{"id":4656,"date":"2022-01-20T22:38:41","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T22:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4656"},"modified":"2022-01-22T21:23:21","modified_gmt":"2022-01-22T21:23:21","slug":"jota-proves-too-sharp-for-an-undercooked-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4656","title":{"rendered":"Jota proves too sharp for an undercooked Arsenal"},"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\/1237864745\" 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:66.66667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1237864745?et=s06NcnUXStpcCQ7tmWHBpA&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;sig=OXKtQi-bZoUXAcg8pj38-HQq3G3cAvgHfcASSurf-c0=&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=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A double by Diogo Jota helped Liverpool to an ultimately comfortable victory in the Carabao Cup semi-final. Our disappointment was compounded by a sending-off for Thomas Partey who managed no more than fifteen minutes on the pitch after returning from Africa. There was a noticeable difference in class between the sides especially as the game wore on and Arsenal struggled to wrest any control away from Liverpool hampered clearly by the lack of match fitness of several players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After feverish speculation about our team selection, Arteta must have been pleased he could put out a strong looking starting XI. Most of our casualties returned and Partey was able to take his place on the bench after beginning the day in Africa! He really needn\u2019t have bothered! Liverpool were able to field a strong team although they had key absentees away in AFCON.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The early atmosphere was crackling like a good semi-final should be with \u00d8degaard playing deeper and centrally and taking the eye with intelligent prompting. Arsenal began the better with Martinelli causing regular problems for TAA on Liverpool\u2019s right and after nine minutes Lacazette curled a subtle free kick from the edge of the box against the bar with the help of a slight but important touch from Kellegher in the Liverpool goal.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Liverpool had been quite subdued but forced the ball home through Matip after a far post corner was headed on but the Liverpool centre back was clearly offside. It was a temporary reprieve as in their first attack of any real note Jota stepped inside a tentative Tomayisu and scuffed a shot past a couple of Arsenal defenders. It was enough to wrongfoot Ramsdale and it dribbled into the centre of the goal. It did not reflect particularly well on our keeper.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 0 Liverpool 1 &#8211; Jota (19 mins)&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Goals change the rhythm of most games and whereas Arsenal had looked the more lively side, the goal gave Liverpool assurance and confidence and they assumed control of the game without creating much of note. Suddenly, the fragility and inexperience of our central midfield became increasingly obvious, Saka found it hard to get into the match in any meaningful way and Lacazette became increasingly marooned upfront. Lokonga almost lost the ball on the edge of the area. Martinelli worked incredibly hard and almost got past VVD and Fabinho but the Brazilian stuck out a toe to push the ball away. We weren\u2019t coherent in our attacking play in the last fifteen minutes of the half. The crowd became subdued and Liverpool eased their way to half-time. Atkinson, traditionally no friend of Arsenal, booked Lacazette for a fairly innocuous challenge. We were not made aware of unusual betting activity just before the interval! Arsenal badly missed the sort of midfield drive that Partey supplied against Manchester City. How long would Arteta wait to use him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Half-time: Arsenal 0 Liverpool 1&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal needed to show personality and commitment and an early ball over the top from Lokonga to Lacazette deserved a better finish than Lacazette supplied as he blazed over. Jota then skinned White very easily and set up Gordon for an easy chance which the youngster snatched at and also blazed over. Liverpool were now in a comfortable rhythm and Arsenal needed to find more dynamism and physical impact. They looked disappointingly lightweight and one or two of the team, notably Tomiyasu looked well short of match fitness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Konate hit the post with a header from a corner and Ramsdale\u2019s fine block from the rebound was unnecessary as Henderson was offside. We then just survived a great run and cross from TAA. It was hard to see what options Arsenal had to alter the flow of the game.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A fine run from Martinelli saw Kelleher touch over his cross shot and this prompted Arteta to take off ESR for Partey and swap Nketiah for Lacazette. Our need for a more incisive leader of the attack was very clear tonight. Could Eddie continue his fine scoring run in the Carabao Cup?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Liverpool continued to pour forward and Robertson just turned the ball wide before Jota notched a second after it was initially disallowed for offside. Ramsdale again could not impose himself but he was badly exposed by the through ball and Jota, who caused huge problems for our central defenders, latched onto the long ball from TAA&nbsp;&nbsp;to all but confirm Liverpool\u2019s place at Wembley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2 &#8211; Jota (77)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The admirable Martinelli went close immediately afterwards but this Arsenal team was undercooked with several players looking short of full fitness and they lacked the drive and power needed to trouble Liverpool. Had we had to play the NLD with the resources we had last week it was unlikely to have ended well. Atkinson continued to give very petty yellow cards out and decided an innocuous trip by Partey merited a card. It proved very significant a few minutes later when a poorly timed challenge saw him receive a second yellow and negate the impact of his return from Cameroon. Our red card agony continues although the jobsworth Atkinson really didn\u2019t need to give the first yellow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Liverpool closed the game out with very few problems and move on to Wembley. What they might have achieved with Mane and Salah on the pitch doesn\u2019t bear thinking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Losing any semi-final is disappointing but this competition is not our priority and of more concern is the effect of cumulative injuries on our rhythm and drive. If Arteta didn\u2019t realise that we need midfield and attacking reinforcements before (and he clearly does) this game would have underlined the need to bolster the squad. Only Martinelli made much impact. He ran his heart out but we were very much second-best tonight after a very encouraging start to the game. We have a seventeen day gap after the Burnley match and we must hope we can gather our resources to get past Burnley on Sunday. Let us hope this does not dampen the enthusiasm of our fans who showed great support but were understandably discouraged by tonight\u2019s events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Would things have been any different if we had played on the original date?&nbsp;&nbsp;It\u2019s difficult to know but the suspicion that chicanery took place to alter the date is hard to avoid. But I very much doubt that we could have prevailed even if that original game had been played. Liverpool are currently a much better team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Patience is very necessary for our fans. Fourth place is the very clear target for us this season. Let us hope we can marshal and improve our resources to give it a real go &#8211; and stop the haemorrhage of resources from needless red cards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Final score Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images A double by Diogo Jota helped Liverpool to an ultimately comfortable victory in the Carabao Cup semi-final. Our disappointment was compounded by a sending-off for Thomas Partey who managed no more than fifteen minutes on the pitch after returning from Africa. There was a noticeable difference in class between the sides [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"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\/4656"}],"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\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4656"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4664,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4656\/revisions\/4664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}