a pig’s tale.
Blimey, plenty of highlights
there BtM.
BtM @ 40 What a load of old follicles 😉👏
Ah, Uply, you’re there. Been bowling a lot I see, must have taken quite a few wickets under the lights? Hasn’t the wind been playing havoc with your googlies though? 🙂
Btm. Glad you straightened that out.
BtM – no trouble with the wind – as long as I don’t combine real ale gut wrencher with a ruby murray. 🙂 As a bonus, it’s the only sport I play where some of the competitors call me “young man” 🤪
btm@40: That was a harum-scarum read.
Was about to write a poem entitled “If crickets had hair” but first went on the interwebs to do some preparatory research and it turns out crickets really do have hairs, which makes it more of a scientific rather than poetical subject. Predator detecting abdominal projections give mind to multifarious temps perdus never wasted walking the canine companion on springy sorties in the sunshine. Now for the cricket unrelated
science of the matter,
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130311091126.htm
uply@37, how’d you make out in mother-in-law land? did you stop at the white horse for fish and chips? i assume you bowl at the sidmouth cricket club? next time we visit down there i will have to see about watching a game, never seen it other than highlights on tv…still can’t understand a damn thing. i hope your wickets weren’t sticky.
gsd, i’m lost on your post title. seriously. tried to understand it as a pun and i am just thick as two short planks.
as for kebab sparring in north london, i assume the locals all get along (turkish or greek, all cypriot), but would worry about the trojan horse the olympiacos fans might bear when they visit…greek friends of mine from the past absolutely hated the turkish cypriots…
btm, i was able to get through that entire post, but it was a close shave. you certainly waxed lyrical, and your follicle-through was excellent.
COYG!
We must surely have now set some record for a Trev-less run of puns.
*Raises bat to acknowledge polite if desultory half-century applause*
ned@50 it was a pretty hairy run.
I share many traits with my friend C100 and now learn that he likes me dislikes the prat Martin who I find intensely irritating and who alienated me strongly during the Brexit discussions where he pretended to act in the national interest but subsequently was revealed to be motivated by business advantage. He looks and acts like a prat and apart from breakfast with Mrs TTG a few weeks ago the TTGs do not darken his doorstep . He probably supports Manure as well.
Rant over but I avoid Weatherspoons as well
I love it when you get angry TTG. 🔥🔥
@TTG – Good man! Thoroughly approved of Wetherspoons as a concept when first launched but now is an utter joke, paying poverty wages to maintain its advantage over other high street chains. Level playing field – my arse!. A concept Mullet Head and others of his ilk have no conception of. Avoid the places like the plague, but bit like a dying man in the desert, if it’s me only chance of a drink, I’ll be banging the doors down.
Arsenal: Leno, Sokratis, Mustafi, Luiz, Saka, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Willock, Martinelli, Aubameyang, Lacazette
Subs: Martinez, Maitland-Niles, Holding, Kolasinac, Ceballos, Pepe, Nketiah
Teams are in
Leno (interesting)
Mustafi
Sokratis Luiz
Saka
Guendouzi
Xhaka
Willock
Martinelli
Auba
Laca
On the bench
Martinez
AMN
Holding
Kola
Ceballos
Eddie
Pepe
Mustafi at right back? Really?
strong team, that. hoping hecate isn’t ill or injured, but just being rested. glad to see amn on the bench, and rob.
Quicker fingers than me Esso
c100 i think it will be papa at right back. didn’t he play there in a game recently and we were all terrified, but he acquitted himself rather well?
Leno
Sokratis, Mustafi, Luiz, Saka
Guendouzi Willock Xhaka
Auba Laca Gabigol
is how i imagine it. at least as a start.
Looking for a big performance from Guendouzi tonight. Arteta gives him a (not underserved in my opinion) kicking, looking for a positive reaction. As I’m sure is El Jefe.
esso, agreed. i also want to see saka and papa alternating in their forward runs, giving more time for saka to be up there (though i am sure the greeks are going to key on that) with papa holding the fort and xhaka making a back four screened by guendo. both of them up at once could be disastrous, unless guendo is dropping back like xhaka to cover the corner.
If you subscribe to the Athletic which I recommend ( better value than Wetherspoons) you’d enjoy the Q& A after the Totts’ defeat last night. A very common theme – I paraphrase-‘ why is our football so shit now Mourinho has taken over ?-
Less attention given to the speed at which football styles and coaching is changing. I was immensely impressed with the shape and fluidity of RBL last night and Nagelsmann had clearly done a superb job in prepping his team . Much less emphasis on offside traps and huge emphasis on ball possession and manipulation. Mourinho looks like a relic ( I upset GSD with my use of the ‘D’ word yesterday-apologies ) My Totts-supporting friends are not happy, nor are the Chavs and as for the Hammers fans they are deeply depressed. If we can keep the momentum going we might end up as the top side in the capital ! We are already the classiest and most successful.
I think Papa may be in our half for most of the match. He doesn’t have the pace to get back if he’s caught upfield.
Frankly, him and Auba on the right side looks dire on paper. If we can at least keep it defensively solid we can attack down the left or through Willock if he keeps up his steady improvement.
Come on you ARSENAL!
i think you’re right @65, gsd. that’s the only way we can keep that side solid, though i could see him working with mustafi for an out ball when we’re playing from the back.
yeah, we’re having a bit of a rough start.
Getting totally bossed at the start. Could have been two down.
We haven’t started at all.
Oooh
Laca
better on that break. if we step up the intensity and cut out the mistakes in the midfield (i hope we can), we can match them. mustafi down for treatment.
We are getting skinned at RB. A goal is inevitable unless we sort this.
Saka struggling defensively
growing better in the game, but i keep seeing things in saka that show he’s not a natural defender. in and of itself that’s fine, but he needs to be sure to defend well if he’s going to be depended upon there.
good yellow card. that was nasty for guendo.
Laca has to score
oooooh, laca.
beautiful move by all involved, should have led to our first.
Lovely ball from Willock. And turn from Gabi.
they are assaulting guendouzi. probably hoping he’ll react and get sent.
We have to be much more compact. Where is Torreira ? We’ve been very poor but Laca should have two
here we go. laca for the goal.
damn.
TTG. Torreira is ill in London.
Sorry forgot Torreira is poorly
i do like how joe is pulling the strings in midfield.
Yeah scruz.
Much better for the last 15
at 35 minutes plus we’re finally at the races. like last game.
i think oly has more to punish our mistakes with, however, than newcastle did.
great minds, gsd.
We’re seeing the same game alright Scruz!
Xhaka seeing phantomes at the far post with that corner. We should be trailing by about 2-1.
Another yellow card calibre foul on Guendouzi, about the third I believe. He’s done a lot of writhing on the grass, asp-like.
oooh, laca. almost.
Just like Sunday we’ve played our way into this match. Guendouzi being kicked out of The game.
Willock the best player on the pitch so far. Just needs a little more end product
Not convinced about Papa at right back.
much better the second half of the first half. now if we can be half better for the whole of the second half, we might have half a chance to lead the tie at the halfway mark.
Another 1/2 of a clean sheet. Some people don’t believe in coincidence I have been told but I believe that is five consecutive 1/2 clean sheets.
I say this every game but I would love to see more from Xhaka . Guendouzi and Willock are working so hard but Xhaka doesn’t impose himself on the game at all . Arteta fixed the lack of compactness quickly but I wonder if Ceballos would give us more control
Just about half-way got your drift there at 98, Scruz. 😉
Van Persie can fuck right off.
Well, we got better.
Come on you ARSENAL!
van persie? he fucked off a number of years back, the skunk.
Countryman. I assume he is doing analysis for someone. Of course, if not then your point still stands.
Sokratis is very, very scary at RB. If he doesn’t get more protection we will remain vullnerable to overload on the left. We need to build on the control we had of the last 20-25 minutes and make and take an opportunity to get the away goal.
COYG
COME ON YOU GOONERS!
for someone as slight as he is, saka knows how to use his body to shield the ball while moving.
get xhaka out of there for *anyone*. he has no drive at all.
is it my imagination or has gabigol largely been an absentee today?
what. the. fuck. was. that. out of the back.
great run, luiz, but use your teammates.
dani on for gabigol.
GSD. Yes, he’s a studio pundit for BT Sport with Martin Keown.
In other news, Ceballos on for Martinelli.
I would like to see Willock nestle one into the Olympiacos net here in a few minutes.
kick them right in the olypmpis, eh bt8?
We are bare bones in the middle, no one taking control, Xhaka is always passing it backwards whats new 🙂
auba looks gassed.
I’d take off Laca put Auba through the middle and bring on AMN wide right . Laca can’t buy a goal
He’s wasted on the right
agreed, ttg. and gsd.
Or just swap Auba to left and put Willock on the right. Although TTG is right that Laca does not look like he’s gonna get a goal
Crazy tackle by Mustafi.
excellent save, leno, even though he was offsides.
pepe on for joe. laca to drop into midfield with dani? or now dani with laca/pepe/auba up front? probably that.
The momentum is swinging the wrong way here. We need to hold the ball.
Smash ‘n grab!
Auba, Saka, Laca. Boom.
Laca bought one in the end 😀
great fucking goal. LACA! well kept in by auba to saka to laca.
TTG and I made that happen
Saka laca laca laca laca laca laca.
oooh, laca, that should have been two. fiercely struck, though.
Should have made it two there uhmm, hopefully wont come back to bite us in the arse…
oooh, off the bar. papa is down, now, hurt himself trying to make a corner into a throw.
we could easily be up four or five, or level at that.
mustafi AND papa on the turf. we’ve brought on dani and pepe, xhaka goes into defense and we bring on rob?
Great teamwork GSD !
We sorted that one!
amn for papa. good sub.
Rubbish game, great goal, great result.
there’s the win. well done, lads. tough fight after the rough start.
three straight clean sheets.
Job done. Not pretty but another clean sheet and a fine goal. Coulda shoulda scored another too.
Cracking result. Another clean sheet. Top stuff.
Good win in a volatile atmosphere. They don’t lose many at home .
But this side could be so much better and I’m sure it will be .
Arteta made very good changes with Ceballos doing a great job and the two CBs doing very well. Leno did well . Excellently worked goal
Clean sheet! That’s at least three, maybe 3 1/2.
Mustafi at the heart of all those clean sheets. Will wonders never cease?
A hard fought win it has to said, not an easy place to go at the same time. No complaints here, however it does seem we have made it hard work tonight.
Well done Arsenal!
Laca scored a goal and er,……….well, he scored a goal.
Important one at that 🙂
150 up
Ground-out win with no one firing on all cylinders all game. But a win, an away goal and a clean sheet.
That is only the second time we have won back to back games since October.
Excellent work by Mikel Arteta to turn around the shambles left by Emery, albeit after some early repairs to morale under FL8. We look like a team again and a team that wants to wrest control of games despite early wobbles. That’s 6 clean sheets under MA8 and back to back wins. COYG
Beautiful diagonal ball to Auba before our goal. Superb pass from Saka really put it on a plate for Laca.
A win, an away goal and a clean sheet indeed, Ned. What’s not to like?
Agree the result was the thing
and hopefully the match report
will be up shortly!
Watched the game but still don’t know who it was that sent that beautiful long diagonal ball to Auba before our goal. Noisy bar prevented me from hearing.
Believe it or not Paul, it was Mustafi.
Oh dear, I’ve erroneously given
that pass to Xhaka in the match
report 🙁
that can be fixed, matt 🙂
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>