Friday, March 29, 2024

Report: Arsenal 1-0 Swansea

Arsenal booked a fourth round FA Cup tie with Brighton with a 1-0 win over Swansea at the Emirates this evening, the winning goal coming late courtesy of the in-form Jack Wilshere.

The Gunners had made three changes from the side defeated by Manchester City on the weekend. Mertesacker, Coquelin and Giroud came in for Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain and the suspended Koscielny.

Swansea meanwhile made six changes, with Danny Graham starting up front, and Michu awaiting as a very dangerous plan B on the bench.

Our starting XI looked well balanced, with Diaby and Coquelin sitting behind the trio of Walcott, Wilshere and Cazorla in midfield, and Giroud leading the line alone.

In a first half lacking in action the Gunners started relatively brightly. We pressed Swansea with Giroud getting in the thick of it. Walcott created two chances for the Frenchman in quick succession, the second of which he fired into the side netting when he should have done better. Arsenal were on the front foot.

But on 15 minutes Swansea conjured up the best chance so far. A slick passing move down the left flank saw Routledge clean through on goal, too easily from an Arsenal perspective, fortunately Vermaelen was on hand to rescue us with a last ditch sliding tackle.

Arsenal’s attacks lacked pace, and an all too familiar tedium seemed to be setting in, with Arsenal’s attacks petering out without much threat on the Swansea goal. Swansea’s attacks seemed more incisive, and they came within inches of opening the scoring on 24 minutes.

The ball fell to Routledge on the left after a Swansea free-kick in the Arsenal half, and his menacing cross found former Gunner Kyle Bartley, who headed against the crossbar from 6 yards out with just Wojciech Szczesny to beat.

We continued to keep possession but created little of any merit in a game that represented our only realistic chance of ending our infamous silverware drought.
Walcott had some frustrating moments – he strikes me to have developed an air of arrogance about him since his transfer saga has been in the limelight. Annoying, and not helpful to the team.

After 40 minutes Arsenal relied on Vermaelan once more, when the Belgian tackled Dyer well after a cutting through ball from Swansea.

Arsenal’s best chance of the first half then fell to Vermaelan, a Walcott corner falling to him just in front of goal, but the defender could only fire at Vorm’s legs with what proved to be the last kick of the first half.

The second half started with a lot more verve from an Arsenal point of view. On 48 minutes a lovely Diaby through ball from deep found Walcott in the box, the striker appeared to be pushed a little before dinking his chip agonisingly wide of the left post. He appealed for the push but the advantage was played and the goal would have counted.

We continued to mount pressure and played with more pace than in the first half, a trait that seems to be familiarising itself this season. We appeared determined to progress to the fourth round, a task which is yet to surpass Wenger in his Arsenal career.

Swansea made two subs around the hour mark with Hernandez on for Agustien and Sung-Yueng Ki for De Guzman, as Laudrup tried to freshen his side up. But shortly after Arsenal had two efforts cleared off the Swansea line, Walcott and Giroud’s efforts cleared by Graham and Britton respectively.

Arsenal continued to dictate the play and carved out some decent opportunities, with Cazorla and then Sagna both blazing chances over the bar, and Vorm being kept busy. An opening goal began to seem realistic.

On 70 minutes the moment we had all been waiting for happened and the sound of a simultaneous gulp rung around the Emirates: Michu came on, replacing the ineffective Danny Graham.

Swansea drilled a rare shot in low, forcing Szczesny into a decent save before it was Arsenal’s turn to hit the woodwork. Some good graft by Sagna on the right flank helped him to cross to Walcott, but the winger missed the ball completely and it rebounded off the inside of the post and into Vorm’s hands.

We continued to throw everything we had at them, with shots from Wilshere and Giroud being miraculously kept out by some last ditch defending and some Swansea fortune, and it began to feel like one of those days.

But the deadlock was broken on 85 minutes by a blistering Arsenal move, fittingly finished off by the outstanding Jack Wilshere. Cazorla passed with pace to Giroud at the edge of the box, the striker’s dinked pass falling sumptuously for Jack to smash home on the half volley. Wonderful, and well deserved by the young man who yet again gave his all and outshined the other 21 players on the pitch.

Arsenal managed to keep a cool head for the last five minutes and held on, unlike in the first tie. The second half performance deserved the win, it seems we just need to learn to play like that in two halves of a game.

Next stop, Brighton.

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SIR BALLS

Completely dominated the game, shit finishing, deserved the win.

MEMO: Arsene Wenger

Spend some of the £7.75 million you earn per year and buy a decent cashmere overcoat.

P.S. Wilshere should be captain, he carried the team yet again.

Axel

You’re a lot more optimistic when we win.

C

And a lot more tolerable.

garyfootscrayaustralia

I like the Michelin coat though. It’s too funny.

Frog

I hate that fucking coat. It’s just one of those things, I swear Arsene only wears that coat to piss me off.

george

You’d think that with all the money we’re not spending on players we could afford to buy some decent zips and pockets….

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/arsen.gif

TomJ

Not him. it’s probably the same coat as the last time. Anybody else sponsored by Nike and/or thinking straight would throw it in the bin. But not him. It would be about £50 gone left on the balance sheet. He’ll be sewing it into a sleeping bag and selling it on for a profit soon

jaws lick here

I’d hug that

Arsene's Broken Zipper

Who needs entertaining football? I provide all the amusement one needs.

chamakh's barber

@george that just made my day even better

Heh

It had to be him, no other player out there but him!. Jack awesome wilshere!!!!, he won us this game and continues to make rooney look like shit!

Henners

Odd comparison.

Heh

International level? You know how rooney is shit and jack is englands best? Not so odd now is it?

Thomas

Wilshere was outstanding today. For the next match, his shirt number should be 1-0.

Arsenal4Life

I think that Arsene’s tailor’s sewing machine has a litle bit of a handbrake issue…

Goon

playing as AM you are always in a position to influence the game, he must have played brilliantly. But so did Verm.

Sell Theo.

Des

Who the fuck is Liam Orr?

maddo

Its taken me 2hours 10 minutes to get home. I am so very very cold. I have a cup of tea in one hand and a Brandy in another. The Coq + Gibbs and JW10 take a bow. Thanks Jack. I hope some of the others learn from you…or at least bake on your aura and use the residual energy to play better.
Good atmosphere at the Emirates….Lots of Ohs and Ahs. Good night. So cold.

irfan

wenger believes that the jacket will come good, maybe needs a loan spell at charlton

Bm

Or is like a new signing

per

Jack is awesome!

D

Wenger out!
Wilshere in!

DoubleDoubleDouble

We all agree…Jack is better than Messi.

Thomas

*Messi and Ronaldo combined.

Arsenal4Life

Remember this guy ?
This is what makes me love a certain player
http://redlog.pl/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/ilustracje/roy_vieira.jpg

Andre's chauffeur

He is red,
he is white,
he knows in is hart
that tot’nm are shite…. (to the tune of “Thierry Henry…”)

Arsenal4Life

Anyone with a piece of sanity knows that Sp*rs are shite

£oyalty for $ale

I’m a man, and I have no idea what giving birth feels like; but I’m guessing this is as close to that experience as I will ever get.

Dave the rave

Love it well done boys

Axel

Better buy copper and tin while it’s still cheap cause we’re gonna need a damn big statue for that boy in 15 years.

garyfootscrayaustralia

Spot on, Mr. Foley.

Seb

Not meaning to put a downer on a good result, but After that second half effort, i dread to think what our energy levels will be against chelsea. Boosting the squad is needed sooner rather than later!

Anyway SUPER JACK WILSHERE

Scooter

The energy level will be significantly higher than if we’d played that hard and lost.

goonorhea

Chelsea had an intense match tonight where they dropped points.
Don’t think that they have any advantage over us in terms of “freshness”.

matt senior

They do because they at least have a semi competitive squad to rotate. Same tired eleven for us will be jaded or lack sharpness….. except super jack. Wjat a performance. Gibbs played very well also. Sometimes i think he is wasted at left back

Mooro

Report: Jack Wilshere 1 – Swansea 0.

The End.

Thomas

The end? This is just the start! Legend in the making.

Mo

CAPTAIN !!

garyfootscrayaustralia

Never mind about angling for a hundred large a week – Theo should hand tongiht’s win bonus over to Jack WIlshere for dragging him out of the cack.
Lovely lay off from Laurence to Jack for the goal, too. He deserved that for his application to the cause.

Runcorn Gooner

TW is not worth the money,Arsene so take off your Theo tinted glasses like the
rest of us.

Jagger

Mate, Theo is definitely not worth that money. Wenger knows this and that is why the little tit hasn’t signed a bloody contract yet!

Heh

Walcott’s rating — “he would not have scored if he’d played for another three hours.”

Girouds just lays off some wonderful assists, on a plate for Jack there. Bang on. Goal!

Chaplin35

You can almost certainly say that Walcott has decided to accept Arsenals offer, or should I say Arsenal has met his conditions because he has lost his magic touch what people who are playing for new contract quite often have.

Thomas

If Bergkamp is God, Wilshere must be Jesus.

Dave

At last lets get at Chleski now boys !!!

Norwad

Massive, massive game!

And for Wilshere’s performance? I am speechless. The way the man plays is just magnificent to watch. He shows so much will and honor, and just on going. Really a player who plays with his heart outside his shirt.

Arsene's Nose

How long till Wilshere gets the Captaincy?

Rodders1971

Thank Jack for Fuck.
Thank fack for Juck.
Thank fuck for Jack.There,I nailed it!

Arsenal4Life

You sound like a guy that could be very interesting after a pint or two 🙂

Eric Irish gunner

Good it did’ent go to extra time, wilshere is class needs to stay injury free, now lets get rafa the sack on Sunday

garyfootscrayaustralia

Rafa might have the sack by Thursday morning! It could hinge on whether Roman felt like he enjoyed his breakfast or not. “Zat Gordon Ramsay breakfast was sheeeet. Get me Benitez, NOW”.

ironstar

I think I could even accept a defeat to you guys as long as it meant Rafa getting sacked. What a waste of skin

Juice

What i felt when i saw that goal was incredible. The joy from Arsenal getting ahead and the joy from Jack being the one scoring was multiplied creating an absolute wonderful feeling! Great performance by the team and also an interesting line up tonight. Jack in the free role is a beast! I was gonna add a comment on Theo not being the star that could dictate his salary but hey, whatever. He actually did support Sagna and did make some good runs and played overall ok. Just please dont take free kicks Theo. Good game! With a bit better… Read more »

Nordin

….and corners too!! The left side should be taken by carzola instead.
Anyway theo got a few good chances, notably the one that was saved on the goaline by the chest of a Swansea player….and a few misses too!!
Signed the damn contract or go to another big club sub bench!!

Bigj

The best again in a long time. Jack in his best position and play his best game.

Rad Carrot

Jack’s back, baby.

arsenal_sa

Better performance.. Jack fucking wilshere!!! Screamed for wenger to sub theo for the ox.. And really liked the rotation in midfield.. Jack behind the striker will always be awesome!! Even carzola looked better.. Giroud needs more game time.. Was getting better as the game went on.. Really looks like a striker that will bang them in once his confidence and radar is on.. And chelsea drew.. Really look shit at home.. COYG!!!

ChrisM

I don’t think this report quite captures just how shit of a game Walcott had, and on the other hand how bloody unbelievably good Jack was.

I was just talking with my brother about this and… Henry used to be our number 14. Henry.

Glory Hunter

Guess Theo is back to his natural position of being the scapegoat!!!
You would think he was shocking tonite but he actually played well not spectacular but deffo not the worst player on the pitch!

Runcorn Gooner

The point about Walcott is not the he wasn’t the worst player on the pitch it is
that at the money he is demanding he should always be one of the better players…..and he certainally isn’t.

Mikel Artekkers

The worst player on the pitch was quite clearly Danny Graham.

Voldermort

How badly do we need a world class striker. But cheers jack, another brilliant game saving performance. Just hope we sign the sort of players that jacks talent deserves

Fatgooner

Totally agree, Volders. I have been slagged off for suggesting that Giroud isn’t good enough, but the truth is that he is no more than average. No real pace and poor positioning means that he will never be great.

We are crying out for a top-class hit man.

Rad Carrot

I love Giroud, I really do.

But he’s not a striker. He’s a Centre-Forward. He’s our Bergkamp, we just need an Henry, and Walcott showed tonight he definitely not him.

Giroud is brilliant at the knock-downs, the pass-on play, not at finishing,

Reaaaallllllyyy don’t understand why we don’t revert to a 4-4-2, at least for experimentals sake.

Frog

Who? Not being a dick, but who would you guys like to see come in? I’ve been getting nailed on here for asking for falcao or ballotelli. Apparently, we can’t afford a proper striker, so any suggestions?

deano

Ballotelli would be cheap to buy but expensive to pay unmanagable and crackers. When he won an award early last season he said second placed Jack Wilshere was rubbish and only Messi was better than him and only marginally better than him. great guy for the dressing room. Falcao around fifty million £200 grand a week if we were willing to pay that we would have paid the one we had the brass he wanted. David Villa proper goal scorer 100grand a week around fifteen million to purchase. Defensive midfielder still required we all know Diaby wont last before getting… Read more »

damien joyce

I just hope/wish that Wenger would see tonight as a guide, 3 or 4 top players added to this Wilshere led team will bring trophies, of that I am sure. For me he is as good as Cesc, and that is a lot for me to say, I love Cesc as a player to an almost scary level. I fear though, and I’m sure a lot of you will agree, that this will be AW’s confirmation that we DON’T need to buy. P.S. I really don’t think Diame is any answer to any question regarding Arsenal needs, I’m sure he’s… Read more »

Thrillhouse

oh we just signed this guy? yeah cool.

garyfootscrayaustralia

hey, what was your high score on Bonestorm?

rangooner

you must have him confused with THRILLHOU

Assshavin

Coquelin was amazing, a pure talent that only can succeed.

jack jack jack

He looked classy. And Gibbs looks more and more a force to be reckoned with down that left flank. And some great hold up play and link up from Giroud, the killer instinct isn’t there yet, but I think it will come with a bit of time. We looked really balanced with this team, Santi on the left and Jack through the middle with Diaby and Coq behind him – I’d really love to see a similar team against the russians on Sunday. Anyway, fucking good result tonight, bring on Brighton!

Xxxrob

Jack offers so much in that advanced position. If we can sign a big defensive midfielder with arteta/diaby playing box to box I feel we will be more dangerous. Not sure if I’m sold on cazorla playing wide but he might have been feeling his way into it with regard to his partnership with Gibbs.
With Chelsea drawing today in the premier league we have a very good opportunity to turn the screw on them on Sunday I just hope were not too spent after today’s performance

gunnertropytime

Yes, Cazorla played in Poldi’s left-winger position yesterday, presumabely because Poldi & Ox needed a rest and Arsene doesn’t trust Arshavin any more.

This is the mark of a true team-player. Plays in the position the team needs him in and just gets on with it. Theo, Ronaldo plays on the wing and he scores oodles of goals. You have the talent to become 50% of Ronaldo which would be a great result for AFC. Stop holding the club ransom and play wherever you are asked to! (on SOME days, depending on the opponent, it WILL be cerntral midfield!)

Nick

Chelsea drew 2-2 tonight. They will also be knackered!

Yeah Right

No doubt Wilshere is going to be a legend. My question is – can he be the greatest of them all?

garyfootscrayaustralia

Yes he can, and I’m sure Flash Gordon will agree to hand the trophy over to him.

Gunner2dMarrow

Just when we needed a Messiah
Young Wilshere shows the desire
Just when you think he’s got the whole team on his shoulders
Young Wilshere shows his strength and becomes bolder
Finally there’s hope at the end of the tunnel
Jack Wilshere our hero and midfield Colonel!

garyfootscrayaustralia

Whilst Theo resembled a loner,
Jack’s performance gave me a big…er…..boner?!?!?!

Bigj

Just a strike A STRIKER Wenger just a world class striker

Lasagna

In the shadow of Jacks performance I think Coquelin had a really good night and Vermaelen seems to have found himself also.

Fatgooner

1. Five-star performance by Wilshire – doesn’t he look so much better pushed further up the field? I don’t ever want to see him playing in the holding two ever again. 2. We laboured to the win – finishing was crap – against a tired and ordinary Swansea side. 3. If Theo Walcott is worth 100 grand a week then Squilaci is worth 200k. It’s time to tell that cunt to fuck off: did you see the header and one-on-one he missed? 4. Nice to be in the fourth round – Brighton deserved to be respected, but we should beat… Read more »

per

it’s WilshEre!

jack jack jack

Although if they named a new county in North London after him I wouldn’t be complaining.

Arsenal4Life

I Wilshere a secret with you. You spelt his last name wrong.
*gets coat

heihaci

The Barca Slayer does it again!

Wenger still needs to spend some money

Bigj

Coquielin extra ordinary. Deserve much more chance

Arsenal4Life

Really used the hole that Arteta left to full extent.

A Yank

Yeah, we won a game of football.

farsenal

Michu started and graham replaced him not the other way around. Other than that good report 🙂

Fatgooner

Bullshit. GRAHAM started and MICHU came on. If you’re gonna be a smart arse you need to get your facts right.

sacklad

yeah you’re wrong

Xxxrob

Embarrassing :s

paulie gooner

Fantastic! We beat Swansea’s second eleven after fucking about for an hour and a half still at least Jack was awesome.

Voldermort

Fats theo isn’t worth 100k a week or anywhere near but because we have such a fucked up transfer policy and piss poor management we will pay him rather than do what they should have done weeks ago and sell him and replace with top players that perform.
But we don’t do that and that’s why we had to keep theo because arsene and the club have no ambition and really don’t want to spend money on transfers.

Fatgooner

Agreed. And Walcott will see out his new contract because even if we want to sell him, no club will be prepared to pay 100k a week for his services. He’s not worth half that.

Frog

You know what lads, if he would just shut the fuck up, put his head down, and be a proper fucking winger/ impact sub, he’s an excellent option for us to have. I’d have no problem keeping him around under those conditions.

If hes going to be a retard about this CF shit, he can catch the first cab out of town. Voldermort, make sure the cunt pays his faire.

Mayank

I cannot see another one of arsenal’s players going to a rival and scoring prolifically. Just keep him. He’s good on his day.

deano

Should try poldi instead of walcott playing infront of Jack in that form he could get a hat full.

Mate Kiddleton

Would still rather have him than Torres.

Pride of London

Another titanic struggle between Wenger and that zip. Jack, your the man. COYG

Merg

Walcott has the balance of a wacky wavy inflatable arm flailing tube man

Runcorn Gooner

TW misses open goal and then complains at not getting a penalty.Never changes does our Theo…..never his fault.
I do hope I am wrong but I have an awful feeling that we are going to be discussing TW a lot in the future and its not going to be about how good he is.

Glory Hunter

Wow! I think it might be best if Theo leaves, cos the negativity from fans is bizarre! If Theo had missed as many chances as Giroud, he would have been crucified!!! The fickleness on this forum is quite simply sickening.
At least lets be consistent.

farsenal

Also Hubbard had another good game really seems to be finding his feet

Trevor

Missed the game – but just saw the goal.

Giroud is the master of the lobbed assists (Podolski v Montpellier, Gibbs v Swansea, and now today)

Take that Alex Song!

jack jack jack

I can’t get over his hold up play. The guy takes balls down with a player on his back like it ain’t a big deal. Jesus christ that last sentence sounds like a porno script

Axel

We win, Chelsea drop points, great Arsenal night all round. Walcott deserves a wage drop.

Now let’s buy Isco.

vino

The chances were falling to Walcott and Giroud, the former just had an utter shocker all game. Giroud was poor as well but his touch for the goal was sublime, it made that goal.

Neutral

Yeah both forwards were poor but Walcott gets the brunt of the abuse because Giroud stepped up with the assist. Giroud was guilty of 3-4 errors in the first ten minutes, but he was involved a lot more than Walcott. Many say Walcott only looked good against the likes of Newcastle, same can be said of Giroud. Truth is our strikers are not good enough, but would you rather have a team with or without Walcott? even for the sake of some f’ing pride they should keep him. I thought Diaby was impressive, Wenger was forced to mix up the… Read more »

vino

Agree we have to keep Walcott, he has made a difficult bed for himself at Arsenal though. It’s bizarre how it swings. One month no one cares if we sell, the next he scores 3 and we’re all anxious he won’t sign. Now it looks like he will sign, and he plays like he did tonight. He epitomises this team, some potential (not as much as recent teams) but just far too inconsistent to ever graduate. As a final word, Arsene really needs to lay down some kind of structure for set pieces that excludes Theo, we are already too… Read more »

Die Hard Gunner

Thank you Captain Jack Wilshere, I actually watched the match at a viewing centre dominated by Chelshit fans (Arsenal Haters) after their 2nd goal against Southampton, all their focus shifted to Arsenal wishing we lose, before they knew it, the were level again and they all faced their match like their life depended on it, I was so proud to scream GOAL!!! In their face when JW10 scored…Now I Can sleep tight…

Amusa

Arsene if you aren’t willing to spend some of the clubs money, at least spend some of your on money and get a new jacket or the zipper replaced!
I’m sure you will find a super jacket that will improve your wardrobe.

sacklad

a real top top top quality jacket, there just aren’t any on the market..

Gunnergadin

Walcott a striker? My fucking arse. If he ain’t signed by the weekend, he can fuck off elsewhere for all I care.

Witoldo

Waiting for Frog to come and chime in about his favorite coat….

Frog

Heh. See top of thread.

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