{"id":7341,"date":"2023-01-28T17:27:19","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T17:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7341"},"modified":"2023-02-03T17:22:46","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T17:22:46","slug":"the-fa-cup-is-ours-we-win-it-when-we-want-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7341","title":{"rendered":"The FA Cup is ours. We win it when we want to."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When the draw was made for the FA Cup fourth round City away was the draw we didn\u2019t want. When the good people at the TV companies decreed that it should be on a Friday night with an 8pm kick off, some choice words were shared in the countryman household. Friday night traffic, road works everywhere and a very late bedtime beckoned. However the memories of two very different trips to Manchester were in my mind. That night in 2015 when 9000 Gooners rocked up at Old Trafford for an FA Cup tie to see us victorious with goals from Nacho Monreal and recently transferred Danny Welbeck rounded David de Gea to leave us with a memorable 2-1 win. Rather less memorably, my last trip to the Etihad in August 2021 when we were two down and with only ten men after 20 minutes and lost 5-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So off we set from Cambridgeshire at 2.30 pm and as expected, the traffic was a little sticky in places. However we got to our excellent prebooked parking space, within sight of the stadium, about 6.30pm. We feasted on fish and chips from a great little chip shop right outside the stadium. During dinner the team news came in. We had been expecting a strong side, but the boss made six changes from the side that started against United. In particular, the name of Rob Holding at centre half stood out. Rob Holding v Erling Haaland. Oh my. City named a strong team with Haaland, De Bruyne, Mahrez and Grealish all featuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fish and chips done we made the very short journey into the stadium. Up in the lift to the third tier. I\u2019ve now been on all three levels in the usual away section, levels 1 (ground level), 2 and 3. Level 1 is definitely best! However for this game it was given to the home fans and we were in levels 2 and 3. As CER (who, together with 21CG and True Storey were also at the game) noted in the last drinks, there were police everywhere, fully kitted out in riot gear. I have to say the pensioner lady next to me looked well dodgy so who can blame them. Evidently the red scousers and Chelsea had been misbehaving and lobbing things over the edge onto the home fans below in recent games, hence the police, rather than usual steward presence. Of course if they just gave us the lower tier it wouldn\u2019t be an issue would it? Having said that it wasn\u2019t a bad view, in the front of tier 3 right behind the goal (picture taken about half an hour before kick off when it really was, as bt8 remarked to me privately, when I shared the pic, the Emptihad).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the game, Robbie of AFTV was on the big screen being interviewed (WTF?). In a quiz about Arsenal, Robbie proudly revealed that he couldn\u2019t remember the year when we last won the FA Cup (2020), or which player had played the most games for the Arsenal (David O\u2019Leary). Go figure. Not impressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The game began and we started fast. KT3 and Trossard were linking well down the left hand side and Trossard (received very well by the travelling Gooners) was giving the young Nico Lewis the run around. He twisted and turned and fed Tomi for a fierce shot which was well saved. Later our new signing again found himself around the edge of the area. One of the things I like about Leandro is his willingness to shoot and he fully tested Ortega in the city goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However the stand out contest in the first half was Capitola Rob v Erling Haaland. The way Rob kept touch tight to the big Norwegian reminded me of the instruction given to my left back son at U14 level by his coach when facing a very tricky winger. “Son get in his shorts and don\u2019t get out until the end of the game. Give him no room”. It was a very physical contest, bringing back memories of Rob putting Diego Costa in his pocket in the Cup Final v Chelsea. He was fully supported by the crowd \u201cRob Holding, y\u2019know. He\u2019s better than Cannavaro!\u201d. Sadly it came to an end in the 42nd<\/sup> minute when, from a throw in on the half way line, Haaland received the ball, tapped it back to the thrower, spun and set off on one of his usual runs towards the penalty area. Rob, still keeping touch tight, grabbed him by the waist and brought him down, receiving in the process a deserved yellow card. Now Rob was a red card waiting to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought our team with six changes were the better team in the first half. Very encouraging. Apart from Rob on Haaland, KT3 did a great man marking number on Kevin de Bruyne, keeping him very quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the start of the second half, Arteta wisely subbed off Rob before he got sent off and brought on Saliba (prompting his song). Saliba did an equally effective job on Haaland, but less, how can I put this, frenetically. City looked to have upped their game a little in the early minutes, then came the key moment of the game. Partey was subbed off, it later proving to be a rib problem that will need a scan to determine how serious it is. Oh fuck. Sambi Lokonga was brought on. I would have much preferred, in the absence of Elneny, to see Zinchenko slotted in there (he\u2019s played there for Ukraine). Now I don\u2019t want to be too negative about Sambi, who did grow into the game, but he is not Thomas Partey and we instantly, and I do mean instantly, lost control of midfield and the way we had been rotating the ball in the first half. Where Thomas steps forward, Sambi steps back. He gave the ball away with his first three touches (as he did at Anfield last season). As I say, he got better, but he just isn\u2019t ready for a game of this level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City took more and more control and Pep brought on Alvarez. Just four minutes later he crashed a powerful shot that cannoned against Matt Turner\u2019s post. It fell to Grealish who cleverly made space before rolling it to Nathan Ake who passed it neatly into the corner of the net. Arteta reacted and brought on Gabi for Trossard, Zinchenko (cue song) for KT3 and \u01fedegaard for Saka (who had been well controlled by the impressive Ake). Gabi slotted in on the left, Zin at left back and \u01fede for Fabio who was moved to the right. This was again a sub I didn\u2019t quite get as Vieira is not a winger. I\u2019d rather have seen Trossard kept on and Fabio subbed. Fabio had one great chance as the ball fell to him after some scrapping by Eddie but he failed to take a touch and blazed it over. Otherwise he was anonymous on the wing. Gabi had some fun on the left, skinning the quick Kyle Walker several times and the ball dropped tantalising close to the very hard working Eddie several times. But gradually the intensity fell and City saw it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crowd were immense. 7800 Gooners made a hell of a noise despite being in the Gods and comfortably out sung the Mancs. Even when their goal went in, the impassioned roars of Arsenal!, Arsenal! drowned out their celebrations. Top songs were \u201cwe are top of the league\u201d and \u201csuper Mik Arteta\u201d. As the quiet passivity of the Manchester crowd got even quieter, increasingly the ironical chant was \u201cis this a library\u201d. It feels so good to be one of the loudest and proudest supports in the league, home and away. As we left the stadium it was Arsenal chants that were ringing out in the streets around the stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobody thought this was a bad defeat. Of course we really wanted to win it, but if we couldn\u2019t then a narrow defeat with our heads held high was the next best option. We now have two competitions to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homewards. Roadworks. More roadworks. A 4.5 hour journey, eventually getting home at 2.45am. Onto the league. What\u2019s next for me and my son? Oh yes. Everton away. A very early start but should be home in time for dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not the best day, but far from downcast. Pray for Partey. COYG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the draw was made for the FA Cup fourth round City away was the draw we didn\u2019t want. When the good people at the TV companies decreed that it should be on a Friday night with an 8pm kick off, some choice words were shared in the countryman household. Friday night traffic, road works […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7341"}],"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=7341"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7355,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7341\/revisions\/7355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}