Arsenal continued their perfect start to the season, coming from behind late on to break Fulham hearts. It wasn’t our most fluid performance of the season although we were still very much the better side. Arteta was forced into making two changes with both Zinchenko and Partey missing out with late injuries. To what extent remains unclear but hopefully its nothing too serious. Tierney and Elneny were the two players drafted into the firing line against the Cottagers. Former Gunner Bernd Leno started in goal for the visitors, and he received a warm reception from the Arsenal fans having spent four years in North London, serving the club well with his fantastic shot stopping abilities on a regular basis. It is only right that a goalkeeper of his calibre ought to be starting week in week out, so I don’t think I’m alone in being pleased for the German.
The first half was a relatively low-key affair with chances few and far between. But most of those few chances fell Arsenal’s way. Granit Xhaka volleyed well wide from a Jesus pass after exceptional work from Ødegaard in the build-up. Martinelli almost scored direct from a corner as he clipped the bar with Leno stranded. There was a lot of possession but there wasn’t the same level of spark as we’ve seen in games recently. Saka had an effort that was saved by Leno after more good build up play but for the first time this season, we failed to take in a lead at half time.
The second half began with Arsenal upping the tempo somewhat. Ødegaard saw his stinging drive palmed away by Leno and Jesús also had an effort well saved. But then we gifted Fulham an opener as Gabriel dawdled on the ball on the edge of the penalty area, Mitrovic did superbly to steal possession and the Serb did even better to steer the ball past Ramsdale into the net. The Fulham fans were sent into ecstasy in the away end. 0-1 Fulham.
But just like we did against Leicester in the last home game, we responded quickly. Saliba played a progressive ball to Saka who drove forward, feeding Ødegaard who quickly shifted the ball onto his left side and his deflected shot bamboozled Leno as the ball nestled into the back of the net. Sixty thousand Gooners breathed a collective sigh of relief. 1-1.
Fulham nearly restored their lead straight away as Mitrovic’s firm header from a corner was brilliantly saved by England’s number one. But just when it looked like Arsenal would have to settle for a point, they found a late winner. We got a corner on the left-hand side which was sent in by Martinelli. Leno came out to claim the ball and completely missed it, as the ball found its way to Gabriel who simply couldn’t miss as he prodded home from three yards out. The Emirates was sent into pandemonium. “Limbs” as my generation would have it. I have to say, it’s been a while since I’ve seen the Emirates celebrate a goal quite like that. Obviously, the nature of the game and the timing of the goal played a part in the huge celebrations but the noise when it went in was deafening. Over the last year the Ashburton Army has done a great job in transforming the Emirates into a much more atmospheric venue and it really does improve the match going experience. Hats off to those guys.
VAR did have a look at that goal to see if they could find some obscure reason to disallow it; perhaps Gabriel’s hair follicle was a millimetre offside. But the goal stood! There was one more hairy moment near the end where Chalobah got on the end of a Fulham free kick, but his header was again expertly saved by Ramsdale. But that was that and Arsenal made it four wins out of four for the first time since 2004.
We remain two points clear of several clubs on ten points including the champions. We also remain the only side in the league with a 100% record! Will we fail to win a game ever again? I doubt it. I expect us to finish with thirty-eight wins out of thirty-eight the way things are going. Our next victims will be Aston Villa on Wednesday night also at home. My condolences in advance to them. Now if we can just keep it together for the final thirty-four games……
That’s an early report! Cheers 21CG. Yes the atmosphere was fantastic, best in many many years. And the PA playing Tequila at the end, keeping the crowds chanting long minutes after the final whistle…definitely some great vibes these days, some togetherness between club, players and fans that is back.
SALIBA!
Thanks for a great report 21CG and good to see you for beers before the game. I thought you were in fine form. My son, whom you know, said an interesting thing to me as we walked out of the stadium. “I’d rather win 2-1 after being 1-0 down, than be three up after ten and win 5-0.” There’s nothing like a come back win. Limbs indeed! The atmosphere was off the scale. And kudos to the club for making Tequila by The Champs the walk out music!
Thanks for a great write up C20th.
C100 when your son reaches my age he will rue the day he said that. 3 nil after 10 every game for me.
Nice one 21CG. Great stuff.
Winning from a losing position is definitely something this team needs to learn, so, now that the three points are safe, I’m glad that the match unfolded as it did. Obviously it was a bit touch and go, but it never felt like one of those days when we’d never score the winner, and a bit of luck and some fantastic support got us over the line.
Time to move on to Villa and keep this run going…
It’s true, GSD, where once there might have been resignation in the stands, there was a strong belief yesterday that we not only could do it, but would do it. Can’t say I wasn’t nervous even after we scored what turned out to be the winner though.
The North Bank sucked those two goals in Ollie!
A succinct report that hit all the right notes, 21CG. The only thing I would add is that Partey was more noticeable by his absence than anyone seems to be mentioning. MØ8 had a fantastic game. The closed captioning on TV, which struggles with football commentary, transcribed his name at one point, appropriately enough, as ‘there is another God’. To be sure, comeback wins are something this team needs to learn, but I am with SP@3: 38 5-0 wins would suit me fine.
Great report, 21CG, of a well deserved victory after a sloppy moment from Gabriel had given the Cottagers far more than they deserved.
It was great to see the way the team kept believing, knuckled down and produced the goods to win the game. I particularly liked the way the coach brought on Eddie for a sub-par KT3 to make the declaration of intent that he didn’t want to lose this game and was prepared to take risks to win it. As a consequence, Eddie made a huge difference to the dynamics up front.
We must be grateful for Aaron Ramsdale’s great shot-stopping reflexes and for Gabriel’s drive for redemption but we did miss the midfield control given by Partey and Zinchenko (what a fan he is!). However, I have never seen a better performance by MØ in an Arsenal shirt. Truly a masterclassin the art of the ‘ten’ and in leadership from Captain Fantastic today.
Onwards to Villa hopefully with the outcome 21CG has predicted.
Indeed baff, Ødegaard was absolutely magnificent.
Fulham defended well but on the balance we deserved the win. Odegaard was fantastic. Happy that Gabriel was able to atone for his error. Clearly we targeted Leno on corners. Up until our second, he made some good saves. Ramsdale with a couple of key stops too. Let’s get the business done against Villa and have maximum points. COYG!
Another very atmospheric and accurate report 21CG. As I’ve emphasised to anyone who will listen ( that’s no one ) I watched the game at Club Level from an excellent vantage point .
It was a beautiful evening for football . Fulham played gallantly but had we scored an early goal we’d have won this comfortably. But we didn’t look likely to score in the first half and our tempo was upped because of the Mitrovic goal..
I agree with the comments about Odegaard. He was a 9. I would have given 8 to Jesus, Nketiah albeit for a cameo , Ramsdale for two vital saves and I also thought White, Martinelli and Xhaka did well . Xhaka? He had a very steady game but he isn’t someone who should be used really far forward as you saw when he had a great chance presented to him . Interesting that Zinchenko is now a key man in a side he has only played for three times ! Thankyou to the VAR official , the fixture computer and the Ashburton Army. A great day !
Excellent review 21st Century Gooner!
Partey and Zinchenko provide the kind of technical security that the team needs to be unpredictable and dynamic in attacking build-up the way Mikel wants. The Zinchenko-Xhaka-Martinelli-Jesus left side has been unstoppable at times and we missed that fluidity. It was great to see Ødegaard changing his approach sensing that limitation and played the traditional number 10 role to perfection.
Saliba got an assist for his defensive partner’s goal. Gabriel reminds me of Koscielny a bit: the front foot defending which sometimes leads to being too tight to the attacker, the once in a while concentration lapses, the knack for scoring important goals. I think Saliba complements Gabriel better than White or Holding does.
Eddie had a terrific cameo and his growth towards a complete modern striker in this calendar year has been astounding. Especially the technical abilities and the acceleration over short distance. Maybe Jesus rested on the bench against Villa for him to get his first start of the season? Clever and effective substitution by Arteta yesterday.
Excellent report 21cg. Two last minute injuries to key starters meant there were going to be certain unexpected challenges but Gabriel’s defensive error wasn’t one of the ones I wasn’t expecting, if you can follow. But I am very glad he redeemed himself and the team found the stuff to mount the comeback. Only four games played and each of our central defenders has played a game with more downs and ups (in that order, thankfully) than they would prefer to see in a month of games. Roll on Wednesday.
The tiny Toots have had their best ever start to the league in 13 years. They’ve still got a stiff neck looking up at us.
Thanks 21CG, a fine report of a win we had to work hard for right until the final whistle.
On to Villa.
Thanks 21CG
What an enjoyable day that was. We decided not to stay in the Tolly too long as it was beyond rammed. So instead, we took advantage of the early bird half price beer offer in the stadium. Now that is good value.
The atmosphere was excellent from start to finish. There is not only a positive feeling around the place these days, but there is also a feeling of belief. With that comes added tolerance. I think for the first time in years there not only seems to be a strategy, but there also seems to be some conviction behind it. According to Edu this is year three of a five year plan. I think fans get that. They can see what is unfolding and are happy to be part of the journey. There will of course be bumps in the road ahead, but if we play with this kind of honesty and endeavour then people will remain positive.
Lots of notable performances. Ødegaard had already been rightly singled out. He was outstanding on Saturday. Top class. What on earth were Madrid thinking? The team as whole looked very much together.
If we needed any further evidence then Saturday confirmed that Xhaka and Elneny are not good enough as a central midfield pairing. I’m sure that is an area that we might try and address in the coming days. Saka to me looks like he could do with a break. He’s a young lad who has played a lot of football in the last 12 months plus. I don’t think he’s quite looked as sharp as he did last year. Hopefully with the additions, he will get that opportunity.
All in all, a very enjoyable day. Bring on the Villa
Cheers Steve T. All good points. I eschewed the Tollie pre-match completely as there was once more a huge queue to get in. Ended up having one in the Che and getting in the stadium early.
Just about managed to get in the pub post match (as I stayed long after final whistle), but it took about an hour before there was enough room to properly breathe.
Can’t wait for us to be shit again so that there are less people around…..joke!
CER has introduced me to a pub in Canonbury, just off St Paul’s Road. It’s far quieter than the pubs nearer the ground, whilst still only a 20 minute walk away. Mind you, you need to take out a second mortgage for a burger and a beer!
I might fancy that on a next day trip with a bit of margin ahead of the game, C100/CER.
Thanks for a great report, 21CG.
I will obviously agree with all the positive comments above but also with Steve T and his observations about Saka. Undoubted class, great talent but looking a little bit weary and in need of a breather. I think he is also lacking the same amount of support when we attack down the fight wing that his team mates are giving each other on the left.
Amidst the euphoria that comes with a great opening run and top of the league placing, there are also some defensive worries for me. Saliba, as the youngest and most recent addition, possibly surprisingly comes out top of the back four. Overall the others are all very good players but Gabriel and Ben White do drive me a bit mad with the sheer amount of time they take to decide what they are going to do with the ball. Maybe it’s an instruction to try to draw some monement from the opposition, but it’s a tactic that nearly cost us dearly on Saturday – and not for the first time. However, the team responded brilliantly together so no ultimate harm done. Tierney was not at his best but that’s to be expected after such a long time out.
So on to Aston Villa – which seems a very unhappy camp at the moment. Let’s hope that is still the case after Wednesday.
I’m going to jump into the Saka debate. Firstly, I don’t think he’s playing that badly, and is making highly effective contributions. Secondly, he’s played four games in four weeks. I don’t agree that he’s tired. I think it’s a combo of being more familiar to Prem defences, but also, a point Steve makes, I think he’s more effective with Tomi behind him than Ben. I would still have Tomi as my first choice right back (which isn’t to criticise Ben who has been excellent).
Cheers 21CG!
Great performance and result. I’ve always been ‘we are the Arsenal so fuck all the rest’, meaning supporting is just it to me. But I will say this; 2 events in the last 2+ years have totally rejuvenated this (my) club;
1. The appointment of Arteta (love this guy so much you won’t believe it)
2. The ending of Raul Sanllehi’s association with the club (hate this cunt so much he’s nearly as hated as Gazidis the cunt).
I am going to head for the middle ground on Saka. I agree with C100 that he has not being playing badly, but we expect 100% brilliance from him so are disappointed with 100% very good. I also agree with Steve T that he has played a lot of football over the past year. He has had more minutes than anyone else in the squad since the start of last season, and will need to be managed carefully to avoid fatigue or injury, especially with a World Cup and our extra European games to be factored in. Both C100 and Steve T concur that Saka is better served by having Tomi behind him than Ben White, and I concur with that up to a point. MØ8 has been playing more across the park as White tends to fill the half space on the right-hand side when he pushes forward, and Saka is most effective when he has Ødegaard to play him in.
Esso@23: Tell us how you really feel, mate. 🙂
@ned Yes mate right now I’m lovin’ it lovin’ lovin it! Sorry about the language but Dave would have understood for sure.
As per The Athletic Pépé took 25% pay-cut to go to Nice. The French club is paying 50% of his salary, we are paying 25%. Good for him.
His debut was rather inauspicious though. Marseille— with almost half the first eleven with Arsenal players past and present — scored a few past them and Tavares scored his third goal of the season.
Regarding Saka, NBN said pretty much what I wanted to. 🙂
He has played a lot of football and took on significant responsibility for both club and country. More than physical tiredness that kind of rapid acceleration in importance to the squad may leave someone mentally fatigued. A little break now and then would serve him well.
C100 @22 & Esso @23, I agree with both of you completely, particularly that Saka has still been making highly effective contributions and that he is even more effective when Tomisan is at his elbow.
I would however accept Steve’s, Ned’s and Dr F’s points about mental tiredness as a result of being on the front line for club and country with only short breaks for over two years and increasing amounts of brutality from opponents. I think that has a cumulative effect on players – and we’ve seen it before in more experienced players and while its impact is less obvious now than it was in our run in last season, I think there’s a risk of Saka running out of steam mid season if we can’t find someone to give him occasional breaks.
There is another factor with regard to Saka perhaps appearing to be less effective so far this season. In addition to C100’s observation that he is now more familiar to opposition coaches who will drill their LBs to maximise their abilities to stop Saka, he has been routinely double or triple teamed this season. That’s the price of being our most productive attacker last season.
I think that’s why Edu and MA8 are prioritising a winger over our other major need, a better defensive midfielder than Elneny.
@Baff I’m with James (gunnerblog etc). Think Elneney is absolutely not as bad as he is painted. We gave him a new contract. And we are no longer absolute mugs.
True that, Esso. He’s an honest player who gives 100% every time he plays. I like his energy and work rate and the way he always makes himself available as a passsing option for players on the ball. But he’s a step down from Thomas Partey when it comes to dominating deep midfield and getting out of a fierce press in possession but in truth, most players are and anyone who could bring to the party the same skills as Thomas (see what I did there?) isn’t going to come cheap or come in as a back-up.
I am content with MA8’s judgement on this and as you observe he gave Elneny an extension because he clearly decided that he could fill in as required in midfield. I just missed Partey’s calm assurance and physical dominance on Saturday.
Good to see a range of contributors on here and some very happy campers .
The Saka debate is interesting .I suspect in the run-up to games with us there is huge emphasis on dealing with Saka who gets double coverage and close attention. On Saturday as CER mentioned he was very well played by Robinson, an American left back who was superb . There is another factor in that I’m not quite so excited by inverted wingers where Arteta is. Inverted wingers are more predictable because their tendency is to come inside and teams get to know this. I’d like to see Bukayo start on the left. He was quite brilliant as a left Wing back when he first broke into the team and when Zinchenko is not there he is much the best qualified to replace him in that complex role that he plays. Tierney doesn’t give you that .
But overall, Saka is suffering from us all expecting him to follow a soaring trajectory which is neither reasonable or likely. If he goes up for sale we might achieve £120:m perhaps more if there is an auction (Edu is looking for £5m! 😀😀😀) because he is that good, he has a wonderful nature and is the nation’s sweetheart . His form has plateaued and we must handle him carefully but it’s plateaued at a very high level and he will surge again . I’m fascinated by our interest in another winger . I’m not sure we will sign one and we may see Marquinhos catapult into the first team but Arteta will be conscious to protect Gabi and Bukayo against burnout . Our huge need is a central midfielder whocan play the Partey role. Partey is fragile and we need to spend any dosh we have on this area .I like Elneny but Xhakneny as a central midfield hasn’t produced a CL qualification so far .,
The big issue (not for debating here), is that in October we may, or may not, lose Partey for a considerable period of time. If we do, we will have a reasonably small number of games (I make it 10), before the transfer window opens in January. So, do we say we will play with Elneny/Lokonga during that period and buy a replacement in January, or do we hedge now?
An excellent report! Thanks, 21CG!
I wasn’t convinced when Ødegard was chosen to captain The Arsenal. But his performance against the Cottagers swept away any remaining doubt. As Ned @7 and Bath @8 already pointed out he was fantastic. A joy to watch.
And most importantly the whole team scored the maximum point on the “fighting spirit” scale. We were irresistible. Against a very good determined Fulham side. They will cause problems for many other teams.
Looking forward to the Aston Villa game it will be fun to watch.
COYG
21cg, stellar report. i enjoyed reading it as much as i enjoyed watching the last six minutes of the game. 🙂 thank you.
in the unsung heroes department i have to give some love to ramsdale, whose saves from mitrovic and chalobah were excellent. both came at him fast, and not only did he save, but he palmed away the latter with enough energy that it didn’t come back at him. thankfully white was there to block the rebound from the former. tierney is another: while he didn’t have a great game, he was solid defensively and kept things moving. it’ll be interesting to see if we can get to a point where we play with a different set of vectors repeatably when he’s in vs. when zinchenko is in. another one where having xhaka on the bench to start would make for interesting times in midfield, with tierney at left back and zinchenko in the middle/attacking role that xhaka has been playing so far this season.
people say we’ve never won cl selection with xhaka/mo’neny in the midfield, but neither have we with auba up front, or saka in the squad. i am believing more and more that “hole” has a shallow floor, and the upgrades around them mean we can accept it rather than lament it. an upgrade on each of them would be great, but i’d rather protect saka (thus going for neto or someone to give us another established option on the wings) now and let mo/kanga start if the partey can’t get started for those ten (or 20) games until january. i rewatched parts of the game last night, and watched saka. his touch was largely flawless, he made mostly good choices, but lacked that incisive three step burst he has. that’s where it seems to show, this last two years of playing all the time. some of his traps and moves past players were beautiful.
there was one sequence at about 78 minutes in the second half that really higlighted how important mø is as captain and as our metronome. leno caught martinelli’s corner kick, eventually rising and shanking a kick that didn’t make it to the center circle. the fulham player headed it onwards, and after some kicking about it went to saliba!, who looped it nicely to mø who was in that half space between the halfway line and the radius of the circle, between the edge of the circle and the touchline. he received the ball with his back to goal, sidestepped one, then another fulham player, turned to face goal, and lofted a sweet pass to gabigol. our #11 killed the pass expertly, assessed the situation, and put a through ball on to xhaka, whose pass was knocked behind for another corner, which kept up the pressure and succession of corners that resulted in our goal. it was mø’s positioning between their lines, his silky touches in the midfield, and the quick diagonal to gabi that made the move…and he did things like that all game. as i’ve been repeating, silk and steel, all bound up in that lovely left foot.
a satisfying run of games. i do hope we remain undefeated until i get to the pool game in october. i might even be able to sing “we’re top of the league”!
Top of the league? Whodat?
C100@32: You identify a material downside risk. One of the interesting snippets in All or Nothing was a shot early on in the series of Edu’s office with the whiteboard with all the squad on it stacked up by position to show how unbalanced it was in that we had multiple players for some positions and only one for others. That has Partey, Elneny and Torriera stacked up on top of each other as 6s. In one of the later episodes, there was a brief glimpse of the whiteboard where it showed Lokonga’s name underneath Partey’s, and his alone. So is that the long-term plan?
On Saka coverage, we have Reiss Nelson, although he is a long-term injury, but isn’t Vieira, of whom we have just not seen much, also able to play on the wing? He seemed to be playing there, at least for part of the time, when he had that run out with the U-21s.
Oh shit.
Yeah, that is bad news. Fingers crossed for Mo.
I suppose Ornstein is right though we do still have
Sambi and Zin who could play at CM.
All things considered it may be wiser to hedge now
but easier said than done
Or Ben White. For EL matches we could play Sambi and Vieira. Does leave us a bit short though.
What Countryman said
I think a GHF XI could give a Sambi-Vieira midfield a few problems physically. (As long as they don’t move too fast.
Mo apparently has a hamstring injury, so it is likely he will be out for weeks. Opportunity for Assez or Matt Smith, at least in the EL?
Scott Parker out for good at Bournemouth. Sacked four games into the season for speaking truth to power, that his squad isn’t up to Premier League football. The tonking by ‘Pool couldn’t have helped. Jack Ross also sacked by Dundee Utd. Losing 9-0 is not good for managerial careers, evidently.
Bad news about Elneny, but Charles Watts writes that both Zinchenko and Partey are expected back soon: Zinchenko possibly for Villa, and Partey in two weeks (possibly for Everton).
https://www.goal.com/en-us/amp/news/arsenal-elneny-injury-blow-partey-zinchenko-news-boosts/bltee49223d6422b6d7
This really stands out:
“Arsenal had a win percentage of 66.7 per cent when Partey started in the Premier League last season. That dropped to just 42.9 per cent when he was absent.”
Re: Bath @41. As long as which side doesn’t move too fast? 😳
I am agreed though that Vieira looks skinny. Maybe Eddie can give him some muscling up tips?
>>>>>>>