Arsenal: Cech, Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal, Bellerin, Xhaka, Ramsey, Kolasinac, Ozil, Sanchez, Lacazette
Subs: Ospina, Mertesacker, Coquelin, Wilshere, Maitland-Niles, Iwobi, Welbeck
—
Arsenal raised spirits with a superb performance and a thoroughly deserved 2-0 win over Sp*rs at the Emirates this afternoon.
Arsene Wenger recalled Shkodran Mustafi to the heart of his defence, and as expected unleashed the front three of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette.
On a wet day in North London the game began in cagey fashion, and the Gunners had the first chance of the day when Eric Dier made a mistake, Sanchez fed Lacazette and the French striker fired over the bar when he should probably have hit the target.
Almost immediately Harry Kane pounced on a Laurent Koscielny error, hitting a shot on target that Petr Cech saved. At the other end it looked as if Ozil was about to tee up Lacazette for a tap-in but Mike Dean penalised the German for a push on Vertonghen.
Both Sanchez and Koscielny just failed to find Lacazette whose runs were causing the Sp*rs defence some problems, and a great ball from Ramsey to Bellerin saw the Spaniard low cross fizz along the six-yard box without the striker being able to find the final touch.
Lacazette almost got on the end of a soft back pass only for Hugo Lloris to come out and clear from just outside his area, and last ditch defending from Dier prevented an Ozil cross reaching Ramsey who would have had an easy close range finish.
Having already been warned by Dean, Xhaka picked up a yellow card in the 32nd minute when Deli Alli dived into him and made a meal of the fall. Christian Eriksen, fresh from his midweek hat-trick against Ireland, cracked a shot off the outside of the post, and Cech had to be alert to save a deflected Kane header.
The away danger was a worry but the Gunners went ahead in the 37th minute. When Sanchez was fouled by the other Sanchez, Ozil curled in the free kick for his German colleague Mustafi to head home off the inside of the post. 1-0.
Alexis picked up a yellow card for a foul on Sanchez, and it was the Arsenal version who made the next big contribution, doubling the lead. Lacazette got in behind although there was a hint of offside, crossed it for the Chilean whose first touch wasn’t great but with his second he slammed the ball beyond a falling Lloris to make it 2-0.
Kane dragged a shot wide after a good run through the Arsenal midfield and defence, but the Gunners took their deserved lead into half-time.
There were no changes from either side at the break, and there was an early second half booking for Mustafi, penalised for getting the ball first in a challenge with Kane.
The England international had a chance with a header after some carelessness at the back but could only loop it into the arms of Cech.
He was next into the book for going through the back of Mustafi, and a Bellerin pass almost provided Lacazette with a one on one but he was eased out of it by Davinson Sanchez.
A swift counter, started by Ozil winning the ball on the edge of his own box, nearly ended with the German getting on the end of an Alexis pass, while at the other end a brilliant block by Mustafi denied Kane a goal after Ramsey lost his footing.
Sp*rs made their first change in the 62nd minute, sending on Winks for Dembele, Eriksen fired over from outside the box, and at the other end Alexis blasted one towards the top corner but got too much on it and sent it well over.
Ozil set up Alexis just outside the box but he miscued his shot baldy, making it easy for Lloris to claim the ball, before Arsene Wenger made his first change – bringing on Francis Coquelin for Lacazette, a decision which was met by some boos from the Arsenal fans.
Sp*rs made their final changes, the ineffective Kane and Alli coming off for Llorente and Son. Ozil created a close range chance for Alexis which Lloris came out to smother well. Eriksen forced Cech into a relatively simple save with a shot from distance, but the keeper’s next stop was outstanding.
Davies crossed from the left, Dier headed back across goal and Cech’s strong hand saw him push the ball well away from danger. A break from the back saw Bellerin’s shot blocked, Alex Iwobi came on for the outstanding Ozil in the 84th minute, and Son had a chance to get Sp*rs back in it but hooked his shot over after Llorente’s flick on gave him space in the Arsenal area.
Iwobi saw a shot blocked after being set-up by Alexis, Alexis had a shot from outside the area blocked, and a Xhaka free kick deflected without a corner being given.
Lloris saved again from Alexis, Iwobi dragged a shot wide in the 2nd minute of injury time, but there was no doubt the Gunners deserved all three points.
Sp*rs can stick it up their holes.
Great win! Never in doubt – if we play our best team we are very good. Even Mike Dean didn’t have a negative effect. No NLD goal for Kane, first loss for Pochettino.
Take heart from this Arsenal players, just keep up the same effort and we will do very well this season. Excellent first team and strong subs bench.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/nov/17/granit-xhaka-dad-jail-beatings-arsenal-tottenham-derby is well worth a look, great article.
Feel very happy.
AOL FTW!
Power shift. Ha ha…
I seem to remember some people making jokes at the time Mustafi got injured. At the start of his Arsenal career he was being overhyped by fans, but more recently it’s gone too far the other way. A lot of fans ridicule him too unfairly. He’s a fine defender. Sure, he’s not perfect and does slide in too much sometimes, but he’s certainly the best natural CB we have after Koscielny. I was devastated when he got injured, as at the time it looked like he would be out for longer. I was shocked at some of the reaction his… Read more »
I agree that he was over-praised at first and way way way over-critisised subsequently. If he stays (which seems to do with family issues, not football) and remains fit, he will be our centre half for a decade, and likely our captain.
I was shocked by the boos with our first substitution! But every club has an idiot corner filled with uneducated specialists!
yep!…power shift my ass!
and to you hater pundits?…..regardless of whatever position spuds end up this season, even if above us (God forbid!)….spuds will always be our bitch!
and to you arsenal squad for giving me this NLD joy and bragging rights today?…all is forgiven
yeah, i know, fickle mind right?…but then i watched the match with 3 spuds ‘friends?’ and words cannot describe the joy i felt, being able to ram all their ‘power shift’ talk before the match, down their throats. COYG!!
And that’s the ARSENAL!
Ozil was great as well but mustafi probably is motm!!!
Agree – Mustafi MOTM for me: 10/10
That’s my Arsenal!
Shift in the balance of power my arse
Now that’s how you shut up those annoying and deluded spuds glorifying pundits and media.
I’d like to say that to them
Fortress Emirates, what?
That’s 13 games unbeaten at home. Long may it continue !
I really miss the LiveBlog on days like these
Yeah, I remember the liveblog. Good times…
It’ll be back soon!
Yes please blogs! My go to when I cant watch
YES
Spuds mashed!
Arsenal to the world! Mustafi MOTM!!
Mustafi is brilliant.
We “owned” the spuds today!
Had they scored when Ramsey slipped (twice in dangerous areas) it would have confirmed how shit out luck is. Impressive performance, let’s do it again against United.
So because they didn’t score….what does that mean? Or did you just want an opportunity and platform to be negative?
So you’re blaming Ramsey for a loss that never happened?
Everyone put in a shift. Mustafi my MOTM.
alexis “diving” celebration of victory at the 92nd min
Phew! I wasn’t sure which Arsenal was going to turn up.
A well deserved win and everyone turned up. I think
Mustafi and Ozil had their best games for us!
**** off Sp-rs, North London is ours!
We put them in their place! Let’s hope this give the squad momentum to do this again and again
God I love that! That was my favourite Arsenal performance in big games in many many years! And I loved Mesut Ozil! If this Mesut Ozil showed up every week what a player we’d have in our hands
I like how ozil didn’t score or assist and still people can see he was absolutely immense.
All the fans want is to see effort mixed with that talent.
He did assist though.
Assist in stealth mode. Ozil is Houdini.
Just realised he assisted mustafi’s goal. My apologies
He did assist but I completely agree on the rest. We all know he one of the most creative players in the world but the effort today was such a joy to watch.
Well done to Arsenal.
A very good result.
They have to show this kind of commitment every game though – once or twice is not enough if you want to do well.
Very good result though…
The best game from Arsenal since I don’t know when. Don’t listen to the rubbish about Sp*ds not showing up. Arsenal completely nullified and outclassed a good team.
I thought the new champions of Europe were better than just not showing up.
And we shut up our haters with a performance like this. Sky and co will be a bit more subdued now and hopefully its clear to Sp*rs and he rest that the balance has not changed.
Spuds will always be chasing shadows when it comes to the ‘power shift’.
And we slate Wenger for his tactics against the big teams(and rightly so) but he brought his A-game today. And the players played like they wanted it more from start to finish
COYG
Really great job! Not just from the players, but from Wenger too.
Winning feels great. More please!
Close MOTM finish between Mustafi and Ozil-but for me it was Ozil
Decent performance. We need to be more clinical against the weaker sides like sp*rs though. Should have scored 7
Just be happy will ya? We beat them Spuds very convincingly, we outplayed them throughout the 90 min and the only reason the score remained 2-0 was because Lloris is a good keeper.
And its always good to see that the trio of Kane, Alli and Eriksen looked like mid table players, such was the brilliance of our midfield and defence
Calm down. I think that was a shot at Sp*rs.
Tongue was firmly in cheek. Loved every minute
Ok. My bad. i missed the sarcasm.
But in my defence, am drunk as fuck seeing those Spuds egos deflated
Arsenal > Spurs > Real Madrid confirmed.
Ozil>Bale>Gervinho>Lamela confirmed.
Fantastic game and it shows what we can do when everyone turns up……
Come on you gunners
What’s great is that even if we won at home, we have another home match against them when we play them at Wembley.
Thank fuck we didn’t sell mustafi hey?
And BTW, the crowd booing arsenes decision to take off lacazette and bring on coquelin, worked wonders yeah? . Coquelin was immense and shut that game down. Alex is up front scared the shite out of them. There was one play where I thought our coq had got us into trouble but drew 2 players and got the foul. Will probably be more excited than he is when he finally scores for us.
Up the coq
Is there any player that walks off the pitch slower than Ozil after being substituted? ??
When you’re 2-0 up,why not?
Any player after the 70th minute that are at least 1 nil up, yes.
As long as Dean did not show him a card for time wasting before he got off.
World class Özil ! Really harried them, for me the whole of our back 5 was immense. Real sense of security from an arsenal defence after a long long time. Upwards and onwards !
Best fucking win in a long time ! Not only we were outstanding but such immeasurable pleasure in seeing the twats so toothless
COYG!!!
Another Grauniad article – good for a laugh
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/nov/16/arsenal-tottenham-emirates-saturday#comment-108416045
Ahh the Guardian, what an absolute mess of a paper. They change their mind more often then Robbie Keane declares his love for any team.
Goodly Morning to you on Monday so!
“Ozil set up Alexis just outside the box but he miscued his shot baldy…”
Shouldn’t there be a comma after ‘shot’?
Is this a verbatim explanation to Bouldy?
Funny how a win for the Arsenal sets you up well for the week ahead.
Talk of a power shift was nothing more than a steaming pile of hotspur..
Balance of power shifting. Hahahahaha. And may I add HA.
Brilliant result & performance, we owed them cunts a win.
You could ask why we don’t play like this more often but you have to enjoy days like this.
I took extra care to listen to all the pundits having a wank fest about the the spuds today. This is the dross served up…… We only have one player good enough for there line up…. i’d Take Ericsson over Ozil any day…….. players like Mustafi not in the same league as Vertonghen……. Kane and Alli are untouchable and different class…….. I really think Tottenham will send a message by hammering Arsenal today…..
Take note just about all pundits talk shit!!!!
The most amazing hype is about Harry Winks. A good, promising, young player who is made to sound like the return or Gascoigne.
What a lovely performance..! The purest thing to enjoy. Every one was brilliant. Wenger asked for support from the fans. I think he definitely got it.
COYG..!
Redknapp should take a note of that performance today and he’s right ! He should have put the same level of performance in with Louise week in week out ! Neither wonder he’s an also ran ! Also T.H you WERE an Arsenal player/legend but you couldn’t pundit your way out of Lord Bendtner’s shadow & why is Sourness’s heart still ticking? Pundits or gobshites? Tremendous display & result today ..That is all !
what a result, called 2-0 before the game. Mustafi offside is borderline and a 50/50 however, laca was never offside just as he was not v stoke.
amusing seeing all the spurs fans crying, They seem to have forgot that against dortmund aubameyang scored an equalizer from a meter onside that was ruled out. Then v madrid there was a clear offside for alli’s opening goal, which of course means madrid push up and leave gaps.
Alli and kane absolute ghosts, ill say it again kane needs like 7 shots to score no where near henry/aguero/shearer quality.
Very amusing to see the Totts fans crying. No point moaning about bad refereeing when you’ve had your asses handed to you by the opposition.
A lesson there for some on here….
Looking forward to seeing Lineker tonight…
Its Should be SOL because with those three together Spurs were S*** Out of Luck
what I love the most about Lacazette is his ability to stay in the shoulder of the last defender you think he is offside but more often than not he stays on. Reminds me of Van nesterooy, or inzagi even Raup. And its great to have someone like that in our team.
Only one team in London! Arsenal then other imposters.
Since knowing my brother would be here in town this weekend we’d planned a special night for my old man who’d have all his three sons together to watch the game. He has Parkinson’s and struggles badly more and more. We managed to keep it a secret until this morning when his questions became too obviously difficult to deflect. The tears in his eyes when he found out that we had a family NLD get together sorted were special and so i was desperate to see a positive performance and result. Suffice to say we are all overjoyed. Meant a… Read more »
That’s awesome. Glad your dad had a great day.
Good one mate!! That would’ve been so special.
Can you lot all make it to the next game??? 🙂
Cheers for the support. However I may have been a little unclear. We weren’t actually at the match. I live with my Dad in perth, western Australia. We were just watching it on TV. It still meant that much to him!
“Fuck’n excellent”
Can’t we just pretend we’re playing spuds every game?
Honestly, if they gave this type of effort every single game, they’d get much less stick from the fans. Win, lose, draw….as long as they give it their all every game, I think most would be satisfied, at least to a degree.
“Mustard, penalised for getting the ball first” ?
Beating spuds is always a good thing, and just what we needed after a disappointing performance against City before the international break. I didn’t see the match live as it was a 545am kickoff time here, and sleep is important.
Reading the post match interviews is hilarious… did Pochettino just now realize that Mike Dean is a crap referee? or is it just because for once, spuds didn’t get some dodgy penalty or sending off in their favor? Keep complaining about officials like that and I’m going to call you Jose.
Sp*rs can stick it up their holes.
Nice enjoyable win. Still this is what Wenger’s Arsenal has been for the last few years, capable of great victories like this one but failing to show the same level of concentration and play against the Watfords and Stokes of this league. We’re all over the moon now, but we’ve all seen this before. And yes, I want a change of manager even after this good display, Wenger can’t motivate these players to play like this more often, never mind every game..
Come on man. If you cannot enjoy the win and take a hancw fora cheap shor at AW, then you are sead inside.