Arsenal: Ospina, Chambers, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs, Coquelin, Elneny, Iwobi, Alexis, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Giroud
Subs: Cech, Monreal, Bellerin, Arteta, Rosicky, Walcott, Campbell
—
Goals from Calum Chambers and Alexis Sanchez were enough for Arsenal progress in the cup, winning 2-1 against Burnley at the Emirates this afternoon.
Arsene Wenger rang the changes for this one, welcoming back Francis Coquelin from injury and handing a debut to Mohamed Elneny the most interesting of them.
There were early attempts for both sides with Gray shooting over for the visitors, while Oxlade-Chamberlain did likewise at the other end. Burnley cleared an Arsenal corner off the line, before Alexis showed his quality, stepping inside a defender before fizzing a shot just wide of the near post.
Elneny had his first shot in red and white in the 8th minute, from 25 yards he got it on target but it was easy for the keeper. A mistake from Laurent Koscielny allowed Gray a clear run on goal but his finish lacked conviction and Ospina made the save.
In what was a very open game from the start, great work from Gibbs down the left saw his low cross cause problems in the Burnley box, Chambers shot on the rebound was blocked, and moments later an Oxlade-Chamberlain effort was deflected wide.
It felt like an Arsenal goal was coming, and when it did it was a quite beautiful one. The Arsenal passing was superb, the build up patient, Alexis eventually fed the ball to Chambers and he finished with the outside of his right foot into the far corner of the net. 1-0.
Chambers was involved again, feeding Iwobi who set up Alexis in the box but his shot was blocked, but on the half hour mark Burnley were level. Having won a corner, Arsenal couldn’t get it clear, the ball was moved to the right hand side, the cross came in and Vokes out-jumped Gabriel to head powerfully home. 1-1.
In the build-up to the goal there was a bizarre moment when Gibbs actually tackled his own man, sliding in on the ankles of Coquelin who had to off for some treatment. Arsenal went looking for another goal and good work from Iwobi down the right saw his cross deflected to the back post where Oxlade-Chamberlain was waiting, but he smashed it wide.
The England man did get a shot on target in the 43rd minute but it was an easy enough save for Heaton, and the teams went in level at the break. The second half began without any TV coverage as apparently all the feeds were down, but after 6 minutes the issue was fixed, without us missing anything of any great importance.
The timing was perfect as moments later we were ahead. Arsenal broke from the back, Iwobi fed Alexis, he played it to Giroud who flicked it to Iwobi. He gave it to Oxlade-Chamberlain who cut it across goal for Alexis who smashed it into the top corner. 2-1.
Koscielny had one cleared off the line after a Giroud flick from a corner, Elneny fired a fizzing shot straight at their keeper, and had a great chance when Gibbs set him up in the box but curled his effort over the bar.
Burnley brought on Joey Barton, and just before Alexis forced the keeper into a good save from a free kick in the 72nd minute, Arsene Wenger replaced Iwobi and Coquelin with Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky, making his first appearance of the season. Theo Walcott came on for Alexis in the 79th minute, Oxlade-Chamberlain shot over after fantastic build-up play when he really should have hit the target, but at the other end Koscielny had to be alert to prevent danger.
After such a bright start, the closing stages were quite flat, but there was a chance for Gray who shot wide, an a late injury to Kieran Gibbs who needed some treatment but was ok to carry on. There was another effort on goal for Elneny, hooking a shot wide after good work by Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott, and Walcott himself should have scored after finding himself one on one with the keeper in injury time, but he allowed the keeper to palm it away.
There was also time for Joey Barton to throw some elbows about like the massive twat he is, and as the full time whistle went, Koscielny was left lying on the ground, but Arsenal did enough to win and go into the draw for the 5th round.
*skip to the end* Theo should have scored that 1v1.
Shout of the evening, after Walcott one on one howler.
” You’re no Chambers!”
He should’ve passed it to Elneny for a tap-in.
Wow Walcott, great sub appearence
Sarcasm, people. Sarcasm.
On the bright side I thought Ox was a lot better today.
absolutely….hopefully he is beginning to play himself back to form
Fed up with Walcott.
Sell the cunt.
No need for language like that my friend…
Wow.
Yes, I’m fed up with him, too. But, no, he’s not done anything at all to deserve being called a “cunt”.
Theres only one c$#t here my friend and thats you.
You’re a first rate douche. Wish we could sell ‘fans’ like you.
You wouldn’t be calling him a cunt if he scores against barca. Go on and support man city mate.
The result is all that matters, COYG
and Akpom scored a hattrick!
Really disappointed with the fans in the stadium today.
P.S Joey Barton is a c*nt
Why disappointed? (genuine question)
Disappointed by the attendance, or lack of atmosphere, or did something happen? I’m 10 time zones away, but watching on TV, I got no sense that there was anything wrong with the fans.
It was quiet like the occasional Library at the Highbury.
Alexis – the winner. Walcott – one-on-one clustershambles. Who would have thought?
Walcott just cannot do anything right at this moment, losses balls, failed on 1 on 1 with goal keeper…..what is wrong with him. If he is not confident in the 1 on 1 just square it for el neny to tap in. OMG Walcott…..
I thought he did well aside from that, but yeah, that was horrible.
Well? He had about three touches.
He’s lost confidence because of lour shit fans getting on his back.
Looses balls…hehe…:)
No way he could have squared the ball to Elneny, mate. The path to Elneny was blocked.
Rewatch that play: his best option was actually to take the shot and not dribble round the keeper.
He did mess up for sure. But I’m the sort that thinks we should support talented players when they’re low on confidence, not bash them. We should get behind him.
big win, although still very nervy until the end. elneny looked good and it’s fantastic to have alexis and le coq back. and tomas rosicky is back baby!
on the negative side, i’ve lost patience with walcott. what’s the opposite of a purple patch? a brown patch?
Decent. Good to see TR7 back. Elneny looks useful, especially if he can figure out what position he wants to play.
When I see Rosicky referred to in that way it always makes me think of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_TR7
lol…..isnt he supposed to be a DM?….he certainly dosent play like one!……but he looks good though, personally i think he is more of a Ramsey type box to box rather than a DM
Elneny can run for days
watch everyone fixate on Walcott’s miss..
I will not, i will fixate on his inability to time his runs, lack of skill on the ball, inability to pick a pass, and also as an extra bonus point: His inability to score on 100% chances in prime positions.
It’s a talking point not because of this one miss but because it’s part of a much larger problem we’ve noticed whenever he’s played this season. He can’t do anything right at the moment, and it’s a real worry for him and us.
Fixate? Hardly. But it’s worth a mention given just how he’s been manipulating for the position of being played as our first-choice finisher.
How many goals this season? Five. Same as Ramsey and Ozil. Just two more than Kos and Joel Campbell. And it’s not like we haven’t been here before.
He should be finishing the kind of opportunity he had today 95% of the time. Because that’s what the person Theo thinks he is would do.
Not a convincing win, but a win nonetheless. Great comeback for Sanchez also. Now let’s concentrate on the league!
Ah I think I understand football now, you win if you dont play in your horrible blue 3rd kit.
What a sweet finish by Chambers, he chanelled his Rozza. Other than that, thoughts on the game: Koscielny shaky early on, but recovered very well. Gibbs seems so afraid even with low risk passes, pretty much the same with Gabriel. El Neny energetic, a lot like Ramsey but shows for the ball more in deep midfield and makes little runs to be available Koscielny was the only guy able to pick him out though). Rozza came back and did well. Alexis (“The pitbull” as Jim carrey called him) was brilliant and Coq did well with their first starts after layoffs.… Read more »
I agree with all you said, except for your glaring omission of Iwobi. He is breath-taking, to be honest. He has such an ease about him, it’s amazing that he’s only 19 years old. I thought his part in the goal was simply superb – he ran that channel to perfection, putting himself into the perfect pocket of space, picked up Giroud’s slightly wobbly back-heel, and splayed it out to Ox. If you watch the celebrations, Ox makes a point to grab him and congratulate him for that. I think that should be counted as an assist to an assist,… Read more »
Burnley were absolutely dreary last season, so it’s good to see that they’ve figured out that it’s fun to occasionally play in your opponents’ half.
Alexis best player on the pitch, fine performances as well from Gibbs, Iwobi, and Elneny. After not paying attention to football for a week this was nice.
I was exactly the same way. After last Sunday I decided that football would cease to exist until today, and I made out so. Didn’t even listen to the Arsecasts (sorry).
Drop walcot ASAP….. we’ve got Campbell.
Thought the CBs had a pretty poor game up against Gray – they didn’t seem to know how to handle him. Koscielny also seemed very lackadaisical today, as if he thought it would be plain sailing. Otherwise: Elneny looked good – always showing for the ball, steady passing and decent movement for a DM! I thought Iwobi was unlucky to be substituted, although I think it was more to give Rosicky minutes than anything to do with his performance – I thought he was a bright spark the whole game. Sanchez is Sanchez – great goal, great work-rate, bit greedy… Read more »
Yeah, Gabriel-Koscielny seems to lack some cohesion, whether that is down to inability to play with each other or merely inexperience of it, I have no idea, but I’m hoping they’ll mesh better as there’s probably going to be a point in a few years where they’ll be teh two senior CBs.
I love the early days of a new signing, when they try and shoot every chance they get, it won’t be long till we’ve drilled that nasty ol habit out of him! I liked the look of Elneny though, looks a tidy enough player and a good option to rotate Ramsey or Coquelin. Much needed win and very happy to see Sanchez back with aplomb, what a man. I’m falling a bit in love with Chambers, the technique on that finish…have we seen better than that this season? Fucking excellent!
Iwobi is some player. Wish he plays every week
BLOODY RAMSEY!! Invisible all game today. 0/10.
What are you on about? He wasn’t in the squad today.
Oh dear!
Lol…..missed the plot mate
Not a bad game at all! Great debut from Elneny who has integrated well already, more promising stuff from Iwobi (I like that kid a lot), lovely to see Rosicky playing again, and a fantastic goal from Chambers, who normally makes me quite nervous. Overall, lots of positives to take away from a tough match against a tough Burnley
Great debut by elneny. Recieves the ball from defenders and distributes it well, and is highly energetic. he runs a lot. Amazing from Iwobi, a lot of maturity on the ball. Ox was great today. hopefully that helps his confidence.
We won again….
Through to the next round
Back to winning ways
Forget the error and lets celebrate the moment.
How did you feel when Rossa step on the pitch?
Really want Chels in the next round….I need revenge, I must have it!!!
Good win, not impressive but we’ll take it.
– Great debut by el neny. Very energetic, has a good touch, great b2b play. would like to see how he plays in the coq role. Funny enough i think he’d make a better partner to Arteta than coq.
– Alexis is back!!! that’s all that matters
– Happy Chambers scored. Great strike. He has beautiful technique.
– Kos and Gabriel were a bit nervous at times. Gibbs needs to behave himself(hahahaha)
– Giroud was poor.
– Good to see the Mozart back as well
Gabriel’s pace saved us a couple of times, though. If BFG was on I’m thinking his lack of pace probably would have hurt us.
On the attacking front, this was the sort of game that Ozil and Walcott together would have completely killed it. But it’s good to have pretty much a second XI and still win.
We won. Alexis, Coquelin, Elneny and Rosicky played. No one got injured. Good day.
So… we start tackling our own players now? Not enough injuries at Arsenal?
We have history with this. Remember when Eboue tackled his own player? And was subbed off for Silvestre?
Those were the days.
I thought we were signing a CDM. Turns out he’s a CAM. Great running by neny though. Was all over the park. Calm on the ball, good passing. Slightly lightweight though. Got shrugged off the ball once or twice. But than can be worked on. COYG!!
I saw the patented Rosicky outside-of-the-right-foot pass again today….and all was right with my arsenal world.
How I have missed the little Mozart!
Not a great overall performance. But great for Elneny to have a full run and Coq, Arteta, and TR7 to have runs. Sanchez looked sharp but somehow didn’t link up with Giroud. Giroud worked hard. Walcott low on confidence after a great run at the end: he should have scored. Still, through the next round and rested a few players.
Elneny really went for a goal in his first appearance. Liked how he is going for long shots…that’s something we missed in the past.
Yup, also liked his energy. He was everywhere today!
Great work rate and attitude. Should serve him well as he adapts.
Thought Elneny looked pretty solid. So happy to have Rosicky back!
Rosicky looked like he was never out of the team.. Glad we got through this, albeit with a little too much difficulty. Arteta jumping for bouncing balls was a good sight to behold. Elneny looked great when taking shots from outside the pen. Satisfied. Could it have be better? Yes, but I’ll still take this if those who came in had a chance to build their confidence. Ox looks like some game time is helping him. Had some nice runs and looked for options when he needed to. Well done lads!
I look past theos mistakes when were not playing to his strengths and playing him in behind. Hes been awful for a long time now but it was ok because he is that threat in behind. He has numerous times given the ball away leading to opposition goals, ran into defenders turning over possession but its all ok because we only need that one pass in behind to turn a game. Except now today has proved the contrary and its saddening. I dont jump on players ever, theo has been like this for a while and it needs to change.… Read more »
Am just happy we won. All other things are irrelevant to me at this moment
A solid win in the end against an in-form side (before today they had scored 12 in their last 3 games!) that were always going to give us a tough cup game, and the win was completed by a much rotated side featuring some starters and subs trying to shake off injury-period rustiness so even better. A real reminder of what we’ve been missing from Sanchez, he was fantastic. Impressed by Elneny. Walcott was worrying, but not going to fixate- imagine he’ll have a few games on the bench now and hopefully, hopefully that will spur him on in a… Read more »
I had to put up with a Santander stream, and they kept saying that Elneny shouldn’t be in those attacking areas if he wants to be the ‘DM’ for Arsenal. In certain games I’m sure he will be asked to play that role, but it was obvious that with the Coq back, he was allowed to express himself more and get forward a la Ramsey. I thought he did very well, always wanted the ball, which relieves so much pressure on the centre backs – something we have missed with Flam in the team. So yeah, good contribution and brave… Read more »
Iwobi was excellent i thought…Really good first touch and has a knack for not really giving the ball away especially for one so young.
Hard to see a future for Walcott. He’s in the team to score on breakaways. Glad El Neny will shoot. Pretty bad today all around.
Loving Iwobi’s development, another good game. Also great to see the coq back.
Great win. No injuries. Happy to see Rozza, Arteta, Coq, sanchez, El neny and ospina. This is the mother of all LANS matches. Can’t wait for Welbz, Santi and Jack to return. Also I think debuchy is done and we will get a deadline day replacement.
Overall, a good result that did not mask that the team, for the better part of the last two months, has had difficulties building from the back. Since Cazorla’s injury we’ve lacked the compusure, creativity and quickness of mind and feet to overcome high pressing teams. The gap between midfield and defence is way to big. We need to work more as a unit.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have Walcott eternally play with the contract running out in a year… he did well previously, didn’t he?
Three things.
Debuchy learn from Chambers.
Elneny aka Flamster 2.0.
Alexis = Win.
lol…….Flamster 2.0?…i think he is more ramsey like but more defensively conscious?
What have we learned today?
Alexis is back. Coquelin in back. And no one’s going to worry about Elneny or Iwobi being on the teamsheet from here on in.
Good game. Good win.
The hate on Theo is boring now
I love arsenal.But i hate arsenal fans
Elneny. What I liked: Calm and assured on and off the ball. Made himself available. Willing runner in all directions, but with positional discipline. What I didn’t like: some loose passes, brushed off ball too easily, defended the tying cross like he’d been at Arsenal for years! He’ll come good, and he’ll show Ramsey the way to the center is through positional discipline, IMHO.
I really have to disagree – did you see the stats Ramsey posted for the Chelsea game? Given how we were a man down he was easily our best player on the day. Come on, to some its as if this narrative of his positional discipline has totally clouded any unbiased assessment of his performances. At this rate its no wonder he might consider leaving at some point soon, a guy who has one performance for Arsenal under his belt is being touted to teach Ramsey about “the way to the center”. I guess Ramsey will never be loved the… Read more »
Ramsey could walk into Barca’s midfield if he wanted to. Can’t say that about any other midfielder in the BPL right now.
Ramsey isn’t benching Rakitic or Iniesta anytime soon. He’s great, but please don’t overhype him
Not even Sergi Roberto if you ask me, and I love Ramsey!
Here’s a list of players who make less than Walcott who would’ve burried Walcott’s chance: Joel Campbell, bellerin, wilshere, welbeck, iwobi, akpom. He should make less than all of those guys if he can’t score that! Readjust his wages next contract! Talks the talk but can’t walk the walk.
My first game in the stands and i just couldnt believe the negativity from our fans.Its one thing being objectively critical but hating on one of our players….wow
Cheers on your first game Kenyanarse! It’s a dream I’m still working towards.
Not to take away from the fact that we have the most expensive match day tickets etc, but I suspect even if they were free, the modern day Gooner would spend half the match groaning and only briefly cheer once a certain level of entertainment were achieved. We’re an entitled bunch.
All fans of all clubs give their players stick but I admire the 12th man mentality adopted by so-called smaller clubs. I don’t know what to call our home “supporters”…
I get that there’s obvious enthusiasm over a new signing and over someone who holds promise like El Neny does but its interesting to note the things people are praising El Neny for. His great work rate – yet Ramsey gets called a headless chicken for his work rate. His propensity to shoot from outside the box – Ramsey is one of the very few Arsenal players who attempt that too, but he gets called selfish for attempting that rather than the pass. And El Neny’s passing and involvement – Ramsey gets called selfish yet when playing CM he routinely… Read more »