{"id":1633,"date":"2020-10-23T11:54:56","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T10:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1633"},"modified":"2020-10-24T20:39:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-24T19:39:58","slug":"viennese-in-a-whirl-as-partey-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1633","title":{"rendered":"Viennese In A Whirl As Partey Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Copyright Getty Images<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ah the Europa league group stages. The quickening of the\nheart, the thrill of the occasion, the sheer glamour of being one of the elite.\nWell, maybe not. Spoiled by umpteen years in the Champions League, Arsenal fans\ntend to regard Europa League Group stages with all the excitement of a third\nround league cup game away to Nottingham Forest on a wet Tuesday night (see\nnotes, passim).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here we were in Vienna and Dr Faustus\u2019s learned preview\ntold you all there was to know about our opponents. An unusual factor of last\nnight was that there were 3000 real fans<\/strong>\nin the stadium. Would that stimulate our boys to greatness or would we be cowed\ninto submission? With multiple recent injuries and niggles (Willian, Ceballos,\nHolding) the team was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leno, Soares, Luiz, Gabriel, Kola, Pepe, Partey, Elneny,\nSaka, Laca, Eddie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the EL rules, the rest of the named squad can sit on\nthe bench and five may be used as substitutes, so 10 Arsenal players lounged in\ntrack suits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sound track was slightly weird because it was real, loud\nchants and enthusiasm as Rapid Vienna attacked, silence at other times. I think\nI remember \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first 10 minutes were a little chaotic with lots of\nmisplaced passes. An excellent move saw Eddie running from the left at the\nVienna back line. He slipped in Saka, who was often playing in the inside left\nchannel.  He got the ball stuck under his\nfeet and the move ended tamely. The Austrian defence seemed vulnerable to pace.\nOn 14 minutes, Pepe picked up a misplaced pass and drove down the right flank.\nFor a while it was 3v3 until Pepe was chopped down. The resultant free kick\nfrom Cedric found Luiz who powered an excellent header towards the corner of\nthe goal and forced an excellent save from their keeper. A few minutes later, a\ncounter attack was launched towards our goal. After some good work in the box\nthe ball was deflected awkwardly towards Leno, who clawed it upwards and then\ncaught the rebound. Partey made a good move upfield, opening the defence for\nSaka, but he couldn\u2019t get his shot away. Partey had made a good start,\nprogressive passing and direct forward running. The Arsenal faithful online\nwere purring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were dominating possession, but Vienna seemed well\ndrilled. They looked most vulnerable down the flanks, with Eddie and Saka\nseeing a lot of the ball. Laca was pinged for a foul, disputed the decision and\npicked up a silly yellow. The referee was already demonstrating that he thought\nhe was the star. We were getting lots of opportunities to get the ball into the\nbox. From a free kick, Gabriel was caught upfield after a swift counter. It was\ndeveloping into a great RV chance until Partey slipped in and nicked the ball\naway on the edge of the box. Unfortunately, two minutes later, a Partey\nflailing arm caught the opposition player full in the face. He got a yellow,\nbut it could have been worse. I remember Sol Campbell being sent off for a very\nsimilar offence. Laca was caught offside from a ball over the top. Saka slammed\nthe ball into the net, but the very fussy ref produced another yellow. Bit of\ninexperience there from Eddie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a crowded left side, the ball was whipped into our box.\nKara skilfully turned Luiz and fired a shot just wide of Leno\u2019s far post. Three\nminutes of injury time saw a goalless first half end. We had had 70% of\npossession but only one shot (header) on target. RV looked like a team unbeaten\nall season, solid at the back and dangerous on the counter. There was work to\ndo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HT Rapid Vienna 0-0\nArsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No changes as the second half began. Immediately, Eddie\nstuck his elbow into the face of an RV player. Luckily the ref didn\u2019t see it\nand VAR isn\u2019t being used in the group stages. He would undoubtedly have been\nsent off, either for a second yellow, or maybe a straight red. Then Saka was\nhit on the elbow in our penalty area. It was marginal, with the ball hitting\nhis elbow, but I think that might have been given in the Prem. Nothing given.\nWe were riding our luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 50 minutes we over complicated at the back. Leno to Luiz,\nwho passed back to Leno despite two men lurking. Leno gave it away when he\nshould have put it into row 27 and Rapid Vienna scored easily through Fountas.\nI could hear Bathgooner fulminating in Somerset about \u201cpissing about in the\nbox\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

50 mins Rapid Vienna\n1-0 Arsenal (Fountas)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 58 minutes, a nice piece of interpassing put Saka onto the\nby-line behind the defence. A good cross couldn\u2019t find a man. Once again Leno\npassed straight to an RV player. He saved the shot but, frankly, was looking a\nbundle of nerves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an hour, Arteta made his move. He brought on Auba for\nEddie and Hector for Cedric. We immediately seemed to have a better shape, with\nAuba playing on the shoulder of the centre backs. Partey found Auba with a\ndelightful chip. The ball broke to Gabriel who made progress upfield and was\nscythed down by Kara. Another yellow card. A good link up between Auba and Laca\nled to another foul outside the box. Free kick 25 yards out, taken by Auba. Way\ntoo high. As I said the in last match report, whatever this new set piece coach\nfrom Brentford is doing isn\u2019t working because the dead balls in the first 65\nwere absolute pony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, as if to chastise your correspondent for the last paragraph,\ncame the equaliser. Pepe was flattened by Ritzmaier, on loan from Barnsley.\nAnother yellow card and a chance to put the ball in from the right wing. Pepe\ndusted himself off and drove in an excellent cross. Luiz got there first and\nnodded it past the goalie who was in no mans\u2019 land. It brought back memories of\nLuiz doing just that for Chelsea against us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

71 mins Rapid Vienna\n1-1 Arsenal (Luiz)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than a minute later, a third error from Leno with his\nboots. After coming miles out of his area he hit the ball against Luiz who\nseemed to have the situation under control. The ball fell to an Austrian\nplayer, with the goal gaping, but Luiz managed to harass him sufficiently to\nmake him fire over. Phew! We were trying really hard to shoot ourselves in the\nfoot and Leno was officially having a Weston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then, just as we were rocking, came a really sweet goal\nand a touch of class. Elneny in the 10 position on the D produced a Cesc-like\npass inside the full back to find an excellent run from Hector who had stayed\nonside. He squared it and there was Auba for a tap in, with no defenders within\nfive yards. As Mr Wenger would have said; quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

74 mins Rapid Vienna\n1-2 Arsenal (Aubameyang)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 78 minutes, Partey raised a foot in the centre circle.\nFree kick given, of course, as it should have been at the Etihad last weekend.\nBut like the Murphys, I\u2019m not bitter (much). Balls over the top were now\nproving productive as the Viennese defence tired. Luiz found Laca and Auba well\nonside and seemingly through. We should have scored a third, but Laca got in a\ntangle and it came to naught. On 84 minutes, Willock and Tierney came on for\nLaca and Saka. The board went up showing four minutes of added time. Leno\npicked up the eighth yellow card of the evening for time wasting. With one\nminute to go, Reiss Nelson came on for Pepe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FT Rapid Vienna 1-2<\/strong>\nArsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, a good start to our Euro campaign, even if it\nwas both laboured and nervy. The ref was awful, but we probably got the rub of\nthe green with him. Rumour on Twitter afterwards is that he got home and promptly\ncarded his wife and children. Partey had a stunning full debut, making tackles\nand interceptions, refusing to be shaken off the ball, making forward runs and\nutilising a wide range of parting. He ran the midfield. It\u2019s going to be very\ninteresting to see him up against James Maddison on Sunday.  Gabriel also had a very good game, as did\nLuiz. Honourable mentions for the quality of the goals, from Pepe\u2019s pinpoint\nfree kick finding Luiz\u2019s perfectly timed run and jump, to the fabulous ball\nfrom Elneny leading to the slide rule cross from Hector. Leno had a stinker and\nneeds to regain his confidence, especially with the ball at his feet. Our two\nsummer signings were the stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partey, Gabriel, Auba and Saka are the spine of this team,\nall signed or resigned this summer. Bravo. We have to improve our game going\nforwards to make more chances. Our goalkeeper is having a wobble. Stick with\nhim. We have a multitude of young players who may train on, or may not. Some\nplayers, who it was fashionable to knock, like Elneny, Xhaka, Hector and Luiz\nare very solid squad players and leaders. Pepe and Willian have lots to prove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time.  I\u2019ll\nsee you in the drinks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ah the Europa league group stages. The quickening of the heart, the thrill of the occasion, the sheer glamour of being one of the elite. Well, maybe not. Spoiled by umpteen years in the Champions League, Arsenal fans tend to regard Europa League Group stages with all the excitement of a third round league cup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"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\/1633"}],"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=1633"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1636,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1633\/revisions\/1636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}