{"id":367,"date":"2020-02-28T14:33:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T14:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/goonerholics\/?p=367"},"modified":"2020-02-28T14:33:10","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T14:33:10","slug":"welcome-to-hellas-we-crash-out-of-europe-in-a-traumatic-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=367","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Hellas; we crash out of Europe in a traumatic way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Image courtesy of Evening Standard<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Following\nour excellent one nil away win in Athens last week, it seemed odds on that we\nwould complete the job against an Olympiacos team who, whilst strong at home,\noften struggled away from their home stadium. So it was with good heart that\nthe Arsenal faithful rocked up in North London last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a mid\nweek European game, especially one against Greek opposition, there was only one\nplace to be before the game, which was in my favourite Cypriot restaurant in\nLondon, The Apollo, on the junction of Seven Sisters and Hornsey Road just ten\nminutes from the ground. The place was jumping, with a great buzz, many\nregulars present and walk ups being turned away due to lack of space. My son\nand I were greeted like family, as always, but we were probably in the 20% of\nclientele that did not converse freely in Greek (with a Cypriot accent). We\ndined exceedingly well on taramasalata, calamari and kleftiko, washed down by\nKeo beer and Cypriot red wine. As a precaution against a cold night, landlord\nNick kindly ended the meal for us with complimentary metaxas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the\nmeal the team news came in and it was a selection that I think everyone\napproved of. The full current 1st<\/sup> XI, as chosen for Sunday\u2019s game\nagainst Everton, with the first choice back four, Xhaka and Ceballos in\nmidfield and Ozil, Laca, Auba and Pepe up top. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So to the\nground and a chilly night in North London, not helped by a new security check\nsystem that took 15 minutes to get through, meaning I only reached my place on\nthe North Bank lower as the teams emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reader, I\nwill draw a veil over the first 45 minutes. It was turgid, very slow, featured\nlots of bad passing and miscontrol from both teams and ended 0-0. We did get\nthe ball in the net, via a familiar route of Xhaka to Saka to Laca, but only to\nsee an offside flag. Time for Arteta to do his thing at half time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out for the\nsecond half and, from my North Bank perspective, one immediate thing to notice\nis that the Olympiacos defenders now running about in from of us were massive.\nClearly we weren\u2019t going to get far just slinging crosses into the box. They\nalso looked very well drilled and worked as a unit. We were working better in\nthe second half, with Pepe featuring strongly on our right. Time and again he\ntwisted and turned and squirmed his way into the box, time and time again he\ncreated space for a shot on his right foot, only to turn back again onto his\nleft. There was one mazy run where I wasn\u2019t sure if he beat five men, or the\nsame man five times. Truly he is more one footed that little Jackie Wilshere\nand that\u2019s saying something. He reminded me of that old Peter Cook and Dudley\nMoore joke about a one legged man auditioning for the part of Tarzan. \u201cYour\nleft leg I like. Your left leg is perfect for the part. I have nothing against\nyour left leg. The trouble is, neither do you\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time and\nagain Saka overlapped on the left, beat his man and put in a good cross\/cut\nback, only to see one of the beanpoles cut it out. But we couldn\u2019t work the\ngoalkeeper. Then we conceded a corner, beanpole Cisse (who wouldn\u2019t look\nundersized in the NBA) strolled in between the fullbacks and planted it into\nour net. Cue an explosion of noise from the lively 5000 travelling Greeks. Tie\nsquared up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

53 minutes. Arsenal 0-1 Olympiacos (agg 1-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time for\nsubs. Torreira on for Ceballos. The crowd were calling for Martinelli for Laca\nbut no dice. Arteta went with a change of formation, going to three at the back\nand swapping Hector for Joe Willock, a gutsy call. But nothing further looked\nlike breaching the Greek defence. Extra time it was. Many of the crowd decided\nthat 10pm on a freezing cold school night was long enough, but your\ncorrespondent, metaxa now long gone from his veins, soldiered on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing in\nthe first period of extra time. Mustafi picked up what looked like a hammy and\nreplaced by Sokratis. The departure of Mustafi, who had played well, was\ngreeted with dismay. How times have changed! At last, Martinelli was brought on\nas the fourth sub (allowed in extra time under UEFA rules) for the ineffective\nLaca. He immediately made a difference with his direct running. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then,\nfinally, with seven minutes to go, Ozil put a ball into the box. It was\ndeflected towards Auba, who scored with an outstanding, athletic overhead kick.\nCue pandemonium on the pitch and on the terraces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

113 minutes. Arsenal 1-1 Olympiacos (agg 2-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they\nresumed the clock showed 25 minutes of the 30 to be played. Surely we could\nhold out? But the bad old Arsenal came back to bite us again. Xhaka, out on the\nleft,  dithered a bit and decided to play\nthe ball back to Leno. The pass wasn\u2019t the best, and Leno\u2019s touch was heavy,\nforcing him to concede a corner instead of kicking the ball up field or into\nrow Z. The whole of Greece went forward. We cleared the corner but only to the\nedge of the box, from whence another cross came in. We seemed to freeze a bit\nand El-Arabi slipped the ball in. Cue more pandemonium, but this time with a\nHellenic accent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

119 minutes. Arsenal 1-2 Olympiacos  (agg 2-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was\njust time for one more twist, this time the cruellest of all. We stormed\nforward, the ball bounced around in their box and suddenly there was Auba, on\nthe six yard line, with only the keeper to beat. The man you want in the place\nyou want him. The whole North Bank rose as one to salute him. But Auba screwed\nit wide with the goal gaping. He collapsed to the ground, aghast. The final\nwhistle went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FT Arsenal 1-2 Olympiacos. Agg 2-2 Olympiacos win on away goals.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it\nneeds a night\u2019s sleep to put things in perspective. Walking away from the\nground, poleaxed at what had just happened, only negative thoughts occurred,\nnot helped by the negative comments from my fellow supporters on every side.\nYet as I sat down at my laptop today, one thought filled my mind; what would\nDave have said?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Leno\nand Auba made mistakes which cost us. But Leno and Auba have been our best\nplayers this season. I for one am not calling them out \u2013 they have won us\ncountless games this season. Arteta maybe made mistakes in his subs. But he is\na breath of fresh air and I believe will be a great manager. We were maybe\ngetting carried away with three wins on the bounce. There is still much to be\ndone with this team under their young manager. This summer we need to move some\nplayers on and bring in fresh blood to makes this Miquel\u2019s team. Time for Edu\nand Sanlehi to do their stuff. Time to sign up some players (e.g. Saka and\nMartinelli) to fresh contracts as we build a new side around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\nmeantime we have two competitions left to focus on, starting with the F.A.Cup\nagainst Portsmouth on Monday night. Then 11 more premier league games, with top\nfour the ultimate target. Let\u2019s get behind the team. We knew there would be\nbumps in the road. That\u2019s life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following our excellent one nil away win in Athens last week, it seemed odds on that we would complete the job against an Olympiacos team who, whilst strong at home, often struggled away from their home stadium. So it was with good heart that the Arsenal faithful rocked up in North London last night. For […]<\/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\/367"}],"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=367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367\/revisions\/880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}