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Match Report: Arsenal 0 – 1 Olympiacos

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Arsenal (0) 0 Olympiacos (0) 1

(Arsenal go through to the quarter-finals, 3-2 on aggregate)

UEFA Europa League, Round of 16, Leg 2 of 2

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Thursday, 18th March 2021. Kick-off time: 5.55pm

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka; Nicolas Pépé, Dani Ceballos, Emile Smith-Rowe; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Substitutes: Alexandre Lacazette, Martin Ødegaard, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Thomas Partey, Calum Chambers, Pablo Marí, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Mat Ryan, Gabriel Martinelli, Arthur Okonkwo.

Yellow Cards: Kieran Tierney

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 45%

Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (Spain)

Assistant Referees: Juan Yuste Jimenez (Spain), Roberto Alonso Fernandez (Spain)

Fourth Official: Jose Sanchez Martinez (Spain)

Referee Observer: Iain Robertson Brines (Scotland)

VAR Team (UEFA): VAR Juan Martinez Munuera (Spain); AVAR Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez (Spain)

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restrictions

For this round of 16, second leg match here at the Emirates tonight, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returns, and its good to see that we are playing a strong three-man line around him tonight as well, with Nicolas Pépé, Dani Ceballos and Emile Smith-Rowe out to impress. Let’s go!

We started the match comfortably and confidently, and despite an early minor injury to Emile Smith-Rowe (in which he took a ball square in the face), we looked every inch the disciplined footballers that we know we can be. The game plan that Olympiacos appeared to be playing was one of defence in depth, and one of containment, with no real desire to attack us at this point in the match. Nicolas Pépé was unfortunate not to score when he tried to go around the goalkeeper on a one-to-one situation, but his deflected shot hit the side netting. A few minutes’ later, Bernd Leno made a fantastic save in order to stop Youssef El-Arabi from scoring when a “route one” ball from the goalkeeper caught us completely wrong-footed; thankfully Bernd Leno made a superb save with his feet to deny him a scoring opportunity. A great chance to score by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang which saw him whack the ball over the bar from close range was a wasted effort, and as we approached the half-hour mark, it was becoming evident that tonight’s match was on the verge of becoming quite a pedestrian affair. Although we had chances to score, and the majority of the first half was indeed played in the visitors’ half, we obviously found it difficult to break down a nine or ten-man defensive wall, as any team would, of course, and as the minutes ebbed away to the half-time break, our frustrations became clear, as we started to run out of ideas how to break Olympiacos down and score, ultimately.

Well, the second half certainly started off with a bit more spark, with the visitors creating good chances to score, and putting us under pressure in the first five minutes or so. Sure enough, Olympiacos took the lead when Youssef El-Arabi hit a right-footed shot from the left side of the box, which was deflected into the net, (and past Bernd Leno) by Gabriel. A few minutes’ later, Mikel Arteta decided to make changes, and quickly too, namely Thomas Partey and Martin Ødegaard for Mohamed Elneny and Dani Ceballos, in order to get some steel in the midfield area, and on the hour, Kieran Tierney broke down the left-hand side of the pitch, put over a superb cross into the penalty area, and an incoming Nicolas Pépé hit a superb shot, that ironically bounced off Emile Smith-Rowe and into the stands. We looked quite jittery when Olympiacos started to advance into our half, and it has to be said, almost fearful when they moved into our penalty area, which was more than slightly worrying. The match started to get rather scrappy, and although we had our chances, (particularly when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was left on a one-to-one situation with the goalkeeper, and managed to hook the ball wide of the post somehow), our goalscoring chances looked much to be desired tonight. Emile Smith-Rowe and Hector Bellerin were replaced by Gabriel Martinelli and Calum Chambers with eight minutes of the match remaining to try and zip some life into us, and after Olympiacos went down to ten men, courtesy of some childish behaviour by Ousseynou Ba after a nasty foul on Gabriel Martinelli, it looked as if the numbers game may just work in our favour now. Certainly with the extra man advantage, our game management skills started to kick into life, and we managed to get through the three minutes’ injury time without any major dramas, and therefore our passage into the quarter-finals was assured.

Although this was an extremely lacklustre performance tonight to say the least, the main objective was achived, namely to hold the advantage from the first leg, and advance into the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Yes, we made life extremely hard for ourselves at times, and our goalscoring abilities let us down badly, tonight will be remembered (if at all) as a successful round of this year’s Europa League campaign. A word to the lads; just don’t play like that against West Ham United on Sunday afternoon, or there will be tears before bedtime, mark my words.

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: West Ham United at London Stadium on Sunday, 21st March at 3.00pm(Premier League). 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.

Is Harry Kane the most dangerous man in world football?

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One day Harry Kane is going to break someone’s neck.

Pundits such as Jermaine Jenas will come out en masse and defend him. It will be the usual “it was an unfortunate accident” and “he is just not that sort of player”.

But the reality is it would not be an unfortunate accident, and he is exactly that sort of player.

Harry Kane has a history of taking players out in the air when they are jumping and challenging for the ball.

His modus operandi is always the same. Look at the player, wait for them to jump, then lean into them whilst he is still n the ground. This is a regular tactic of his.

https://twitter.com/Thyqunt/status/1336028305653436418

He is making no attempt to win the ball in any of these challenges. Each one is a deliberate act to take out an opponent in the air.

In rugby, if you make contact with a player in the air whilst your feet are on the ground, it is your duty to ensure that they return to terraferma safely.

If you fail to do so, it is a yellow card. A sin bin. If they end up on their neck, it is a red card.

That is how dangerous rugby sees challenging someone in the air and landing on their neck. And they are right to do so.

Landing on your neck can cause serious injury. Your spine and neck is so fragile and any injury can lead to a life changing disability. I know this because my old man damaged his spine 15 years ago (scuba diving accident) and it has changed his life forever.

I understand football is a contact game, and players challenge each other in the air all the time. Accidents happen.

But what Harry Kane is doing will not lead to an accidental injury. It will be a deliberate act.

He is literally smashing into opponents whilst they are in the air. He is not himself challenging for the ball. And he is showing no regard for his opponents.

Referees turn a blind eye to it, as do the media. It reminds me of the way Alan Shearer was allowed to stomp and elbow his way around the Premier League in the 90s with no comeuppance. No criticism.

The protection of the England captain by referees and the media is real.

Against Arsenal he got away with another career ending challenge.

On this occasion Gabriel was not in the air. But it was the same tactic from Kane.

No intention to win the ball. Eyes only on the player. Leading with the elbow, neck high.

It is violent conduct. It is not debatable. But Michael Oliver decided it was not even a free kick. VAR did not look at it. MOTD failed to discuss it. And the Premier League are continually taking down any video that shows it.

The way Gabriel’s neck is thrown back is sickening. He is lucky to have not suffered whiplash.

At the weekend in the rugby, an Italian ball carrier was sin banned for leading with the forearm. No complains from anyone on the pitch.

But in football, it seems it is ok to lead with the forearm as long as your name is Harry Kane.

One day Harry Kane is going to break someone’s neck. And those defending him loudly will also be those that sit in silence whilst he continues to commit neck breaking challenges.

Kane is nasty, he is snide, and he is dangerous.

Keenos

Arteta shows who is boss after dropping Aubameyang

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Everyone was scratching their head when the news came out.

Why was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the bench?

And then some more news leaked. That it was for disciplinary reasons.

Social media speculation then went into over drive. Why did he do wrong? Was it break Covid protocol? Was it for interacting with idiots on social media? What had he actually done wrong? And if is was for disciplinary reasons, why was he still on the bench?

As the game was going on, the reason was leaked. He had turned up late for the pre-match meeting, and it was not for the first time.

Mikel Arteta has spoken numerous times since he became manager about expecting players to do the basics. His non-negotiables. And one of these is clearly time keeping.

Good time keeping is a basic in any work place. It takes no skill or ability to turn up on time.

Those in a work place that show good time keeping and good attendance usually become high performers. It sets the tone for the rest of your work.

And if you are in a position of responsibility – a manager, team leader or senior member of staff – good time keeping becomes even more important. You set the town for the rest to follow. You set a good example.

Aubameyang as captain needs to realise that his behaviours set the tone of the dressing room. It influences his team mates from senior through to the youth teams. If he is turning up late and getting away with it, others will begin doing so.

Arteta also needs to hold Aubameyang, and other senior players, to the same standard as he would hold Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe or any other youngster.

If he let Aubameyang get away with tardiness, but then punished a youngster, he would soon lose respect for the dressing room.

In recent years, poor behaviour from senior players have caused the club to rot from the core.

Mesut Ozil was well known for missing training sessions. He was rarely “punished”.

Aubameyang has replaced Ozil as the clubs best paid player.

Arteta needs to nip in the bud Aubameyang’s undesirable behaviour traits.

If h let Aubameyang get away with it, the behaviour would soon spread to the rest of the players. And in turn we end up back in the toxic, ill disciplined position that Arteta is trying to eradicate.

What is worrying from Aubameyang’s point of view is he seemingly showed little to no resource.

Reports are that as the rest of the subs were going through a post-game training session and Arteta conducting post-game interviews, Aubemayng was screeching out the car park.

“Last in, first out.”

Arteta spoke well in his post match interview, making it clear that it would remain in-house and the situation had been dealt with. But it will be interesting to see if Aubameyang accepts responsibility. Apologises to the manager, the squad. If not this could rattle on and we could see Aubameyang stripped of the captaincy as a result.

By punishing Aubameyang, Arteta has drawn his line in the sand. Lateness is unacceptable, poor attendance unacceptable. Regardless of who you are. Every single player will be treated exactly the same.

And if you do not like it, you know where the door is.

Keenos