{"id":4800,"date":"2022-02-11T12:16:09","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T12:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4800"},"modified":"2022-02-18T17:07:03","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T17:07:03","slug":"resilient-arsenal-achieve-vital-win-despite-the-efforts-of-agent-oliver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4800","title":{"rendered":"Resilient Arsenal Achieve Vital Win &#8211; Despite the Efforts of Agent Oliver"},"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\/1369828329\" 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\/1369828329?et=g_sSOIiGSDpM6c8BF0iVyw&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;sig=FIPTBfNys13dRmyiew49d04_ZEHN-JT_RqHqCOSkLn4=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Firstly, apologies for the lateness of&nbsp;&nbsp;this report. My original, very angry report was written and despatched in an hour but seems to have been lost in cyberspace. This will be a different account with less match detail, more reflection and with the benefit of being able to cool down after over twelve hours following the final whistle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last night saw what may be a pivotal moment in our season. Wolves began the match two points behind and with clear and realistic designs on at least a European place. They concede very few goals and their record against the better clubs this season is far from shabby. Our team was nearly at full strength although the absence of Tomayisu was exacerbated by the presence of Cedric. To be fair, on the night he was part of a resilient and courageous back four which ultimately morphed to a back five and then to a back nine. ESR began on the bench and our two central midfielders emerged from the naughty step after recent red cards. Leno was an absentee after a positive Covid test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first half was competitive, relatively sterile and very even. Neither side was able to impose themselves for any length of time. Arsenal built mainly on the left with Martinelli exhibiting combativeness and clearly increased body strength. Early observations that I made were that Tierney lacks some of the dynamism of previous seasons but none of his commitment which was still admirable and Lacazette is not a satisfactory focal point especially when pushed into the most forward offensive position. He could rarely retain the ball. Few early chances materialised. Partey got lucky when he miscued an attempted clearance which rebounded off Jimenez to Ramsdale. We had two sides with enviable discipline and a coherent shape. Arsenal were effective out of possession with a 4-4-1-1 and worked extremely hard in a high press. Wolves are not high scorers and looked as if they lacked a cutting edge too. Where was a goal to come from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It took 25 minutes to find out. Arsenal had a left-wing corner blocked, White returned it into the danger area. Lacazette challenged Sa entirely legitimately and the ball fell to Gabriel a yard from goal where he turned the ball home. Despite protests from both players and fans Michael Oliver found no reason to disallow the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wolves 0 Arsenal 1 &#8211; Gabriel 25&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wolves retaliated and Xhaka did exceptionally well to steer a fierce left-wing cross away from Jimenez. Wolves piled in crosses (all game in fact) but our central defenders dealt with them admirably and Ramsdale claimed crosses whenever he could. Shortly before half-time we produced our best move of the match. Saka combined with \u00d8degaard, showed superb control and pulled the ball back for Lacazette to hit a fierce half-volley, sadly straight at Sa.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael Oliver had begun in indulgent mood allowing several bookable tackles to go unpunished but changed tack to book Partey, Saiss and inevitably Xhaka before the interval. Xhaka\u2019s naive shirt pull allowed Neves, arguably the equal of Ward-Prowse with a dead ball, a free kick on the edge of the box on the cusp of the interval. Fortunately, he screwed it wide. We led at the interval after a decent, committed performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Half-time &#8211; Wolves 0 Arsenal 1&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second half swung into action with play following a similar pattern to the first half. Arsenal pressed effectively, Wolves were able to feed their wingers who put several dangerous crosses into the box but we held firm. We were not at our best as an attacking force largely because Lacazette for all his admirable qualities can\u2019t hold the ball up well enough. He is far more effective dropping deep but that leaves us short in central attacking positions. The tempo of the game increased and then exploded around ten minutes into the second half. Martinelli was piqued by the non-award of a free kick out on the left. He tried to prevent a quick throw (which was actually a foul throw) but didn\u2019t and Oliver played on. Martinelli raced after the substitute Chiquinho and clearly pushed him. To everyone\u2019s surprise the referee decided that these two fouls constituted a red card as both merited a yellow card. I will give my feelings later on the referee\u2019s approach to the game. At refereeing school (if they have one) pedants could pat him on the back for enforcing the letter of the law. But a game poised delicately and with a decent and reasonably controlled cut and thrust was totally disfigured by the sending-off. The worst foul of the game by Neves on Lacazette just before was shown a yellow. Oliver in his best jobsworth mode could have punished it with a red. But he didn\u2019t and Arsenal conspiracy theorists will have their own thoughts about it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal had replaced \u00d8degaard with ESR and brought on the quite admirable Rob Holding, scruz\u2019s best mate, in place of Saka. Shortly thereafter, we saw a great chance to increase the&nbsp;&nbsp;buffer in the scoreline when Lacazette got in on the left but curled a loose shot wide. It was a poor effort and he was ultimately withdrawn for Nketiah. He had run his legs off as he always does but he is not the answer in that position.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Things appeared likely to go pear-shaped very quickly when Xhaka turned the ball into his own net after Jimenez had challenged for a free kick. Thankfully the offside flag was raised and we &#8211; and Granit &#8211; escaped. The rest of the game was an exercise in Arsenal resilience with Wolves bringing on an extra striker and ESR on occasions trying to dribble the length of the field with no support. Our three centre backs played admirably. Holding made nine clearances in his 19 minutes on the field. Ramsdale made a couple of fine saves, most notably a fine tip over from Saiss and after five added minutes, Michael Oliver had no option but to blow time. It was a great rearguard action with the whole team totally committed and our organisational qualities in defence were amply illustrated on numerous occasions. It is invidious to pick heroes on the night but I was incredibly impressed with Gabriel whose presence and intelligent defending enabled us to repel the amber wave.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Full time &#8211; Wolves 0 Arsenal 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this game will be dominated by the debate over the red card. Martin Keown, God bless him, called Oliver a pedant. It was the perfect word. No other team in England would have had a player sent off in those circumstances. The two offences were scarcely violent and any reasonable referee would have been content that a yellow card would suffice for Martinelli. No Wolves fan could surely believe their luck. Referees have a duty to uphold the laws of the game but they need to leaven this with an understanding that it is a spectator sport, a competitive spectacle and before you unbalance a game in that way you need to consider proportionality. Allowing lots of potentially bookable fouls to go unpunished raises the temperature of a game and leads inevitably to flashpoints although the Martinelli situation was a very muted flashpoint. Arsenal\u2019s red card record is nothing to be proud of but it is also ridiculously harsh. They are a team that tackle less than almost anyone in the league. They are paying the ultimate penalty far too often for infringements for which almost all other sides are not being punished. Does anyone believe that a Liverpool, United or City player would have been shown that red card? Arteta\u2019s bemusement at the final whistle was understandable. He has not produced a team of thugs and they are being very harshly dealt with by the wretched PGMOL &#8211; an organisation that I contend is not fit for purpose.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But let that grouse not mar a potentially huge victory and a springboard for a real crack at attaining a Champions League place!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Firstly, apologies for the lateness of&nbsp;&nbsp;this report. My original, very angry report was written and despatched in an hour but seems to have been lost in cyberspace. This will be a different account with less match detail, more reflection and with the benefit of being able to cool down after over [&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\/4800"}],"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=4800"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4807,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4800\/revisions\/4807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}