Arsenal (H) | PL | Post-match Thread

[East Level 2]

Walker still has a decent turn of speed which helps out at the back, however he adds bugger all going forward.

 

[Dribble]

At 70 minutes I'd have taken a Point​

What a fuckin drama filled match that was! From 2 seconds in, Havertz clattered Rodri to set the tone for a match both teams were desperate to put down a season marker.

On the restart after the Rodri foul, the Viking Meat Shield responded in kind by clattering an Arsenal defender, as City quickly found their tempo & were looking dangerous.

As we pressed home our superiority, the ball came out to Savinho on the right, who took out the Arsenal left back with a brilliant touch & turn. He strode through central midfield & played a superb, inch perfect pass into the path of the Striking Viking, who shaped to curl the ball into the left hand corner on the net, but surprisingly stabbed the ball past Raya instead for the opener. 1-0 City!



We continued to make the most of our advantage, but from a corner, Rodri went down injured & was unable to continue. Kovacic came on in his place, & this signalled ArseAnal getting a foothold in the game.

Arsehole got a corner, from which we failed to stop the ball to Gabriel, that we know they're deadly at. We were lucky not to concede first time around, but not long after we got our just desserts!

ArseAnal use 8 players in their corner routine. 1 to play a deep cross. 4 players stand beyond the far post & just before the ball is crossed in, they box in the keeper to leave him stranded. Two run toward the far stick as decoys, as Gabriel flies in above them at the far post to score the equaliser.

I couldn't fuckin believe we allowed this happen, after seeing Arsehole pull off this same routine, time after time in previous matches! Arsenal's goal seemed to rock us, but then comes the pivotal last 15 minutes of the first half.

Tackles are flying in & the cards are coming out, so to take the heat out of the game after a Bernardo foul in midfield, Michael Oliver calls Saka & Walker over to tell them both to calm their team mates down.

Walker tells everyone to calm down & concentrate, BUT BEFORE Kyle's had the chance to return to the position he was in before Oliver called him over for a chat, Arsehole took a quick free kick into the space Walker had left, for Martinelli to cross to their LB who stroked home a beauty of a shot! 1-2 Arseholes!

City were obvious pissed about the way the game resumed, after Oliver had pulled Walker out of position, but the goal stood. More cards followed as City fought to get a goal back before half-time.

Trossard received a yellow for pulling the dangerous Savinho back, & saw red seconds before the half-time whistle, for barging into the back of Bernardo for a foul, but then kicking the ball away. ArseAnal down to 10 men, but City go into the break 1-2 down.



Captain Scarlet subbed off Saka for White & made it clear from the restart, the plan was to leave the Etihad with at least a point.

Predictably, City pushed on, as Arsehole first came with a 5-4-0 formation. We had them pinned in their half, & the visitors started time wasting & feigning injury to run down the clock immediately after the resumption.



We had all the possession, which made Arsehole revert to an even more defensive 6-3-0 low block formation, which frustrated the fuck out of us. If this was City at the Emirates, I'd have been loving the stubborn, stiff resistance if I'm being honest!

Change was needed, & Doku, Savinho & Walker gave way for firstly Foden, & then Stones & Grealish. We continued to toil away, as ArseAnal continued to frustrate with their time-wasting & feigning injury.

Michael Oliver had lost control of the match at this point, & more yellow cards should've been given for gamesmanship & blatant cheating!

STONES!!!​

Time was running out & we were beyond desperation! We win a corner in the final minute of added time, which Grealish took short, he received the ball back & chipped it in for the excellent Raya to parry it out, only for the ball to land at the feet of Jonny Boulders who hit it against the keeper lying prostrate, for a last gasp equaliser!

The Etihad exploded with relief! The players mobbed Stones! Both benches went to war with each other!

As I said in the title, at 70 minutes I'd have taken a point, because ArseAnal had become the immovable object, against an irresistible, but blunt force.

In the end, it was a crucial point gained. Haaland has scored an incredible 100 goals in 105 games for City. Our unbeaten home run continues, & to get nothing out of this game would've been crushing!

Stones gets my MoTM award purely for the equaliser. Questions have to be asked, as to why we didn't legislate for ArseAnal's corner routine? We knew what they were gonna do, but unless we fouled Gabriel, we couldn't stop them.

On their corners, we should have put players around Ederson to protect him, & blocked off their far post runs, & stopped their players from impeding our keeper. Lessons must be learned, & NOT after the fact!

Roll on Watford at the Etihad in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

 

[FromPollockToSilva]

 

[Boo or Boo-urns]

Sky Sports suggesting to John Stones that Arsenal are using timeouts to break the game's momentum.

Sky Sports to Farteta, City are suggesting your players are using tactics to slow down and break up the game.

#SkyShithouses

 

[blue whippet]

Thank the lord for John Stones. Is there a more unlikable team in the world, not just the league than arsenal. What truly awful collection of turds both on the pitch, on the coaching staff, in the boardroom and on the terraces.

We were the better team overall but we are woeful at both defending and taking corners, set pieces in general really.

Our shooting, from international players is, at times, terrible. In that second half we must have hit the second tier more than I would have thought possible.

I hope Rodri's injury isn't serious.

Oh one more thing, thank the lord for John Stones.

 

[Blue Llama]

Fine incoming for Pep saying Walker was right?

Still doesn't excuse Walker for being asleep
If you watch the incident Walker has finished talking to the ref and is slowly walking back, he looks over his shoulder and sees what's happening and only then starts to run. If he wasn't so casual he had time to get back in position.

 

[Citizen in Pakistan]

It honestly felt like a win to me. Arsenal really needed a statement performance and didn’t get it

It was more of a relief for me considering the fact that we were in the lead and they were a man down for second half, I live in st albans and it's a area dominated by arsenal fans and the place where I work have real cnuts who support arsenal and think we should be relegated because of 115 charges lol so it would be easy to go to work tomorrow

 

[tregyblue61]

I don't normally listen to the after match bullshit, but I did enjoy listening to Keane. Micha's a bellend, Merson I think is half pissed/coked up and Walcott was OK.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

The world saw Arsenal for what they are today.

Shithousing, cheating, diving, injury feigning cunts.

 

[Bob Hope]

We „struggled“ against a team that played the he second half with 9 players and played Thursday night football and yet we draw.

That‘s why we have written history last season. Truly championship mentality

Oh just fuck off you ****