{"id":1590,"date":"2020-10-18T13:13:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-18T12:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1590"},"modified":"2020-10-20T20:26:02","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T19:26:02","slug":"gunners-play-with-handbrake-on-as-we-lose-again-in-manchester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1590","title":{"rendered":"Gunners Play With Handbrake On As We Lose Again In Manchester"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Saka – our Man of the Match<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s December 2016. My son and I have made the journey, deep in December, to the Etihad. After 5 minutes, Alexi Sanchez puts Theo through and he scores. The visiting Gooners go mad and taunt the City fans. Come to see the Arsenal! You\u2019ve only come to see the Arsenal! Unfortunately they then hammered us, in play if not in the scoreline. It finishes 2-1 to City and it could have been eight. Half time in that game was the last time we led against the Oilers. The year before a Santi Cazorla (I so miss that little man) inspired 2-0 win was the last team we beat a \u201cbig six\u201d (I hate that phrase) club away. So we travelled in hope that our newly minted team would travel to the Emptihad, a fine stadium for away fans and considerably better than Old Toilet, and come away with points. Cos\u2019 points mean prizes. Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea all dropping points earlier in the day added to the optimism, together with City\u2019s previous hammering against Leicester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the\ngame the team was announced as Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney, Saka,\nXhaka, Ceballos, Willian, Auba and Pepe. On the bench Runarrson, AMN, Luiz,\nElneny, Partey (as thought, 36 hours with the team wasn\u2019t enough to get him in\nthe starting XI), Eddie, Laca. However as kick off approached it was announced\nthat Holding had been injured in the warm up and Luiz took his place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For City it was Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Cancelo, Bernado Silva, Rodri, Foden, Mahrez, Aguero and Sterling. No de Bruyne, which was a bonus because he always seems to play well against us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looked\nlike another of Arteta\u2019s fluid formations, with real attacking options on the\nflanks. Auba through the middle looked like the way of the future, but, in a\nsurprise Arteta tactical move he played on the left in the first half, with\nWillian playing a false nine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first\nten minutes, the sides matched up like mirrors. Both playing out from the back,\nboth pressing high. Mahrez was looking dangerous, once with a left foot shot\nand once with a right footed cut back that Aguero headed over. He should also\nhave been booked for a cynical shirt tug on Pepe as we broke. Two minutes later\nRodri was booked for the same offence on Saka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20 minutes gone and we were looking organised at the back but toothless up front. Saka was looking lively in midfield but the false nine wasn\u2019t working and Walker was effectively bottling up Auba. However on 23 minutes, an excellent pass from Mahrez left Aguero running at our defence. He slipped in Foden, who turned Hector and fired in a shot which Leno could only parry to the penalty spot. Sterling fired in the rebound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

23 mins. City 1-0 Arsenal (Sterling)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We came back\nwell. Saka danced into the area, beating Cancello and then hammered in a shot\nfrom which Ederson made a fine save, pushing the ball over for a corner. From\nthe corner, some ping pong left Willian free on the right and he whipped in a\ncross which Pepe headed wide. A spirited response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 35\nminutes, for the first time our play out from the back broke down and Leno had\nto save well from Foden. Something was not right up front. Auba was not getting\na kick and Willian was ineffective and easily brushed off the ball. Saka was\nthe only one demanding the ball and Pepe was getting isolated. However on 39\nminutes, KT3 won the ball on the edge of their area and after a couple of\npasses Saka was left 10 yards out with only Ederson to beat. Again he hit it\nwell but close enough for Ederson to turn over. The tattooed keeper was having\na fine game. A moment later Auba was finally put through but yet again Ederson saved.\nAuba had been flagged offside but replays showed that it would have been\noverturned by VAR (we hope). Those five minutes, and Ederson\u2019s contributions\ncoupled with our (marginally) less than clinical finishing were to prove\nturning points in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right on\nhalf time Xhaka found Saka in space on the left and the ball was fizzed across\nthe six yard box with no-one on the end of it. From the ensuing corner Kyle\nWalker had a very high foot which brushed Gabriel\u2019s head. I remember being at\nthe game and seeing RVP being sent off against FC Thun at Highbury in the\nChampions League for the same offence (but milder) in midfield and Gary Neville\nwas convinced it was a penalty but nothing was given and VAR seemed to ignore\nit. Mane\u2019s elbow at Anfield, now this, we weren\u2019t getting the breaks against\nthe big clubs away. Still we were making chances and seemed very much in the\ngame. Half time and a restorative dram was needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HT City 1-0 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The half\ntime review showed just how good the Ederson saves were \u2013 our boys hit the\ntarget each time. Praise the keeper don\u2019t blame the striker. No changes at\nhalftime. We started well with the ball swept left to Auba who whipped in a\nlovely cross to Pepe who rose like a salmon but headed the ball straight at\nEderson. Make no mistake, the chances were there to win this game. Pepe seemed\nto jar his knee in landing after the header but after treatment was able to\nresume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 63\nminutes, Cancello raked Tierney\u2019s Achilles with a rather nasty foul. Correctly\nanother yellow card was given. Pep\u2019s team can play some lovely football, but\nthey don\u2019t eschew the dark arts either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his first\ngame since June, Aguero had looked very dangerous but was subbed on 64 minutes\nfor Gundogan. Interesting.  A central\nmidfielder for an out and out striker. Was Pep moving to what we have we hold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 67\nminutes there was yet another yellow for City as Saka (again) was chopped down\nby Diaz. Unfortunately Luiz took it and fired over. With free kick specialists\nWillian and Pepe on the field why was he allowed to take it? Why do all\nBrazilians think they are Carlos Alberto?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately\nfollowing this Willian came off for Laca. In the first half of the second half\nwe were definitely the better team. Could we press on and take advantage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 76\nminutes it was almost the David Luiz Etihad horror show take 2. Cancello (who\nplayed rather well, so he should for \u00a360m) turned Tierney into a pretzel before\nfizzing a ball across the box. Luiz stuck out a despairing foot and the ball\njust, just, went wide of the post. Phew!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With ten\nminutes to go, we were looking a bit leg weary and lacking in ideas. Kyle\nWalker, finally beaten by Auba brought him down on the edge of the box. Pepe\nand Laca prowled. Pepe fired over. Another chance gone. Perhaps we need to work\nharder at these free kicks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 82\nminutes, 10 million Twitter accounts tweeted Partey time! From Madrid to\nManchester via Ghana, Thomas made his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt, on\nfor Xhaka. Pepe came off for Eddie. We were huffing and puffing but just\ncouldn\u2019t win the ball back. Were we playing too deep? Yet another DM came on\nfor City, Fernandinho coming on for Foden. Four minutes of added time shown but\nCity efficiently kept us at bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FT Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought everyone played well (excepting only Willian, who was ineffective) and it was a competitive match. Saka our best player, but honourable mentions for Xhaka, Gabriel and Tierney. I haven\u2019t seen the stats but I felt we matched them in good chances made, with Ederson key to their win. I thought a draw was probably the fair result, but them’s the breaks. The defence now looking good but we need to work on that front three to find the best blend. Partey will make a difference in midfield. The two hardest away fixtures are now out of the way. Thursday night is Europa night. See you there. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s December 2016. My son and I have made the journey, deep in December, to the Etihad. After 5 minutes, Alexi Sanchez puts Theo through and he scores. The visiting Gooners go mad and taunt the City fans. Come to see the Arsenal! You\u2019ve only come to see the Arsenal! Unfortunately they then hammered us, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590"}],"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\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1590"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1595,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590\/revisions\/1595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}