A resilient line-up started and a very good start to the game punctuated with a beautiful ESR’s strike on the cross bar…A few minutes later and on their first incursion in our half after 30 minutes of play, Lamela scored a screamer with a Rabona! What a goal! But being by far the best team at the Emirates, we came back through our Norwegian playmaker who converted another good cross from Tierney. Overall, we came back right before half-time and it was the least we deserved after hitting the cross-bar by ESR and the post through Cedric!
Second half, we started oddly with Tottenham playing better but we were not to be outdone and in the end, Lacazette managed to get a PK after being played through beautifully by Pepe. Lacazette then scored a good PK, through a nicely taken penalty.
After that, we created some chances but truth be told, Tottenham started to threaten us but Lamela went from Spurs hero to Spurs villain by getting himself sent off for a blatant foul on Tierney. But AFC being AFC, we still remained fragile and Kane scored a header but was off-side and then hit the post on a free-kick.
But the North London Derby was to be ours in 2021 and we saw the game through to Arteta’s relief and joy!
Here are the ratings:
Leno – 5, no saves and no big mistakes. Just average.
Cedric – 7, a good game for him.
Luiz – 6, nothing bad nor good.
Gabs – 6, nothing bad nor good.
Tierney – 7.5, an assist and a good defensive game.
Partey – 5.5. Seems to be struggling with the physicality and pace of the EPL still. Had some random shots but overall, an average outing
Xhaka – 6.5. A solid performance in the middle.
Saka – 5. Looked jaded from the on-set. Pepe – 6. Looked lively, a great pass to Laca for the PK but could have done more.
Odegaard – 8 – What a game for him. At the heart of our passing and a good goal for him in the end. Played well.
ESR – 7 – An excellent first half, a great strike and unlikely not to score.
Laca – 8 – A goal, a very good performance up front. A constant nuisance. MOTM
Arteta – 8. Great team selection and set-up
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Gabriel nothing good or bad? Well the bad, that weird boot up in the air towards the end, and the trip on Moura inviting another Kane strike, the good an exceptional headed block when Leno was all at sea.
I think you’ve been harsh on Partey, Xhaka and Saka, thought all three have good performances during their time on the pitch, I do wonder whether Saka was subbed as precaution because Spuds were definitely targeting him.
I’m often quick to criticise Xhaka but today he was the man to bring the team up the pitch in a defensive press on a number of occasions even chasing the ball back to their keeper.
I thought Partey had a solid game until he tired in the last ten minutes.
The problem with playing a team like Spuds is they made us do all the hard running with the ball for probably 3/4 of the game if not 4/5, they tried to soak it all up and pressure at the end with effectively fresh legs.
My stars were Odegaard, KT and ESR, Laca, Xhaka, Saka, Pepe and Cedric honourable mentions, and thought Luiz and Gabriel did well to Marshall the threat of Spuds counters for most of the game.
PS a team that wins the NLD they start at 9 automatically.
Gabriel nothing good??? Did you miss his defensive header that saved a sure goal?
Ridiculously harsh on Partey, Xhaka ( yes, I said Xhaka), Saka, Smith-Rowe and Leno.
Hojbergshit spent all game winding up and fouling. Saka was a target from start. Kane followed through several times after the ball had gone.
Fantastic to give Moaninho his wet fish slapped face back as we stand up for proper football and he continues to bore the arse off all football supporters.
Gabriel – sorry – 1 more point for the classy saving defensive header.
ESR also deserves half a point more all and all…
We won the NLD!
I thought Leno was really average, Saka jaded…
I don’t feel like Partey had a great game and Xhaka was tidy.
ESR, I agree – he deserves.
Well well well..Apparently Auba was due to start but there was a breach from him (apparently he arrived late) and he was then benched and Laca started. What a big call by Arteta and in the end, Laca was IMHO the best equipped to play against Spurs central defense and so he showed
http://streamable.com/o7z2f3
Well done RC
MOTM is a close call between Odegaard and ESR in my opinion, possibly Tierney as well.
Luiz and Gabriel were both very good I thought and pretty much everyone had a decent game.
I thought Partey generally played well but seemed to tire in the final 15 and definitely put us in trouble a few times.
We were nervous towards the end because the players knew we have dropped a lot of points recently through silly mistakes or plain bad luck. Seeing this one out will have done a lot for confidence and steadying the ship.
But I take a lot of encouragement from that performance. We are creating plenty of chances and our forwards will give anyone something to worry about.
Great result and a brilliant performance for 80 minutes.
A little harsh on some of the players RC imo. I think all the players contributed and stayed professional, unlike some recent performances.
I thought Gabriel had a decent game. Partey definitely looked like he was lacking fitness for the last 20 minutes, but he’s had injury issues.
ESR & Tierney were outstanding on the left. Odegaard probably shades motm.
I don’t understand the debate about Laca’s penalty. The Spurs defender kicks Laca & not the ball. Foul in the area = penalty.
Lamela’s goal was outrageous, but the next 100 times he tries that he won’t score.
Spurs kicked us off the park today. Where is the criticism of Hojberg & Kane? It was cynical and dirty. Lamela was trying to get Xhaka & Luiz sent off. He got what he deserved.
I see psg playing out the arsenal way
Fred – don’t get me started on PSG…We are absymal in the league and decent in the Champions League. I remain certain that letting Tuchel go was a big mistake especially to replace him by a losing coach like Pochetinno. I just don’t get it. If you bring in Pellegrini, it is understandable but Pochetinno? The guy is already under pressure to win the League, the Cups and the Champions’ League…Since he came to PSG two months ago, our team has not improved one bit and actually is doing worse than under Tuchel…I like Leonardo, our sporting Director, but he messed up big time by letting Tuchel go as well as Silva and Cavani…After having the best season in our history last year, we are going to have the worse one under the Qatari era this year with potentially no trophy…
What PSG is lacking…is:
1. Depth in Central Defense
2. Depth in full-backs
3. Quality in central midfield
4. Depth in wingers
5. Depth in CF.
Imagine? For such a rich club…
Our starting healthy line-up is great I believe with:
Navas – Florenzi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Bernat – Paredes, Verratti – Di Maria, Neymar, Mbappe – Icardi (or Keane)
But our back-up team is seriously flawed:
Rico – Dagba, Kehrer, Diallo, Kurzawa – Gueye, Herrera – Sarabia, Rafinha, Draxler – Kean
From the back up team, Diallo, Sarabia (at times), Rafinha and Kean are fine but the rest, we could sell and not miss to be honest. Gueye has been a huge disappointment and Herrera at best average while Kehrer has just been below par and Draxler plays 20 minutes and goes missing for 70…
I think that PSG will go big this summer with a RB, CB, CM, Winger, and CF.
Lamptey, Romero, Pellegrini or Veretout, Lookman/Dembele/Depay, Volland
Navas – Rico
Florenzi – Lamptey
Marquinhos/Kimpembe ; Romero/Diallo
Bernet / Diallo
Paredes – Danilo
Verratti – Verettout
Di Maria – Sarabia
Neymar – Raphinha
Mbappe – Lookman
Icardi – Kean – Volland
“Nothing good, nothing bad.” ?
Luiz and Gabriel were excellent.
Did you watch the game?
So much karma!
Totteringham attempts to soften up end up with Gabriel’s goal saving header and Kane desperately turning to the sky.
Lamela scores a worldy, and then gets his dues, having spent the rest of the game committing late fouls.
Moaninho coaches headache football, then blames his players for not turning up, and Oliver for being tired.
Luiz laughs at his old boss for all those sneaky travesties of justice witnessed by the football world in the past.
Keep looking up Moaninho, a resurrection of St Totteringham Day is not far away, although you will no doubt be long gone.
Martin – I agree. Our CBs were very good.
Regarding the penalty, I don’t know how anyone can even question it.
As others have said, anywhere else on the pitch it’s an immediate foul. A foul in the penalty area is a penalty – end of story.
If the Spurs defender had connected with the ball before clattering Laca then there would be more of a debate (although you would still be able to make a case for recklessness).
However, he got nowhere near the ball and the fact that Laca sliced his shot is pretty much irrelevant.
(In fact he slice it so badly he might have had a chance to chase it down before it went out of play if not for being scythed down).
LBG and Sue
Life feels good to today – and that Wrighty video sums it up.
I slept as calmly as Lacazette gently slotting his penalty away.
Ahhhhhhh, sighhhhhhhh, happiness is winning the NLD
The spuds defender clattered into Lacazette’s kicking leg.
Stone Wall Penalty.
“Headache football”
Hahahahahaha, very good.
Odegaard did take a huge step forward yesterday, it is true what people are saying that if he takes too many more of those he will be wanted back where he came from.
I can only guess that RC has seen a lot more of Partey in Europe than most of us, this must be the reason for his low estimation; that’s to say, RC believes he has so much more to give.
I, on the other hand, would describe his performance yesterday as imperious, yes, he faded, he clearly is still not 100% fit hence the reason for his usual substitution on the hour bit I am so glad that we have him.
Rocky
Soooooo goooood! Eh, Suuuuuuuuuue!
Aaron Ramsey injured again for the fourth time this season – thigh-
Played 75 mins as Juve knocked out of Champions League.
Interesting quote from Pirlo “He has this physical weakness. He cannot give continuity and every two three games he has to stop. He is intelligent, and when he is available he is precious and makes the team play well”.
I thank them for everything they did for us, and both have medals ( and money) since, that probably makes their moves right for them, but Aaron and the Ox’s departures, in my eyes, have led to the rise of our new, young super heroes.
There is a lot more that Partey can offer in terms of providing both better defensive cover and attacking impetus. He was good yesterday but trust me, he should be offering a lot more…
As for Luiz-Gabriel, I thought they did rather ok but we still conceded quite some chances even when we were 11 vs 10 and although it is not all their fault, I thought they could have commanded their area better. However, Gabriel’s save was miraculous and well done and he deserves credit for that.
Ramsey would be useful in our squad still, I believe and as for the Ox, I also think that he wouldn’t be out of sorts at AFC. That said, their departure marked the beginning of a new era at AFC.
Arteta seems to be intransigent when it comes to some basic rules and the teams seems to like this approach. Let us hope we finish the year strongly with a Europa League victory but I need to manage my expectations…:-P
Odegaard may be worth the gamble? I am still not convinced but I admit his work rate is great and so is ESR’s work rate.
Still buzzing from yesterday’s win…and could that game be the nail in the coffin for Bellerin?
Is this our most resilient/robust starting XI:
Leno – Soares, Holding, Gabs, Tierney – Partey, Xhaka – Saka, Odegaard, ESR – Laca
I think there is a case for it…I suppose Mari, El Neny could be considered…
Just a side note also on Pepe who had a good half, I believe.
Hmm gueye being disappointment who would have thought
New post everyone