January Is The New November

Remember Novembers? The month that Wenger Era Arsenal supporters used to dread? Regularly, the month when things started to wobble? Well, we got through November unscathed this season, but January has been a pretty horrendous month, has it not? 5 matches with just a single goal, three red cards, two goalless draws; and knocked out of two cups. Plus the NLD postponement debacle. And a depleted squad. And yet...

I'm not quite going down the doom and gloom route today. A glance at the Premier League table will tell you that Arsenal's Top 4 aspirations are completely in their own hands. Two points off of fourth place, and with a game in hand. And whilst the result against Burnley was disappointing, two of our rivals lost. So there's all to play for.

But I can't see how they can achieve their aims without reinforcements. Whilst the 4 players that have been loaned out/released this month are all fringe players who weren't getting any sort of look-in, the squad is looking very bare. AFCON, injuries, disciplinary issues and general tiredness have eaten into that even more...  and then there have been the idiotic suspensions. Of which I'm sure we'd all agree that of Thomas Partey was the most idiotic and avoidable of all; even more idiotic than Granit Xhaka's latest transgression.

Here's a quick recap of the Liverpool defeat before I move on to Burnley: and I'm afraid that for all the hope that had been engendered by the magnificent rearguard action at Anfield, the second (or first?) leg looked difficult from the moment we heard about the squad issues that surrounded the calling-off of the NLD. Tiredness and injuries that had been exacerbated by the loss of Xhaka at Anfield were of the sort that could not be cured in just 4 days, and so whilst Tomiyasu and ESR returned for the game - many others had looked like they were running on fumes too - neither looked fit. Indeed lethargy surrounded the entire performance, and from the moment that Liverpool took the lead that really felt like it.

As for the Partey debacle... well, he'd kindly rushed back from AFCON - where Ghana were shockingly eliminated by Comoros (!) - but can hardly have been in sufficient shape (either mentally or physically) for a game against one of the world's best teams. But because the squad is so lean, and because things were so desperate, Arteta threw him on. With devastating results. And it wasn't just the avoidability of the sending off; it was the knock on effect for Sunday.

The problem with lack of squad depth is that there's so little experience to bring on to try to change things. And we saw that in the second leg, and again against Burnley. Promising as the likes of Patino, Salah Eddine and Hutchinson are, it's literally men against boys. We saw how the most promising of our under 23s - Balogun - struggled right at the beginning of the season when Arteta was forced to start him. These guys, with barely 10 minutes of First team experience between the lot of them, would be eaten alive out there! And so even with the squad down to its Redknappian 'bare bones' it was easy to understand why Arteta didn't want to risk any of them. Of the 4 January departures, that of AMN is really the only one that could be questioned. But it must have been difficult to stand in the guy's way with a 'please play a few games as a stand-in, and then I'll let you go' message; when he'd had very few minutes over the previous couple of months. That's hardly an inspirational offer, is it?

And so to Burnley; and starting with the news that Tomiyasu's calf injury - which under normal circumstances should have kept him out against Liverpool - had flared up again. With Chambers also unfit - apparently merely on the bench to pad it out - White moved over and Rob Holding took his place. In midfield, it looked like Lokonga - the only 'senior' available central midfielder - as an inverted single pivot with Odegaard and ESR ahead of him. And thus the folly of the two cup sendings-off came back to haunt Arsenal. 

The bench was Leno, Tavares, Nketiah, the injured Chambers and then the under 23s. So at a time when it would have been really helpful to rotate - ESR still isn't fit, and a rest for Saka would certainly not have gone amiss - there were no viable alternatives. 

The stats for the game told the tale. 76% possession, 12 corners, 20 shots (that's a lot for Arsenal - but 13 of them were from outside the penalty area), 564 accurate passes (but no less than 275 of them in the Arsenal half), and no less than 34 crosses (inclusive of corners and free kicks to be fair). But only one 'big chance' created, and no goals. 

The pattern of the game was dictated by the shape that had been forced onto Arteta by the enforced absences of Xhaka and Partey. With Odegaard and ESR too far up the pitch, Arsenal struggled to get the ball to Lokonga, and so the pattern was often a series of sideways passes followed by a raking crossfield ball from White to Martinelli on the other wing. Fabulous accuracy from that distance from an aesthetic point of view, but ultimately useless. On the rare occasions that Arsenal did manage to find a bit of room in midfield to beat the Burnley press, chances of a sort were created, but nowhere near enough I'm afraid. And as for the large number of crosses; well that's as Aaron Ramsdale said afterwards, 'meat and drink' to Burnley.

What was notable, however, was the amount of time the ball spent off the pitch. Despite Arsenal players - and the crowd! - continually drawing referee Coote's attention to the amount of time-wasting at restarts, he did nothing about it. In excess of 30 seconds per goal kick and for free kicks, and in excess of 20 seconds even for throw-ins. I doubt that the ball was in play for 60 of the 90 minutes, and this really added to the frustration. Although I suspect that Arsenal probably wouldn't have found the net if they were still playing now!

And of course some inevitable controversy, as Westwood's nasty challenge on Tierney led to a yellow card, when to the naked eye - even from the other side of the pitch where I sit - it looked like a red. And moments later an elbow by the same player on Gabriel. 

Time and again opponents are not punished for bad challenges on Arsenal players; yet far more innocuous  challenges committed by Arsenal players receive the ultimate penalty. This year we've had Godfrey's stamp on Tomiyasu's head, Mane's elbow on the same player, Harry Maguire's blatant penalty area tug, McArthur's assault on Saka, and now this from Westwood; none of which have received a punishment to fit the crime. Some of those would have led to prosecution had they taken place on the street! I'm no way condoning or defending Arsenal's appalling disciplinary record, but it's been more clumsiness and bad decision-making than malice that has warped the statistics.

And so the game meandered to its inevitable and frustrating conclusion, with sections of the crowd booing the team off. But they cannot be faulted for lack of effort; they are tired, and it's been the squad issues that have led to Arteta being forced to pick this XI that have done for Arsenal over the past two weeks. The short break before the next game on February 10th will be much appreciated.

But Arsenal's football heirarchy cannot afford to sit back and do nothing during this break. The next few days are critical to the way the season is going to pan out. With no additions, Arsenal stand no chance of ending the season where we all hope they will. But so far it's been 4 Outs (with perhaps two more still to follow) and Zero Ins. And reinforcements are desperately needed, both up front and in midfield.

The optimistic pursuit of Vlahovic looks over now, but there must surely be options out there. Even if there's no purchase, some sort of loan for the rest of the season - and then an all out attempt at one (or even two) of several striking targets may have to be the way to go. Talk of Calvert-Lewin, Isak and David may be just that for the moment, but there must be an opportunity to pick up a player of sufficient class who may be out of favour at a big club. The obvious one is Jovic (a player I've always liked the look of) at Real Madrid. In midfield, I'm not sure that Arthur Melo is particularly exciting me. But I would be interested in Wijnaldum - not getting a game at PSG and again a player I've always thought could do well at Arsenal. 

Arteta is in the USA, meeting with Kroenke, and I'd hope that Stan's current good mood - Colorado Avalanche are on a roll, and the LA Rams are into the NFC Championship Game - might persuade him to dust off his cheque book again this week. Internal solutions are limited, and on the assumption - sad in many ways - that Auba is done, then maybe Arteta could look at Martinelli down the middle.

Fingers crossed for new faces, anyway. And with this enforced break I'll give you some time off too. I'll be back in a couple of weeks. 

Away to Wolves is a big game! COYG!

We Are The Arsenal So **** *** The Rest!

Long read - sorry, guys; lots to cover...

It's been a couple of weeks of mixed emotions for Arsenal fans - from the communal outrage at the nature of the defeat to Manchester City, to communal anger at the nature of the performance at Nottingham Forest. But these last few days have been quite something else! However, what one can definitely say is the for the first time in many years the fanbase are united; it's us against the world - as we always knew it was. We all know the old song, don't we? The one that ends: 'We are The Arsenal and we are the best! We are The Arsenal so F*** O** the rest!'

I've covered everything up to Forest, but the two matches since then - one that did take place and one that did not - bear a deal of discussion. I'm going to take them in chronological order, starting with the First/Second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool.

Both sides went as strong as they could for this one. And I'm sure that we were all pleased that Granit Xhaka had recovered from his latest bout of Covid to take his place alongside Sambi Lokonga in the centre of midfield (little did we know...). Elsewhere, Odegaard was the latest Covid victim, Tomiyasu and ESR remained out, and Eddie Nketiah kept his place up front (in the absence of any viable alternative).

It was fairly even for much of the first 20 minutes or so - although there was little or no sign of any goalmouth action - until... well, we all know what happened. Xhaka sent off for a challenge on Jota as both chased down a lofted ball from Robertson. Xhaka's attempt to beat Jota to the ball was reckless and clumsy, and I'm afraid that a red card was inevitable.

Several things to discuss here: firstly, one can't knock Xhaka for a lack of effort as he had to sprint back fully 60 yards with Jota - and he stayed with him. But then, as so often happens, made a wrong decision on how to deal with the danger; this, combined with his inherent lack of flexibility, led to the inevitable. Michael Oliver couldn't wait to get his card out! For a moment, I thought that Xhaka was hard done by; he only had eyes for the ball, I thought. But on seeing the replay I couldn't think of a single reason why it wasn't a sending-off.

Secondly, we should probably look at how Xhaka was left in that position in the first place. But it's purely down to how Arteta wants his team to play - which is press high and hard. So Tierney was bypassed halfway inside the Liverpool half, and then Gabriel also, close to the halfway line. Xhaka was alert to the danger and sprinted to cover, and perhaps could have been saved if Ramsdale had been in a better position to deal with the high ball (I should point out that in my view this was Ramsdale's least effective day in goal for Arsenal so far, despite keeping a clean sheet). Jamie Carragher analysed this well at half time.

Thirdly, where does this rate on the ITWGX - If That Was Granit Xhaka - Index (©@gunnerblog). Well, this was Granit Xhaka, and some might say that he is refereed differently to most players in the Premier League, and therefore receives harsher treatment than most. But I think that anyone - except Harry Kane, obviously - is going to walk for that. 

And yet again this was Xhaka at the centre of things. And as I and many others have mentioned before, he's a really decent and solid player; around 98% of the time. But it's that 2% that kills Arsenal again and again - that's 5 times he's been sent off in an Arsenal shirt now - and so I think that this needs to be the last of last chances and as soon as Arsenal are able to they really should be moving him on and upgrading.

By this time, Arsenal had already lost Cedric to injury - he'd managed to do damage to himself in the very first minute - and had been replaced by the lesser spotted Calum Chambers. And Arteta had to reshuffle when down to 10, with poor Eddie's latest chance to impress taken away as Rob Holding took his place and Arsenal went to a back 3/5, and a very, very 'low block'. And from then on, inevitably, it was all Liverpool.

Now I'm not going to dwell too much on what went on for the rest of the game, except to say that it was heroic and memorable, as Arsenal withstood tide after tide of attacks. But without Mr Dive and Mr Elbow (both, like Partey and others, away at AFCON), and with TAA and Robertson short of their best, there were few opportunities for Liverpool. Minamino missed the very best of them, late on - much to the delight and amusement of Ben White (see first photo above).

If anything, the very best chance fell to Bukayo Saka following a rare Arsenal break. However, I don't suppose that it was a surprise that his legs betrayed him at the vital moment., and his usually reliable touch was a bit off. 

Arteta had redeployed both Saka and Martinelli in midfield, and they both worked their socks off -as did every one of the 9 remaining outfield players. Heroes to a man, and when the final whistle went several of them simply collapsed with exhaustion.

Afterwards, Arteta praised them to the heavens, using words like 'emotion', 'commitment', 'fight', ‘brotherhood’ and 'desire', and the expression 'go to war'. Difficult to argue with that. And he gave special praise to the travelling Arsenal fans, who were magnificent throughout; their non-stop vocals must surely have additionally inspired the team. 

So it's 0-0 going into the second leg. And make no mistake, it'll be just as hard - even if we're at home. Liverpool, even without Mr Dive and Mr Elbow, are a top, top side. There's plenty to be done yet.

And so to the North London Derby. However, it wasn't that simple, as Arsenal requested a postponement. And here's the thing - or many things actually:

Arsenal's first leg Carabao Cup game had been postponed when Liverpool claimed a Covid outbreak. Arsenal fans were up in arms, but the club simply accepted the ruling. This was the first time that Arsenal had requested a postponement, although they had some grounds earlier in the season; but did not meet the criteria. And this was the 21st game to be postponed due to Covid and other related reasons. For none of the others, had anybody kicked up a stink - including Arsenal when they'd had matches called off late. Yet as soon as Arsenal asked, there was outrage.

Outrage from Sky Sports pundits Neville and Carragher! Two men who had literally cavorted with the Brentford fans after they'd beaten a depleted Arsenal on the first day of the season. I wouldn't want to accuse them of doing anything except toeing the party line in trying to pressure the Premier League into not sanctioning the postponement; after all, it was Sky's main event of the weekend (great to hear Graham Souness and Micah Richards taking the opposite view, by the way).

Outrage from journalists! Jumping on the bandwagon, without actually reading the guidance.

Outrage from other media pundits! All with their own (anti-Arsenal) agenda. And one or two of the more morally-bankrupt ones (O'Hara, Collymore) claiming that Arsenal were acting immorally.

Outrage from T*ttenham! Expressions of disappointment etc... Whatever...

And Outrage from their fans! And this was fun - especially after the Premier League finally sanctioned the postponement 24 hours later. 'Same old Arsenal; always cheating.' 'Arsenal are running scared.' 'This will go down in history.' And more... Hysterical.

And here's where it's important to examine the current Premier League rules regarding Covid postponements. Click this link to read them: https://www.premierleague.com/news/2426753

The key part of the guidance, when assessing Arsenal's request for a postponement - which was lodged on Friday - is this (and I've put what I regard as the most relevant sections in Bold):

'When making an application, clubs must provide the Board with the following details, together with clear reasons why they believe the match should be postponed:

- Players and staff who have returned a positive COVID-19 test, their vaccination status and, if known, the source of their infections

- Players and staff who are self-isolating

- Players who are unavailable to play through injury or illness

- Players listed on the club's squad list who are still available to play in the match, including appropriately-experienced Under-21 players (which includes Under-21 players who have played for the club, another Premier League or EFL club, or an overseas club in the current season. However, any Under-21 player who participates in a club's FA Cup Round Three match and has not played in any other first-team competitions for the club this season will not be considered by the Board as appropriately experienced)

- Supporting medical information to verify the status of each unavailable player, which will be reviewed by the League's medical advisers

As the guidance shows, the Board will consider the following principal factors when making a decision:

1) The impact of COVID-19 infections on a club's squad, as well as injuries, illness and those isolating, and the number of players available on the squad list and any Under-21 players with appropriate experience. Where a club cannot field 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper either from its squad list or its appropriately experienced Under-21 players, the match will be postponed

2) The status of any COVID-19 outbreak within a club, including the number of individuals affected, the sequence and source of infections and their proximity to the match in question

3) A club's ability to safely prepare its players in the lead-up to a match

4) Medical advice as to whether there is any unacceptable risk to the health and safety of players and staff by playing the match

I also want to add a bit of extra context and background here:

1.    Arsenal went into their very first game of the season with 4 cases of Covid, including both of their first choice centre forwards (and the next in line injured). The rules didn't permit a postponement, so they had to play, with an out of his depth Balogun up front, and duly lost. They still had Covid issues in their next game, against Chelsea (difficult enough with a full strength team) and lost that too. And then got slaughtered at Manchester City. Cue much hysteria from all and sundry as Arsenal found themselves in last place after three games, with no points and no goals

2.    Arsenal have also been on the other side of this particular coin, having played - and easily beaten - weakened Leeds and Norwich sides. Again, if the absences didn't meet the criteria, it's end of discussion

3.    Arsenal have had a total of 12 cases of Covid in the First Team squad since December 21st. This sort of things has an impact on being able to rest and rotate. Arsenal haven't moaned about this at any point. At least one more player is now isolating following tests made just after the match was called off

4.    Arsenal didn't kick up a stink when Wolves requested a postponement just after Christmas, when it was evident that this was almost exclusively down to injuries and not Covid

5.    Arsenal fans - but not the club - were unhappy with Liverpool having the semi-final first leg postponed with a huge amount of 'false positive' tests. The outrage appears justified when all bar one player were available for a match just three days later!

6.    There's no mention of AFCON or loans in the Premier League criteria. Why should there be? These are side issues and part of everyday life for a top level football club. And the absences could all be accounted for, and left them short of the requisite number of available players. Here they all are:

27 man squad: Comprised of 3 goalkeepers. 4 players at AFCON (Partey, Elneny, Pepe, Aubameyang), 2 out on loan (AMN, Balogun), 1 with Covid (Odegaard), 3 on the treatment table prior to the Liverpool game (Tomiyasu, Kolasinac, Smith Rowe), 4 suffered knocks/injuries during the Liverpool game (Cedric, Chambers, Tierney, Saka) -  plus of course Xhaka now suspended, but that fact is discounted from any calculations. Leaving available just 9 outfield players (White, Gabriel, Holding, Tavares, Mari, Lokonga, Lacazette, Nketiah, Martinelli). And as for Under-21 players with appropriate experience as per the Premier League criteria... well, there are none.

Now, any ludicrous comment like 'play the kids!' needs to be treated with utter disdain. Firstly, Arsenal are already playing the kids. They have the 17 youngest starting XIs in Premier League history, and 19 out of the youngest 24 - all this season! And secondly, do you think that being obliged to field 3/4 teenage debutants in a North London Derby is fair to the rest of the Premier League? Especially those clubs hoping to challenge for Champions League spots? No, of course it isn't. Let's face it - the 'salty tears' of T*ttenham and their supporters are down to a perceived missed opportunity to pick up an easy win; after all, a midfield comprising Lokonga and Patino is going to end up making even Harry Winks look like a decent footballer!

And this made me laugh!

Anyway, we're all united in Siege Mentality mode - and there's nothing wrong with that. Bring on Liverpool - and then a very important game against Burnley. COYG!

Lads, We're Playing In White!

I normally only post following Premier League games, but this one deserves an extra piece of work. And for all the wrong reasons! Because the abysmal defeat at Nottingham Forest was as horrendous as last week's against Manchester City.

Despite an admittedly much changed team, I can offer not one single crumb of comfort to you. All over the pitch, Arsenal came off second best to a well-drilled Forest side who have their own up-and-coming young manager, and had the man of the match in young right back Spence - who must surely, along with right winger Johnson, be playing in the Premier League next season.

The extremely commendable #NoMoreRed campaign to combat knife crime meant that Arsenal played in an all-white kit for the first time that I can recall. However, it seemed to me that a 90-minute brain fade meant that this fact hadn't registered in the players' heads, as pass after pass ended up at the feet of a red-shirted player. I can't find a stat for passing accuracy, but despite 67% possession it felt embarrassingly low, and I cannot recall a single shot on target from an utterly feeble and toothless Arsenal side.

Let's look at what went wrong. And that started with the line-up - although it's difficult to lay too much the blame for that at the feet of the manager bearing in mind the hand he was dealt, and bearing in mind that Arsenal have to face Liverpool twice, and That Lot, over the next week or so:

• Leno for Ramsdale, who was rested; fair enough, and the German did well, made a couple of very good saves and was powerless to prevent the winning goal
• Cedric for Tomiyasu, who had a slight calf injury. Cedric is second choice right-back, but he's nowhere close to the Japanese quality-wise. Atletico Madrid are interested in Cedric, apparently - and I'll be happy to drive him to Heathrow after that showing
• White kept his place. Well, with the alternative being Pablo Mari, that's understandable
• Holding for the suspended Gabriel. Holding had as bad a game in an Arsenal shirt as I can remember
• Tavares for the rested Tierney. And following a nightmare half hour of which Freddy Kruger would have been ashamed, he was hooked in favour of the man he'd replaced. Whilst Tierney wasn't brilliant himself, he at least managed to find a man in the right colour shirt occasionally. And for all the promise that Tavares has shown whilst he was in the side, this should serve as a wake-up call as regards attitude. It's embarrassing to get hooked midway through the first half, but young Nuno was by far the worst of a pretty pathetic bunch, and Arteta clearly felt that he had to do something

• Midfield - and this was the central issue (no pun intended). With Thomas Partey having departed for AFCON (along with Mohammed Elneny), Granit Xhaka out following a positive Covid test, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles inexplicably allowed to leave on loan so early in the Transfer Window, all Arsenal could muster in there was Sambi Lokonga, who for reasons I cannot fathom hasn't kicked a ball in anger in well over a month, and young Charlie Patino, of whom so much is expected but who was shown up as nowhere near ready for First Team football. They were completely overrun
  

• Martin Odegaard kept his place, due to ESR's slight groin issue. He had very little opportunity to impose himself on the game, and dropping back into central midfield to support is not something that I feel he is comfortable doing
• Up front, one would have expected more of both Martinelli and Saka, who kept their places in the side. Saka was easily Arsenal's most dangerous player, but himself didn't create nearly enough. And Martinelli was put in the shade by Spence, who was more than a match for him in skill, pace and - unforgivably - attitude
• Eddie Nketiah in place of Lacazette. And in this game we saw precisely why Eddie is not good enough to play up front for Arsenal. He was unable to hold the ball up, made very little of what service he received, and missed Arsenal's best chance with a limp misdirected header from a Saka cross

• As far as substitutions were concerned, see my comments on Tierney above. Laca couldn't make any difference late on as he replaced poor overwhelmed Charlie Patino, and it was impossible to fathom why, when in desperate need of a goal. Arteta should choose to bring on Kolasinac at right back with a couple of minutes to go. Unless as a signal to the Board about the paucity of resources?

What this does indicate is precisely that. That whilst Arsenal's best XI is good enough to go toe to toe with the best that England has to offer - as we saw last week - there's nowhere near enough depth in the squad to deal with absences. Arteta has suggested that Arsenal will be active again in this Transfer Window, and the Forest display indicated how urgent that is. The next three games are central to Arsenal's season, and they suddenly look totally exposed and unprepared for those looming tasks.

I'm not going to go into too much detail regarding the game itself. As you'll be aware, Arsenal were as poor this weekend as they were good last weekend. So poor, in fact, that I think I actually fell asleep for a short while during the first half. And despite whatever rocket Arteta put up them at half time nothing much improved. On loan Villa striker Kienan Davis, who has looked utterly useless whenever I've seen him play, was allowed to look like Romelu Lukaku, and when he was hooked - exhausted to be fair - the experienced Grabban replaced him and put Arsenal out of their misery late on with a goal that summed up Arsenal's day. Ball lost in midfield, sprung on the break, defenders not in the right position to deal with a simple cross, and that was that. No coming back. Well played,Forest.

There's a fair chance now, by the way, that Arsenal will have just two games in the whole of February. Apart from losing the opportunity to win a trophy, this shows how bare the table is. No Europe and no FA Cup, and with Liverpool in the League Cup semi final the odds are stacked against whoever is left standing over the next few days for those games. We're not used to this at all, and it's bloody depressing I can tell you!

Still, there's a chance or three for redemption over the next week or so. But much to be done. And literally all the optimism from last week has been sucked out of us. Fingers crossed - more in hope than expectation now - for the next three games.

I should mention, by the way, that I popped down to see my local team play on Saturday. And congratulations to Boreham Wood, who put in a spirited display to defeat an admittedly terrible AFC Wimbledon side and reach the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history. From the moment that their first goal went in, they were in complete control. 

Bournemouth away is their reward, and that'll be much more difficult - but I wish them the best of luck. They are a proper community club who are on the up, and once more challenging for promotion. I hope, for the sake of the town and of the numerous friends who go to watch them every week, that we'll see them plying their trade in League Two next season. A season ticket at Meadow Park is looking quite tempting at the moment. Wood Army!?!

Watershed Performance Overshadowed By Questionable Officiating

Arsenal went toe to toe with Manchester City at Emirates Stadium, and were arguably unlucky to come away with not just a draw, but possibly even a win over probably the best - and certainly the most in-form - team in Europe. 

The loss of the Covid-stricken Mikel Arteta from the side lines made very little difference, but despite a raucous atmosphere and magnificent all-round performance Arsenal came up empty-handed from a game from which they deserved at least a point. They rattled City virtually throughout, showed no fear, and this must surely be a template for the future. The ‘process’ is progressing nicely, and fans will have come away not just disappointed and angry, but also both optimistic and proud of their team.

Team news; and the welcome news that Tomiyasu had recovered from Covid and was able to a slot back in at right back, allowing Ben White to revert to right centre back. For City, Rodri was back, Grealish was only on the bench, and Foden didn’t even make the squad. For me, a possible weak link looked to be Ake at left back, up against Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal’s shape looked really good from the start, and following 10 minutes of early sparring the first flash point of the game came after just 10 minutes. A swift break saw Lacazette release Odegaard down the inside right channel, and we were incredulous that firstly referee Atwell failed to award a penalty as the Norwegian went over Ederson’s outstretched leg, and then VAR Gillett saw no need to send him to the pitch side monitor. Having seen it again - and again! - that’s a penalty for me. There’s a clear angle showing that Ederson made contact with Odegaard before he (possibly) got to the ball.

VAR is meant to deal with a ‘clear and obvious error’ by the referee, and that’s got to be why Atwell wasn’t invited to the monitor. However, I’d rather that the VAR ensured that the decision is the correct one - and for me in this instance what the VAR does is compound the original error.

In the reverse game - a chastening 5-0 defeat - City had no less than 81% possession. However in this game Arsenal had almost as much of the ball (for the first hour at least) as their illustrious opponents and spent almost the entire first half on the front foot. They pressed City deep in their own half and barely allowed them out. And City had just the one decent chance in the entire half - a header from Dias following a corner - but apart from that Arsenal looked almost completely in control and had much the best of the penalty area exchanges. It was quite remarkable to witness.

After half an hour, Arsenal got the reward that their brave play deserved. White stepped in and robbed De Bruyne inside the Arsenal half and via first Partey, then Xhaka and Odegaard the ball zipped out to Tierney on the left. Martinelli occupied Cancelo as Tierney drove inside, and Saka stepped away from Ake (not as alert as he could have been in an unfamiliar role) and passed the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area. A beautiful team goal, and absolute no less that they deserved.

And there were other chances. Martinelli curled just wide following another sweeping move, and then just missed out on what would have been an absolute ‘worldie’, picking the ball up well inside his own half, racing forward and beating first Cancelo, then Dias and finally Cancelo again before sliding the ball just wide of the far post. Such a shame. 

And so the half time whistle went with Arsenal in a well-deserved lead. City, surprised by Arsenal’s intensity, hadn’t even rustled a shot on target! And whilst we expected changes, and a reaction, from City after half time, we barely got one.

On 49 minutes, Rodri’s ‘robust’ challenge on Martinelli in the edge of the area was rewarded merely by an Arsenal corner. BT Sport commentators agreed that Rodri had slipped as he went in for the challenge, but in doing so he wiped our Brazilian out! Amazing...

And Arsenal remained on top; passing crisply around and through City, with Partey and Xhaka bossing midfield.

And then the moment that changed the game. Bernardo Silva stood Xhaka up in the penalty area. Xhaka’s left leg went out but made little contact with Bernardo, but the latter made the most of it and started to go down. Dive? Yes, certainly. But at the same time Xhaka momentarily grabbed hold of his shirt; it made no material difference, but if you’re watching it back in slow motion… and so this time Atwell was sent to the monitor by Gillett, and we all knew what was going to happen. 

And here’s the inconsistency, and why we feel so hard done by. For this, Atwell is referred to the monitor. For the other one - for me actually more clear cut - he is not. Infuriating. Mahrez - who I’d actually forgotten was playing - sent Ramsdale the wrong way. With City’s first shot on target!

Slightly lost in the build up to the penalty kick, Gabriel was booked for attempting to scuff up the penalty spot. Stupid, and would come back to haunt him. But not before… miscommunication between Laporte and Ederson led to the former’s header looping over the keeper. Ake cleared from right on the line, and Martinelli - expertly impeded by the referee - could only hit the outside of the post from the follow up.

And seconds later Gabriel was off. He clattered into Jesus on the halfway line as the latter turned, and it was clumsy more than malicious. Worthy of a card? Perhaps (I of course didn’t think so) - although in the context of what was to transpire a little later when City players did similar probably not. But he’d given the referee the opportunity to wave a card, and it was the first one - for messing around with the penalty spot - the was the real issue here.

5 mad minutes… and of course the pendulum changed. City with 11 men against 10 can only mean one thing - domination of the ball.

But here was the incredible inconsistency of the refereeing. Odegaard was replaced by Holding, and went off complaining about the number of challenges Rodri had got away with without a booking for numerous niggly fouls - ‘three times’, one could see the Norwegian mouthing to Fourth Official Kevin Friend as he departed - and less than a minute later Rodri barged Lacazette off of the ball. Free kick to Arsenal, and yet the only card meted out was to Saka for complaining about the lack of card for serial offender Rodri. Two minutes later, a yellow card for Holding for tugging at the arm of De Bruyne. For his first foul...

Yet Arsenal remained compact throughout as the pressure built. And still looked occasionally dangerous on the break as ESR replaced Laca; Martinelli reverting to centre forward. And the possession stats were really skewed over the final 30 or so minutes. 

But the moment we’d all been dreading finally arrived, as in the third of no less than 6 minutes of injury time City finally went ahead. Following a free kick, Laporte stayed forward, and a De Bruyne cross led to pinball in the penalty area with the ball falling at the feet of our friend Rodri, who poked home. Just two shots on target - but two goals. And finally Rodri was booked - for taking his shirt off!!! 

We still had time for some shithousery from our other friend, the diving Bernardo Silva, who firstly handled unnecessarily and then kicked the ball away at a free kick, and from Gundogan - as City reverted to their standard ‘take the lead, commit a series of niggly fouls’ mode. And so Arsenal hopes we’re finally dashed.

Conclusions? 

Well, firstly it is clear that Arsenal are making great strides forward this season. We’d have all been surprised to have made the top 4 before the season started - and certainly after the first three games - but it now appears attainable. We have to hold off the likes of United, West Ham and T*ttenham, but as it happens neither Liverpool or Chelsea are completely out of sight above us. It’s going to be interesting, and is frankly quite surprising but also exciting.

This, despite the defeat, was a Statement Performance. Yes, Arsenal have had more rest time than City, but they have a massive squad, so that’s something of a red herring. This shows that Arsenal are on the right path, and there is no reason to take a single step back from here. Guardiola himself acknowledged that Arsenal were the better side in this game.

Save for one or two small (crucial, I grant you) moments over the 90 minutes, every single Arsenal player gets a minimum of 8/10 from me. Typical that Xhaka had to be involved in the critical moment of the game, but that’s him in a nutshell. As for the others; Tomiyasu, Tierney, Martinelli and Saka were superb, and in his 50th game for the club the Thomas Partey we’ve been waiting to see finally turned up. A magnificent display from him. Of course, we won’t see him for a month now, annoyingly…

There’s something very wrong with refereeing standards in this country. How Atwell - who once gave a goal when the ball had actually gone off for a goal kick, and whose performances were so bad at one point that he was demoted to the EFL - can be given one of the biggest games of the weekend is beyond me. There’s hardly a single referee that I’m glad to see officiating an Arsenal game. In fact, on reflection, there’s not a single one. We’ve ‘got beef’ with Atkinson, Tierney, Dean, Friend (I originally typed Fiend there), Moss…

And finally… we can be very proud of our team. They’ve showed how good they can be. And in return we’ve supported them whole heartedly. Let’s keep going now. Three Cup games in the next week or so, and then there’s the small matter of a visit to The Toilet Bowl. Massive. So COYG!