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Emery does it again as Gunners blow chance to return to top spot

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  Arsenal 0 Aston Villa 2    Premier League    Sunday 14th April 2024  4.30 pm     Ah well, the afternoon was going so well. Liverpool’s shock defeat at home to Palace opened the way for Arsenal to open a gap on one of their two rivals for the title. It ended with Manchester City benefitting the most on a day when all they had to do was sit in front of the TV and enjoy what transpired.   Villa have now done the double over Arsenal in the league this season, although their home win was less deserving  and featured some far more controversial decisions from the referee. Yesterday, it was a fairly even game – the Gunners were on top in the first half, Villa had the better of things after the break.   Ultimately, it was a case of the home side not making the most of their early dominance. There were a good number of chances to score before Villa were allowed back into the game, the most clearcut being Trossard’s point blank shot that was foiled by Martinez’ foot.    Unai Emery’s side made
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Arsenal naïve but still in the tie after topsy turvy night of drama at the Emirates

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Arsenal 2 Bayern Munich 2    Champions League Quarter Final, 1st leg    Tuesday 9th April 2024  8pm     Although it’s been 14 years since Arsenal last experienced a Champions League quarter final, they’ve certainly met Bayern Munich a few times since then, normally in the last 16 of this competition, with subsequent elimination every time, often with a massive dose of humility. There was much greater hope that, given the respective form of the two teams, this time it would be different. Yet the sight of the German side scoring at the Emirates last night felt all too familiar.    There was no shortage of action at either end, and the complete absence of all but a handful of club picked Bayern supporters (who sat in the posh seats) meant that Arsenal’s home advantage had an extra edge. The crowd supported the team loudly, but in honestly, the opposition players didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest.    So yes, by their own high standards, Bayern are having a disappointing season, but
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Arsenal deliver excellent win at the Amex to keep title challenge alive and well

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  Brighton 0 Arsenal 3    Premier League    Saturday 6th April 2024  5.30pm     A couple of earlier results in the day sent varied messages to those of a Gooner persuasion. Bayern were two goals up at half-time against lowly Heidenham, and yet construed to lose their Bundesliga game. They have injuries and do not appear to be anything like their imperious usual selves. There does seem to be a phenomenon of team competing for the title with Bayern self-destructing as the season closes, but it really feels like Leverkusen will break their run of 11 consecutive championship wins. And to think, we are bored with Manchester City winning the Premier League here. Anyway, after over 20 years of struggling against Bayern in the Champions League – always with Arsene Wenger in charge, finally, it feels like the Gunners have an excellent chance of overcoming them.   I mentioned Manchester City, and the other score that had implications for Arsenal’s match at Brighton was their earlier victory abou
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Arsenal mix and match side do the job v Luton. 3 points and onto the next one

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  Arsenal 2 Luton 0    Premier League    Tuesday 3rd April 2024  7.30pm     It’s a game that won’t live too long in the memory, but even the Invincibles played the odd dull game. The only real question before kick-off was whether Arsenal would struggle with the four changes that Arteta made, as Kiwior, Rice, Jesus and Saka stepped down from Sundays starting line-up. Saka wasn’t even on the bench, but given he’s been nursing an injury for pretty much the whole season, it was no bad thing to give him a midweek off. It’s difficult to imagine he won’t be back for the Bayern first leg if not at Brighton on Saturday.   The changes meant rare starts for Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson, as well as two players recovering from injuries – Thomas Partey and Zinchenko. Luton themselves had endured a demoralising and exhausting defeat on Saturday at Spurs, so were hardly at their freshest. As it was the contest was effectively over by half time. The first goal was a nicely fashioned move in which
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Saliba and Gabriel imperious as Arsenal share the spoils at the Etihad

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Manchester City 0 Arsenal 0    Premier League    Sunday 31st March 2024  4.30pm     I don’t think there were too many Gooners who wouldn’t have have taken a point from this game if you’d offered it to them before kick off at the Etihad. This observer felt that a win might be possible if both Saka and Martinelli began the game, but the two were never on the pitch at the same time.    Let’s start by looking at how things are different from last season’s late April visit to the same venue. Arsenal had drawn three in a row and were then stuffed 4-1 by City. The differences in team selection were that Ramsdale, Holding, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka and Martinelli started. Yesterday, we saw Raya, Saliba, Kiwior, Jorginho, Rice and Havertz.    It was a very different performance shown by Mikel Arteta’s team, one in which the defensive work, organisation, focus and discipline was off the scale. Play as well as this in Europe and Arsenal could win some tight ties in the way that the 2005-06 team di
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Raya the shoot-out hero in front of tense but raucous Emirates Crowd

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Arsenal 1 Porto 0 (AET, Arsenal win 4-2 on penalties)     Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg    Tuesday 11th March 2024  8pm       Cup runs are about survival, just getting through. And ultimately, penalty shoot outs decide even who lifts the trophy itself. Arsenal know this all too well, having lost two European finals in this manner, and won an FA Cup. In the end, this tie went to the lottery of penalties, but it was the Gunners that held their nerve, as David Raya pulled off two saves to send his side through to the last eight of this competition. The Emirates crowd played their part too, and the celebrations when Porto’s fourth penalty was saved to end the contest were off the scale.    Porto tried to eat the clock in this leg as much as the first game, but there was less tolerance from the referee, especially in the second half and extra time. Even at 1-0 down, you felt the visitors would be happy to chance their luck in a shoot-out, although they did have a couple of very dece
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The Good and the Bad of Aaron Ramsdale…

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  Arsenal 2 Brentford 1      Premier League  Saturday 9th March 2024  5.30pm     Oh Aaron. Yesterday was a salient reminder why Mikel Arteta decided last summer he wanted a keeper who was more comfortable with the ball at his feet. It was the Southampton match late last season when Ramsdale presented a goal to the opposition in what finished as a 3-3 draw. Back then, he tried to play a pass to a team-mate which was too easily read and intercepted. With hindsight it was probably the final straw for Arteta who wants every player in his starting eleven to be comfortable, confident and competent with the ball at their feet. Against Brentford almost a year on, he had the option of an easy pass to his right, but elected to play a long clearance out instead. It cannoned off Wissa and looped into the goal.    The keeper pulled off a couple of very decent saves to keep the scores level after the interval, but his colleagues still had to resolve the situation by regaining the lead, and it was a
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