{"id":1996,"date":"2020-12-17T19:56:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T19:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1996"},"modified":"2020-12-18T21:15:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T21:15:46","slug":"better-than-a-slap-round-the-belly-with-a-wet-fish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1996","title":{"rendered":"Better Than A Slap ‘Round The Belly With A Wet Fish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Clive Rose\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Southampton turned up at the Emirates with the chance to condemn The Arsenal to a fifth straight League home loss for the first time in our long history. A return to tighter restrictions meant there were no fans allowed in to witness our efforts to prevent this most unwanted of records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel Arteta left Cedric on the bench,\ninstead using Maitland-Niles at right wing back. We reverted to a back three,\nCeballos and Elneny played in midfield and Lacazette lost out to the returning\nEddie Nketiah who was trusted to lead the line. Prayers were answered as Pepe\ncame in for Willian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game started without much flair. Both\nsides looked up for the game but did little with the ball. Saka went down early\nunder a heavy challenge and Gooners everywhere were concerned. After a delay he\nwas able to continue. Would the knock affect his performance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 15 minutes in Ward-Prowse whipped a\nfreekick at goal. Leno punched it unconvincingly but no harm was done. Workmanlike\nSouthampton were seeing more of the ball but a minute later Nketiah registered\na decent shot at goal, cutting in from an Auba-esque position but unable to put\nhis foot through the finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after, disaster struck. As so often in\nrecent times it took very little to see us go behind. The ball was played right\nthrough midfield, a sliding Elneny just failed to intercept it, whilst Gabriel\ncame a long way to get close to his man but was turned by the ever-improving\nChe Adams who then played a well-weighted pass forwards to Theo Walcott who had\nmade a trademark run in the space between Tierney and Saka. The former Gunner\ndinked the ball over Leno with confidence and wheeled away in celebration. Fair\nplay to him. It was a great run and an excellent finish, and it would appear\nthat he is finding a role in this Saints team that gets the best from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal – 0 Southampton – 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We responded with more of the same really.\nIn possession we found it difficult to progress the ball through midfield,\nleaving our front three struggling to get involved. Defensively we held our\nshape rather than pressed, but Southampton were on top, although not creating\nclear chances. In a tussle with Walcott, Saka saw the ball bounce up into his\narm but, since the silly season that the league began with has passed, that is,\nonce more, not handball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pepe found space in the box to latch onto\nan Auba pass that was actually meant for the lively Saka. His low, hard shot\nwas blocked. We began to improve, for the last ten minutes of the half we were\neven on top. Pepe put Ceballos through but rather than shoot he tried to turn.\nHis ankle was lightly clipped by the defender. The ref waved play on. VAR did\nnot overrule him. Had he given a penalty it would not have overruled that\ndecision either. Umpire\u2019s call went against us. We could really have done with\na bit of luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moments later Saka drove to the byline and\nfizzed a cross in. Bednarek stuck out a leg and was relieved to see the ball\ndeflect into McCarthy instead of the back of the net. Ceballos found Pepe whose\nfirst time shot was again on target but the keeper held it tight. We were\ngetting closer but still lacked that slice of luck that struggling teams\nsometimes need. Would we find it in the second half?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second half started with us finally taking control of the football. Six minutes in Gabriel sprayed the ball wide to Saka. His quick feet and sheer determination saw him bounce through three defenders and his pass found Eddie Nketiah who provided a deft touch to take it into the path of Auba. Our captain had the keeper and the pressure that came from his own goal draught to contend with but neither troubled him as he slotted calmly into the bottom corner with the class that he will always possess. I must admit I went a bit nuts. It had been ages since we scored a League goal from open play and I cheered it mightily. And I clapped Saka long and hard. He provided a decisive moment as well as a top performance. We love you Bukayo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal – 1 Southampton – 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot have been the only one who thought that we might just go on to win from there. Could we finally take three points?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were a few yellow cards. The Saints\npicked up a couple for late challenges in the first half whilst Danny Ceballos\ngot one for knocking the ball into the ground in frustration. I am a bit\nconfused why this should be a yellow card when he deliberately knocked it\nstraight to the bloke taking the freekick but what our current crop of referees\nlose in competence they make up for in ego, so we would be wise to avoid giving\nthem reasons to book us. Silly yellow to pick up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel gave the ref another reason just\nshy of the hour mark. He went through the back of Adams high up in midfield. Maybe\nwas lucky not to be booked for the foul. However, he kicked the ball a few feet\naway to prevent a quick free-kick and Paul Tierney took his name. This was\nfrustrating as the ref repeatedly ignored Southampton\u2019s tactic of standing in\nfront of the ball to prevent us taking quick freekicks. I do not understand why\nthis is rarely penalised when it has exactly the same effect as kicking the\nball away? Anyway, play went on and it was hardly a decisive moment, surely?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our opponents had not shown anything in the\nsecond half. We were not excellent but we were on top and applying pressure. Things\nwere looking much better than they had at half time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this team just loves to shoot\nitself in the foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel again got tight to his man on the\nhalfway line, this time tussling with Walcott. Had a foul been given against\nTheo for holding he could not have complained, he clearly had his arms around\nour defender first. However, no foul was given, so when the forward spun past\nthe Brazilian and was hauled down the ref had no choice but to reach to his\npocket. A deserved second yellow card in four minutes saw us down to ten men\nfor the three hundred and ninety second time this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a rare moment of panic from a\ndefender who has been one of the best players in our team this year. It is hard\nto overstate the impact it had on our chances of taking all three points.\nAlmost immediately David Luiz returned, for the first time since his clash of\nheads with Raul Jimenez, in place of Eddie. The young striker had worked hard\nand got an assist yet still not looked quite as effective as we hope he will\nbecome. Danny Ings also had a quiet night, yet he might well be a player Eddie could\nwatch closely to see how he might contribute more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willock came on for Ceballos, who had been\ntidy but no more, to bring some fresh legs into midfield and the option of a\nrunner into the space vacated by Eddie. We lost our momentum as we reshuffled\nand the Saints began to take the initiative that we had so generously handed\nback to them. Nathan Redmond hit the bar with a half-volley after a ball from\nthe busy Romeu, whose performance showed some steel as well as some class. If\nwe had conceded then it would have been a tough pill to swallow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were on the back foot but not under the\ncosh. Djenepo came on for a lively cameo but his final ball was lacking. Cedric\nreplaced Pepe. Time ticked on. We did not look like scoring but, as we entered\nthe last five minutes, fans across the globe knew how painful it would be if we\nconceded, even as we hoped against reason that there might be just one more\nchance for us to snatch a winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holding ran through Djenepo in our box but\nthe forward did not have control of the ball and despite a moment of fear,\nbased on the vagaries of the refs, it was rightly ignored. Kieran Tierney then\nfelt he got an elbow across the chest\/face but I cannot comment as no replay\nwas shown. From the resultant freekick Saka whipped in a dangerous ball which\nRob Holding headed brilliantly at goal. It was only a half-chance but he rose\nwonderfully and was desperately unlucky to see his effort cannon back off the\ncorner of bar and post. It was the last real action of the game as we held on\nfor a point, stopping the run of home losses, but once again leaving us to rue\nwhat might have been if we had played the entire match with eleven men?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the aftermath it is worth noting that generally\nthe players worked hard but lacked confidence a little. It is only to be\nexpected given our form. Holding is really growing. He takes responsibility in\ndefence and I like his progress. Gabriel made a couple of costly decisions\ntoday. He must learn from them. Pepe is a hugely improved player from the one\nwe signed in terms of his work-rate, positional discipline and desire to\ncontribute when we are out of possession. Yet he needs confidence with the ball\nat his feet. He is a great talent who needs to start dribbling at players like\nhe expects to go past them. Auba is a top player. His class is undoubted. As a\ncaptain he is fantastic around the club and leads by example on the pitch but\nif he is struggling with his own form then it can be hard to see his in-game\nleadership. We do need more of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We just need three points so badly right\nnow. Hopefully Auba will keep scoring. Hopefully we can build on this point.\nAll things considered we did well to hold on to a draw. But we simply have to\nstop making our own lives so difficult.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southampton turned up at the Emirates with the chance to condemn The Arsenal to a fifth straight League home loss for the first time in our long history. A return to tighter restrictions meant there were no fans allowed in to witness our efforts to prevent this most unwanted of records. Mikel Arteta left Cedric […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"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\/1996"}],"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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1996"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996\/revisions\/2000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}