It’s Carabao Cup time, and The Gunners take aim, against Brighton & Hove Albion F.C… Or, just Brighton, to his mates.
The last time we played Brighton, we drew 1-1 with them at the Amex Stadium.
That was back in January… and we’re a different team now, and we’re playing at Emirates Stadium… under the lights, on the carpet. It’s time for them to get hoovered up.
Fresh from our gritty 1-0 win over an excellent Crystal Palace side, we’ll be confident coming into this game, regardless of the changes in personnel, that Arteta will inevitably make.
Brighton are on the back of a 4-2 defeat, to Manchester United… but I’m sure they’ll have some misplaced optimism, due to us not playing our strongest 11, and them playing their full strength team.
Brighton play good football, but I’m expecting the usual low defensive block, that we’ve faced in every single game this season. (I hope I’m wrong)
Ex-Gunner Danny Welbeck, has been excellent for Brighton since joining them in 2020.
He’s 34 now, which is knocking on a bit in football terms… but he’s playing with a hunger, and a youthful exuberance, that is inspirational to watch. Welbeck was loved at Arsenal, so I’m sure he’ll get a good reception, when he steps out onto the carpet.
Okaaaay, so on to the starting lineup. As suspected, Mikel Arteta made wholesale changes…and rightly so.
Kepa Arrizabalaga started in goal (His first start at the Emirates, in a competitive game.
Ben White came in at right-back, Cristhian Mosquera continued to deputise for the injured William Saliba… Piero Hincapie was handed his first start, and Myles Lewis-Skelly came in at left-back.
In the midfield, Arteta went with Ethan Nwaneri, Christian Norgaard, and Mikel Merino.
Merino was captaining the side, in Saka’s absence.
Up front…and yes, he’s STILL just 15 years old.. Max Dowman (The Wonder-Kid) started on the right. Through the middle… 17 year old Andre Harriman-Annous, made his debut. (Our academy isn’t celebrated enough!)… On the left, Eberechi Eze… AKA, Kung Fu Master.
The Match started at an exceptionally quick pace, but unfortunately…the pace was set by Brighton, and we were struggling to keep up with them.
Arteta made 10 changes to the team that started against Crystal Palace, and the players who came in, had never played together before, and it showed.
We were sloppy in possession, our usual aggression wasn’t there, our defending was somewhat casual, and we were caught on the break, MULTIPLE times.
Kepa was called into action EARLY in the half, and he answered the call emphatically… with a string of superb saves. He closed the shooting angles down, and made himself big, in the one-on-ones. He kept us in the game, because Brighton could’ve easily been 2, maybe 3-0 up, in that first half.
Thankfully, the half finished 0-0, and Brighton must’ve been kicking themselves that they didn’t make more of their opportunities. They were most certainly the better team, in that first half.
The second half started more evenly, and our more creative players were getting on the ball a lot more.
Max “The Wonder-Kid” Dowman in particular, was running at the Brighton players at will, repeatedly causing sheer terror in their defensive ranks… just in time for Halloween. (Hahaha)
The boy really is, scarily good.
We were passing better now, and putting moves together. One of those moves came to fruition in the 57th minute.
Eze played a lovely ball to Merino, and he played a no-look, disguised, sumptuous backheel, through to Lewis-Skelly, on the left side of the Brighton box…and Lewis-Skelly cuts it back for Nwaneri, stroked the ball home expertly… to the keepers left. A lovely finish by Nwaneri. A wonderful Arsenal move, that oozed quality, smelled like victory, and was sprinkled with technical ability. 1-0 to the Arsenal!!
Eze had a shot deflected over, almost straight after our goal. He was unlucky, but I think the better option was to square it to Harriman-Annous, who was in acres of space.
However, if you’ve just scored a goal, using Martial Arts… I suppose you can shoot whenever you like. (Hahaha!)
With Brighton having a couple more half chances, and some Arsenal players just coming injury, or just looking tired… Arteta made some changes, in the 70th minute.
Gabriel came on for Hincapie, Timber for White, and Saka for Dowman.
Hincapie had an excellent game. He showed all the qualities you want from a central defender… he’s quick, brave, good in the air, has good reading of the game, he’s aggressive, and he can tackle.
He can also play left-back, which just underlines for me, that he’ll end up being a superb addition to the Arsenal squad.
Ben White played well, after shaking off a little rustiness from the first half. I’m sure he’ll be back to his best in no time.
Anyway, it didn’t take Bukayo “The Starboy” Saka, long to shine brightly… on Brighton… to brighten, up my day… HAHAHA!!
He was only on the pitch 6 minutes, when Jurrien Timber picked up the ball on the right, DEEEEEEP, deep, inside his own half… and he carried the ball, almost the full length of the pitch, taking four Brighton players out in the process. He then put Harriman-Annous clean through on goal, but the keeper was off his line quickly, and his shot was blocked.
Saka pounced on the rebound, controlled the ball with his right, and banged it in with his left. A great finish that killed the game, killed all the “Set-Piece FC” noise, and killed Brighton’s hope.
The Starboy, doing Starboy things. 2-0 to the Arsenal!!
In the 77th minute, Declan Rice came on for Harriman-Annous. It was a good debut for the 17 year old, who didn’t allowed himself to be overawed by the occasion.
A shame he didn’t finish his chance, but without his run, and his shot on goal… Saka doesn’t score the winner, so I’m chalking that up as a Harriman-Annous assist. I’ve put it in writing, so it’s official. (Hahaha)
In the 83rd minute, Torssard came on for Eze.
Eze had a decent game, and was involved in most of our attacking play. He was instrumental in our first goal. I’m sure his good form will continue.
Trossard had a great shot towards the end, that knocked the living daylights out of the post. So unlucky with the strike. He’s been excellent this season, by the way, and he’s finally getting the credit he deserves. He’s so dependable, and scores BIG goals, in BIG games.
The game finished 2-0. We’re through to the quarter-finals… and have a home tie against Crystal Palace to navigate…just like we did, at the same stage last season.
It’ll be a tough game, but I’m not entertaining anything less than a win.
As I’ve said before, I’m desperate for us to win the League Cup, simply because we haven’t won it since 1993.
We broke some records yesterday, that aren’t being talked about enough.
Ahem…allow me…
Max “The Wonder-Kid” Dowman, became the youngest EVER player to start a competitive match for Arsenal… at just 15 years, and 302 days old. An amazing achievement!
Arsenal are the first top flight, English team… to play six games in a month, and win them ALL, without conceding a single goal. The level that we’re playing at right now, should be marvelled at, celebrated, discussed, and analysed… but nooooo… the so called pundits, would rather waffle about set-pieces, and any other anti-Arsenal foolishness, that they dreamt up this week.
Anywhoooo… next up for The Arsenal, is Burnley away in the Premier League. It’s a Saturday 3pm kick-off, which feels weird… because we haven’t had one of those for a while.
It’ll be a tricky game, one that I consider to be a potential banana skin… as Burnley are well organised, defend well, and can score goals too. They also have a very good home record.
Let’s keep our remarkable form going, and take ALL 3 points! COYG!!
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