{"id":4283,"date":"2021-11-27T18:35:43","date_gmt":"2021-11-27T18:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4283"},"modified":"2021-12-01T17:54:20","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T17:54:20","slug":"neither-rebound-nor-slump-but-job-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4283","title":{"rendered":"Neither Rebound nor Slump but Job Done"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1355839212\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:75.92593% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1355839212?et=Q-bUkCoRSOVU2YW_X10sPA&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;sig=gc1YqNXOowmRD7pXWlCJAoPRQmzoLhIl9MpwNIlx_8I=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\" width=\"594\" height=\"451\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>On a bitterly cold, blustery November afternoon, a visit by a winless club 5 points adrift at the very bottom of the table could not offer a better opportunity for a restorative Arsenal victory after the Anfield debacle. The last game had taken the wind out of the Arsenal\u2019s sails brutally ending their run of undefeated games and reminded us how far short of the top level we currently stand.&nbsp;&nbsp;Newcastle United, a serially underachieving team, formerly known for their fans\u2019 love of virtuoso centre forwards but now merely the plaything of Saudi princelets, unveiled their shiny new manager with optimism that his first appearance in their dugout would give them the bounce necessary to begin an ascent to the pinnacle almost reserved for the financially doped. With over a decade since they had won at our place, we had to believe that we could rebound from last week\u2019s disappointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mikel Arteta surprised everyone when he chose to allow Tavares to retain his starting position despite his somewhat less than exemplary outing at Anfield. However, he surprised no-one by replacing Lacazette with \u00d8degaard in a match in which the Norwegian\u2019s greater mobility might be expected to be more useful than the Frenchman\u2019s strength and battling-skills in the \u2018ten\u2019 position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal kicked off and early knockings were tentative from both sides as they came to terms with conditions that made ball retention and accurate passing difficult. Five minutes had passed before we had a clear glimpse of attacking intent. Partey fired a direct pass from halfway forward to \u00d8degaard who quickly delivered a through ball behind the defence towards Auba but his clever pass was cut out. At the other end, Joelinton was looking very lively but the game settled down to Newcastle sitting with ten outfield players deep behind the ball, trying to find Calum Wilson on the break when we lost possession in the crowd scene. As high balls came out of the Newcastle defence Wilson\u2019s physicality was proving a handful for Gabriel and on one occasion we were fortunate to be awarded a free-kick on the edge of our box after our Brazilian fell as Wilson closed in on goal. Sky reported that we had 82% possession in first 10 minutes but we had nothing to show for it and the Newcastle keeper hadn\u2019t faced a shot. Our biggest threat in the first 15 minutes was a Tavares shot from the left that was blocked for a corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The narrative for this game was a familiar one and although we were mostly camped on the edge of the Newcastle box we had to remain vigilant at the back. A simple long ball over our lines from Shelvey found Wilson running in behind White who got back to block him before the lino flagged for a marginal offside. When we regained possession at the back, Newcastle\u2019s press was intermittent and then only partial and our central defenders were allowed to stroll forward with the ball out of our half as Newcastle sat deep and invited us forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An invitation we accepted. A lovely high ball from Sambi in a deep inside left position found Saka rushing into the 6-yard box on the right but the young starlet couldn\u2019t hit the target with his connection. After a driving run from Tavares on the left, Willock brought down \u00d8degaard just outside the \u2018D\u2019 slightly left of centre. The Norwegian curled the free kick over the wall towards but not far enough into the top corner allowing D\u00fabravka to leap across his goal and turn it away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saka and Tomiyasu were seeing a lot of action on the right and ESR and Tavares were doing likewise on the left but after the first 23 minutes Arsenal had only forced D\u00fabravka into that solitary save from \u00d8degaard\u2019s free kick. The Norwegian was drifting across the field from side to side and linking both wings. In contrast Aubameyang had been entirely anonymous. Elegant and intricate though our short passing looked, it was simply too slow to pull the massed ranks of defenders out of shape and allow penetration. Our frustration was illustrated by a high and wide Tavares 25 yarder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although we dominated possession, Newcastle remained keen to break out and on 26 minutes a poor clearance by Partey led to a corner that was flicked over our bar by Sch\u00e4r. On 29 minutes, Ramsdale pulled off a good save to turn a long-range, goal-bound shot by Shelvey over the bar after a brisk Newcastle attack. From the cleared corner, Shelvey then struck a low long range shot through traffic straight at Ramsdale which he gathered reasonably easily. Arsenal responded with a Tomiyasu shot that just whistled past their left upright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After their offensive flurry through Shelvey, Newcastle reverted to massed defence and our most promising attacker Saka faced two players every time he received the ball. Saint-Maximum always backed up his left-back and at 35 minutes brought Saka down at the angle of their box for a free kick from which D\u00fabravka punched the ball away and took out one of his defenders to provide his defence with a breather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suddenly Saka popped up on the left and chipped the ball back to ESR at the edge of the 6-yard box. ESR headed for goal but the keeper leapt across his goal to palm the ball straight to Aubameyang who was standing to his left inside the 6-yard box. Aubameyang\u2019s shot struck the outside of the post when it looked far easier to tap it into the net and that moment pretty much summed up his day. In contrast, Saka looked to be back to his dynamic best and as the half drew towards its final minutes Ritchie was carded for stopping him breaking away on the halfway line. As 4 minutes of added time were announced, White found Tomiyasu overlapping on the right. He struck a first touch cross to the centre of the box which ESR fired firmly towards goal only to see it blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the first half drew towards a close we seemed to find more space and penetration but still failed to find the target with another Tavares shot sailing well over and a Tomiyasu shot flying wide. These two long-range attempts were separated by a prolonged Newcastle attack that ended when Tomiyasu stretched to make a vital block to cut out Wilson\u2019s pass to the unmarked Ritchie waiting in our box for a clear shot on goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We had seen a somewhat frustrating half in which we had clearly been the better team, massively dominated possession but had failed to turn that possession into chances and failed to convert our few chances into goals. However we could easily have found ourselves suckered at the other end but for the key contributions of Ramsdale and Tomiyasu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HT 0 \u2013 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neither side made changes to personnel at half time but Arsenal began with a bit more urgency. A Tomiyasu drive on the right petered out in the Newcastle box. Krafth was then booked for barging Tavares off the ball as he broke forward at pace then rather desperately conceded a corner as the Arsenal player drove into the box but it came to nought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Five minutes in, a mazy dribble by Saka from the edge of their box from our right allowed him to take a low shot for the far post but D\u00fabravka saved it at full stretch. From a free kick for a foul on ESR, Saka struck a curling ball low across the six-yard box from the left but only Tomiyasu attempted to reach it but he couldn\u2019t connect even at full stretch. Where was Aubameyang? Just the kind of ball that should be meat and drink to a top striker. But the pressure was building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An intricate sequence of 16 passeswith movement around the left margins of the Newcastle box between Saka, ESR, Tavares and Sambi ended with Tavares releasing Saka with an exquisite pass to the England international to run into the 6 yard box and strike the ball inside the keeper\u2019s far post. A deserved goal for our best player on the day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1 \u2013 0 Arsenal, Saka 56<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadly, two minutes later Saka collapsed to the ground clutching his left hip. Unfortunately, after returning following treatment he collapsed again 2 minutes later. Meanwhile Aubameyang continued his feckless afternoon with a weak punt to D\u00fabravka after receiving a high a ball on his chest in the Newcastle box. Martinelli then replaced Saka on 63 minutes. Shortly thereafter Murphy and Almir\u00f3n came on for Ritchie and Joelinton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Newcastle reverted to the long ball for Wilson to try to get back into the game and screamed for a penalty when Wilson went down alongside Tavares as he ran onto a long ball over our defence. Replays showed shoulder to shoulder contact as both players chased the ball and the referee got the decision right without a slo-mo replay. We immediately went up the other end and Martinelli scored a peach with his second touch on 65 minutes! Tomiyasu chipped the ball into the box as Martinelli ran into the 6-yard box and he \u2018feathered it\u2019 (\u00a9 Martin Keown) past the onrushing keeper into the far side of the net with only his second touch of the ball since coming on. What a prospect that boy is! Surely Aubameyang is nervous?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2 \u2013 0 Arsenal, Martinelli 65<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ramsdale clutched another Shelvey shot from 20 yards as Newcastle responded. ESR then slipped a ball through to Aubameyang but his miserable day continued as the keeper smothered his toe-poke. Arsenal continued to push forward and were nearly caught on the break as Murphy curled a low cross across our goalmouth We then seemed to sit back to let Newcastle show what they could do and everyone in Arsenal colours put in a defensive shift. However, Aubameyang\u2019s misery continued as he was given a yellow card for a needless foul halfway inside our half. At least he made a contribution! He was promptly replaced by Lacazette on 75 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lovely curling ball from Tavares breaking down the left found Martinelli running into the right of the opposition box but he sliced his connection. Another breakout saw Lacazette\u2019s shot find the side netting from the left after a Martinelli pass from the opposite side found him running into the box. Ramsdale then caught a good effort from former Gunner Joe Willock at his near post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elneny replaced Partey on 84 minutes to add some energy to our midfield. Lacazette then wriggled into the box but the ball was smothered at his feet by D\u00fabravka. Ramsdale then made a fine save from Almir\u00f3n who had certainly added spice to the Newcastle attack. Then former Gunner Hayden replaced former Gunner Shelvey on 87 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Martinelli then charged onto another beautiful through ball from Tomiyasu, ran into the box but was met with a shoulder to his head from a Newcastle stopper. Poleaxed but no pen. After some attention he returned clutching his jaw ruefully. White was the next Arsenal player to be flattened after a Wilson challenge as he attempted to clear another Murphy low ball into our box from the right. As five added minutes were announced, Ramsdale tipped a speculative Fraser cross over his bar and then punched away the resultant corner before the full-time whistle sounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FT: 2-0 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We had to work hard to beat the bottom team rather than simply giving them the thrashing for which we had all hoped and that might have better reflected the relative league positions. However, all that hard work was finally rewarded with two beautiful goals, a clean sheet and three points. Despite that victory, the Arsenal remain in fifth place as our persistently negative goal difference keeps us behind West Ham. Only a 12 goal deficit for the Spammers against Shitteh at the Etihad on Sunday will reverse those positions and lift us into fourth but they can certainly feel our hot breath on the back of their necks. We are right in the fourth place mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Onwards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images On a bitterly cold, blustery November afternoon, a visit by a winless club 5 points adrift at the very bottom of the table could not offer a better opportunity for a restorative Arsenal victory after the Anfield debacle. The last game had taken the wind out of the Arsenal\u2019s sails brutally [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"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\/4283"}],"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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4283"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4299,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4283\/revisions\/4299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}