Everton (0) 2 Arsenal (1) 1

Premier League

Goodison Park, Goodison Road, Liverpool L4 4EL

Monday, 6th December 2021. Kick-off time: 8.00pm

(4-2-3-1) Aaron Ramsdale; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka; Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka; Alexandre Lacazette.

Substitutes: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Nicolas Pépé, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Mohamed Elneny, Eddie Nketiah, Arthur Okonkwo.

Scorers: Martin Ødegaard (45 +2)

Yellow Cards: Granit Xhaka, Martin Ødegaard

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 64%

Referee: Mike Dean

Assistant Referees: Eddie Smart, Mark Scholes

Fourth Official: Andy Madley

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Stuart Attwell; AVAR Stuart Burt

Attendance: 38,906

We all know that in this day and age, every match played in the Premiership is important, and games like this tonight, against Everton in Liverpool, are even more so. After the result at Old Trafford last Thursday, it takes on a different perspective now when we realise that a victory at Goodison Park is crucial in order for us to keep pace with the top four and try, somehow, to complete the season in the Champions League (or Europa League) places. We’ll see. Anyway, great to see the return of Granit Xhaka, along with Kieran Tierney too. Also, good to see a start for Alexandre Lacazette, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been left on the bench tonight.

We kicked off tonight’s match in earnest, and the home side looked quite spirited in seizing any early opportunity to place us under pressure, which they did quite successfully in the early stages. Anyway, the match settled down, and so did we, and slowly we started to take control, with our usual game of accurate passing and clinical tackling. On the sixth minute however, as in the Premiership matches over the weekend, there was applause around Goodison Park from fans of both teams for little Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, which was an incredibly moving action by everyone at the match. Everton appear to be attacking in groups, or packs tonight, which the Arsenal defence found it difficult to neutralise, but so far, everyone is working hard to prevent the home side gaining any form of advantage. Lots of strong tackles and physical challenges out there tonight, personified in a very strong tackle on Kieran Tierney, who tumbled off the pitch and ended up in a heap by the avertisement hoardings, courtesy of Ben Godfrey. After eighteen minutes, some great play by ourselves led to a wild shot by Thomas Partey which went up and over the bar and into the crowd, which appeared to spark us into life. Bukayo Saka went to ground after a late and physical Ben Godfrey challenge, and after some treatment from the medical staff, he got to his feet and carried on with the game, thankfully. The match soon returned to its previous thunder, with both teams struggling to do much in each other’s final third of the pitch; however, it was the home side that appear to be placing us under more pressure than we did to them at this point in the game. Just before the half hour point, referee Mike Dean consulted VAR after a late tackle by Ben Godfrey (again) on Takehiro Tomiyasu, which saw the former’s boot into our man’s face; no action was taken, but only the Everton man will know as to whether it was intentional or not. Now we are struggling to get things moving, and every time one of our players has the ball, at least three Everton players pounce on him, which makes things difficult to build up a distinct pattern of play. It’s a very tough match out there, with little space for our players to operate in, and as such the game looks stifled and clogged in the midfield areas. A minute before the break, the home side scored, but thankfully VAR chalked it off for offside. However, right on the stroke of half-time, just a minute or so after the Everton goal was cancelled out, Kieran Tiernay ran down the left, crossed the ball, and Martin Ødegaard hit the ball sweetly on the volley to put us in the lead at half-time. Incredible!

The home side kicked off the second half proceedings, and within a minute or so of the restart, Aaron Ramsdale tipped a dangerous ball over the bar, courtesy of Anthony Gordon, and after an Everton corner that went absolutely nowhere, we started to take the match to the home side at last. We were awarded two free-kicks n a row for two bad fouls on Bukayo Saka by Ben Godfrey and Richarlison, and although our efforts were unrewarded, the intent was there for all to see. We seem to be playing better so far in this half, certainly with more purpose, intent and desire, which is better to see. Just before the hour, some poor marking by our defenders led to an Everton goal courtesy again by Richarlison, that was cancelled out by VAR for offside. We can breathe again. Just afterwards a quick attack by Arsenal led to a clever chip by Gabriel Martinelli which ended up on the roof of the Everton net. The game started to get scrappy with physical tackles flying in from both sides, and it was one of these that saw Granit Xhaka pick up a yellow card for a mistimed tackle on Anthony Gordon. Nuno Tavares replaced a tired Kieran Tierney after sixty-five minutes, and the match continued in its now typical plodding, aggressive manner. Gabriel Martinelli collapsed with cramp, and was replaced by Eddie Nketiah with twenty minutes of the match remaining. Just after Martin Ødegaard collected our second yellow card of the night for alleged time-wasting, Anthony Gordon escaped a booking after catching Nuno Tavares with a bad foul that certainly slowed the Arsenal man dowm for a while afterwards. With eleven minutes of the match remaining, Richarlison scored at the third time of trying, when a shot from Demarai Gray hit the crossbar, and he headed the rebound past a stranded Aaron Ramsdale. There is nothing like a goal to liven things up, and this certainly did. Martin Ødegaard claimed a penalty when the ball hit Ben Godfrey’s arm, but his appeal was denied. Eddie Nketiah’s header hit the post from point-blank range via a superb Bukayo Saka cross just before Alexandre Lacazette was replaced by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with six minutes of the match left to play. With the game ebbing away, both sides threw themselves into the fray for one last attempt on goal to win the match. Two minutes into injury time, Demarai Gray hit the ball from outside the penalty area and his subsequent shot gave Aaron Ramsdale no chance. That late goal knocked the stuffing out of us; although both Everton and Arsenal could have scored again, the final whistle brought this game to a conclusion shortly afterwards.

Let’s face it, overall we were poor tonight. Going to a place like Goodison Park, not only do you have to compete, but you have to take your chances when they arise; having sixty-four percent of the game is not much good when you don’t put your chances away when presented to you. It makes matters worse when we were in front, and had the chance to control the match through game management and take the sting out of the home side’s tail, but failed miserably to do that. How Eddie Nketiah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed point-blank open goals was nothing short of a disgrace, as was Mike Dean’s failure to protect Bukayo Saka when he was getting kicked around the pitch by various Everton defenders was appalling, as was the fact that a red card wasn’t produced after Ben Godfrey’s boot met Takehiro Tomiyasu’s face, drawing blood in the process. Not only were we outplayed by a team that hasn’t tasted victory for eight matches, but this was our third consecutive away defeat, all three at grounds in Liverpool and Manchester. We have Southampton at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon; if things go wrong again there, questions will be asked, undoubtedly.

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: Southampton at the Emirates on Saturday, 11th December at 3.00pm (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.

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What a disappointing performance that was against Manchester United.

To score twice and still come away from Old Trafford without a point has to be considered a failure considering the form they have been in recently.

We have no one to blame but ourselves for the performance.

1-nil up through Emile Smith Rowe we decided to sit back and invite pressure.

Man U’s weakness is in defence and midfield. You want to get at them and presides them into a mistake. We did it brilliantly prior to taking the lead.

Their strength is in attack and by sitting back we gave their defenders and midfielders time on the ball and played into their hands.

If we want to move from Top 4 challengers to top 4 certainties and then onto title challengers we need to begin putting games like last nights to bed when we are on top.

Manchester City or Liverpool would not have sat back. They would have continued to attack. Continued to pressure and looked for a second and then third goal.

Part of this improvement will come through Mikel Arteta’s tactics, part through players own self-confidence and part through the ability of the players on the pitch.

What was most disappointing – and it has been a theme of this season – is the poor individual performances of Thomas Partey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Partey has failed to ignite since moving from Spain.

He looks sluggish, lazy and not at 100%.

The Ghanaian does not seem to be the midfield powerhouse that he was. He does not get around the pitch, dominating the opponents midfield physically like he did in Spain.

The Premier League is faster and more physical than Spain. Therefore the attributes that made him a beast in La Liga are negated a bit in England.

He also gives the ball away far too much in midfield.

Again, this could be to do with the Premier League – you can not afford a poor touch in England as the opponents will be on you. Meanwhile in Spain he would have that bit more time on the ball. The extra space.

Partey has been a poor signing.

Also struggling is Aubameyang.

If he isn’t scoring he offers very little.

He isn’t a creative force, he doesn’t bring others into play. He doesn’t hold the ball up.

Arteta would be well advised to drop his miss-firing captain for Everton. It can be down under the guise that it is squad rotation ahead of a busy January. But the truth is he has just been poor.

Move Alexandre Lacazette up top and play a 3 behind him of Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

Defeat against Everton will bring out more doubters over Arteta.

It will mean that most of our wins this season have come against lesser teams and will leave us with just one big result away from home this season against Leicester City.

Arteta needs to be brave, make the change up top and encourage the team to keep playing positive, aggressive football when we take the lead.

As for Partey, there is not much we can do with Granit Xhaka still out. That is a problem that can only solved next summer.

Keenos

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— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) November 30, 2021

Manchester United (1) 3 Arsenal (1) 2

Premier League

Old Trafford Stadium, Sir Matt Busby Way, Stretford, Manchester M16 0RA

Thursday, 2nd December 2021. Kick-off time: 8.15pm

(4-4-4-1) Aaron Ramsdale; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Nuno Tavares; Gabriel Martinelli, Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, Emile Smith-Rowe; Martin Ødegaard; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Substitutes: Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka, Alexandre Lacazette, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Nicolas Pépé, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Eddie Nketiah, Arthur Okonkwo.

Scorers: Emile Smith-Rowe (13 mins), Martin Ødegaard (54 mins)

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 45%

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Assistant Referees: Lee Betts, Richard West

Fourth Official: Craig Pawson

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Andre Marriner; AVAR Matthew Wilkes

Attendance: 73,123

Those of us who are of a certain age were deeply saddened two days ago when the passing of Ray Kennedy was announced. He will always be remembered for scoring two of the most important goals in the history of Arsenal Football Club, just over fifty years ago. The first was on 22nd April 1970, when, as a substitute, he grabbed the valuable away goal in the first leg against Anderlecht in the Fairs Cup final in an unfortunate 1-3 defeat, a goal that proved to be crucial, when seven days later in front of an emotionally charged Highbury, we lifted our first European trophy in a remarkable 3-0 victory. The second one, was of course on 3rd May 1971 against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, when his last minute header sealed not only the First Division title (our first since 1953) but also one half of the much coveted league and cup “double”, six days before defeating Liverpool in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on a magical day for everyone associated with the club. Ray scored 71 goals in 212 matches before departing for Liverpool in July 1974 for £200,000 (worth just over £2,000,000 today), and will always be remembered by Arsenal supporters of my generation who were fortunate enough to witness his skills first-hand from the terraces at the “Old Place” as a striker with the strength and heart of a lion, aligned with a steely determination, and an unshakeable will to win. Maybe his biggest battle was with Parkinson’s Disease, the one match that Ray could never win, a painful debilitating condition that he battled with for more than half of his seventy years. The last occasion on which this writer saw him, was at his testimonial match at Highbury against Liverpool on a Sunday afternoon in April 1991, when, with great courage, he walked onto the very pitch that he graced so many times, to give a wave to the many spectators who turned up to contribute to his much needed benevolent fund. Good night old friend, rest in peace, and may your memory be a blessing.

Tonight’s match at Old Trafford, as far as we are concerned, is truly a battle for the fourth position in the Premiership; a victory for us, and we will leapfrog West Ham United; the alternative is far too painful to contemplate at the moment. All we can do is turn up, make a decent fist of things and see where it takes us. In our last match, we created good chances, moved the ball around well and passed crisply too; if the wide spaces of the Old Trafford pitch is kind to us tonight, then there is no reason why we cannot take three points back to London.

We kicked off proceedings tonight, utilising our now usual 4-4-1-1formation, and almost immediately we put the put the home side under pressure, by winning three consecutive corners within the first two minutes of the start. We then entered a period of true end-to-end football, with both teams trying each other out, which is something that we have seen in our recent Premiership matches. The determination in our chaps has become evident, and just before the tenth minute, an excellent move involving Thomas Partey and Emile Smith-Rowe led to a weak shot from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which was easily picked up by David de Gea in the United goal. After thirteen minutes, controversy reigned, when a corner came over from the right hand side, David de Gea fell to the floor with only his defender Fred next to him; Emile Smith-Rowe volleyed the ball into the empty net from twenty yards, which was the correct thing to do; he played to the whistle, which there wasn’t one, of course. After a period of much confusion, eventually Martin Atkinson pointed to the centre circle and the goal stood, thankfully, as there was no reason to disallow it at all. This certainly fired the United players up, and the game started to get more electric with every minute that went by. The home side started to press us back into our half, but our chaps stayed firm under difficult circumstances. Harry Maguire complained about the ball, so after thirty-two minutes, when the match was on a hiatus, the ball was changed. Further pressure from the home side continued, but still we held firm and managed to play our way out of trouble, which was good to see. Eight minutes before the break, a lovely touch from Martin Ødegaard into the path of Gabriel Martinelli which saw our man shoot the ball into the side netting, narrowly missing the goal by inches. Sadly, with half-time looming, Bruno Fernandes grabbed the equaliser for the home side from close range which gave Aaron Ramsdale no chance to stop the shot. In the four minutes injury time, we had one or two good chances, including a spirited one from a corner, but we went into the break honours even.

After an extremely eventful first half, the home side kicked off the second half, and almost immediately we sprang into action, and from a corner almost grabbed a second goal when a flicked header from Gabriel brought a reflex save from the United goalie. At the other end, our man Aaron Ramsdale made some fantastic saves from Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford to keep us in the game. Unfortunately, seven minutes from the start of the second half, Cristiano Ronaldo scored the second Manchester United goal with a simple tap-in from fairly close range. A couple of minutes later, we replied in the best way possible when Gabriel Martinelli crossed a low ball from the right, and Martin Ødegaard was on hand to strike the ball beautifully into the corner of the United net to equalise the scores; cunningly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang let the ball go through his legs in order for the ball to travel its direct path into the goal. Now we really do have a game here on our hands at Old Trafford, with extremely fast end-to-end play from both teams. Little battles all over the pitch now; Emile Smith Rowe has Diogo Dalot in his pocket, whilst Nuno Tavares and Takehiro Tomiyasu are finding both men and space out on the wings. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ran onto a long ball from Nuno Tavares after sixty-five minutes, but his firm shot was pushed up and over the bar by the United goalie. Martin Ødegaard brought Fred down in a reckless challenge in our penalty area, the referee conulted the pitchside monitor on advice from the VAR team, and Cristiano Ronaldo scored from the spot. With twenty minutes of the match remaining, Bukayo Saka replaced Emile Smith-Rowe, and a few minutes later, Gabriel Martinelli ran over forty yards with the ball, slotted it to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who, rather than pass it back to him, took a shot himself which was easily saved by David de Gea. Why? Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah replaced Martin Ødegaard and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after seventy-nine minutes, and the changes not only rejuvenated us, but also made us change our shape slightly. Bukayo Saka was unlucky not to score when he tried to trick the United goalie with a soft shot which was caught easily, and then there came a period of close shaves from both sides, with some real heart-stopping moments. In the injury time period, we tried desperately to get that goal to redress the balance, but despite a sterling effort from some very tired legs, the scoreline stood. 

Shame really, it didn’t have to end like this. We easily deserved a draw, if not more out of this battle at Old Trafford. Gabriel Martinelli was utterly superb out there tonight; utterly heroic at times, as was Emile Smith-Rowe and Aaron Ramsdale, Nuno Tavares and Takehiro Tomiyasu also. The best thing that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did tonight was letting the ball go through his legs for Martin Ødegaard’s goal; he should have really had another couple himself but is just not firing, and in hothouse matches such as these, all of your strikers need to be on top of their form all of the time. Nobody was booked, nobody was sent off, and at times we were just plain unlucky. Never mind, lots of good things we can take from this battle; we never gave up, we kept bouncing back despite some intolerable pressure from the United forwards, and we now know that we need a few more top class players in the next couple of transfer windows, and if that happens, who knows where we’ll be? Best foot forward, heads up, we are back in north-west England on Monday, tthis time at Everton in Liverpool. Let’s see what happens there.

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: Everton at Goodison Park on Monday, 6th December at 8.00pm (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.