ARSENAL BATTER PALACE IN NARROW WIN
Sometimes, you just have to look at the game of football and say, f*ck me, what a stupid game this is that we invest our time and energy into.
Arsenal were having one of those peak Wenger days in front of goal where we were doing everything you could imagine, bar putting the ball in the back of the net. Palace were nowhere. They were broken. It was embarrassing how little we gave them in this game.
Then the deadlock broke; some goalmouth chaos had been caused by one of our 8 corners, and Lacroix ended up putting the ball into his own net, though it did look like Saliba was laying claim to the goal for a bit.
This is the stupidity of football… we were about to win another game through an own goal. In our last three games, “Own Goal” has 3 to its name—far more penetrative than any of our fancy attacking toys.
Then it happened again… the curse of the one-strike wonder. Calafiori didn’t win his duel in the box from a cross, the ball was headed down into the path of Guehi, and he slid it under the helpless Kepa.
I could NOT believe it. How does the stingiest defence in the league keep getting done by one or two shots on target?
It’s just the way of football… the game is too chaotic to ever let you think you can freely control all its aspects. It’s like the DNA in Jurassic Park—football always finds a way, and it looked like it had. The game rolled into penalties.
… and my word, were the penalties glorious. Both teams were scoring for fun. 15 goals in total. The final penalty? Poor old Lacroix at it again. Kepa the hero (finally). Arsenal move into a double-header semi against Chelsea at the end of January.
So what were the wins out there?
Arsenal put on a very fun attacking display of football. 3.63 xG against a team of Palace’s quality is quite the effort. The attack welcomed Martinelli, Jesus, and Madueke… and it was on from the first whistle. The midfield had Eze, Merino, and Nørgaard. The chemistry was good and the output was relentless.
I know Gabriel Jesus didn’t score in open play yesterday, but if you watched what he was doing, and want the other guy back in the team, then I think you actually might need to take some time out from the game and come back stronger next season.
Jesus was a menace. He had 5 attempts at the Palace goal. He was a threat on the floor and in the air. His ability on the ball made him a nuisance in the build-up. The ball would ping into him and stick… and he made some very good passes. The finishing wasn’t there, but he did force some good saves from a keeper having a very good night.
That’s the level I’m expecting from a striker—and it is getting to the point where we’re going to see more of the Brazilian because, guess what? Players seem to find his runs, seem to want to pass to him, and he seemed to make everyone around him look better than they have recently.
It was also a good time watching Madueke. The winger should have had more game time recently. But the point of being at Arsenal is showing you are ready to go when given the chance. Again, the theme of the night was finishing… but Madueke showed up in the right spaces over and over. That, to me, says things are going to explode for him at some point. He’s very good at getting in behind players, he can play with defenders in front of him, and he seems to be very aggressive in the box, both on the floor and in the air.
Martinelli was another player who was absolutely on fire. His first-half performance was devastating. It was like watching a senior player bully a 16-year-old. He was ducking and weaving his way through full-backs and centre-backs. He picked up a bit of a knock at the end of the first half and wasn’t quite the same for the second half. So, we’ll have to pray that he wasn’t another attacking casualty and it was just a precautionary exit.
I don’t want to gas up the performance too much… Palace have been in shocking form of late, they’re struggling with fitness, and small teams quite often crash in December.
But… I am glad that our rut this year seems to be that we’re flopping in front of goal. Not because we’re creating too few chances, but just because we’re a bit goal-shy. If you’re creating 3.63 xG, you should be coming away with a haul. I’m not too worried… if our worst spell of the season is going to be characterized by great defence, a lot of attacking xG output, but not enough goals… I think we might make it.
Now we can worry about what a two-legged semi will do to our February games. But at least we can taste the final and we know we have a very good chance of making it against a Chelsea side we like playing.
Also, before I go, worth noting that Manchester City, who still haven’t had a verdict put against them, are apparently going to try and sign Semenyo in January. When people criticise Arsenal for what they haven’t managed to do the past 5 years, always remember they’re up against a team who can sign Marmoush for £75m in January, decide he ain’t all that, then drop another £75m to fix the issue the following January with Semenyo. City have dropped £420m this year and no one really talks about it.
P.S. Were the Marc Guehi chats after with the players a little suss? You think we might be planning to put an offer his way this summer when he leaves on a free? Would be rude not to…
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