{"id":5050,"date":"2022-03-17T14:40:19","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T14:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=5050"},"modified":"2022-03-18T19:23:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T19:23:40","slug":"closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=5050","title":{"rendered":"Closer\u2026\u2026"},"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.com\/detail\/1239243741\" 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:57.239056% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1239243741?et=PX_k_afXQmdLAkwBOA2Gug&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=nSmhZqP2Hi403tpSEdBEv4Wctt2M2ce18uVOLhrtsPc=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"340\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal\u2019s five match winning run came to a grinding halt on Wednesday evening as they lost 2-0 to title chasing Liverpool despite another excellent display. After going toe-to-toe with the Reds for the opening 55 minutes, crucial lapses in concentration cost Arsenal as Liverpool found not one but two quickfire second half goals from Jota and Firmino to put the game out of Arsenal\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At kick-off the atmosphere inside the ground sounded raucous and the fans were brimming with optimism following our excellent recent form. The level of decibels only increased following a very good first half display. Despite this, the visitors started brightly, and Van Dijk tested Ramsdale with his header from Robertson\u2019s corner well saved. But Arsenal quickly grew into the game, constantly narrowing the gaps for their opposition who struggled to find any rhythm. While we didn\u2019t create much ourselves, we were more than matching a side that many believe to be the best in the world. Right on half time we had a scare when a sublime ball over the top from Alexander Arnold nearly put Mane, who should\u2019ve been booked earlier in the half for a disgraceful dive, through on goal but a combination of Gabriel and Ramsdale was enough to put the Senegal international off as he spooned his effort well over the bar. We also saw a couple of superb driving runs from the exceptional Martinelli, who was causing Alexander-Arnold all kinds of problems. The youngster received his first call up to the Brazil squad this week and it\u2019s not hard to see why.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second half began and Liverpool upped the tempo. Less than a minute into the half Mane was sent through on goal and tucked the ball beyond Ramsdale but the flag went up for offside and the goal did not stand. Replays showed this was the correct decision. And then came the turning point of the game. Following some Arsenal pressure, Thiago played an awful backpass to Allison which Lacazette intercepted. The Frenchman tried to round the Brazilian but, to Allison\u2019s credit, he did well to stay on his feet forcing Lacazette to feed \u00d8degaard instead, who took a touch to steady himself but again Allison stood tall to make a huge save. It really should\u2019ve been 1-0 and every Arsenal fan in the ground knew it. Against this level of opposition, you don\u2019t get those chances often and when you do you need to convert them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inevitably, two minutes later we were punished. Thiago, making up for his error played in Diogo Jota who fired it in at the near post for his customary goal against Arsenal. Replays showed that Ramsdale ought to have saved it but given his excellent form this season, I think we can cut him some slack. What made it even more sickening was the fact that Jota was about to be substituted anyway! It\u2019s the hope that kills you. 1-0 down and Klopp brought on Salah and Firmino. What a lovely man. We tried to get ourselves back into it but we struggled to get a hold of the game and before we knew it, it was two. Saka failed to clear on the right-hand side and Robertson came storming down the touchline, sending in a sumptuous ball for Firmino to flick home. Game over. Off came \u00d8degaard for Smith-Rowe. Not his night. But still Arsenal didn\u2019t give up. Martinelli continued to terrorise Alexander-Arnold and co but we just lacked the end product in the final third and that was the key difference Arsenal and Liverpool. Martinelli curled an excellent effort just wide, and the game came to its conclusion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another Liverpool win against Arsenal but it felt different this time. We were competitive throughout and we matched them for large portions of the game. The signs of progress are blatantly obvious now even to the most toxic and negative of Arsenal fans. Apart from Piers Morgan obviously! But the level of performance was excellent as it was against Citeh. Give it another 18 months or so and we will be challenging fully. And with United and Spurs being as average as they are, and with Chelsea hopefully being liquidated and forced to relocate to Chernobyl (we can only hope) we may be able to force our way back among the elite. The first step of course is returning to the Champions League which we remain likely to achieve this season and then following another dip into Stan\u2019s trust fund, another big money splash in the transfer market and we may be able to fulfil the Holy Willian Prophecy of winning the champions league by 2023. There is no escaping the prophecy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So up next, we have a quick turnaround to face Stevie G\u2019s Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime. More Scousers. Much like rats, they say that you\u2019re never more than six feet from a Scouser. Not that I\u2019m otherwise comparing Scousers with rats! Although it is a local delicacy up there. But all Scouser jokes aside, another game in quick succession is exactly what you want after a defeat. It promises to be another tough game but one you\u2019d expect us to win. Onwards and Upwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COYG!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Arsenal\u2019s five match winning run came to a grinding halt on Wednesday evening as they lost 2-0 to title chasing Liverpool despite another excellent display. After going toe-to-toe with the Reds for the opening 55 minutes, crucial lapses in concentration cost Arsenal as Liverpool found not one but two quickfire second [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"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\/5050"}],"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\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5050"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5055,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050\/revisions\/5055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}