Arsenal v Manchester City, 16:30 GMT (21/02, SS Main Event)

[McNamara That Ghost...]

:lol:

Nope.

[Marc Overmars]

Easy win.

[GP]

3-0

[Gooner23]

The league is a write off this season. We should rotate and give a few players a breather ahead of Benfica. Saka and Smith Rowe have played a lot of football recently. Keep Odegaard in the team though.

[Letters]

We’ll win* and win* well :cool:

*or lose.

[Mac76]

0-3 Gundogan hatter

[Gooner23]

Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Mari, Tierney, Elneny, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Pepe, Aubameyang.

[Gooner23]

Subs: Ryan, Gabriel, Luiz, Cedric, Smith Rowe, Ceballos, Willian, Martinelli, Lacazette.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Interesting team. Disaster or inspired, I'm not sure.

[Gooner23]

Front four stronger than expected with Thursday in mind, hopefully the ball actually gets up to them though!

[Mac76]

with the possible swap of Cedric for Bellerin i'd say that was our strongest back four tbh, though Gabriel is fine too

Elneny's clearly there to try to help with keeping possession which against Citeh isn't a bad strategy though obviously Xhaka will continue to give it away

but if Martinelli doesn't get any game time this week he'll be calling his agent i think

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Citeh: Ederson, Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Stones, Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Gundogan, Sterling
Subs: Steffen, Laporte, Walker, Mendy, Ferran Torres, Aguero, Foden, Jesus, Rodri.

-------

Fernandinho to commit 393848394 fouls without consequence.

[Mac76]

Citeh: Ederson, Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Stones, Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Gundogan, Sterling
Subs: Steffen, Laporte, Walker, Mendy, Ferran Torres, Aguero, Foden, Jesus, Rodri.

-------

Fernandinho to commit 393848394 fouls without consequence.

that's such a strong starting lineup, just our luck they've got De Bruyne back for this one...

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Odegaard misses a sitter in the warm-up. :bow:

[Mac76]

Odegaard misses a sitter in the warm-up. :bow:

been learning from Auba, clearly

[Gooner23]

Wonder if City will get their usual early goal against us, happens so often!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

What is that design on the Citeh shirt? :sick:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Ahh good to hear, Willian is a good cheerleader. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Held out for the first 10 seconds and counting. Good performance.

[Mac76]

What is that design on the Citeh shirt? :sick:

some kind of paisley pattern

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sterling scuffer. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 Sterling. :rose:

[Marc Overmars]

:haha:

Here we go.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Already a waste of time having Xhaka and Elneny out there now. :lol:

[Gooner23]

Wonder if City will get their usual early goal against us, happens so often!

FFS shocking defending from Holding

[Mac76]

Held out for the first 10 seconds and counting. Good performance.

you had to say it didn't you...

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sterling fucks it up.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

you had to say it didn't you...

I knew what was coming.

[Gooner23]

I just don't know how you can prepare for a big game and then concede such a poor goal that quickly. At least make them work for it!

[Gooner23]

Terrible so far from Auba, has given the ball away sloppily every time its reached him

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Awful first touch from Saka.

[Mac76]

Terrible so far from Auba, has given the ball away sloppily every time its reached him

i'd have preferred Laca in this game he's better at winning back possession, Arteta's too dumb to see anyone can get a hatter against Leeds but Citeh is a different thing altogether

[Gooner23]

We look shell shocked, crap ourselves every time we get the ball

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Saka. :lol:

Bring him on the right!

[Mac76]

awful play from Bellerin, first giving it to Xhaka right in front of our own box then passing to a Citeh player

[Mac76]

jesus this is truly awful

[McNamara That Ghost...]

That is the worst piece of play from us yet. Dreadful from Bellerin, sackable in fact.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tierney hammers it.

Shot on target. :bow:

[Gooner23]

That is the worst piece of play from us yet. Dreadful from Bellerin, sackable in fact.

He's quite a limited player, solid all rounder but don't think he excels defensively or offensively. Definitely need an upgrade!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Slow build-up at the back against Citeh. :lol:

That'll go well.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Our first touches. :lol:

[Mac76]

i'm pretty sure a couple of our players haven't even had a touch yet :lol:

[Gooner23]

Holding is having an absolute mare :run:

[Globalgunner]

Holding is having an absolute mare :run:

So is Xhaka....as always

[Gooner23]

Our first touches. :lol:

Are we drunk? Can't remember seeing so many bad touches!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Dias kicked the ball away, now is not a yellow.

[Mac76]

Odegaard... :rolleyes:

[Mac76]

Saka on the right is literally our best player in the best position, so what does Artea do? play him on the left

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Foul throw from Zinchenko?

[Mac76]

Foul throw from Zinchenko?

only if he was wearing an Arsenal shirt

[McNamara That Ghost...]

De Bruyne whacks it out of play for some reason.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pepe ball to Bellerin, he wasn't going to do anything with it first time.

Pepe scuffs it.

Playing better, although the bar was so low it isn't saying much.

[Letters]

Bellerin too slow there. Good move and could have been a chance.
Slowly playing our way back into this although you feel that at any minute City could score again.

[Mac76]

why does anyone bother passing to Xhaka - they just get the ball passed straight back to them

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 HT. Moral victory. :bow:

[Mac76]

we need to bring Willian on to add some energy

[Gooner23]

Elneny 100% pass success :bow:

[Gooner23]

City were good in that first 30 minutes but we were very very bad. Slight improvement towards the end but final ball not good enough.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Elneny 100% pass success :bow:

It's why they call him the Pyramid Pirlo.

[Mac76]

Arteta needs to:

swap Saka and Pepe round

replace Xhaka with Ceballos

replace Bellerin with Cedric

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Come on Arsenal. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Zinchenko whacks it over.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

De Bruyne puts it wide.

Back to getting hammered. :bow:

[Mac76]

zinchenko :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Auba not holding up anything.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bernardo Silva booked, scrote.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Elneny. :lol:

Not 100% anymore, ruined an attack for us.

Xhaka with his customary yellow.

[Mac76]

Xhaka with his customary yellow.

facing a ban soon, surely? :pray:

[Letters]

Has Xhaka ever played a game for us and not been booked? :doh:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Holding just about recovered to stop Gundogan.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Leno saves from Gundogan.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

De Bruyne volleys, out of the ground.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

facing a ban soon, surely? :pray:

Another five needed. Well unless he gets another one in this game of course.

[Mac76]

we're lucky Gundogan's off the pace a bit today

[Mac76]

Another five needed. Well unless he gets another one in this game of course.

let's all write to the FA to get the limit lowered

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tierney fucks it up.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

And again from Tierney. :rose:

[Mac76]

And again from Tierney. :rose:

indeed

[Mac76]

Jesus coming on, that's help...

[McNamara That Ghost...]

De Bruyne hauled off, Jesus on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Has to be a yellow for Cancelo surely?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Finally. Took his time did Moss.

[Mac76]

Finally. Took his time did Moss.

book him i can

[McNamara That Ghost...]

No yellow for Sterling.

Fuck.

Off.

[Mac76]

Tyler basically saying K*** gets an easy ride with refs

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Nobody ran to the ball from that free kick. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Need to make a change.

The fact we haven't would suggest we're content with a 0-1 defeat.

[Marc Overmars]

This game is awful. Basically just waiting for City to string something together and kill it off.

[Mac76]

Nobody ran to the ball from that free kick. :lol:

don't blame them it was awful

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Xhaka, :haha:

[Mac76]

Need to make a change.

The fact we haven't would suggest we're content with a 0-1 defeat.

Arteta was beaming from ear to ear last time they beat us 1-0 he thnks it's a victory

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Cancelo with a shot on target, on our behalf.

Elneny smacks it but wide.

[Marc Overmars]

Need to make a change.

The fact we haven't would suggest we're content with a 0-1 defeat.

Losing only 1-0 twice to City in a season is progress compared to the beat downs they’ve given us in the past.

[Gooner23]

Can't understand why we haven't brought on some fresh legs and at least given it a go

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Odegaard off, Lacazette on.

Pepe off, Smith Rowe on.

[Mac76]

Mari :haha:

[Mac76]

Pepe was invisible in that game though he was played in the worng position tbf

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I think Pep is trying to help Arteta out and Arteta is doing the same. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I like Pablo Mari.

[Mac76]

if Tyler says 'Croydon De Bruyne' once more i'm going to go over to the Emirates and make him eat his mic

[LDG]

I wish we’d get the bounce once when it matters

[Globalgunner]

Both managers should approach John Moss and ask him to blow the whistle. Stop.wasting everyone s time

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Cancelo just dropped the Ashes.

[Marc Overmars]

That should have been it.

[Mac76]

Both managers should approach John Moss and ask him to blow the whistle. Stop.wasting everyone s time

:gp:

[Letters]

Cancelo just dropped the Ashes.

What a let off!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Concussion sub?

Holding off, David Luiz on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Eases him out? :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Elneny off, Ceballos on.

Bit late for this sub. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bellerin booked.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bellerin just two yellows away from a two game ban.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Jesus. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Four added minutes. Why?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Obvious ploy from David Luiz. :lol:

[Globalgunner]

They could have all just played this game on a Zoom call. Feels like a WWE wrestling match

[LDG]

:banghead:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 FT.

Damage limitation. :bow:

Waste of everyone's time.

[Letters]

:banghead:

:gp:

Not a disaster of a performance but we had 85 minutes to get a goal and never got close.

City are clearly going to canter to the title and it’s not disgrace to lose to them but their ‘keeper could have spent the whole game knitting.

[Mac76]

Bellerin just two yellows away from a two game ban.

Bring it on