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Match Report: Arsenal 5 – 0 Nottingham Forest

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Arsenal (1) 5 Nottingham Forest (0) 0
Carabao Cup Third Round
Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU
Tuesday, 24th September, 2019. Kick-off time: 7.45pm

(4-2-3-1) Emiliano Martínez; Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi, Kieran Tierney; Lucas Torreira, Joe Willock; Reiss Nelson, Mesut Özil, Emile Smith-Rowe; Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Hector Bellerin, Dani Ceballos, Matt Macey, Folarin Balogun, Tolaji Bola, Robbie Burton, Bukayo Saka.
Scorers: Gabriel Martinelli (31, 90+2 mins), Rob Holding (71 mins), Joe Willock (77 mins), Reiss Nelson (84 mins)
Yellow Cards: Reiss Nelson
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 68%
Referee: Darren England
Attendance 53,160

In the end, it was mere bagatelle, as the statistics not only speak for themselves, they positively scream out the fact that tonight was a successful night for Arsenal Football Club. Out of eight shots on target, five hit the back of the net; sixty-eight per cent possession; fifteen corners. And on top of that, a big Emirates hello to former Glasgow Celtic full-back Kieran Tierney, making his first-team debut for us after recovering from a double hernia operation. Also it was great to see Rob Holding, returning to the first team tonight after battling (and winning) his own injury issues which kept him out of the squad for seemingly forever.

Unai Emery mixed and matched the side tonight, and with good reason too; we have two important matches next week, against Manchester United and Standard Liège, so it was good to see another version of his team in this match this evening. Right from the get-go, Arsenal showed intent and determination not to be anyone’s third round casualty on a rainy North London night. Confidence always plays a major part in sport, and Arsenal positively oozed that as early as the seventeenth minute, when Shkodran Mustafi came close with a cheeky back heel shot in which he was unlucky not to score. The man of the match was undoubtedly Gabriel Martinelli, and it was fitting that it was he that opened the scoring just after the half hour mark. An elegant Joe Willock ball out to the right found Calum Chambers, who wasted no time in crossing a powerful ball deep into the Forest penalty area that found the head of Gabriel Martinelli, who showed scant regard for time in putting Arsenal one up. This fired us up into attacking Forest time and time again and we were desperately unlucky not to score a second goal before the break. On a sad note, young Emile Smith-Rowe was taken off on a stretcher just before half-time after a collision with the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper, Arijanet Muric.

The second half started, in spirit, fairly the same as the first, with Arsenal piling yet more pressure on the visitors’ goal. Joe Willock, Mesut Özil and Bukayo Saka (who replaced Emile Smith-Rowe) all came close with their efforts, and sure enough, the second goal came with nineteen minutes left on the clock, courtesy of Rob Holding, who headed the ball into the net from a Reiss Nelson corner, completely unhindered. Héctor Bellerín laid the ball on for Joe Willock to score a well-deserved third Arsenal goal, and the excellent Reiss Nelson capped off a superb personal performance on the night by scoring a fourth goal with just six minutes to go. And still we were not finished; in injury time, Gabriel Martinelli received the ball deep in the visitor’s half and drilled the ball into the top right-hand corner of the Forest net. Five-nil; a good night’s work by anybody’s standards, and more importantly, we are in the fourth round of this much-maligned competition.

So many good things came from tonight’s performance; a successful debut for Kieran Tierney, who played well and pleased the crowd, and not forgetting Rob Holding, whose knee held up well tonight. As for 18-year-old Brazilian wonderkid Gabriel Martinelli, he certainly showed the reasons why Unai Emery signed him from Ituano a couple of months ago; six million pounds well spent. His potential is immense, and all we can do is hope that he progresses accordingly from this moment onwards. Everyone played their part, everyone did everything that was expected of them (plus more). The squad will take confidence and good heart from this victory tonight, let’s just hope that this carries on to next week and the important matches that lie ahead for us. 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: Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday, 30th September 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.

In a team that lacks leaders, one Arsenal player is rising above the rest

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We were told he was a bad influence, a trouble marker.

Someone more interested in fast cars, flash clothes and disappearing to Milan, Paris or wherever the party was. Not interested in being a team man, he was more interested in hanging out with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and various pop stars and models.

It was all lies created by journalists who looked at a young black sport star who likes his fast cars, liked his clothes and jewellery, and decided to label him as flash without actually knowing him.

What Arsenal actually signed in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one of the most lethal strikers in Europe who is humble and currently the epicentre of everything that is positive at Arsenal.

He leads the line and leads the team. He is the joker, the star player, the match winner.

It was Aubameyang who looked after then teenager Matteo Guendouzi when he came to England, unable to speak English.

It is Aubameyang who is helping Nicolas Pepe settle into London – giving him a penalty to get him off his goal duck.

It is Aubameyang that is uniting the squad. It is Aubameyang who should be club captain.

Aubameyang unites a lot of the factions within the club.

Born in France, he is close with Alexandre Lacazette and Guendouzi., and more recently included Pepe into the fold. He is already building a relationship up with William Saliba – both players having spent time at Saint-Etienne.

Having also spent 5 years in Germany for Borussia Dortmund, he also crosses over with the German speakers – Bernd Leno, Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Granit Xhaka and Sead Kolašinac.

It was a mixture of French and German players who were pictured last season doing a few balloon’s in a London nightclub. You can bet your money that it was Aubameyang who was at the centre of the antics.

So here we have a superstar of a player. A colossus on the pitch, but clearly influential off it.

Aubameyang realises he is a senior pro and has taken young new recruits under his wing, helping them settle. There is no ego. No making the youngsters feel they are inadequate or undeserving.

Unai Emery should drop this “we have 5 captains” rubbish and install Aubameyang as the clubs captain. It is something that would every single fan would get behind. Would back.

Vice-captain should be Hector Bellerin.

The Spanish right back has been at the club for nearly a decade  and was influential in the recruitment of Dani Ceballos.

Bellerin knows what it means to play for The Arsenal. He knows what it represents.

He is also important when it comes to our Latino contingent – Ceballos, Lucas Torreira and Emiliano Martínez; And with his Spanish-Cockney accent he can cross over with the British lads.

Recent reports were that Bellerin and Kieran Tiernay had built up a bit of a bromance as they recovered from injury at a similar pace.

Arsenal have a mid-week team as well – playing in the Europa League and League Cup.

The majority of that team will be made up of bright young English talents. The likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Joe Willock, Bukayo Saka and Reiss Nelson. I also expect Rob Holding to play a part in almost every game as he returns slowly from his learn term injury.

Holding should be given the armband for the mid-week squad, allowing him to develop as a leader of the defence.

Aubameyang as captain, Bellerin as vice-captain. Holding captaining the mid-week team.

I think that is something that we can all get behind.

Keenos

Match Report: Arsenal 3 – 2 Aston Villa

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Arsenal (0) 3 Aston Villa (1) 2
Premier League
Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU
Sunday, 22nd September 2019. Kick-off time: 4.30pm

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, David Luiz, Sead Kolašinac; Mattéo Guendouzi, Granit Xhaka; Nicolas Pépé, Dani Ceballos, Bukayo Saka; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Substitutes: Mesut Özil, Lucas Torreira, Calum Chambers, Reiss Nelson, Emiliano Martínez, Joe Willock, Gabriel Martinelli.

Scorers: Nicolas Pépé (59mins), Calum Chambers (81mins), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (84mins)
Red Cards: Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Yellow Cards: Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Mattéo Guendouzi, Granit Xhaka, Nicolas Pépé, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 58%
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Attendance 60,331

So okay, we can all now put our hearts back into the chest cavity from whence it came, ingest that stiff drink and take a massive intake of breath. This team certainly know how to keep us all on our toes, don’t they? On paper, this looked like a breeze, in the world of cold, harsh reality, it was a lot more complex and controversial that that flippant idea.

The first half looked akin to a car crash, where you can see the accident unfold in front of your very eyes, but could do absolutely nothing to redress the issue, just hold on and wait for the impact. Nothing in this first period would suggest that we would end up eventual winners, just sloppy and poor play and tragic circumstances. After just twenty minutes, The Villains were ahead, thanks to a Joe McGinn goal scored from an Anwar El Ghazi cross that should have been dealt with by the defence. From this moment onwards, we were clumsy, indecisive and unable to hold on to the ball. Then came the incident that defined the first half, and in many ways, changed the match. With just four minutes to go before the break, Ainsley Maitland-Niles stupidly followed through on a tackle with Neil Taylor; having already been booked, referee Jonathan Moss had no alternative but to show our first red card of the season to him, much to the chagrin of the disbelieving home crowd. What else could happen on this late September afternoon?

Second half, time to breathe again. Or so it seemed. At first it was looking as if the second period would be a carbon copy of the first, but wait! In a moment of pure inspiration, Mattéo Guendouzi boldly advanced into the Villa penalty area, when defender Björn Engels sloppily brought him down, and in doing so, gifted us a penalty. In an act of pure unselfishness, our usual penalty taker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang handed the ball to Nicolas Pépé, who wasted no time in introducing the ball to the back of the net. With almost no time to take a sharp intake of breath, Jack Grealish jinked and twisted his way past three of our players before crossing the ball to Moraes Wesley, who confidently restored the balance in the visitors’ favour.
The match was looking like a defeat, until the jeered and mocked Granit Xhaka was substituted for Joe Willock (along with Lucas Torreira, who replaced the ineffective Dani Ceballos). And now things just picked up in a heartbeat. We became masterful, confident, and dare I say it, assertive. Mattéo Guendouzi continued to inspire and showed a good example to everyone around him, and it was merely a matter of time before this sparky little player would be involved in an incident or two. And so it was, with just nine minutes to go, he was instrumental in an effort that led to our second (and equalising) goal. Calum Chambers was the grateful recipient of a Mattéo Guendouzi pass, and without even blinking, put the ball where it belonged, into the roof of the net. And still it wasn’t over; with just minutes to go, our top bandit Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang grabbed the winner. Phew. Talk about a close run thing.

Okay, we won, and tonight we sit in fourth place in the Premiership on goal difference behind Leicester City; with our rivals Spurs, Chelsea and Mancheter United (whom we play next week) all losing this weekend, we have taken full advantage and seized a top four slot with this victory. But our defence is still rocky, and although the lads showed immense character today, there were times when a win seemed as far away as Christmas. But hey, at the end of the day, we won. Let’s celebrate. 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:Nottingham Forest at The Emirates on Tuesday, 24th September at 7.45pm (Carabao Cup). 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.