Arsenal (0) 2 Brighton and Hove Albion (0) 0
Premier League
Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU
Sunday, 17th December 2023. Kick-off time: 2.00pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Kai Havertz; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, Cédric Soares, Leandro Trossard, Reiss Nelson, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Reuell Walters.
Scorers: Gabriel Jesus (53 mins), Kai Havertz( 87 mins)
Yellow Cards: Ben White
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 49%
Referee: Tim Robinson
Assistant Referees: Eddie Smart, Nick Greenhalgh
Fourth Official: Darren Bond
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Paul Tierney; AVAR Neil Davies
Attendance: 60,257
Firstly, Happy Birthday to our captain, Martin Ødegaard, who is twenty-five years old today! Secondly, there is the small matter of gaining three points from this afternoon’s clash against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Emirates.
Every point is valuable, every match needs to be won, especially with Liverpool being top of the tree, and ourselves lying in second position, just one point behind them at the time of writing.
Additionally, Aston Villa are a mere point behind us as well, and none of us need reminding of what could happen if the Villains are victorious against Brentford (whose match kicks off the same time as ourselves) and we are unsuccessful today. All to play for, chaps.
We started the match rather speedily, and within no time at all, Bukayo Saka was turning James Milner inside and out, out on the right wing, and a couple of minutes later, Bukayo Saka cuts inside the veteran player but his shot was weak and a simple save for goalie Bart Verbruggen.
We kept coming forward, with Martin Ødegaard cutting in from the right wing and curling a shot just wide of the far post, and then Gabriel Jesus skipped in between two defenders and had a shot deflected wide of the goal.
Bukayo Saka was constantly getting fouled out there now, firstly by James Milner, whose frustration has spilled over, and then other BHA defenders bringing down our man. Is there no protection by referees against this kind of systematic fouling on flair players anymore?
We were desperate to get the opening goal at the Emirates, and just after the half hour mark, Bukayo Saka ran onto Martin Ødegaard’s through ball and cut it back to Gabriel Martinelli, whose snap shot flew over the BHA crossbar.
Ben White picked up a pointless yellow card for pulling the shirt of Kaoru Mitoma, and then Gabriel Martinelli absolutely flew like a harrier down the left wing and forced a save from Bart Verbruggen at the near post, but sadly the follow-up shot by Kai Havertz was blocked.
Eventually, just before the half-time break, our man between the sticks, David Raya, who truthfully, has had nothing to do, almost dropped the deep cross from Simon Adingra’s cross but eventually gathered it up confidently. Shortly afterwards, referee Tim Robinson blew the whistle for the half-time break and it is to be noted that not only have we completely dominated the first half, but the visitors have yet to have a shot. Surely it must be a matter of time before we score?
The second half started in very much the same way as the first ended, with our forwards prowling for that elusive opening goal. The visitors almost got caught out playing from the back twice in just a minute but Bart Vebruggen somehow managed to get to Martin Ødegaard’s ball before Bukayo Saka did, which was lucky for them!
Just eight minutes after the restart, we finally took the lead when BHA defender Jan Paul van Hecke accidentally flicked on a Gunners corner with his head, and who should be there, but Gabriel Jesus, who somehow stooped low at the back post to head the ball into an empty net.
After the restart, during an attack, Gabriel Jesus headed the ball down for our captain, and he shot wide of the mark, unfortunately. This match is so one-sided, it is a miracle that we have not scored another goal yet! Time and time again, our build up play suggest that we could score, but it was really not happening.
The visitors brought on ex-Gunner Danny Welbeck to good applause from our fans, and then Mikel Arteta rang the changes when Leandro Trossard (a BHA old boy) and Eddie Nketiah replaced our goalscorer Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli in order to pile more pressure on the visitors from the south coast.
Suddenly, the visitors caught our defence cold in a complacent moment when, literally, out of nowhere Pascal Gross slid the ball wide from seven yards out, which was a huge warning for us. It was then Declan Rice’s turn to put the match beyond the visitor’s reach when he ran down the left wing, burst into the penalty area and forced an amazing save from Bart Verbruggen.
Finally, three minutes from the end of normal time, Eddie Nketiah slotted the ball beautifully to Kai Havertz, who ran into the penalty area and stroked the ball past the outstretched arm of Bart Verbruggen for our second goal of the day. At last!
Just as the six minute injury time sign was introduced to the crowd, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka were replaced by Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith-Rowe, and just a minute or so later, our substitute Emile Smith-Rowe hit a fabulous volley goalbound, but Bart Verbruggen somehow saved it.
After some pedestrian play by our boys to preserve the score, the final whistle was blown and we were victorious, and more importantly we are top of the Premiership again!
A well-deserved victory by our boys today, and everyone played well. Declan Rice was absolutely immense, covering a lot of ground out there, and the defence were rock solid, keeping out BHA throughout the game. With twenty-six shots on goal, nine on target, two of them being goals, it was truly a good day at the office for us. All in all, it was an incredible performance overall, with our domination of the game being there for all to see. Well done, chaps!
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, 23rd December at 5.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Away at the minute so had to watch this game in a boozer, thought this was our best performance of the season. Not many sides will dominate Brighton like that, dominated every aspect of that game. Big couple of months ahead of us now, got to get our heads down and pile on the points before the champions league comes round again. For the first time in 20 years, I actually think we’re the best team in the country. We’ve got to make it count this season as we might not get a better chance of becoming champions again.
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