Well, that was pleasant.
Leicester City’s Foxes came to London today, to play our Arsenal at the Grove. They came in on a winning streak of four, whereas we’d won 8 of our last 10. Our ongoing success since December, and their relative inefficiency in gaining points over the same period saw us start the game 15 points and 7 spots above them. After a fine 2-0 victory we’ve extended those gaps, and regained 4th place in the table above Manchester’s red team.
And such a fine victory it was. Arsenal started with Baff’s predicted lineup, Martinelli preferred for Smith-Rowe after the latter’s recovery from Covid. Well-played for that, sir, as well as calling the final score, the shakiness of Söyüncü, and Leicester’s poor record of defending set pieces. All came good today, in an Arsenal performance that was professional, exciting, and assured (for the most part). Strangely (?) Leicester opted to start with Tielemans on the bench, leaving only Maddison and Barnes to express their creativity. Iheanacho started ahead of Daka in the absence of Vardy.
It was Arsenal who had the best of a vibrant and engaging first half. We started the game under a little pressure for the first five minutes or so, then broke out and started playing some lovely stuff. We moved up into their half with ease, in part due to deep passing from White, Partey, and Ramsdale that was effective and accurate. Early on we kept getting Saka free on our right, creating trouble that led to little except mounting pressure on the Leicester defense.
When we lost the ball our press was excellent. It seemed like every time Maddison or Barnes (or just about anyone, really) had the ball on the Arsenal side of the center circle we had two or three players closing down the ball and cutting off the forward passing lanes. It forced Leicester to play like Emery’s Arsenal, employing back passes to their defense, and, at best, playing the “horseshoe-of-death” looking for an opening. Schmeichel rarely had time to pick a pass other than to his close defensive partners. We dispossessed them in their half often enough that by halftime we had 9 shots, 3 on target, even as they had a fair number more passes.
But in the 11th minute we had our goal. After good work down the left by Gabi Tierney earned a corner, which Gabi took. Partey rose highest, mostly unmarked, at the near post and flicked it in to the net past a static Schmeichel.
Arsenal 1-0 Leicester (Partey, 11)
The goal was nothing more than he deserved. His play all half was excellent, his passing accurate and incisive, he shielded the ball well, and he drove us between Leicester’s lines. Seven minutes later his second shot of the game came after we were camped in their box, trying to find a way through with Saka, Laca (who nearly put Saka in AGAIN with a sweet little backheel), and Xhaka. Xhaka’s blocked shot was passed to Partey, who shifted feet and curled a shot that beat Schmeichel, but hit the angle of the crossbar and the post. We were very close to being up 2-0 at that point.
A second goal then would have been deserved. Saka, Martinelli, and Xhaka all had efforts blocked or saved between the goal and Leicester’s first meaningful challenge to our defense. Dewsbury-Hall sent a lovely diagonal ball from about the halfway line to Barnes at the right edge of the box. Barnes controlled it pretty well, then tried to shoot past the onrushing Ramsdale, who parried it out for a City corner. Ramsdale punched away the resulting corner nearly to the center circle.
That pass from Dewsbury-Hall was the start of a fifteen-minute period of Leicester ascendency, where they raised their game to match Arsenal and were a bit the better team. Dewsbury-Hall, rather than Maddison, was the architect of their (relative) success; he put a pass into the box that was barely touched by Ramsdale to Maddison. White proved his mettle with an excellent tackle in the middle of the box as Maddison sought to shift the ball to shoot.
Leicester continued to pass the ball, a lot; Albrighton showed his usual skill and verve, thankfully to little effect. After a City throw-in on the left of our box, a rare Arsenal mistake. Gabi and Gabriel miscommunicated who was to do what with Maddison’s flick into the box for Pereira, leading to a corner. Albrighton kicked the corner off of Laca at the near post, leading to a second corner. It was played short, then Albrighton put in a beautiful cross that Barnes headed towards the top corner of Arsenal’s net from inside the penaly spot. Ramsdale stuck out a strong right hand and blocked the shot; Tierney put it out for a corner. An excellent save, impressing even Rodgers, who’d thought it was in.
Ramsdale was excellent all game, catching or punching everything that came his way. His distribution was spot-on again and again. Only late in the second half did one or two of his long kicks go awry.
Ihenacho’s only contribution of the first half was to flick Gabriel in the face as halftime approached. This earned him a yellow card from the strangely competent Anthony Taylor.
Halftime: Arsenal 1-0 Leicester
The second half, by and large, was ours. Leicester never really threatened, and except for a few notable incidents was an exercise in us controlling the game with our pass and move play.
The first incident was (yet another) moment of Granit Xhaka stupidity. Fortunate for us, it didn’t bite us at all hard. After a passage of play we worked the ball back to Ramsdale, who sent a slightly overhit pass to Xhaka on the left, near to the halfway line. Rather than just let the ball bounce out of play he backpedaled to the touchline, jumped up, and caught the ball. Both the linesman and Taylor adjudged the ball to have been in play when Xhaka caught it, and awarded the free kick to City. We were lucky not to have Xhaka given a yellow card (Taylor’s one real mistake today, imho), especially given what came shortly thereafter. As well, Leicester didn’t do anything from the freekick.
We ended up on a break down the left, and Gabi took it smartly and quickly to the endline, passing back to Laca, whose shot was blocked. Laca passed the rebound to Xhaka, who looped the ball far post to Saka, whose shot was parried out by Schmeichel. We recycled the ball, but it led to nothing. Great stuff by Gabi, using hesitation and acceleration to shake loose from the defense.
In the 54th minute Mendy pulled Gabi back as he ran through for a Xhaka pass shortly thereafter, and it earned us a free kick from the left, even with the edge of the box. Mø put in a curler to the near post, and after a short rebound White fired in a shot that was saved by Schmeichel. From the rebound Partey stooped and headed the ball goalwards — wait was that a touch of the hand by Søyüncü? The ball was cleared by Leicester to Ramsdale while the Arsenal players were all calling for handball.
After about 30 seconds play was stopped for an Arsenal throw-in while VAR was checked. After another 90 seconds Taylor ran over to review the replays himself; after another half-minute he gave the penalty, and the yellow card for handling. Maybe if he caught it with two hands it wouldn’t have been a yellow? Notwithstanding the minimal touch on the ball by the defender, Laca stepped up and smartly dispatched the penalty high to the diving Schmeichel’s right.
Arsenal 2-0 Leicester (Lacazette, 59)
Leicester brought on Justin for Pereira, and Ndidi for Mendy, hoping to make enough of a change to gain an advantage in their push to get back into the game. Ramsdale saved a ping-ponging effort from Albrighton, but Arsenal’s defense was alive to all the chances City were taking. Our defensive structure was coherent and active. We forced the Foxes wide and backwards, keeping 10 men behind the ball (or nearly so). When the opportunity arose we broke for their goal.
Iheanacho was lucky to be left on the pitch after catching White with a flailing arm in the 68th minute. He very well could have been sent off, as his first yellow was really for the same thing. It would have been harsh, though, to be sent off for that. Thomas should have gotten a yellow a short while later when he slashed Saka’s leg. Iheanacho was replaced by Daka, who by the end of the game had earned his own yellow card for bringing down Saka outside of the City box.
Ndidi did force a save from Ramsdale with a snap shot, but City was largely bereft of ideas during the final 20 minutes of the tie. Arsenal gave as good or more than they got, forcing Leicester into a number of blocks; Xhaka put a long-range effort over the bar. We were treated by appearances by ESR and Pépé, on for Martinelli and then Saka. Both played fine, but neither created anything of note. We used our final sub to bring on Eddie for Laca, with Tierney becoming captain (now and for the future!); aside from one chance to set ESR free on the break Nketiah didn’t have much time to be very effective.
Stoppage time of 5 minutes was a bit of a surprise, but no matter. The defense blocked everything, and even when the ball was loose Ramsdale bossed his area; Daka’s collision with him caused a good minute to come off the clock while he was treated. Every Leicester thrust was repelled, and finally Taylor blew the whistle for full time.
Full time: Arsenal 2-0 Leicester
Arsenal outshot City 21 to 6, with 8 on target for Leicester’s 3…this despite having only 46% possession. Even when Leicester was relatively on top of the game, it wasn’t so much to be worried about. The defense was in top form, and the team stayed calm regardless of what Leicester was doing. Our breaks were dangerous all game long. On another day we could have had three or four goals, but only Ramsdale’s save from Barnes’ header could have been one for Leicester.
Another clean sheet, finally goals for Partey and Laca, and another decent refereeing performance (maybe PGMOL’s money from Chelsea didn’t make it for this month, so they’re auditioning suitors?). Back into fourth place, and our games in hand slowly mean less and less. We may lose points to Liverpool (though I wouldn’t bet that way even if I wasn’t an Arsenal fan), but we’re in a strong position to defend to get into the Champions League places at the end of the season.
Did I say pleasant? Delightfully so, yes. Enjoy the glow, Gooners.
Scruz,
An enjoyable report of an enjoyable game . I thought that we produced a very mature performance and everybody played well . Standouts were Odegaard and Partey although White had a fine game and Ramsdale has great presence . We produced a lot more attacking threat than them with 8% less possession. Taylor had a reasonable game ( I notice Michael Oliver sent Kenny off for two yellows in three minutes today!) but tye extra time mainly came from the ridiculously long delay over the penalty .
Xhaka’s line out abilities were amply demonstrated . It was a ridiculous thing to do on a day when he was composed and reasonably effective in a role he is not really suited to . Wednesday will be an interesting indication of how far we are off the best teams . Hopefully the answer will be that we are very close to a very good side indeed
Thanks scruz👍
You’ve captured the key moments well, Laca kept commendably calm to score and despite Rogers protests afterwards it was a very clear penalty. Game over from there and after a few jitters in recent games it was good for the defence to get a clean sheet.
Also earned us a kind of free hit against Liverpoo, we’ve got a fair chance against them.
COYGS!
A glowing match report, Scruz. As enjoyable to read as the game was to watch.
I worry Saka won’t be fully fit for Wednesday. If he plays, a statement win is on the cards.
Well written Scruz. The game was a joy to watch and you described it in the same fashion. UTA
From previous drinks
Artetaball
What a delightful thing it is to wake up to an excellent report of a superb Arsenal performance yielding a vital three points. Thank you scruz for the opportunity to enjoy that game once again. A masterclass from both Partey and Ødegaard which brought flashbacks of Vieira and Bergkamp and those two players were jewels on the crown of a solid defence and a swift and incisive attack. The future looks bright, Gooners!
Thanks Scruz for your insightful and comprehensive report. As you say, all deliberate handballs are card-worthy. In Soyuncu’s case the intervention of his hand clearly changed the ball’s trajectory and may have prevented a Partey brace. Gabi’s memorable goal line acrobatics really deserved a goal but for me the highlight was seeing our defensive resilience and our cagey game management in the second half. Both factors are signs that are improving as a tea, and may be good enough for Champions League even if we see a blip against Liverpool.
… improving as a teaM, that should have been
Cheeers scruz! ‘Strangely competent Anthony Taylor’ covers this ‘unusual’ refereeing performance.
A very enjoyable match and I am now looking forward to Wednesday. Fourth and with games in hand takes away some pressure.
The first match against Liverpool gave us an idea of how far we were from the top.
I feel we are indeed more of a ‘team’, now, more resilient and more together, so I hope this match, while possibly still a step too far to get a result, shows us we are (much?) closer.
When Bale got those two late goals to lift the Totts into the Conference League I was initially disappointed, partly because they just finished above us but it did us a huge favour . No Thursday night matches and with the thin squad we have enough breaks to refresh the coaching and prevent too many wear and tear injuries .Thanks Gareth !
TTG @10, indeed. There was some cognitive dissonance around finishing below the Marshdwellers but I did feel that at that stage in our development, despite the need to block out the wails and teethgnashing from less erudite virtual establishments, it was the better outcome. Had we been in UEFA’s preposterous Freight Rover Intertoto Conference Cup we would have felt obliged to take it seriously and thus been unable to shed some of our ‘underperformers’, lighten the wage bill which I think has been crucial to our ‘cashflow’ and which may have had an impact on our future purchasing options.
Our squad is very thin as you’ve observed previously but we may just get away with it. Going out of the FA Cup early may well also have been beneficial too despite our love for that competition. I still remember, with a shiver, that week when we went out of the FA Cup to Manure and the CL against the Chavs then almost had our PL drive derailed but for TH14’s brilliance against the Dippers. Even that squad could not stretch itself far enough to deliver on three fronts. Fingers crossed we don’t pick up injuries or suspensions to key players in the run in.
Cheers Scruz. Top report. I’m with Ollie on your assessment of Anthony Taylor.
I was working all day in Angel of all places, finishing at 6.30pm. Right as the match ended.
I turned my phone on airplane mode. I recorded the match at home. I shot out of there at 6.33 and headed for Angel Station, as Highbury and Islington would have been full of Gooners and my chances of remaining ignorant of the score would have been slim to none. I put earphones in and the volume up loud to avoid snatches of conversation. I kept my eyes down as I walked, and changed trains. I did everything I could.
But the fates were against me. With 2 stops to go before I was home I glanced across the train and my eyes landed on the phone of the bloke 2 seats up. It said ‘Arsenal 2- 0 Leicester’.
Nothing else. No list of the day’s results- just the one and only thing I didn’t want to see. My eyes rested on it for only a microsecond. But it was enough. I couldn’t unsee it.
I was gutted. That bloke will never know how much he screwed me there. I looked back 30 seconds later and he was on the Garmin sports watches website. How long had he had our score on the screen for? Ten seconds? Five? Just long enough to piss on my strawberries? What were the chances?
Anyway, I got in, ordered an excellent Indian takeaway and watched the match anyway.
I’d rather have known the score than not known it only to find out we’d lost!
UTA
Very hard luck GSD, after taking so many measures to ensure you watched the match delayed but ‘as live’. In today’s connected world where we are subjected to so much vicarious noisy information, I guess it was inevitable that your plan was foiled. However, props for the near-miss attempt and even more props for the Stoic response.
GSD,
For the Watford game I took similar evasive measures ignoring my phone as we were having lunch with very old friends , one of whom had been very ill. It was a celebration of him still being around .
I was urged by Mrs TTG to not consult my phone but I received texts all afternoon on my FitBit . I didn’t have the resolve not to look at them . And the missus never noticed! And it was a great lunch .
A famous edition of the Likely Lads was about them attempting to avoid knowing the score of an England match . You’ve updated the script ! Still it was a happy ending !
Away to Bulgaria
Was just thinking about that myself TTG😀
Tough luck, GSD. As baff said, it’s hard to avoid such mishaps those days especially when you are in public places. But then, as you said, better know it’s a win than not know it’s a loss. Enjoying a curry and the match without stress sounds good to me!
Cheers scruz – comprehensive report to cover a very good and vital win.
Odegaard is a special player – huge talent and huge work rate to go with it. Hallmarks of the greats.
Partey is fast becoming the dominant midfielder we wanted, needed and thought we’d signed from Atletico Madrid.
Great progressive management by Arteta too – gradually adapting our play to the players available to him.
thanks, all. it was an enjoyable game to write up.
i do note i largely omitted mø’s contribution. on review i see it, but as ma8 says “he’s the oil” like pires, and i just didn’t *see* him the first time. i was noticing others yesterday. but yeah, he was excellent (even though partey was my motm). if the two of them can be the motor around which our defense and forwards are built, we should be purring along like a suitable v-12 (including ma8) in a fine, handbuilt team.
Patrick’s Palace giving Citeh all they could handle in that half. He has brought in a few bruisers it looks like.
City dropping two points at Palace will get Liverpool fired up on Wednesday evening. They’d be a single point behind City if they beat us. Just got to make sure that doesn’t happen.
i look at our last two games v pool and am less frightened than i would have been after the 4-0 pasting they gave us in november in the league. they’re playing really well (haven’t lost in the league since leicester beat them at the end of december), but so are we. if we keep our defense aware (shame we won’t have tomi) and sharp, we could come away with a draw, or a daredevil win. being at home will help, with all the rip-roaring, never boring fans practicing the art of supportive noise.
A belated thanks Scruz for a fine match report – nothing to disagree at all with your comments. Wednesday’s upcoming match with the bin dippers is one we can look forward to more than our most recent games against them. They are in good form but so are we – I’m hopeful we can give them a lot to think about on the night.
GSD@12: Commendable effort. I am surprised you got as far as you did.
Arteta is reportedly on a long shortlist to replace Poch at PSG. I thought that job was Zidane’s for the asking.
Other candidates according to L’Equipe: Simeone (Atlético Madrid), Allegri (Juve), Conte (Tottenham), Ten Hag (Ajax), Galtier (Nice), Inzaghi (Inter Milan), Favre (currently unemployed) and Motta (Spezia).
Exalted company for Arteta.
Ned @24, it’s nice to see that the PSG owners have a clear idea of the style of football they want their team to play next season.
bath@25: 🙂
I know they’ve withdrawn their request for a behind closed doors game, but I like this piece and particularly the paragraph that reads
The only thing for the FA to consider should be exactly how they tell Chelsea to ‘f**k off’. The chance to be so unequivocal in telling anyone to ‘f**k off’ doesn’t come around very often, so perhaps the governing body should not be blamed for wanting to get the precise tone and content of their ‘f**k off’ exactly right.
Excellent report scruz!
How good is Ødegaard? A delightful combination of intelligence, skills, vision, discipline and work ethics.
Is Xhaka’s advanced role a practice run towards more forward looking 4-1-4-1 (or 4-3-3) with ESR mirroring on the left what Martin does on the right? Or would Mikel stick to this international asymmetry between the left and right sided attacks? Fascinating to realize the evolutions over the course of last year or so. And it’s becoming obvious that the scouting and recruitment will continue to need to live up to the high standards they had set for themselves in the last summer.
That Benjamin White tackle will live on memory for a long time. As extraordinary as Ramsdale’s save in the corresponding away fixture. In the last couple of matches White has been truly excellent.
Saka, Martin, ESR, Pépé they are all good in taking corners, but I feel Gabi is the best of them as his deliveries often arrive at this perfect height and with a flat late swing that’s very hard to defend against.
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