The first snow of the season made conditions a tad treacherous in these parts so a few hours before the game I was unsure whether to drive across the river to watch Luton v Arsenal at the pub, or stay home to watch. When I got behind schedule playing with my dog in the snow I ended up staying home, thankfully as it turned out because this game was so chaotic I didn’t need additional distractions to be able to describe it coherently. Arsenal’s starting XI differed from North Bank Ned’s predicted team at left back where Kiwior took the place of Zinchenko and at striker where Jesús was selected rather than Nketiah, but it contained two additional changes compared to Saturday’s team against Wolves, namely White and Havertz in for Tomiyasu and Trossard:
Raya
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior
Ødegaard, Rice, Havertz
Saka, Jesús, Martinelli
The referee, Samuel Barrott, had never refereed an Arsenal game before this one. Luton’s team included four changes from Saturday’s team that lost at Brentford, as follows: Kaminski, Mengi, Osho, Bell, Kaboré, Mpanzu, Barkley, Doughty, Brown, Townsend, Adebayo. The old-timey atmosphere of Kenilworth Road came into play in the tunnel before the game, where there appeared to be just about enough head room preventing the players from the need to squat to avoid grazing their heads on the ceiling, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the taller ones grazed a hair or two.
After four minutes of constant Arsenal possession the first incident of note occurred when Martinelli went down with a back injury after he was pushed by a Luton defender. On nine minutes Saka suffered a similar painful reducer of a foul on the right wing. Gabriel was the next Arsenal player to be on the end of a poor foul on 16 minutes, in what was shaping up to be a disjointed and formless first twenty minutes. But just then a poor back pass forced the Luton keeper to put the ball out for a quick throw by Jesús to Saka, our 22 year old who was making his 200th Arsenal appearance at such a young age. He passed to Martinelli who swept it inside the left post for Luton 0 – Arsenal 1.
Jesús sent a right footed effort straight at the keeper from a Havertz pass after the German controlled a high ball near the top of the box, but Luton broke quickly and won a corner on 25 minutes. The left footed inswinger was headed into the net by the unmarked Osho who had never before scored in the Premier League as the Arsenal defense stood flat-footed. Luton 1 – Arsenal 1. How Arsenal had allowed Luton back into the game so quickly and with such little fuss did occur to me, but worse defending was yet to come. The fans went crazy at this point, and the Luton players visibly raised their game putting pressure on Arsenal in their own half.
Arsenal countered as Martinelli’s quick left footed shot drew a save from the keeper at the near post, after the Brazilian was fed by his countryman Jesús. Two minutes later Jesús fizzed a near post shot that was pushed out for a corner that Arsenal squandered. A long diagonal ball by Rice to Saka led to Bukayo’s left footed drive that the keeper pushed out for another corner that came to nought as Luton capably handled the high ball.
On 43 minutes Barkley picked up a yellow card for his foul on Martinelli, one minute before a lovely 1-2-3 by Saka-White-Jesús led to the latter’s powerful header that made it Luton 1 – Arsenal 2. White’s lofted cross was the kind of ball strikers must imagine in their dreams, and Jesús didn’t disappoint with the finish. Jesús picked up a yellow card a minute later, but the half ended after five minutes of extra time.
Halftime: Luton 1 – Arsenal 2
The second half began with no personnel changes on either side. Luton won a corner on 48 minutes, and Adebayo outjumped Raya to score a header from another left footed inswinger. Luton 2 – Arsenal 2. Raya was too slow to the ball to be sure, but where was the Arsenal defense and why were loose players allowed to go unchallenged so close to the Arsenal goal? It looks like the players should look forward to a few long hours on the training ground to work on defending corners.
A penalty shout for an edge-of-the-box challenge by Townsend on Kiwior was waved away before Barkley and Townsend exchanged passes in the Arsenal half and Barkley sent a fierce drive under the helpless Raya, who was unable to stop a shot to the center of the goal. Luton 3 – Arsenal 2. Just a few moments later in this crazy back-and-forth game, Havertz levelled for Arsenal after a drop-off from Jesús who had controlled a high ball on the left. Luton 3 – Arsenal 3.
Arteta sent on Zinchenko to replace Kiwior and Trossard to replace Martinelli. In the remainder of the second half Zinchenko’s ball control skills seemed to lend the Arsenal midfield a bit more control of proceedings but the changes seemed to do little to increasing the team’s goal threat.
Arsenal won a series of second half corners but were unable to manufacture many decent chances against the packed Luton defense. A decent penalty shout for a foul on Saka was denied, as was an obvious shirt pull on Gabriel in the box moments before. Trossard set up Havertz for a header in the 86th minute but the German couldn’t direct it with enough power and the keeper tipped it over. Trossard sent a drive wide from the resulting corner as the seconds counted down.
Just when it looked like Arsenal might have used up all their tricks, Zinchenko passed back to Ødegaard who sent a ball into the box where it was met by Rice who headed it into corner of the net for Luton 3 – Arsenal 4, which is how the game ended seconds later. It was not a scenario that anyone could have predicted, or a performance that felt like the way Arsenal should have handled a relegation candidate, but a come-from-behind three points on the road is always a good thing. When your goalkeeper gives up two dodgy goals, as Raya did, to be able to come back from such adversity tells me the team has great personality, and it should put them in good stead for the bigger challenges to follow. There is bound to be an even louder call for the reinstatement of Ramsdale after Raya’s pair of howlers, and Mikel Arteta was asked about the implications of Raya’s errors in his post-match presser. Quite rightly, he completely ignored the question, saying instead “I am so happy for the team.” Taking a cue from the gaffer, all I can add is that those three points must give the whole team a huge lift as they head back to the training ground to prepare for Aston Villa away on Saturday.
Cheers bt8, a quickfire report lightning up the day.
It was a nightmare conceding goals so easily. But Rice cooked it just in time. It was a big let off at the end. The game resembled the last season playing style. Fluid attack peppered with insecurity at back. But the team was relentless and the winner felt inevitable. Pffff
COYG
Excellent report thanks bt8. A great moment when Sir Declan guided that header home.
Like you I will just say I am happy with the three points though I think MA did say later that defending was a team effort or something along those lines.
I hope Aston Villa exhaust themselves knocking out a real energy sapping win against Shitteh tonight.
Thanks bt8, a thorough and speedy job from behind the sofa I would imagine, given your take on our defending.
I’m going to take slight issue with you on that subject. Sure, the defending from their first goal was not good – why was Martinelli left to mark their biggest threat when we have Gabriel and Saliba in there ? But then there’s the question of Raya. Not much he could do about the first one, given that it came from a free header from seven yards and Raya’s lack of length / height and reach made it even more difficult.
The second goal from this supposedly great all round keeper was a disaster. His hands never even made the height of the scorer’s head, and in an area where the ball was his to claim. He never made his position to claim the ball and the resulting flap was plain awful.
Their third was even worse. Bartley’s shot was heading straight for Raya’s left foot. Had he just stood there it waoukd have hit his foot and bounced out at least. Instead, he stepped out of the way to his right to try to get down to the shot and jumped right over the ball as it skidded under him into the net. For a reputedly too keeper that is embarrassing.
I love Arteta and what he has done for the whole club, the squad and the team. But he had seriously misjudged this issue. Raya arrived from Brentford with reports of being a top, all round keeper and at Brentford he had done well. Some players, like Declan Rice, step up and grow when they arrive at a place where expectations are greater, and some shrink.
Raya is unfortunately in the latter category. The whole Newcastle goal issue would not have arisen had Raya been better placed to catch the cross – leaving g aside all the other VAR issues. His positioning is generally poor. He has no presence in his area at all.
Ramsdale needs to be given the manager’s confidence to go and re-establish his own in an extended run in the first team. Ramsdale may not be perfect but he is clearly by far the best option we have. If Arteta wants a different style of keeper then he has the right and responsibility to make that decision. But it is not Raya. Is the club seriously prepared to blows another £27 million on him in the summer ?
Apologies for the typos on a too small phone keypad.
One more thing on keepers.,many people say that Ramsdale made errors at the end of last season. He did, but behind an injury hit defence that had no Saliba for the last two months.
I also think his mistakes in his last outing were the product of the loss of confidence and the confusion around his position that has been created by this whole Raya affair.
What a delightful read over breakfast, bt8, bringing vividly to the mind’s eye the events of last night! Reliving that switchback ride of a game was far better than the first exposure.
I have not seen three more blatant reducers for our three attackers since the Walrus left the beach. The only issue I’ll take with your report was that Martinelli sustained a deliberate knee to the back not a push. The referee’s response to the umpteenth assault on Saka was despicable. It is indeed a contact sport but Luton crossed the line to GBH far too often and to book Jesús for his foul on Barkley was laughable after the stuff he had let go. VAR’s failure to observe the pulling down of Gabriel at a corner was utterly negligent. Not the right sort of tug? Gabriel has to be stronger there? Doesn’t fit the agenda?
If the Spammers think we got Sir Declan Rice too cheaply, I will happily send them a Fiver. What a player!
I won’t mention Raya except to concur with Trev. I will only add that I believe that it cannot be for football reasons that Arteta has chosen him (not Trev) over Ramsdale. I don’t think he is a better all-round goalkeeper.
A snap and crackle of a report bt8.
That was exactly the very tough encounter I anticipated (feared to some extent after reading Ned’s form history in preview). While I’m sure that it was a super spectacle for the neutrals, it was a very tough watch for anyone of an Arsenal inclination.
But what a fantastic ending! I just love it when we steal these late winners. It’s a wonderful feature of this young team that they fight on to the dark deathly minutes of every game and last night matched both Bournemouth (Nelson) and Brentford (Havertz) for the emotional ecstasies that result when leather hits net with no time for a response by the opposition.
A great team effort. A great team win. A great three points added to the ledger. What’s not to like? More of the same at Villa please.
Bt8
Thanks for a fine and accurate report on a game no one least of all Luton expected, I would imagine . I watched it in fits and starts but I totally agree with Trev about Raya . Arteta is a superb coach and is entitled to make a few mistakes but the Raya experiment threatens to undermine our season
The last two goals were examples of awful goalkeeping. There is too much emphasis on playing with the feet and not enough saving with the hands – and the marking at set pieces against a very tall and physical team ( who were again given too much licence to kick us ) was not tight enough
I sense that Arteta listens very closely to his advisers – note that when we have or face a set piece he swaps with the set piece coach in his technical area and I suspect he takes the advice of a goalkeeping coach whose decisions have not impressed me
Bring back Ramsdale now and don’t sign Raya
And Declan Rice and Odegaard continue to delight us
i was contemplating a Raya “pile-on” but then took a dinner break and see that both Trev and TTG have pretty much said what i was thinking, whilst i was doing the BBQ here down under. I much admire MA and think he’s lifted us enormously which includes influencing Edu about who joins us. Maybe he’s right about Ramsdale not being top notch but can we get Ederson or Allison?? Well probably not. But in my view, Raya is not the answer. Better with his feet…maybe, but too small, not robust and seemingly no spring in his legs. He makes me nervous.
Shout out to bt8 for a spot-on summary and Ned for the excellent preview…5 points clear, i’m enraptured…Night time here and an early morning flight (for SWMBO) but as i drift off, i dream of MA swallowing his pride and giving Ramsdale a go…
What en evening of thrills, spills and emotion. I’m not sure I would have been in any fit state to write such a report so congratulations bt8 for being calm enough to do so. It certainly wasn’t calm in our living room as my son and I went berserk when Declan’s header dropped in. There is nothing, nothing, like a last minute winner. Oh to have been in that away end (although I’d probably have ended up in A&E).
Tough, tough game coming up at Villa Park. Tomi out for a month. December’s not getting any easier.
A reminder. Declan Rice turned down Manchester City and Bayern Munich to join us.
Toni out until February as far as we’re concerned. A calf injury and then off to play for Japan. Sadly becoming another Partey.
Toni = Tomi, of course !
A very calm account of a hectic night, bt8, that reflects well the ups and downs of a game in which we should not have conceded three goals. Luton had only four shots on target (and not one after the 57th minute) and an xG of 0.5 on the night, but a last-gasp winner washes away such sins, at least until the cold light of the morning after. Arteta has some hard thinking to do about who keeps against Villa. MMTWP may have put his finger on something in Raya’s lack of spring. Even for the first goal, about which he could do little, the arc of his dive is short and shallow.
Bath@5: Loved ‘since the Walrus left the beach’.
It’s always a coincidence, where coincidence ends and where causation begins, but since Tomiyasu’s injury with 13 minutes left on the clock on Saturday against Wolves, Arsenal have let in FOUR (4) goals. We started that stretch as the club that had allowed the fewest goals in the league, but now we have been equalled for that distinction by Liverpool at 14 goals allowed each.
…always a conundrum, I meant to say…
Villa currently exhausting themselves winning against Shitteh so my evil plan for world domination remains on course.
It’s also fun that the manure / Chavski game tonight is so completely unimportant. Long may their mediocrity continue.
Finally was able to watch the match. Agree with all the others in the bar. But I do want to give my take on the goal keeping situation. Last year, Ramsdale was voted one of the top ten keepers in Europe. Sure he made a few mistakes, like all players do, but he is a much better keeper than Raya. The only thing Raya does better is long punts. This feels a bit like the Willian experiment. Unfortunately, I think Ramsdale has lost his confidence and I have to wonder if he can regain that at Arsenal. If not, then I’m not sure if we want to rely on him as a backup and maybe it would be best if we let him go in January and try to sign someone who is fine being a backup. My two cents.
So it appears we are in a four horse race for the title, not a two horse race. As well as City and us, Villa and Liverpool are right in there. All will/have taken points from each other. All have injuries. We play Villa and Liverpool away in the next two weeks.
This is the tingle of a long, drawn out title fight. Bring it on.
@19 C100, If the Marshdwellers win their next game vs the Hammers they’re level with City. MU are only three points behind the cheating ones. I think it’s still a six horse race – although the four you list have the edge. It’s difficult to believe that MU have as many points as they do. How did that happen?
Villa and Liverpool away games will be real tests. Over the course of the remaining games, squad fitness/the strength of the squad will be key to the destination of the title. If our first eleven can stay fit, and Timber, Partey, Tomiyasu and ESR can contribute in the final weeks, we’ll be fine. Are these big ifs I wonder? Time will tell.
@16, Matt, keep working on that evil plan.
Just win the next one.
One aspect that made last season so enjoyable was the support given to all players regardless of mistakes made. It’s not Raya’s fault that Arsenal wanted him and given the choice of staying at Brentford or going to the Arsenal it’s obvious he would want to push himself in a team playing major games. I feel for Ramsdale but Arteta is the manager and he makes the informed decisions.
SP@21: I didn’t get the impression that after either of the Luton goals where Raya made mistakes that his teammates rushed to comfort him.
My 2 cents is that it will be three horses — ‘Pool, City and ourselves — who will be leading going into the final straight. When De Bruyne is back for City, they will be a different outfit because he makes Haarland twice the player.
My other takeaway from the Luton game is the difference Zinchenko made to our midfield control and creativity when he replaced Kiwior. Keeping him fit will be crucial.
I have to say that I have no evidence of any fans in the ground failing to support Raya. I made my own position clear in this blog a few weeks ago – I am pro Ramsdale – but in the ground I cheer on Raya, as do all fans around me. I was at Chelsea and Newcastle where he made mistakes, but no one turned on him. I wasn’t at Luton but couldn’t hear any negatives. I will admit to some muttering in the privacy of my living room.
C100@24. Whoever is wearing the shirt gets 100% support during games. Absolutely. My point @22 was more that there was visible support for Ramsdale from his teammates at the end of the Brentford game, and when someone makes a bad mistake, a teammate or two will usually be quick to buoy him up. By not doing that for Raya at Luton, I wonder if the other players were sending Arteta a message, perhaps without even realising they were doing so.
This will be an intriguing learning moment for Arteta. I am coming around to thinking that he has made the wrong decision about Raya but for the right reasons. Based on zero evidence, I will postulate that Arteta thought the team stood to gain more offensively from Raya’s kicking than he lost defensively from Ramsdale’s shot-stopping and could minimise the defensive downside by limiting the number of shots Raya faced. The Achilles heel of that argument is games like Luton. The question then becomes whether it is easier to coach Ramsdale to pass than Raya to stop shots. (Their fallibility in dealing with crosses is probably a wash.)
Cheers bt8.
Tough fixture on Saturday again, hopefully we can bring Villa back down to earth.
Don”t want to see Martinez get cocky there. Another funny og from him would be welcome. 🙂
That was one of the highlights of last year Ollie!
have a look at the contests page for the latest addition.
bt8, well-worked in the buildup, with an exciting ending 🙂 thanks.
arteta is stuck right now with a quandry: play an underconfident ramsdale, or a fumbling raya, at villa. a bad position to be in.
Nicely done certificate!
The GHF Predictathon Match Week 15 leaderboard is posted. There is a surprise entry at No 3. You know where to look…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>