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As the rhythms of the  anthems of triumph rang out across the ground this afternoon a thought gripped me .’ How I wish I had some of the royalties from Free from Desire’ ! No I jest , it was how incredibly surprising football can be . This game was a marvellous case in point . 

My football day began with a very pleasant lunch at our Ecuadorean eaterie in Holloway Road with the ubiquitous Countrymen . A look at Newcastle v City ( which we finished watching in the ground ). A short stroll to the ground, a friendly chat with Layth Yousif , editor of the Gooner, a pre-match pint of the ghastly and overpriced fizzy rubbish that Arsenal offer to supporters and  then into the match .

Arsenal’s team showed nine changes from  Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup win over Bolton. Raya returned in goal. Timber and Calafiori were the full backs, Partey returned in midfield and Trossard played the Odegaard role after a fashion interchanging with Havertz while Saka and Martinelli were out wide .

Martinelli needed a goal badly and missed a good early chance as Arsenal settled into a strong high press which suffocated Leicester who scarcely ventured into the Arsenal half in the first 45 minutes. Calafiori played the inverted full back role on steroids popping up in advanced positions to support Martinelli but sometimes appearing in central midfield well ahead of Partey . 

There comes a point in a game where you start to feel ‘ we need a goal now’ and in this game it came  around the twentieth minute ,  just as the murmurs were starting , when we scored a peach. Saka touched the ball back to Timber who played an immediate low cross to Martinelli in the centre and he swivelled to score . Arsenal continued to dominate forcing corners at will but finding the young Leicester goalkeeper Hermansen in lively form . Saka was facing double coverage whenever he got the ball but he was regularly able to find colleagues in space in the area . Just as we began to think ‘ wouldn’t it be nice to get a second goal before the break’ , we duly obliged as we moved into first half injury time .  Martinelli went from scoring to assisting , pulling the ball back for Trossard to leave Hermansen helpless from about eight yards . Apart from yellow for Saliba and Calafiori the first half could scarcely have gone better

Half-time Arsenal 2 Leicester 0 

Talk during the interval as people queued to drink the undrinkable( at great expense) was how soon we might see some of our young tyros in the game . The consensus appeared to be , ‘ get an early goal in the first 15 minutes and then throw the young lads on.’ Nwaneri’s performance had caught the imagination on Wednesday night and his entrance was eagerly anticipated . When he did come on it was in very different circumstances from those we had anticipated . Leicester had not had a shot in the first half but within two minutes they had a goal back. Buonanotte placed a free kick into the box from the left wing and Justin’s header deflected off Havertz’s shoulder past Raya .

While most of the crowd saw this as a minor incident in the course of an obvious cakewalk , the goal energised Leicester and their hitherto subdued and dominated players started to counter press more effectively, win 50:50 challenges and at least look like a team with some capability to extend Arsenal. Nevertheless a fierce Justin volley on the hour which flew past Raya and cannoned into the net  off the left-hand post was a major surprise and created a very different match . 

Arsenal were still dominant. In the total match they won 17 corners to Leicester’s zero. Over the match they dominated 75% of the possession and with ten minutes to go Arsenal had fired 29 shots and Leicester only two but the score was tied at 2-2 .

This situation was largely due to the brilliance and reflexes of Hermansen who made an extraordinary double block from a corner from Havertz and Gabriel. He inadvertently passed to Trossard and blocked his resulting  shot at close range and then spectacularly turned a Calafiori header over . Trossard lashed a shot against the post after a Saka cutback.

But perhaps the effort that most deserved to beat him was a magnificent run and shot from Nwaneri in his first action after entering the fray in place of Partey after 70 minutes . He curled a left- footed effort from twenty yards which Hermansen tipped away. Could anyone beat him? Nwaneri regalvanised the team , upping our tempo and energy levels and taking pressure off the heavily marked Saka on the right flank . The clock ticked on and as we entered 7 minutes of injury time there was real concern that we might drop two previous points .

Just into injury time Saka whipped in a left-wing corner which evaded the pack of attackers and defenders in the centre . Trossard waiting to the left of goal stabbed it back left-footed and it entered the goal via Ndidi’s outstretched foot . Cue a mixture of relief and exultation . Leicester tried to rescue the game but in the last minute Arsenal counter- attacked after a Leicester raid . Substitute Gabriel Jesus broke clear and in my view took the wrong option to shoot ( weakly) across goal when company was arriving to his left . For once Hermansen fumbled the ball which Justin deflected on to Havertz who scored from close range. The goal was initially disallowed but the deflection off Justin rendered it legal and at 4-2 the game was over . Cue ‘ Free from Desire ‘ and a triumphant but relieved Arsenal crowd. 

Full time Arsenal 4 Leicester 2 

Leicester seemed aggrieved that there was a foul in the build-up to our first goal and seemed to feel Calafiori had been let off a second yellow. I thought it ironic that for much of the second half the teams recereated the tableau that we saw last Sunday at the Emptihad as we passed the ball around the area and Leicester employed some ‘ dark arts ‘ of their own as players found reasons to delay almost any action on the field and Hermansen regularly went down for treatment . To be fair to Arsenal we created many more chances than C115y did last week but inevitably the second half was a nervy affair. Two points dropped from 2-0 up at home against a relegation candidate would have been disastrous. That such an outcome was averted was due to a combination of determined attacking play , the introduction of Nwaneri who looks an absolute gem and Arteta’s ability to make good substitutions. Sterling replaced Martinelli to good effect and Jesus’s impact was immediate .

Flowers should be extended particularly to Rice who in his quiet , dedicated way covered every blade of grass and put out fires all over the pitch, Timber and Calafiori who bring huge personality to their full-back roles and Trossard who took on the almost impossible job of replacing Odegaard and made a thoroughly good fist of it . This goes down as a narrow escape but an extremely entertaining and invigorating one. Roll on PSG on Tuesday !

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Several Hale Enders put on a show as Arsenal thrashed League one Bolton in the League Cup. It was a line up reminiscent of many of Wenger’s sides in this competition from yesteryear partially due to injuries as well as a few players knocking on Arteta’s door following good showings in our preseason tour of the US.

As expected, Myles Lewis- Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri both started after both being given Premier League minutes in the past week. There were also first team debuts for Josh Nichols and 16-year-old goalkeeper, Jack Porter. More on him later. 

There was also a full debut for Raheem Sterling whilst both Rice and Saka started, perhaps surprisingly. Bolton did start the game confidently and perhaps should have gone ahead in the first few minutes as former Burnley man Scott Arfield fired over from close range. But Arsenal showed their topflight quality by scoring with their first real attack. Josh Nichol’s cross wasn’t dealt with as the ball found its way to Rice on the edge of the box. Dec took a touch to set himself before firing into the bottom corner. 1-0 on 15 mins.

Shortly before the break Arsenal found a stylish second. The build-up was superb as Myles Lewis- Skelly played an Ozil/Bergkamp-esque through ball to Sterling on the left and the seasoned international played a perfect first-time ball to Nwaneri to tap home for his first ever senior goal at 17 years of age. In doing so, he became the first player born after the club moved to The Emirates to score for Arsenal. Even I feel old just typing that. 

Nwaneri’s night got even better just after the break as Rice stole the ball in the final third and played in Nwaneri who slammed home to make it three and double his personal tally. I could be being pedantic here, but I felt as though despite his goal, Nwaneri should’ve played in Rice who was in a better position. A Premier League goalkeeper may well have saved that. But Nwaneri is now the youngest Arsenal player to score a brace on his full competitive debut so what do I know?

Bolton managed a surprise goal shortly after. We lost possession in the final third and Collins found himself in acres of space before rounding young Porter as he rolled in a consolation. Was it poor goalkeeping? Yes, but 16 is outrageously young for a goalkeeper. At 16 years and 2 months he is remarkably the youngest ever player to start for Arsenal. He is younger than Fabregas was when he scored that famous screamer at the San Siro, and younger than the first series of The Inbetweeners. To put things into perspective, Porter was 11 when Arteta took over. In truth, the real question is why Porter’s goal wasn’t better protected by his more senior teammates. The sole blot on an otherwise perfect evening.

Ten minutes later we restored our three-goal cushion after successfully taking the sting out of Bolton’s short-lived resurgence. Saka turned two Bolton defenders inside out and back to front before drilling a low shot that was spilled by the ‘keeper allowing Raheem Sterling to prod home from two yards out. A goal and assist on his full debut, you can’t have any complaints about that. 

Unfortunately, Myles Lewis Skelly had to go off with what looked like a muscular problem so hopefully that’s nothing serious as he looked very assured and comfortable despite being out of his natural position. Kai Havertz came on and prodded home the fifth, as we also saw first team debuts for centre back Maldini Kaccuri (now that is a proper name) and forward, Ismael Kabia, who scored the winner for the U21s at Leyton Orient a few weeks ago. Overall, six academy youngsters were given their full debuts. So much for Arteta not giving a chance to the yoof.

Both CER and I were surprised at the quality of football on display given the number of youngsters on the pitch. Some may have expected a more disjointed performance, but it was anything but. Hale End is clearly no teenage wasteland…

Preston North End away awaits us in the next round. The Invincibles Derby if you will. PNE are a division above Bolton so we may not see quite as many youngsters in that game but I’m sure we can make way for one or two. I would not be surprised if Nwaneri starts on Saturday or at least gets 20-25 mins. He was unsurprisingly the standout youngster, but it was more than just his goals which stood out. Physically he looked ready, his passing was crisp, his movement excellent. Leicester may be the ideal game to bring him into the Premier League fold proper. Let’s wait and see. 

COYG!

It was hammering with rain as we left Cambridgeshire on a dreich Sunday morning. The rain continued as we stopped for brunch (full English for me, a burger for my son) at the American diner near Newark on the A1. Suitably fuelled for a day at the football, we continued on our way, cutting across the top of the Peak District (with some stunning views) and into Manchester. Parked up 10 minutes from the away end, we made our way into the ground.

We were in the third tier at the Etihad and rather than climb all those steps I asked to use the lift as I had last year. The lift is shared with home fans and a well refreshed gaggle of City fans rushed into the lift just before the doors closed. I have mentioned before that the City fans are the lippiest on the circuit and the sight of me in my Arsenal scarf started them off. Three floors of “banter” followed, the nicest which was “you’re too old to be at football, why don’t you just stay at home and die?” Thanks for the advice lads, I’ll take it under advisement. As you get out of the lift, you enter a City concourse and are led to the away one, attracting a few aggressive looks on the way (or so my so my son told me, I was oblivious). Into the ground proper, and a long climb up to row DD which proved to be the second row from the top. 

The team made a couple of changes from Thursday, Calafiori for White and Trossard for Jesus. Right from the kick off Rodri and Havertz clashed, leaving Rodri clutching his face. Cheating little fuck. The tone was set. 

City made a good and fast start. After nine minutes, Servino (who I really rate, they’ve found one there) spun off Calafiori and made ground before playing Haaland in with a great ball. He adjusted his body position and toe poked it past Raya. Bugger. 

It was all City in the first 20 minutes but then Rodri bumped into Partey and collapsed holding his knee. This time it was for real and he limped off to be replaced by Kovacic. One of several turning points in the game as from that point we had the better of the first half.

We won a free kick in the centre circle. Walker dawdled getting back as he shouted instructions to his team and Partey pinged it over his head to Martinelli in space. He got to the bye line cut it back to Calafiori who, from outside the area hit an absolute beauty into the top corner. Scenes. Pep was so thrilled he tried to destroy his chair 😂😂.

Arsenal won a free kick on the half way line. Doku kicked the ball away. Yellow card ? No of course not. From the free kick Saka won a corner. The tactical genius Pep put Jeremy Doku on Gabriel. Men against boys. Saka put in the perfect ball to the back post, big Gabi climbed and put the ball just over. We won another corner. This time Walker was on Gabriel. He was jabbing away at Gabi, presumably getting touch tight. To no avail. Total repeat of the previous corner. Perfect ball, Gabi climbs at the near post and scores! 

Have I ever mentioned that I love it when we score from corners?

2-1 to the Arsenal. Whole atmosphere had changed and we were the better team. And then after eight minutes of injury time, Tross is sent off for kicking the ball away, just before the half time whistle. Was he stupid, was he unlucky? I’ll leave it you to discuss.

We reorganised of course at half time. Saka came off for Ben White so it was clearly “what we have, we hold”. From my spot in the Gods I had the perfect view of the 3D chess that was the second half. We formed two lines, one of six and one of three. City passing it round the semi circle of doom and hitting shots from 25 yards. Every Arsenal player heroic, blocking, tackling, hacking clear. This was the lowest of low blocks. And yes, some time wasting. A man down against the best team in the world. What other tactics were there? And we carried them out magnificently to defend that lead. 

And then, just as we dared to believe, in the 98^th minute, City equalised. A short corner, a shot, a deflection and it fell to Stones who scored. A gut punch. 60 seconds later came the final whistle and it finished 2-2. Yet it felt like a massive victory. 

The away fans, magnificent throughout, cheered the team to the echo. Some handbags at the whistle with Haaland, who had thrown the ball at Gabriel after the equaliser, taking out Lewis-Skelly (who had been booked before coming on for his debut – that boy will go far) and Gabriel fronting up to protect the lad. 

We’re in City’s head. It brings back the rivalry with Man United in the 90s. They celebrated their draw at home with wild abandon. They haven’t beaten us in four games now (2 wins, 2 draws). Rude words after from Stones and Silva about negative football. Err lads, when we had a man sent off we were winning, remember? We are living rent free. Mark my words, the rivalry and dislike is real. 

The team performance was magnificent and yet again our goalkeeper was superb. They deserved the win. 10 v 11 for well over 53 minutes of the second half. It was so near to being the perfect away day. 

After the most difficult two weeks of the season, away to Villa, Spurs and City we have taken 7 out of 9 points. We have lost our Captain to injury. We didn’t land until 3am Friday after an away game in Europe. City played the day before at home. After all that we are just two points behind them. 

Arsenal, I salute you. You did us proud.