Monday, December 23, 2024

Report: Arsenal 0-1 Man City

Arsenal something something Man City at the Grove tonight.

The Arsenal team was one which didn’t seem to inspire much confidence before the game but despite City’s riches it was the Gunners who made the best chances of the first half.

A great Arsenal move saw Francis Coquelin on the right hand side, he drilled in a low cross to the back post and Ju Young Park’s effort, made under a challenge from Onuhahahaha, drew a great save from Pantymillions in the City goal.

Then in the 27th minute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain forced another fine save from the City keeper. He latched onto a Chamakh lay-off and took a first time shot from 30 yards which was going in the top corner before Pantyhose got a hand to it.

In midfield FrimCoq did very well against their more experienced and expensive opponents, working really hard and controlling the the game despite some periods of City pressure.

Roberto Mancini threw on Sergio Aguero after 33 minutes taking off Kolarov, but amusingly £amir Na$ri thought he was the one about to be subbed. And he looked like he wanted to come off too, the massive scrotum.

Arsenal began the second half very brightly, again The Ox was involved, a couple of shots and a wicked cross had the City keeper punching at things like a madman.

The game then settled down into periods of possession for both sides without any real chances being created. Neither goalkeeper was tested, shots from distance from both sides went high and wide, but the Arsenal kids more than held their own against City’s expensively assembled team.

Arsenal threw on Gervinho for Park but the Ivorian couldn’t find space against City’s well organised defence. Edin Dzeko headed City’s only chance of the half wide but as Arsenal pressed they won a corner in the 84th minute. The Ox’s delivery was poor, it was cleared at the near post, Kosciely and Coquelin went sliding in and allowed Dzeko to break up-field. He played it to Adam Johnson who clipped it into the path of Aguero who was never going to miss from 10 yards.

It was cruel on Arsenal who had played well but a reminder that one moment of quality can decide a game, and we weren’t capable of it tonight.

Still, there were plenty of positives. The defence, in general played very well, the much maligned Squillaci was excellent alongside Kos, and the youngsters like Frimpong, Coquelin, Miqeul and Oxlade-Chamberlain did themselves and the club proud.

In the end though it was Kids 0-1 Billionaire bought playthings.

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Spooner

Ox & CoqPong were immense. Disappointed, but the boys did well.

Striker, anyone?

Sabrina

Forgot to mention the OX. H ewas amazing as well. I love that guy.

Arsenalkid700

I was actually impressed with both Park AND Chamakh. Come on. Fine maybe I can understand the frustration given to Chamakh but give Park a little more time. Its only been 3 months at the greatest league on earth. The going to Chamakh you have to admit this was one of his better games where he did not disappear like in past games

Spooner

Couldn’t fault the effort & both nearly made a difference. Not keen to rag on players, but it would have been nice to have a goal machine to bring on.. Zhervinhu when he’s been taught by T14 how to shoot coming in from the left.. Hopefully!

Sneaky fucking Russian

Not too sure about that.. Park should of buried that cross from le coq. I would say if anything this match proves we need to buy a striker in January. Chamakh hasn’t had a shot in 15 games. If anything he’s just sort of a pivot up top to bounce the ball and lay it off… His strikers instincts have gone out the window.. It wouldn’t take 20million quid to purchase a decent back up striker

Witoldo

Absolutely agree with the Russian. On the whole, I thought Chamakh and Park resembled chickens with their heads cut off up there. No control of the ball at all, lots of first and second touches blown, didn’t make a lot of dangerous runs.

I would have liked to see 4-4-2 with Arshavin in the hole instead of Chamakh partnered with Park, like we lined up against Bolton.

Good performance by our midfield though–lots of positives to take from this game!

Samir

why u getting so many thumb down for speaking practically, and not even divisively! weird people!

TeeCee

When Gervinho floated that beauty of a cross across the Citeh goal with “please bury me in the reticule” written on it and Chamakh trotted gently up to watch it float past his nose in bemused surprise, the camera cut to RvP’s reaction in the stands.

I got the message that he does not share your opinion…..

Sabrina

Many positives to take today I felt everyone played a good game except Chamakh who clearly needed to be off of the pitch. Park wasn’t as strong as I’d like to see. Frimpong and Coq were great and our back line of 4 centerbacks did brilliantly. Unfortunate not to get the goal but I can’t complain about the effort.

Ajax

Agree with everything apart from the Chamakh attack (heh).

I thought he held up play well in their third and his movement was pretty decent too, aerially he was quite impressive too winning a lot of 50/50’s. Things didn’t go quite right for him tonight but this was his best performance of the season and you can see the effort is there, so I was relatively happy with his input.

That said, the Ox looked a class above every single city player (except Aguero), what a performance by the young man, surely he should preferred to Arshavin now?

Sabrina

Chamakh put in a lot of great effort but seemed to be physically ill that’s why I said he should’ve been off. It might have been affecting his game.

I’d very much like to see AOC play with the first team more. He must be ahead of Arshavin now, I agree. He’s fantastic and cannot fault his work rate at all.

Ajax

@Sabrina

Oh I get you now, I thought you were criticising his performance a bit unfairly, now that you mention it he did look a little peaky.

This is the most positive I’ve been after a defeat since I can remember, anyone else feeling that there is so much promise and depth in this squad for the next few years?

P.s. Nasri looked decidedly average all eveing, very glad we’re shot of him, and good on Frimpong for roughing him up all night and giving him some afters, no more than he deserves.

garyfootscrayaustralia

Chamakh spends too much time off the pitch sinking the drinks, chugging the smokes, and chasing birds through nightclubs to perform consistently at the standard that should be required and expected at The Arsenal. True. Next time you get frustrated with a mate playing badly for your park team because he’d been out on the sauce or the pull, count yourself lucky that you’re not contributing a part of 50 grand a week for him to behave like that.

Jamie

Some great play by the youngsters.

If Wenger doesn’t think we need a decent new striker, to backup or play alongside RVP, given a certain couple of players performance tonight……then….well…..

THEEEO

Lots of positives to take from tonight.

But still the one big negative, still no one looking like they want to stake a claim as a real alternative to RVP.

tralyan

So proud of the boys! They were absolutely amazing! Forward!

Jamie

Oh and #DEEEEEEEEEEEENCH!

TN Gooner

Hope Frimpong chinned Nasri in the tunnel after the game.

Aside from that was quite pleased by the effort tonight of the young squad. Ox continues to impress on the wing and Coq/Frimpong were solid in the central midfield. Hate to lose to City in any competition, but this was a good performance nonetheless.

Keep-The-Faith

Lots of positives to be taken from this, great performance

Na$ri is a massive cunt

TeeCee

>Na$ri is a massive cunt

No he isn’t. He’s a tiny little cunt who thinks he’s massive. Don’t be taken in.

garyfootscrayaustralia

Tinier than Redknapp jr’s tie knot

freakstreet

that goal at the end was hard to take…but it was a very good performance….the youngsters really impressed…i think we were missing just that extra bit of quality upfront…

SmokingGunner

I really feel we deserved the win tonight and although they will because they are a bunch of thick cunts, City should take little pride from that.

Gunnersaurus

How the hell did ITV make Dzeko man of the match? Should of gone to Coq or Ox; both were outstanding

Ajax

Dzeko was man of the match!?!?! Every player in our midfield and defence was more impressive than him for God’s sake! Ridiculous decision.

Eric Irish gunner

Ox, coq, frimp or kos deserved man of the match they all played excellant tonight don’t know how a fuckin city player got it

tg

Cos they’ve a big lump of Arsenal hating shit in their eye. Dzecko, MOM? Fuck off!

Szczeny-Hawkes

Because Man Citeh are top of the premier league and have an endless supply of cash, thats why. Football quality and skill is secondary to £££’s to them.

BobT

An honourable defeat against a hugely expensive team. Plenty of positives.

joe shmo

Didn’t deserve to lose that. great game from all the youngsters, no doubt. Coq, Frim and Ox-Cham deserve some more premiership minutes after that performance.

Chamakh is definitely in the last chance saloon and Park still needs to adapt to the English game it seems. So a new striker in the January transfer window would do us much good. Only way I can see Chamakh getting some goals and rebuild his confidence is against weaker oposition so maybe best loan him out (or even sell him) if Arsene buys some decent back-up for RvP in Jan.

Dazzer

The youngsters were excellent. I’ve called for Wengers head but he’s produced some fine players. Need a striker though. I love this club. For all City’s millions you just knew that ours is the club with class. Although…

City’s number 19 is something of a cunt, isn’t he?

Ajax

I was really happy with the performance tonight I thought we were excellent all-round the park. -Koscielny was incredible, he posesses so much pace and intelligence that he could become a club great. In my opinion he is just as important as Vermaelen at the moment. -Ox looked a world-beater, he has excellent technique and speed and vision to match, he will be starting more games after Christmas without a doubt. -Squillaci looked pretty damn good, not a foot wrong all evening and several times I saw him talking to young Miquel passing on his knowledge. Really good to see… Read more »

TSOTIA

Excellent contribution, safe for the abusive sentence at the end of course.

Jeff

Park and Chamakh can play up front until 2014 and still wouldn’t score.

Plev

Park has one (very good) goal in 3 starts now. Not terrible, just needs time. Like someone already mentioned I think it was a mistake not to play Arshavin in the “hole” behind Park, instead of 2 strikers. Chamakh was holding the ball up nicely, but the rest of his game is poor at the moment and we were getting almost no penetration. Arshavin really is a different player when he plays in the hole and not stuck out on the wing, its his natural position! It worked well in the previous round against Bolton, he was drifting around getting… Read more »

Scribblers

Honnestly, I must admit, felt the selection was fluffed a little. Shows what I know. Anyway, we played excellently, their goal was harsh but I guess thats what happens when you throw everyone forward, definatley showed the need for a striker. Chamakh should be putting that away.

Hope we kick on at Wigan and keep hunting that fourth place. Maybe have a real crack at the FA cup.

Ali

Nasri did the right thing moving to City. we just can’t give him the sort of Carling Cup opportunities that Man City can.

Our first team players only get to play in the Premier League and Champions League!!

Szczeny-Hawkes

Like it! 🙂

Voldermort

Let’s be honest, many thought we would get thumped with our youngsters and their multi Million pound players. We played well at times, the future again looks great in terms of midfield and defence but if the game shows anything it’s that while we are not a one man team we are a one striker team. Chamakh is just not good enough park needs more time. But let’s not kid ourselves we Bought these two because they were cheap not because they are great players. We Need class up front in January or and injury to rvp could prove fatal… Read more »

Witoldo

Not true, at least for Chamakh–we signed him because he was in great form for Bordeaux. He looked good at the start of last season.

garyfootscrayaustralia

Chamakh looked great at the start of last season, but that form seems to have sunk to the bottom of Marouane’s drinks glass….

Kenyan Arse

There’s no cause for disappointment since there was some massive balls by Arsenal on show despite the economic gulf. And Na$ri is a cunt

Mooro

Gutted to be out the Carling Cup and only into the next stage of the poxy Champions League, rather than heading for Thursday night football.

No, hang on…

AR

Heh, even when we lose, it’s done in such style and everybody associated with our fantastic club can hold their heads high! Even our youngsters seem so grounded and that goal aside, there was not once in the game where the millionaires had me nervous anywhere near our goal. Well done to the lads!

John

Think tonight shows what kind of job Wenger has done on the budget he has been given these back up players are starting to push the first eleven for places. Oxlade, Coquelin and Frimpong are excellent talents.

If you take the starting eleven the whole Arsenal team cost approx 33M City spend nearly that on Dezko alone.

I’m sure the lad’s are gutted tonight but they will be other days we have so many young talents coming through… okay they wont all make it but we ae in good shape.

DCGooner

Ox, Frim and Coq did really well as did Kozzer but it seems we all forgot about Mr. Yossi Benayoun. I really think he will make an impact on the pitch in the coming months.

COYG

Bunburyist

Very impressed with Benayoun tonight. Deserves more playing time in PL games.

TN Gooner

Now I’m hearing Nasri sustained an injury to his vagina will be out for the season. Sad news indeed.

AR

Everything positive except for the result and even that can be turned into somewhat of a positive as we have less fixtures to contend with in January and some of the more promising youngsters can go on loan and gain experience. It’s sad that the one bad cross/corner the OX put in turned into their counter and goal but he had a great game and it was a good run out for the guys on the fringes. I was a bit surprised he took Park off instead of Chamakh but oh well maybe it wouldn’t have made any difference! Can’t… Read more »

stan

What a performance! Loss? What loss? We outplayed an expensive assembled bunch of mercenaries and came out tops. The future looks so bright am getting a shade for my eyes cause I can’t stare at it with my naked eyes. The OX? What a player. COYGS

Rodders1971

Good shift put in by all the boys tonight,even Chamack,special mentions for AOC,Frim & Coq,the better team lost…nearly spilt my beer laughing at horse face when he was PRAYING it was his number on the substitution board,what a chickenshit cu*t!!

billywhizz

great stuff from our boys tonight. we were very unlucky to lose that one. benayoun led by example and all the youngsters excelled. we could probably afford to lose chamakh, park and arshavin in january and bring in one proven striker cum winger to give us something extra going forward. we also have afobe coming back who looks a really good prospect but prolly a year or two away from pushing for a regular place… let’s not forget we also have campbell coming into the squad next season. he seems to be making good progress over in france. should we… Read more »

Luke

Great stuff from the team tonight, deserved a win but in the end: money > doing things the right way.
I’ve been asking myself lately, how are we gonna compete against City and the likes from now on ? Let’s face it, FFP won’t change a thing, and even the genius of Arsene can’t change the fact that they will always have more quality and more depth than us. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that the future is bright.
Or am I being too pessimistic ?

billywhizz

i don’t think it’s about competing at any cost. we’ll continue to do things the right way and once we get a few breaks and get a decent trophy under our belt there will be no stopping us. wouldn’t surprise me to see city implode this season. there are way too many massive egos there so let’s wait and see how they react when they have a bad run. united also look vulnerable and chelski are in serious decline. money doesn’t always equal success!

david seago

yes you are being too pessimistic.

Jimi

Frimpong giving n*sr+ shit at the end DENCH. The youngsters should be very proud of themselves.m THE OX WILL RETURN.

Frog

I’m glad were out of this bullshit cup. Imagine if one of our real players actually got hurt during this bullshit. Anyhow, we need a real striker not called rvp. Park isn’t the immediate answer and not only does chamakh suck, but he looks like some sort of mutated iguana type lizard.

Sabrina

We all know Chamakh isn’t playing as well as he should but honestly there’s no need to for this kind of abuse. He’s ours and we want him to do well because that’s what’s best for the team. He was clearly ill during this match and shouldn’t have been playing even so he was giving his all for the team. So save the lizard talk. Thanks.

Frog

I don’t want him to do well, I WANTED him to do well for the past 18 months. He hasn’t. He sucks. This is the arsenal. It’s time to sell him. He does look like a lizard. We need a proper number 2 striker. Thanks.

Sabrina

@Frog While he’s still in the squad I want him to do well. Just like I did when he first arrived and when his form disappeared back in January. 18 months ago? Where was he 18 months ago? I remember 12 months ago he was scoring goals like mad for Arsenal before he fell away. We do need a proper back up for RvP but while the transfer window is closed I’ll root for the players that we currently have whether they’re playing well or not because we still need them to play well while they’re here. You no longer… Read more »

Frog

@sabrina, in theory everything your saying is correct. In reality, arsene tends to hold onto, and insist on playing shitty players for way to long. ( alumina, Denilson, Clichy) to name a few recently. So no I don’t want to see him given chance after chance to improve. I want to see him shipped out and replaced with talent worthy of the arsenal. Shit, imagine if arsene had replaced Denilson with arteta 3-4 years ago. At least one epl trophy in the bag. Shape up or ship out. This is football. If you’re not getting it done, goodbye. ………,,,,…. And… Read more »

Sabrina

@Frog

How long do we give someone? There has only been one transfer window since he started his slump and at the moment we’re short strikers. While he’s here I want him to do well, that doesn’t mean I’ll wait forever while he flounders, just that I want players who are on my team playing well. Chamakh has only been around for a season and a half almost so I won’t make Denilson comparisons. Also he started amazingly well exceeding all expectations. We’ll see what happens in the summer.

argonaut

If PSG are willing to pay £10M for Chamakh, as is reported, then we should sell him and buy someone who actually looks like he might threaten to score. I really wanted the guy to come good, but far too often he has either been anonymous or a yard short of where he should be. It really looks like his hunger has gone. He had a couple of decent chances and made very little of them. He might hold the ball up well, but what we actually need is someone who can put the ball in the net with a… Read more »

Frog

And when rvp breaks a toe the day after the jan window closes and chamakh is our number one striker, then what? I’m not down with that gamble. Ship him out and send the little Russian packing with him. This is a ridiculous argument. You don’t carry on with players who aren’t any good. A striker who can’t shoot, let alone score goals has no place in the arsenal. If you can honestly say you’d be comfortable with our chances with these two is rvp and say Walcott get injured, then I’ll agree you’re correct and I’m wrong. The thing… Read more »

Witoldo

Put in Bendtner in place of Chamakh or Park and we win this game.

Sabrina

I do feel that our options at CF need to be better. I didn’t say otherwise. I disagree with the sentiment you expressed about not wanting Chamakh to do well. I say so long as he’s a player at our club I want him to do well. Is there anything wrong with wanting the players we have to step up. Were we supposed to have shipped him out over the summer after a one half season slump? If in the winter we find a replacement and he finds a new home then so be it. If PSG or whoever wants… Read more »

Frog

No, now you’ve changed your tune. Earlier you said we’ll see what happens in the summer. Now youre for selling him to psg?

By all means support our players, But when they don’t produce, don’t defenend them blindly. Chamakh is shit

garyfootscrayaustralia

Argonaut – a well reasoned argument, but I have one gripe only….Emile Heskey wins more ball, attacks the box with more desire and takes a greater proportion of goal chances than Chamakh. Rant over.

garyfootscrayaustralia

Ah, bless you Frog…you and Fatgooner get the massive thumbs down nearly every time, and still you guys keep coming back at ‘ em….I admire your persistence….

frog

mine eyes are open. chamakh sucks. i call it as i see it.

Willy young

Great commitment OX and Coq great

Frimpong impressive defence excellent

Kos could become a great

No trophies this year but finally real hope

Still deadwood to sell Bendtner Vela Rosicky Denilson Watt Hoyte Almunia Eastmond surely can be replaced by one great striker and maybe Arsh sold to be replaced by a Goetze type. Lots to look forward to this season and next but realistically difficult to see a trophy unless FA Cup draw is kind

Jme

I went to the game tonight and I thought there were some real positives. The frim-coq comby were excellent getting stuck in constantly. The defense played well and I thought Miguel played well against Johnson & co. The only thing that is quite clear it that we are desperate for another striker. We would have probably won that tonight if rvp would have started.
Well done boys! I fucking love Frimpong, him and Jack are going to legends.

Witoldo

We probably would have won if Bendtner started, not to mention RVP.

Sabrina

RvP started on Saturday right? You don’t know anything for sure. We’ve always had our days when we just couldn’t get in the goal.

Witoldo

Yes, there are days when we lack the cutting edge and incision in the midfield, when the ball movement is slow, when the other teams “parks the bus,” but this wasn’t one of those games. We had a lot of possesion in the midfield, AOC especially was creating lots of space and chances, Djourou and Miquel were firing in crosses. There were plenty of spots in the game where a controlled touch or the correct run from either striker would have made a clear-cut chance, but we lacked that quality today. Unfortunately.

stan

How about robin’s reaction to chamakh’s miss in the dying moments of the game. Great stuff huh? Good to see the captain supporting from the sidelines. Its apparent he loves this club and wants to stay. Give him he wants arsene!

Sweet Disposition

It was only the worthless cup. Kids done well.

Gergő

Frimpong’s shirt should have said BENCH,that would be even more fabolous!

BENCH Nasri BENCH!

Maddo

On my way home after the game.. final analysis…. We need a striker. Chamrkh has lost that…. “I want to be part of this team mojo”. Arsene take the money and buy someone. Harsh but true. Our midfield was great and so was Kosser. He must be gutted. Love my team. Blessed.

McBastard

It was one of those games that’s like: “Oh, we’re unlikely to win anyway, look at the quality of their bench” to “Fuck, we’re actually doing really well, we could snatch a victory here!” to “Fuck, a late goal which we shouldn’t have given away”. A familiar feeling. The Ox had an inspired performance, Kos did an excellent job getting some crucial tackles in and even Squil had a pretty decent game. CoqPong were great in midfield and nice to see them really going after that ball. It’s not often we see such a physical game in midfield. Iggy’s lack… Read more »

Seb

Just got back, gutted, but for me the standouts were frimster who was a fucking tank in the middle, and the ox, who had sloths fans standing every time he got the ball. Also props to the home support on the north bank, repeAt that atmosphere every game please!

Also, if the guy who shouted “i only wanted to go to the fucking pub” when stopped by the police because of the station overcrowding, hats off to you my freind, made the journey back more enjoyable.

Szczeny-Hawkes

It just goes to show how far this team have come in so few months. Not only does the first team get us up to 7th in the premier league from 15th but also a team of arsenal boys nearly managed to stave off Citeh. Amazing, well done lads! Very proud of you all.

JamesAFC

was so glad everyone in the ground tonight did their part in making Nasri feel the cunt that he truly is. was a good performance against £$€ utd. chamakh meanwhile really needs to take a good look in the mirror, i know people will dig me out for saying this. but honestly, he looks like he’s there for the fun of it. he won a couple of headers, fair play, but we need a striker who can get the ball and score. chamakh’s had his chance and failed. sell him back to Bordeaux and buy Podolski. Park did ok but… Read more »

11 cannons

All that money and City still looked scared. Barely had a sniff in the second half and looked cowed all night. They had to bring on their best striker and he was shackled bar the counter-attack for the goal. We were guilty of going for it too much if that makes sense.

Major pride today in the boys. Massive shift by everyone. Heads up. This Arsenal is gritty and the performances across the pitch bode well going forward.

KC

So unlucky to get beat on the counter. but all in all thought the back four were absolutely immense. even squillaci looked composed. Loved the attitude Frimpong gave nasri in the end, with the dench shirt on of course

Arsenalkid700

I think we can all agree we will never find another striker like Eduardo. The player that can play backup to any striker and still be on the form of his life.

We should not be saying Nasri is a cunt. The frog at least gave us a good few years. WE SHOULD SAY MARTIN TAYLOR IS A FUCKING CUNT!

Merlin's Panini

no. He have us 6 months and then soiled it by acting like/being a total cunt.

Merlin's Panini

*gave. not have. sorry

Frog

No nasri is a cunt who put in 6 good months. He ” gave” us nothing.

binda

i don’t hate gervinho. in fact he is the best addition to our side this year i think. he’s great but i was so pissed when he shot the ball into row z with such little time left! surely wenger can make him stay a little later at training to work on that no?

Sami Rockfeller

We have the one thing that City can never buy, heart.

Witoldo

They bought Vieira and he helped them to the FA Cup last year.

Moo Moo Toure

they have Hart

gunnie

my only problem is did you all make Nasrat realize how a massive prick he is?

jimmy

were a strong , good team and we’ll always be arsenal
0-1 because we didnt cheat

Pele of Romford

Nasri is such a pussy it’s laughable and the frimpster is a legend.
Chamakh couldn’t score in a brothel.

garyfootscrayaustralia

By all accounts Chamkh has trouble scoring in nightclubs as well

ken

Really great game but disappointing result. Wow, now I really sound like a Wenger follower.

Anyway, better luck next year lads, onwards to Wigan!

[…] highlights and reaction – match report […]

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