We’re down to the last 5 games of a gruelling, testing, emotion invoking, rival fans provoking, support groups for coping, unwavering hoping… and uphill slippery sloping… type of Premier League season.
The finish line is in sight, that elusive Premier League trophy, is still within our grasp! Destiny is still in our hands… BUT, it won’t be easy… and we knew that, before a ball was even kicked this season.
Our first of our 5 cup finals, is against Newcastle, at the Emirates.
The Magpies suffered a 2-1 home defeat, at the hands of Bournemouth, in their last game… but they’ll no doubt turn into the 70’s Brazil team, when they play us… just because we need to win the game so badly.
The Arsenal are of course, on the back of that narrow 2-1 defeat, to Mancheatster City (I’m still fuming about that by the way!) I hope the players are too! I hope they channel all of the disappointment, and the anger, and harness it into a weapon… to unleash on Newcastle.
It’s certainly a must win game, and I feel it’s imperative that we rack up the goals in the process… as its been well documented, that this title could be won on goal difference.
We must however, be measured in our approach… as we don’t need to be frenetic, or panic-stricken, in our play.
The starting lineup was Raya in goal, Hincapie at left-back, Gabriel and Saliba central, and Ben White at right-back.
In midfield it was Rice, Odegaard, Zubimendi… and up front, it was… Eze on the left, Havertz through the middle, and Madueke on the right.
It was time to do battle, it was time to scrap, it was time for incisive passing… it was time for attacking efficiency, and defensive solidity. It was time to cover every blade of grass, show desire… and leave blood, sweat, and tears, on the pitch!!! Which is basically what we’ve done ALL. SEASON. LONG… and I’m sure the players will tap into that muscle memory, and lead us to victory.
We’ve starved our trophy cabinet, and its feeding time is long overdue.
The match kicked off, and the atmosphere felt different. Anxiousness, was replaced with supreme confidence, nerves were in attendance… but were outnumbered by defiance, and positivity. A refuse to lose, glory we choose, type of mindset… was adopted by the Arsenal faithful, and I thought to myself… forget clipping their wings, we’re going to obliterate The Magpies!! There’s nothing shiny for you to obtain here… MR MAGPIE!
The Gunners were looking good in the early stages, and the Arsenal faithful had no cause for concern… until a misplaced pass found its way to Tonali, who squared it to Guimaraes… and his powerful shot, went just over the bar. It was a warning that we needed to take heed from.
We identified that short corners would cause Newcastle more problems, than just putting the ball into the box… and after not reaping the rewards from the first two, our third attempt worked out magnificently.
In the 9th minute, a short corner was played to Havertz, and he found Eze on the edge of the box… in space that an astronaut would’ve been proud of. Eze’s brilliance didn’t require him to take a touch to steady himself… he struck the ball first-time with his right foot, and the ball flew into the top corner! A wonderful goal! A much needed goal! 1-0 to the Arsenal!!
Tonali had a great long range effort, that David Raya was equal to. The ball was swerving left, and right… but Raya somehow managed to sort his feet out quickly, and adjust his body, to make a word class save.
David Raya just cementing his place, as the best goalkeeper in the Premier League. Nobody else is anywhere near him right now.
We were trying for the second goal, but I can’t say we were going ALL OUT for it. The default setting of wanting to protect our lead, starting creeping into our game… so the passing became less dangerous… less ambitious.
It didn’t help matters in the 34th minute, when Kai Havertz went down injured, with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Let’s hope it’s not too serious.
Havertz was replaced by Gyokeres.
The Magpies were limited to long range efforts mostly, and we had half chances, but failed to increase our lead.
It got scrappy, it got ugly, and Newcastle got what they wanted…which was to turn it into that EXACT type of game. It wasn’t pleasant viewing… but who cares, we were 1-0 up.
The first half finished 1-0 to us. The Arsenal were just 45 minutes away, from returning to the Premier League summit.
In the second half, it only took a mere 8 minutes… for us to suffer yet ANOTHER injury. This time it was to Eze. It looked quite innocuous, so I have no idea what the injury is. Again though, let’s hope it’s nothing serious.
Eze was replaced by Martinelli.
Not long after that, a ball was played long to Gyokeres, that caught Newcastle out. Nick Pope sprinted off his line, and came WAAAAAAY OUTSIDE his area… and just blatantly took Gyokeres out. There was no attempt to play the ball whatsoever, and the keeper clearly prevented a goalscoring opportunity!! HAD TO BE A RED CARD!! What do the officials do though… VAR cleared it (If they even checked) and the referee, gave Pope just a yellow card.
It was another abysmal decision by the officials, against Arsenal… and we can do nothing, but just add this latest injustice, to the long list of injustices.
We were overcomplicating things in the final third, shooting when we should pass, and vice-versa. When we did pick the right passes, the players failed to play the ball accurately.
In the 81st minute, Bukayo Saka came on for Noni Madueke. It was good to see Saka back, and we immediately looked more dangerous, with him on the pitch.
Madueke done ok, but his need for extra touches, and delaying to cross the ball… can be somewhat frustrating.
Lewis-Skelly also came on in the 81st minute… he replaced Martin Zubimendi in the midfield. A position that Arsenal fans, me included… would like to see Lewis-Skelly play more often.
Odegaard had a shot saved by Pope, and we had a late scare at the other end, when Yoane Wissa was in on the Arsenal goal… But thankfully, he wissa’d his shot over the bar.
We did it, we saw the game out. It finished 1-0 to The Arsenal. We won the first of our 5 cup finals. 4 more to go!!
3 points, and back to the top of the league. All other noise has been, and will forever remain… muted.
We’re away to Atletico Madrid next, for our semi-final clash, in the Champions League.
An extremely difficult game, and even more so, because we hammered them 4-0 in the group stages, back in October.
I’m expecting a bruising encounter, a tactical masterclass… so we’ll need to offer more of an attacking threat, if we’re hoping to take a positive result back to the Emirates, for the second leg.
With all of our injury concerns, player fatigue, and others only just returning to full fitness… how do you think Arteta should approach this game?
Should Arteta risk further injury to key players, and just go as strong as possible? Or should he field a few of the “Fringe” players?
Let me know in the comments as usual. COYG!!
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