{"id":9456,"date":"2024-04-15T06:46:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T05:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9456"},"modified":"2024-04-16T19:02:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T18:02:50","slug":"villains-break-and-enter-to-steal-the-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9456","title":{"rendered":"Villains Break and Enter to Steal the Points"},"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\/2148615888\" 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\/2148615888?et=HqgMPPlpRghzffznZMKmSA&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=iwmvOpTlBfoDVXngAxFyI6LZs79l6cd9JWM3G5T2mCM=&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>For the second time this season Arsenal were left to rue a string of missed chances as we lost to Unai Emery\u2019s Aston Villa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the first half we were all over them. Saka had Digne on toast and Odegaard found him in behind with a series of balls, none of which we made the most of. On the other side, Trossard played in Havertz but his shot was blocked, and the pair interchanged well without creating enough clear chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Havertz was deployed deeper than we have seen recently, starting in midfield behind Jesus in the striker\u2019s role. He had license to run beyond our feisty Brazilian, and Konsa was unsure whether to stay with Trossard on the wing or follow Kai\u2019s clever runs. However, the German\u2019s lack of pace shone through a few times when he couldn\u2019t get away from the rapid Douglas Costa whose speed got him back in position to make some important blocks and tackles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We played one beautiful, sweeping move which ended with a free header for Jesus at the back post. He headed it down and wide. I love him as a player, but today he highlighted why there has been clamour for a striker; like Havertz, he can score goals, but he is not clinical in front of goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We outplayed them comfortably for the whole half. There were moments when Trossard and Jesus sprinted back to nick balls off the toes of Villa attackers, which helped keep our stranglehold on the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They had one good chance when Gabriel sprayed an out ball into Zinchenko\u2019s back and Watkins ran through on goal before hitting the inside of the post. It was a let-off, as we could have gone in a goal down which would have been wildly unfair but we had not capitalised on a lot of excellent football. Had we done the same against Bayern, I\u2019d expect us to be losing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Immediately though we fashioned our best chance, Trossard hitting a shot from 5 yards out that allowed Martinez to make a save when there was a lot the goal available where he would not have reached it. However, unlike some of our other options, Trossard is very good in front of goal, and no-one can score them all, so I don\u2019t want to go in on him for missing this one. Unfortunately though, Captain Hindsight reckons if he\u2019d scored it then we\u2019d have won the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m sure many of us were worried at half-time that we had been so profligate but the team have given us so much reason to be optimistic there was no need to be unduly worried at half-time. Or was there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villa improved a lot in the second half. They calmed down and strung some passes together. We stopped building through midfield, and tried to play longer passes forward, drying up much of the possession in their half that Odegaard had used so well in the first period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saka continued to get fouled. David Coote continued to give marginal calls to Villa and yellow cards only to our players. Havertz got one for a reason I could not tell you. I didn\u2019t see anything worthy of a foul, or him get the card, and then a caption came up telling me he had a yellow. Douglas Costa wildly high kicked Odegaard in the chest with a swing that was never going to get the ball. It was not malicious but it was daft. David Coote didn\u2019t think it was worth a yellow. There are many things I do not think David Coote\u2019s refereeing is worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zanniolo fouled, faked and harried his way round the pitch. When not being a petulant tit, he did some good stuff with the ball, and had an excellent second half until he got subbed, seemingly with a slight injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villa had not created lots but as the game began to get tense and both managers made subs, they began to exert some pressure. We put on Tomi, Gabigol, ESR and Jorginho for Odegaard, Jesus, Trossard and White. Benjamin looked like he might have had a little niggle. Let\u2019s hope it is nothing serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The crowd tried to get behind the team but even on TV the nerves were becoming palpable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We defended a few corners but our attacking output had dried up. We really needed to steady the ship in midfield. Much like a European tie, the key was not to concede\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 84 minutes, we conceded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was a crap goal that I don\u2019t want to rewatch to describe it to you. We should have cleared it. Then we should have stopped the cross at source or in the box. We did none of those things and it went through to Bailey, who slotted it in at the back post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A couple of minutes later and it was truly game over. Watkins ran through, onside, as he was in his own half when the ball was played, and we left him acres to run into. ESR did a decent job tracking back but Watkins did well to hold him off and finish beautifully over Raya, who went down early, although it was the quality of the finish that made the goal, not what the keeper did. Watkins is a player I like a lot. It was a hugely well-taken goal after we had kept him quiet all game. It rather showed us what we\u2019d missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We huffed and puffed a bit, bringing Eddie on for an airing, but nothing came of eight minutes of extra time and Coote put us out of our misery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, on a day when Poo also lost, what to make of a result that puts City top?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, personally, after a run of ten wins and a draw at the champions, I did not expect us win another seven in a row as we swept to the title. It just doesn\u2019t work like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, we all wanted the win today, and if we\u2019d finished better in the first half then it was there for us. However, there are always unexpected results at this stage of the season. The pressure does funny things to players and teams. City might win their remaining games and win the league. If they do, then fair enough (obviously I am not suggesting there is anything fair about what City do), sometimes other teams play well, get good results, and we don\u2019t control that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would be surprised if they don\u2019t drop more points though. And I quite fancy us to pick up points whilst the pressure is on City. Both us and Pool have lasted barely a week at the top since we reached the summit. Let City play with the pressure whilst we follow in their slipstream. We just need to put it behind us, focus on our performances and ensure we are ready to pounce if they slip up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All is far from lost. There are plenty of important games still to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bayern are next and a chance to put ourselves three games away from being European Champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are just where we have dreamed of being for years. No-one said it would be easy, but we need to keep the faith &#8211; there aren\u2019t any fat ladies singing just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until next time \u2018holics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images For the second time this season Arsenal were left to rue a string of missed chances as we lost to Unai Emery\u2019s Aston Villa. In the first half we were all over them. Saka had Digne on toast and Odegaard found him in behind with a series of balls, none of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"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\/9456"}],"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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9456"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9465,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9456\/revisions\/9465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}