{"id":1049,"date":"2020-07-07T23:39:04","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T22:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1049"},"modified":"2020-07-11T15:32:03","modified_gmt":"2020-07-11T14:32:03","slug":"memoir-of-a-fox-hunting-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1049","title":{"rendered":"Memoir of a Fox-hunting Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Leicester came to a rain-soaked Grove sitting in fourth\nplace 3 places, 9 points and 24 goals better off than Arsenal. It was our\nsecond consecutive match against one of the teams with aspirations to take our\nplace at the top table. On the other hand, Leicester were winless on their\ntravels since New Year\u2019s Day and Arsenal were unbeaten at home in 2021, taking\n16 points out of 18 available and keeping 4 clean sheets in the last 6 home\ngames. A classic 6-pointer with lots to play for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel decided to stick largely with the team that beat Wolves,\nchanging only two players. He recalled Bellerin to replace Soarez at right wing\nback and Lacazette to replace Nketiah at centre forward exactly as predicted by\nbt8. Rogers decided to match our line up with three at the back and despite my\nsuspicion that he was indulging in pre-match misinformation, there was no sign\nof either Maddison or Cresswell in the squad. Of course, there was no sign of\n\u00d6zil (\u2018bad back\u2019) or Guendouzi (bruised ego and hissy fit) in our squad either\nas our coach establishes his dominance in the dressing room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on, both teams pressed high and Tierney overlapped\nrepeatedly on our left flank. His high ball found Saka in the box but his first\ntouch allowed a S\u00f6y\u00fcnc\u00fc interception. Then Bellerin worked Schmeichel with a\ngood shot from an offside position. An early shot by Vardy after turning\nthrough a Luiz \u2018challenge\u2019 was fortunately straight at Martinez. The keeper\nthen stretched to make an excellent stop with his foot to an Iheanacho shot\nthrough a crowd-scene from Leicester\u2019s first corner. From 10 to 20 minutes we\nstruggled to get out of our own half as Leicester closed us down aggressively\nand we found it hard to find our rhythm and were frequently dispossessed in\nmidfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lovely interplay between Saka and Bellerin led to a cutback\nbeing blocked by a Leicester defender for a corner that culminated in a superb\n30-yard strike by Tierney that Schemeichel had to parry. On 21 minutes a superb\nforward ball by Ceballos from just inside our half, found Saka running through\non the right. Saka\u2019s shimmy dumped Evans on his backside and his right footed pass\nacross the box found Aubameyang running into the 6-yard box from the left. Aubameyang\npassed it into the net. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 Leicester 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the water-break, Laca found Auba running through on\nthe left and he tried to return the compliment to Saka but S\u00f6y\u00fcnk\u00fc cut out the\npass. Our goal had clearly shaken Leicester and we began to dominate midfield\nand possession. Kolasinac fed his interception of a long ball to Aubameyang who\npassed to Lacazette. He found Saka on the right but his shot was turned for a\ncorner by Schmeichel. Leicester persisted with balls over the top to Vardy.\nSaka set up an opportunity for Lacazette to turn in the box and force a good\nstop from Schmeichel then Bellerin forced the Leicester keeper to touch his\ncross-shot over the bar for a corner. By 33 minutes the corner count was 7-1 in\nArsenal\u2019s favour. We really should have scored a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After making a good interception outside our box, Saka was\ndispossessed dribbling out of our half leading to a Vardy cross for Iheanacho\nto score but this was disallowed for a foul on Kolasinac in the build-up. A\ntimely reminder that this Leicester team remained dangerous and a lesson for\nyoung Saka. For 15 minutes after our goal, the pace and movement of the Arsenal\nforwards had shaken the Leicester defence but as half-time approached the\nopposition seemed to be forcing their way back into the game. A fine ball from\nBellerin found Lacazette in the 6-yard box but his diving header failed to\nstretch Schmeichel when he should really have scored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Tierney\u2019s excellent crossing from the left, Ceballos\ncaught the eye with yet another influential display (a masterclass according to\nJaimie Redknapp at half-time), making key interceptions and distributing the\nball forward from midfield. As 45 minutes came up a frustrated Vardy kicked out\nas he fell with Mustafi and caught the German in the face. There then followed\na clash of heads between Kolasinac and Iheanacho. A Leicester break on the left\nled to a cross met by the RWB Justin but his header flashed wide seconds before\nthe half-time whistle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HT Arsenal 1 Leicester 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal had scored against the run of play on 21 minutes\nafter Leicester\u2019s confident start made it difficult for us to find our rhythm\nbut we had dominated the game thereafter with 6 shots on target (equalling our\nbest 45 minutes record this season). On pressure and chances we should have\nbeen further ahead at half-time. Would we come to regret missing those chances?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were no half time substitutions. Leicester started\nwith energy and as too often recently we started slowly. A Vardy overlap on our\nright flank found Justin at the near post but Arsenal bodies blocked his shot. After\n5 minutes we seemed to wake up. A neat threaded ball from Xhaka found Lacazette\non the edge of the Leicester box only for him to be bumped off the ball for a\nfree kick. Luiz\u2019s free kick found Schmeichel\u2019s left corner but the keeper\ntipped it wide. Then Ceballos\u2019 shot from the edge of the box was deflected for\na corner from which Mustafi fell awkwardly liying in a heap in the box.\nSchmeichel saw an opportunity and sent a long ball to Vardy but fortunately Tierney\nsnuffed it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martinez pulled off an excellent save from Iheanacho\u2019s fine\nshot from a Vardy chip from the right. Tierney was then blatantly blocked off\nby Bennett without any sanction. He had done the same to Kolasinac in the first\nhalf, likewise without sanction. The free kick from Ceballos sailed past the\nfar post. Iheanacho and Albrighton were replaced by Barnes and Fuchs as Rogers\ntried to change the dynamic. Barnes who had won on all his three previous\nmatches against Arsenal then fired over the bar from distance. A Ndidi shot\nfrom distance then struck Luiz in the midriff. Good block resulting in a\nwinding! At 60 minutes Leicester were pushing for an equaliser and we looked in\nneed of some extra vigour as we struggled to win and retain the ball. Saka had faded\nout of the game. We got lucky with a Vardy turn and miss in our box. Finally,\nwe responded and a beautiful Tierney ball across the goal was cut out by Evans.\nThe corner was headed on by Luiz for Lacazette to turn into the net but the\nflag went up for offside and VAR didn\u2019t disagree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the drinks break, Lacazette was replaced by Nketiah\nand Saka by Willock. Within minutes Nketiah stretched for the ball on a break-out\nand was given a yellow card for catching Justin. VAR then took an age to review\nwhether it should be a red card and clearly couldn\u2019t decide. The referee, Chris\nKavanagh, went over to see for himself and then waved a red card for serious\nfoul play. A harsh decision in these conditions in my opinion! Rogers then sent\nGray on for Bennett to apply more pressure with 15 minutes left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We sat deep, cleared long and challenged Leicester to break\nus down. A punt over our defence on 70 minutes found the marginally offside Vardy\none on one with Martinez whom he rounded to put the ball into the side netting.\nAs 80 minutes clocked up Torreira replaced Ceballos. Aubameyang ploughed a\nlonely furrow up front, trying to retain possession as long clearances came his\nway. Ndidi was then replaced by Praet. On 84 minutes a curling ball from the\nright by Gray escaped our entire defence but found Vardy on the far side of our\nbox. Vardy slotted the ball under Martinez. A prolonged VAR analysis rested on\nwhether Perez had touched the ball on the way across. He certainly moved\ntowards the ball but the goal stood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 Leicester 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 3 minutes plus stoppage time to go, it was 11 against\n10 and Leicester were in the ascendency. Could we hold out for a point? Eight\nminutes were added! Leicester were matching their solitary previous Premier\nLeague point away to Arsenal some 25 years ago and were pushing to match their\nlast win at our place in 1973. An exhausted Aubameyang was replaced by AMN with\n6 minutes to go. AMN went into the right  side of midfield and Willock moved to centre\nforward. Everyone worked hard to close the channels and we made only occasional\nforays forward but added time was pretty much all Leicester. Praet fired over\nfrom the edge of our box just before the whistle called an end to the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result: we stay in 7th<\/sup> place, 5 points adrift\nof 5th<\/sup> and a possible CL position (dream on!) though United now have\na game in hand. Aubameyang remains two goals behind Vardy for the Golden Boot.\nNketiah is suspended for the NLD and probably also for the two games after\nthat. Our options up front are now extremely limited for the next few games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We didn\u2019t take our chances during the first half when\nLeicester were rocking and we had several opportunities to extend our lead. Leicester\ndominated the second half but Nketiah\u2019s red card definitely changed the game. At\nthe end of the day, we did well to save a point as Leicester pressed us\npersistently thereafter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martinez made several good saves and had no chance with\nVardy\u2019s goal; Bellerin was more like his pre-ACL self both with and without the\nball; the back-three were pretty solid until the pressure told; Tierney was\noutstanding and deserved the Man of the Match award; Ceballos was very\ninfluential in the first half but faded later in the second while Xhaka was\nquietly competent; Saka was lively in the first half but faded in the second;\nLacazette linked up well in the first half and worked hard but failed to finish\ntwo opportunities to kill the game; Aubameyang worked his socks off throughout,\nwas imperious in the first half, and took his goal well. The substitutions were\nless influential on the course of this match than Saturday\u2019s were, if you\nignore Eddie\u2019s unfortunate red card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his post-match interview, a clearly frustrated Mikel Arteta\nsaid he was extremely proud of the team and felt that we should have been well\nahead at half time, observing that we have to learn to kill the game when we\nare on top. Mikel added that if Eddie deserved a red card, Leicester should\nhave been down to 10 men for Vardy\u2019s challenge on Mustafi after 40 minutes. A fair\npoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have work to do before the NLD. Onwards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leicester came to a rain-soaked Grove sitting in fourth place 3 places, 9 points and 24 goals better off than Arsenal. It was our second consecutive match against one of the teams with aspirations to take our place at the top table. On the other hand, Leicester were winless on their travels since New Year\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1049"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1052,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049\/revisions\/1052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}