It was not pretty, it was not swashbuckling, but it was 3 points.
I said on my pre-match blog that I did not care how we won, as long as we won. And that is what happened!
Following the Aston Villa disappointment and Bayern Munich defeat, many were predicting our downfall on Saturday. Including some Arsenal fans. But we put on our big boy pants and did what we had to do.
2-nil with goals just before half time and full time. We shook off those mid-week cobwebs and returned to the top of the league.
And that is why I was not all doom and gloom after Villa. The top of the table is tight and Manchester City now find themselves in 3rd.
Yes, they did not play and now have a game in hand, but at this stage of the season I would rather have the points on the table. But that does not mean I think we are favourites.
We need Manchester City to drop points, and for a team who are unbeaten in 28 games that will not happen easily. The hope is that their longest winning run this season is 6 games, and for them to win every game between now and the end of the season they would have to put together a 9-game winning run.
The truth is, though, that I do not think they need to win their remaining 6 games. It will be hard for us to win 5 of the last 5 and I would not be surprised if we dropped points again. But we just need to keep going.
And that starts tomorrow against Chelsea.
Chelsea have been a Jekyll and Hyde team this season. They have lost just 2 games from 8 against Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Man U and Tottenham – 2 wins, 4 draws, 2 defeats. They seem to up their game in these bigger matches.
Like with Wolves, we just need to go out and do a professional job. Win the game, get the 3 points in the bag, and then onto the next one.
We now have no more distractions, but neither do our title rivals (the FA Cup Final is after the season is over). It is a 3 horse race over the last few furlongs and all challengers are neck and neck.
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Jakob Kiwior; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Kai Havertz; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith-Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Scorers: Leandro Trossard (44 mins), Martin Ødegaard (90+5 mins)
Yellow Cards: Leandro Trossard, Declan Rice,
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 54%
Referee: Paul Tierney
Assistant Referees: Scott Ledger, Mat Wilkes
Fourth Official: Darren Bond
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR John Brooks; AVAR Wade Smith
Attendance: 31,621
And so, dear friends, we are down to the last half dozen Premiership matches of the 2023-24 season, starting with this evening’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. I feel that it is important to concentrate on each match as it occurs, and not get pre-occupied with who the boys are playing next, and what Liverpool and Manchester City are maybe (or maybe not) are doing; please concentrate on the game in hand, nothing else matters, and whatever else happens, let fate decide. Wherever you are able to take in these matches, if at home watching it on television, listening to it on the radio, viewing it in a public house with your fellow supporters, or are amongst the fortunate ones who are present at the games, give your support to the boys, as wherever you are in the world, your best wishes and vocal encouragement will surely reach them from whatever far-flung corner of this planet which you reside in. We can do this, my fellow Arsenal supporters; remember we were written off in 1938, 1953, 1971 along with 1989, and the naysayers were wrong then, and we must show them that they will be proved wrong in 2024. Never complain, never explain, we are Arsenal after all, the biggest club in the biggest city in Europe. Let’s go!
The home side kicked off the match, and within a minute we had our first chance to score when Kai Havertz tested Jose Sá, who collected the ball easily. A couple of minutes later, Gabriel Jesus received the ball from Kai Havertz and his strong shot went narrowly past the post. We were certainly dominating the play early on in the proceedings tonight, and our forwards were looking for a way through the tight Wolves defence. We were slowly going through the gears in the midfield area as Leandro Trossard was found unmarked on the left wing. There was a deflection on his cross but it reached Bukayo Saka, who easily jumped above Toti Gomes to head goalwards but the Wolves goalie made a routine save. Declan Rice took a shot at goal from just outside the penalty area, but Jose Sá went down to save it easily. We were pressing Wolves back into their own half consistently, although the home side did break out when a long ball went over the head of Jakob Kiwior and into the path of Matt Doherty, who tried to slot the ball to Hee-Chan Hwang but thankfully, he lost his footing as it ran through easily for David Raya to collect. A couple of minutes later, Tawanda Chirewa took a shot which was deflected and gathered by David Raya, and then up at the other end, Ben White and Bukayo Saka combined for the latter to get beyond Santiago Bueno to cross towards Leandro Trossard at the near post but Toti Gomes made a clearance. Leandro Trossard received a yellow card for a silly tackle and just before the half hour mark, a Joāo Gomes shot was pushed onto the post by David Raya and the ball bounced back and into the play. We were awarded a free kick after Bukayo Saka was brought down, and the subsequent free kick which was taken by our captain was cleared by the Wolves defence. Max Kilman badly tackled Kai Havertz, and shortly afterwards Declan Rice was awarded a yellow card for a tackle on Santiago Bueno. We were constantly moving forward but were stopped by an efficient Wolves defensive pattern, which we could not seem to be able to break down. A minute before half time, Gabriel Jesus set up Leandro Trossard, who hit a wild shot (that appeared to come off his toe) which went into the top right corner of the net, that ensured that we went into the break a goal ahead.
We got the second half underway, and within a couple of minutes, Bukayo Saka released Ben White away down the right wing and as he crossed the ball, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard somehow managed to get in each other’s way. Leandro Trossard went to the floor in pain before the linesman’s flag went up for offside. After a corner which essentially went nowhere, there was a period of pressure on the Wolves goal, and we were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, and after some action in there, Kai Havertz hit a strong shot at the Wolves goal which Jose Sá easily picked up. Our players appeared to be getting the rough end of the stick as regards to tackling was concerned, and although we were being awarded free kicks, the referee was not taking matters further with regards to yellow cards. Martin Ødegaard’s inswinger free kick was headed out twice by the home side before Boubacar Traoré whacked the ball clear. Kevin Doyle launched it into space seeking Tawanda Chirewa but he went to ground with William Saliba, calling for a free-kick, but thankfully referee Paul Tierney was not interested in awarding it. After a great shot from close range by Ben White which Jose Sá saved, Gabriel Martinelli replaced Leandro Trossard for the last eighteen minutes of this sometimes difficult match. The home side started to put us under pressure, and despite winning corners, their subsequent shots went high and wide. Kevin Doyle had a clever shot on our goal which was parried by David Raya, and then our second substitution of the night happened when Thomas Partey replaced Gabriel Jesus in order to spark things up a bit. A Wolves set-piece was knocked into the penalty area and our keeper David Raya came out to collect, but in doing so, he flattened Mario Lemina, who landed awkwardly on his back. The match officials have stated that there was going to be six minutes of injury time, and suddenly the match had come into life a bit. Bukayo Saka twisted and turned his way through the Wolves defence, but his shot went way over the bar. Declan Rice won a corner after single-handedly taking the bull by the horns and running at the Wolves defence, but it went out for a corner kick. In the fifth minute of injury time, we grabbed our second goal of the match when Declan Rice drove forward and set up Kai Havertz inside the penalty area. He spotted Martin Ødegaard on the overlap and after his initial cross was blocked, it came back to him and from an acute angle he slipped the ball beautifully past Jose Sá to give us the three points here in the West Midlands tonight.
Okay, it was not a classic performance by any means, but we kept at it, and eventually we deserved the three points. Our captain and leader Martin Ødegaard was magnificent tonight, as was the inspirational Declan Rice also, but the most important thing is that we returned to the top of the Premiership with our fifteenth clean sheet in thirty-three matches this season, more than any other team in the Premier League. Looking good, 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: Chelsea at the Emirates on Tuesday, 23rd April 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
Today we look to get our season on track with a visit to Wolves.
It shows how tight it is in the Premier League that less than 7 days ago, some pundits were wheeling out their lazy “Arsenal have bottled it again” narrative, and yet by 9:37 tonight we could be top.
With FA Cup football today Manchester City’s next game is not until next Thursday. In that time we play twice and could find ourselves 4 points ahead of them. Although they will have two games in hand.
As always, we just need to concentrate on ourselves.
It has been a tough week. The poor performances against Aston Villa was doubled up on with the defeat out in Bayern Munich.
I still do not think that Munich loss was as poor as some are making out. They beat us by a single goal and it was a tie that could have gone either way.
Today we just need to get back to winning ways – whether that is a scrappy 1-nil victory or scoring 6. Getting the 3 points is all that really matters.
It does not sound like we have any new injury issues following the Munich game. It will just be whether Mikel Arteta decides to (or can afford to) mix things up to freshen it up.
I think it is obvious that Arteta does not trust the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson or Eddie Nketiah. So despite the front line at Munich looking exhausted, we will be relying on them again.
Kai Havertz will probably start down the middle and Leandro Trossard on one of the wings. That leaves either Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli or Gabriel Jesus to also start.
Martin Odegaard also looks like he needs a rest. There is an outside chance we might see Fabio Vieira come in for him. The rest of the midfield I think will be Declan Rice and Olexsandr Zinchenko, with Takehiro Tomiyasu slotting into left back.
Our season is certainly yet over. It is important that we bring the noise, back the team, and go again.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 