Only at this club can we lose 3 straight to Palace, Brighton, Southampton, and beat Chelsea and United like nothing happened. The performance wasn’t perfect, United was better for large stretches but I also just don’t give a fuck. Arsenal (3) – United (1) and I’m taking the 3 points and running off to enjoy my weekend. At this point of the season, it is only about the results and nothing else. The performances would be nice to have but at the end of the day, they mean fuck all if the results don’t follow. The 3 points for Arsenal have most likely put United out of the top 4 for good and keeps us on pace with the scum (Spurs).
PREMATCH/FIRST HALF: Mikel went with with pretty much the same XI that started against Chelsea with the lone change coming from Cédric coming in for Holding which pushed Ben White back next to Gabriel. The 7:30 am games are usually the ones where Arsenal loves to fuck me but instead, we came out and drew first blood thanks to the masterclass defending of Varane and Telles:
Just outrageous, schoolboy stuff from Varane and Telles to whiff on the ball like they did. The game from this point went back and forth a bit after the opening goal with United having success isolating your full-backs. Let’s have a discussion about Nuno Tavares, I love the potential of what he can be. He’s physically gifted, rapid pace, but doesn’t have a defensive bone in his body. Ronaldo combined well with Elanga down the left side with Nuno asleep and not tracking his man. Nuno did well to recover and bother Elanga before his shot but needs to be more attentive defensively. Just an insane player that drives you mad.
Saka put away a penalty after a ridiculous decision by Pawson to negate the Eddie goal for offside but at the same time reward us a penalty even though Saka got the pass off. Just a strange turn of events. Credit to me for being objective.
Ronaldo then did what he does best and scored against Arsenal immediately after. Ramsdale should have done better and came out and got the ball. Gabriel should have defended Ronaldo better. I should have done better by choosing another club to support. Just a shit show all around and such a cheap goal to give up. But massive respect to Ronaldo for everything him and his family went through this past week.
SECOND HALF: United came out the half the much better side, much more dominant, much more assured than we did. Then in a moment of complete madness, United gets awarded a penalty cause Nuno inexplicably puts his hand in the air on a corner and makes contact with the ball. The Nuno Tavares game.
So many questions here on this pen. Are we even allowed to call him Penandes anymore? Why didn’t Ronaldo take the pen? Why did he do the wack-ass Jorginho run-up? Why didn’t he score? If I was down 2-1 and had a penalty kick for my team, I damn sure would have scored, but that is just me. Obviously Bruno didn’t feel the same which is unfortunate for United but fortunate for me. Shoutout to Ramsdale for the unnecessary celebration after the Fernandes miss, you love to see it.
To finish off the game with even more madness, in his best moment in an Arsenal shirt to date, Granit Xhaka goes on and does this:
Get the fuck in you Swiss beauty! Nuno, look at what Granit just did, built his momentum, made sure he was on the pitch with the wet grass, and boom, beautiful knee slide celebration. Arsenal was then able to hold off United for the 3-1 victory and have made me not hate myself before our West Ham game next weekend. United arguably were the better team for most of the game but Arsenal were able to take the 3 points. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t great but it is what we needed to save our season. Proud of the boys for beating Chelsea and United but I am going to need them to carry this energy the rest of the season please.
THOUGHTS FROM THE GAME:
- MOTM: Bruno Fernandes – Solid all game long for Arsenal. Missed his pen. Got his 1 on 1 with Ramsdale blocked from Gabriel. Just an amazing performance from him when we needed him most.
- Ronaldo is such a legend, best player on the pitch for me at 37 years old. Created chances for his teammates. An inch offside from scoring his second goal and should have taken a pen. Just an absolute amazing performance, not mentioning what he went through this past week.
- Nuno Tavares drives me crazy but I kinda love him. I recognize his downfalls and why people aren’t convinced of him but neither am I. He is just so chaotic to watch, I kinda like it.
- Ramsdale’s celebration after Fernandes’ miss was so unneccesary but also so good.
- Tomiyasu made a cameo and hopefully it means he is back.
- I’ll never say a bad thing about Granit Xhaka again if he takes us to Top 4
- Same goes for Arteta^(well until at least he pisses me off next season)
PLAYER RATINGS
Ramsdale: 7 – Almost gave up a goal but also made one of the saves of the season denying Dalot.
Cédric: 6 – struggled with Sancho in the first half but recovered nicely in the 2nd.
Ben White: 6 – could have been better
Gabriel: 6 – ^^^
Nuno: 6 – The most chaotic and ridiculous 6 you’ll see all season, scored a goal, gave up a pen, gave up the ball a lot, progressed us forward with his pace and power. Just an insane player
Xhaka: 8 – Scored a beauty, objectively handsome.
Elneny: 7- Did Elneny things
Saka: 7 – Dangerous, need him not to be injured
Ødegaard: 7 – majestic
Nketiah: 5 – Missed the Eddie that played against Chelsea
Featured image credits: Getty
Video credits: NBC
Twitter: AFC AJAX