{"id":397,"date":"2020-03-02T22:18:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T22:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/goonerholics\/?p=397"},"modified":"2020-03-06T15:23:15","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T15:23:15","slug":"young-guns-silence-the-pompey-chimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=397","title":{"rendered":"Young Guns silence the Pompey chimes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photograph Paul Childs\/Reuters<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This a\nGoonerholic, as it happened, type report. Not my usual style but no time\ntomorrow for a more reflective analysis. I\u2019m sure my colleagues in the drinks\nwill provide more thoughtful input. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Monday\nnight F.A. Cup game on the South Coast. Fratton Park and Portsmouth FC. A game\nfull of history and TH14 hat tricks, as Bt8 referenced in his fine preview. A\ngame against league 1 opposition, albeit one third in that division and pushing\nstrongly for promotion. An easy draw or a banana skin? Portsmouth hadn\u2019t lost\nat home since September so a few butterflies were about. Especially with Mike\nDean as the referee, with no VAR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The line ups\nshowed a young Arsenal side selected by Arteta. Martinez in goals, Sokratis (not\nso young) at right back, a debut for loanee centre back Pablo Mari next to\ncaptain Luiz, a welcome return for Reiss Nelson, and Martinelli and Eddie up\nfront with Joe Willock pairing with Torriera and Guendouzi in midfield. No Auba\nor Ozil in the squad, but Laca and Pepe on the bench. Saka started yet again.\nWe really do need Kieran Tierney back asap. Still, Arteta was ringing the\nchanges with 9 changes from the calamitous night in the Europa league last\nnight and six players aged 20 or younger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early indications were that we would be under an aerial bombardment. A couple of crosses troubled the make shift defence and Martinez looked far from secure under the high ball. However at the other end Willock was running straight upfield and linking well with Reiss Nelson. Eddie seemed to take an elbow in the face but just a free kick was given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guendouzi\nlost the ball in the centre circle and Portsmouth broke down the left, where\nPapa was struggling against a lively left winger. The cross was thrown in and\nPablo Mari made an important header to clear on the back post. 12 minutes in,\nBolton (a well named player) took Torreira man and ball and seemed to injure\nhim badly. Lucas was stretchered off and replaced by Dani Ceballos. Jermaine\nJenas (ex Spurs) commentating of course saw nothing wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20 minutes\nin and Arsenal were showing signs of settling into the game. First Martinelli\n(to Eddie) then Saka purred into the box and tested the defence and keeper. Reiss\nNelson got round the defence and crossed just behind Martinelli. Better\nArsenal, better. Guendouzi was hauled down on a break and tried to take a quick\none. Mike Dean brought it back twice, so Matty placed the ball dramatically on\nthe ground, taking the piss. Yellow card. Even Jenas thought it was ridiculous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right on the\npoint of half time, Ben Close cynically took Ceballos out on the edge of the\nbox. The yellow card remained in Mr Dean\u2019s pocket of course. The free kick went\nharmlessly into the wall. But there was one last twist in the fourth minute of\ninjury time. We won a corner which was headed away. But the ball was gathered\nand recycled by Ceballos to Reiss Nelson who swung in a lovely cross to the\npenalty spot where it fell to, of all people , Sokratis, who met the ball with\na sumptuous right foot volley that bolted into the net. One nil to the Arsenal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

48 min. Goal (Sokratis). Portsmouth 0-1 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half time. A vital goal on half time against some (ahem) robust play by Pompey maybe flattered us. Some nice touches but we weren\u2019t getting the ball to our young speedsters quick enough. Portsmouth were always looking a threat on the break and from set pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half time. Portsmouth 0-1 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second\nhalf began and the Pompey chimes rang out. A real blast from the past. Saka\nlost the ball weakly in midfield and Pompey broke. Defensively he\u2019s been\ngetting weaker in recent games. Time for a break and a reboot on the training\nground for the 18 year old surely?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

50 minutes\ngone and a great Arsenal goal. Reiss Nelson was sprung on the right by Joe\nWillock who had found space, Cesc like, in midfield, and Reiss just burned off\nhis full back with huge verve. He got to the byline, crossed into the six yard\nbox and Eddie bundled the ball home. Oh my word, that pace. Welcome back from\ninjury Reiss Nelson. Nelson for England?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

50 min. Goal (Nketiah). Portsmouth\n0-2 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal then\ncalmly controlled the game without really threatening a third. Kenny Jacket\nplayed his trump (he hoped) bench cards on 65 mins bringing on Marquis, their\ntop goal scorer this season, and Ronan Curtis, their dangerous first choice left\nwinger (not Rebecca Long Bailey or Bernie Sanders J). They didn\u2019t have a noticeable\neffect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka was\nhaving a quiet game for once, but he danced into the area and hit a lovely shot\nwhich the keeper tipped over. 12 minutes to go \u2013 don\u2019t let them back into the\ngame lads! You got the feeling that one goal for Pompey would get the crowd\nroaring and could open the floodgates. On 86 minutes Xhaka came on for the hard\nworking Joe Willock, responsible for both \u201cpre assists\u201d. He had done himself no\nharm at all. AMN got a late appearance for Reiss Nelson injury time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So who had a good game? I thought Luiz was terrific, and Pablo Mar\u00ed next to him had an excellent debut. Reiss Nelson looked electric. Martinelli caused problems every time he had the ball. Sokratis is not a right back but my word what a goal to break the tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chants\nof the Arsenal fans sang out loud and clear, Wemberley, Wemberly, We\u2019re the\nfamous Arsenal and we\u2019re going to Wemberley. WHAT DID SHE WEAR?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full time. Portsmouth 0-2 Arsenal<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clean sheet. Controlled the game second half after two great goals. In the quarter final draw. Jermaine Jenas and Mike Dean gutted. That\u2019ll do me fellow Gooners. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This a Goonerholic, as it happened, type report. Not my usual style but no time tomorrow for a more reflective analysis. I\u2019m sure my colleagues in the drinks will provide more thoughtful input. A Monday night F.A. Cup game on the South Coast. Fratton Park and Portsmouth FC. A game full of history and TH14 […]<\/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\/397"}],"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=397"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions\/419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}