Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mavropanos, Chambers, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles, Iwobi, Nelson, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang
Subs: Cech, Holding, Monreal, Osei-Tutu, Willock, Welbeck, Nketiah
—
A late Marouane Fellaini header saw Arsenal go down 2-1 against Man United at Old Trafford today, but an understrength visiting side did themselves plenty of credit throughout and did not deserve to lose.
With Thursday in mind, Arsene Wenger picked a much changed side, with starts for Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson, as well as a full debut for January signing Konstantinos Mavropanos.
An early mistake from Xhaka presented Pogba with a chance he put well wide, while at the other end a good break ended with nothing after Aubameyang slipped. Chambers made an important block from a Lindgard cross, and although under some sustained pressure, the Gunners did get forward but Nelson’s shot was quite tame.
However, the pressure paid dividends, and home side took the lead in the 16th minute. Lukaku crossed to the back post, Bellerin did brilliantly to deflect Sanchez’s cross onto the woodwork, but the ball rebounded out to Pogba who finished from close range. 1-0.
There was almost an immediate response when good work from Maitland-Niles ended up with Mkhitaryan shooting wide, Xhaka got harshly booked for hauling down Lindgard, and a better Hector Bellerin cross would have created an equaliser for Aubameyang but the full-back got it wrong.
The referee waved play on when Maitland-Niles was brought down on the edge of the box by Sanchez, and after a lovely move, Iwobi fed Bellerin down the right, he put in a good cross but Aubameyang’s header was weak and straight at the keeper.
Lukaku almost stumbled his way through in the 38th minute but the ball broke kindly for Arsenal, Young hit the outside of the post with a cross, and Aubameyang provided a good cross from Nelson which the youngster headed not far wide as United took the one goal lead into the break.
There were no changes from either side at half-time, and Maitland-Niles almost created something for himself, bursting into the box but his shot was blocked down.
A challenge from Mavropanos forced Lukaku off, replaced by Marcus Rashford, and in the 51st minute the Gunners were level. Xhaka did really well to pick up the loose ball high up the pitch, he fed Mkhitaryan who finished between the defender’s legs and into the far corner with de Gea stranded. 1-1.
Young got away with 614th foul on Mkhitaryan without a booking, and Arsenal were forced into a change in the 63rd minute when Kolasinac picked up an injujury and was replaced by Monreal, and Welbeck came on for Nelson at the same time.
United sent on Fellaini and Martial to try and find a winner, Mavropanos showed some good composure on the ball on his debut both on the ball and with some timely defensive interventions.
Joe Willock came on for Mkhitaryan for the last 15 minutes, Valencia shot miles over, Chambers and Mavropanos dealt with everything United had to offer, but late on United thought they’d won it when Fellaini’s header rebounded off the post and in off Rashford, but he was offside.
Sadly for Arsenal though, the goal did come in the second minute of injury time, Fellaini heading in like the annoying bollix he is. 2-1.
It was far from what we deserved, the display overall was more that creditable, and it’s onto Thursday now in Madrid.
Gutting
Encouraging though, the young lads did well
the only positive i can take from this season is that the next manager will have a wealth of young talent to work with . maitland niles , willock nelson and now mavrapanos. the amount of quality young players we produce in incomparable to any other premier league teams bar maybe one or two. its just wenger inability to elevate them to next level that was hindering them. look at oxlade chamberlein he is mainstay in klopps midfield . everyone who watched him knew there was an amazing midfield player in him but wenger couldnt develop it. i hope all… Read more »
I thought we played well given the circumstances, at old trafford vs manure’s full team. We didn’t look fragile on defense unlike previously and Mavropanos looked very confident, unlike mustafi/kos. I say him him more game time at senior level. Well done!
are you mad, our defence was shocking
You need to have the match ball shoved up your arse.
Though it was annoying to concede an injury time goal, as the game wore on, I somehow felt more confident and assured with Mavropanos and Chambers in the middle than I normally would with Koscielny and Mustafi. That’s how impressive they were.
Completely agreed. It’s a risk, but I think with koscielny ageing and mustafi guaranteed to come up with a few nervy moments every game we should start with these two men on Thursday night. They defended bravely and stayed on it all game long. Wasn’t a huge fan of Callum chambers but tonight he showed immense composure and solid positioning
We cant afford to do that (have both) but id go with one of mustafi or kos sitting out
what about holding?
If we play Chambers or Mavropanos ahead of Mustafi, and AMN for Jack on Thursday – you won’t find me complaining. Boys did me proud today. Fuck United.
El Neny might be back for Thursday
Thursday in June?
Impressive display from the Big Fucking Greek. Chambers was also excellent.
i agree. Quality tends to beget quality in football. chambers is not as bad as some will have us believe. On a lighter note, going by you we now have a new BFG…big fucking greek!. Btw, dont give a fuck bout the result and i think our B team did us quite proud. I also like our new BFG…very much!
he is no better than holding
Mavropanos looked class
oh behave, he is no better than holding
Yea yea, nobody is better than your beloved Wilshere.
Fuck Fellaini and his flailing elbows
Miki was excellent too. He’s got to start on Thursday if we are to have any chance of winning or scoring at least 2 for a draw to get through.
It won’t happen. That’s why we are in this absolute shite position and the manager is leaving…he can’t and won’t play players in form and will stick with his regulars no matter what.
Can’t wait for this season to end and let this club move on in a new direction and with an optimism that’s been missing for so many years.
Love that rugged Mavropanos tackle to get Lukaku injured. And thanks Hector for that first half block which meant we didn’t have to suffer an Alexis goal which would have been annoying to see.
May sound crazy but I think Ospina is more concerned with how acrobatic his dives look than saving shots. A ridiculous man.
DeGea would have saved that. No question.
Why does he keep making out he’s getting injured? in every game he does this. So annoying.
because he is injured
That was absolutely my first thought as well. I think “ridiculous” is harsh but he is definitely an odd one.
It’s the only way you can try and get to the ball if you’re a relatively short goalkeeper. The acrobatics before their goal seemed more of a way to slow the game down and take the wind out of their pressure.
I don’t think he’s bad in all honesty.
When he got his chance in the league he was better than Woj and Cech, I like him a lot. He also gets clattered a lot, when we played west ham he got a really nasty elbow in the ribs, while in the air, but bloggs puts it all down to play acting. I think he’s a very good keeper, and it would be nice to see how he goes with a run of games.
Anybody who remembers the keepers we had a few years ago knows what bad goal keeping looks like.
If we have to pay 100m to get somebody better I would keep him and invest the money elsewhere …
His height is a disadvantage. A little taller, and it would be tipped away.
I agree. Ospina is 6 ft tall. Though that is ordinarily tall, but for a keeper, that is ‘short’ and it is definitely a disadvantage. It is not by coincidence that most top keepers right now are around or over the 6 ‘3 mark. De gea is 6 ‘3, Cech is 6 ‘4. Courtois is 6 ‘5, Neuer is 6’4, the great Buffon is 6’4 and I can go on and on and on. We do struggle with set pieces with ospina especially when we are playing against tall strikers like Lukaku, carol etc, and most teams these days now… Read more »
If we have a tall central defender marking the tall striker it shouldn’t be a problem. His reflexes are awesome and his distribution is excellent.
Nowhere near the class of Cech and certainly not Szczesny. Poor positional sense, lack of presence and error prone. Any top keeper would have saved that Fellaini goal which Ospina is certainly not.
Same here. I know he makes stunning saves at times but this I think he should have tipped away. More or less similar to the one he didn’t get a strong hand to at the FA cup final vs Costa
He saved point blank fm Costa too. good shot stopper. But needs 6in. Jack Butland is coming. Or cech stays on. Gutsy today. Madrid is our final.
Football is a cruel game.
We want you to stay, ARSENAL CLEANSHEET we want you to stay 🙁
For something to stay it has to be there in the first place.
A draw would have been a fair result. Not surprised we lost with our defending!
Good performance, impressive considering the squad. Liked Mavropanos, Nelson, AMN should get more minutes!
United fans proving yet again that they are, and forever will be, scum with their chanting. Absolutely classless.
What were they saying?
‘We want you to stay, we want you to staaaay. Arsene Wenger we want you to stay’
Clapping him on entry was class so was the presentation
Christ they were teasing an old foe during the game get a grip
Seen this way too many times now. We can’t sit back and defend a scoreline.
New manager seriously has work to do in this regard.
New manager must know how to set up a team to defend properly. Unlike what weve seen over the past few seasons. No question about that.
Definitely. We never look like we won’t concede. Every time a good team attacks, you’re left chewings your nails.
We definitely need to tighten up the back
That’s why I would like to see Simeone come to the Gunners.
If you manager has anything about him then some of these are finished as Arsenal players. Xhaka was terrible and Bellerin weren’t far behind. So many fans accepting average players. Throw in Mustafi, Ramsey, elneny, kolasinac, koscielny (Now) iwobi and you can see how much work new manager has to do.
Disagree. Walcott was deadwood favoritism and maybe a couple others but not all you mentioned. We have played below our talent level under Wenger in recent years. Some better tactics and accountability will go a long way. In fact, I think we’d be top four.
Seriously that goal in the 90th minute has pissed me off more than anything this season. We were looking comfortable at 1-1 and we couldn’t just hold on. It’s so so so typical of Arsenal.
We allow teams space to do this to us. That’s the Arsenal way under Wenger unfortunetly. Great in knocking the ball around, but once we lose possession we dont work hard enough to close down space and winm gthe ball back. Admittedly today some of the young players did actually show how its done, but the malaise is too deeply ingrained for us. It will take a sea change in management perspective on the importance opf defence to stop this happening time and time again.
Rock solid post, this. Have an upvote.
Alexis Sanchez is shite.
Mkhitaryan on the other hand isn’t
I thought we made a mistake by taking him off. We were well in control until that point. Absolutely gutted with the result. Football is just too cruel at times.
Want him to be fresh for Thursday though
I think it is more important that he be ready and “healthy for Tursday.
Unfortunately no matter how much we did not deserve to lose we did yet again. Last chance against that irritating cunt and we still can’t beat them for AW. Granted the makeshift team put in a respectable performance but you don’t get points for playing well, only scoring more goals than the opposition.
Oh well on to AM next week in Madrid which we have to play to win, no ifs or buts …
Not like we really need the points in the league though now mate! The young lads played very respectably, especially our young Greek with his debut and M-N looking so composed in the middle, so let’s at least take the good from what was really a nothing fixture considering the importance of Thursday!
We Woz robbed ! Thought we played far better than many League encounters of late.
Chambers, Maitland-Niles and Mavropanos were all really good.
For fucking fucks sake.
If anything has summed up the last 10 years at Arsenal it’s these last two games.
Well let me summarise these games and every single season since ’06 then:
Early promise and a technically dominating start, creating chance after chance whilst not quite having that ruthless cutting edge.
Sterile 2nd half positioning and a lack of urgency followed by a late sucker-punching collapse that leaves the team empty-handed and the fans deflated.
Real shame about the result, and it’s this string of results that’s led to Wenger’s departure, but I think the young players can lift their heads up high. Maitland-Niles was MotM for me, looks the real deal and my only hope is we don’t repeat the same mistakes we made with the Ox. Thought Nelson, Iwobi, Chambers and Mavropanos had good games as well, whoever is coming in will have some talent to work with.
Honestly, I kinda felt proud of the team today. They did themselves no small amount of credit, and at times even outplayed Man U. Despite their youth, they were not afraid of the moment, and took it to Man U. Unfortunately, some defensive mistakes did them in. A malaise that has sadly become a hallmark of Arsenal F.C. in the last 12 or so years. The Xhaka sliding challenge on the first goal was beyond poor. And I felt that a lot of the pressure Man U put on in the last 10 or so minutes stemmed from the fact… Read more »
Tough at the end, would have been great to hang on for a point. – I thought Ospina could have a done a little better.
Some good performances from alot of the youngsters – underlining how important the next appointment’s going to be – as we do have a bit of talent at the club.
Our Central defence looked quite solid for change – which was nice to see.
Here’s hoping it will be our turn to get a late winner on Thursday night.
I was hoping to see more from Nelson but I guess he didn’t do that bad. A loan spell will do him good. Xhaka did well as captain I thought. Sick of all the criticism and no praise he gets from Arsenal fans but mostly from commentators and so-called analysts. “he got sent off 9 times in his career so far” is all I hear when he receives the ball. totally made that stat up by the way.
Xhaka can be really good. Unfortunately sometimes he switches off which can cost us, like Mustafi.
Regardless of the fact we deserved more, I wish I would feel something other than disappointment for once 🙁
It came to the point where we are saying “well done” after a pathetic back against the wall crisis defending 2-1 loss.HAHA.Joke really,we are THE Arsenal,we deserve better than this.Our great hope reiss pocketed by 4th and 5th choice utd cb.bellerin pocketed by 30 plus LW,Amn and willock barely visible all game.Disgrace.
Fuck off cunt.
I’m not shoving my opinion down your throat,goongot am I? watch your language 🙂
Ok do you remember what xhaka shouted when lacazette scored against atletico ?? Look up for it..that’s what i want to say to u.
Real life is obviously not good enough for you. The lads did well, and were unlucky to lose. We all know there are issues, but you couldn’t fault the team for effort. Stick to FIFA you misery.
Expecting better from your players is showing misery?haha.lads forever remain “lads” and “will come good”.but most turn into iwobi and JET replicas.and yes there was “effort”,like xhakas which cost us the first goal.so agree with u on THAT.
We deserve nothing, that’s what a lot of our fans don’t seem to understand
Our second string team just lost by a thin margin at a ground where we have been absolutely spanked in the past. Disappointing but no disgrace whatsoever , get some perspective.
So unlucky. What a strong debut from Mavraponos. AMN was excellent as a screen for the defence too. Could have done with a stronger bench, but great credit to the team today, didn’t deserve to lose.
It hurts.
Was expecting a hiding, but our weakened team did well enough to draw against their first team, save for the last few minutes. No need to flip your wig over the result.
On to Thursday.
Typical Arsenal.
Thought we would get hammered..Boys proved me wrong and showed up.
I just want to win ugly. It’s not that bad to be honest. Here’s to winning ugly next season.
Mavrapanos looked outstanding! Can’t wait to see more of him. Chambers had a great game too. Our defense deservedly gets a lot of stick but they really had a great game. Maitland Niles played much better in midfield this time. His recovery pace and willingness to attempt decisive balls is something we lack from others and I’m looking at you, Alex Iwobi.
Both goals could have been avoided with better goalkeeping. Christ, we should play Macey against Leicester and Huddersfield.
Mavropanos looked really promising, Chambers was quite good. Too bad Auba constantly ran against Lindelöf instead of Smalling.
I really think goalkeeping is an undersold part of our defensive frailty. We just don’t have a keeper worthy of the top four.
Yes to everything here. Ospina is not reliable, and reliability is what you count on in all top players, but especially GKs.
Of course. Absolutely expected. The cunt goes for orc-style long football with thugs fouling left right center. Gets a stoppage time winner to brag and be all smug about it. This season has been frustrating and more so because of how it has reminded me time and time again – It’s not fair! We often got what we didn’t deserve but the cunt Mourinho being the devil himself somehow always gets the best luck. Incredible that the media conveniently leave that narrative out when it’s Mourinho. We played pretty well actually. And with Mkhitaryan back for the Madrid game lets… Read more »
Very proud of the young players, happy for Mkhi, gutted to have lost last minute..
Cunt of war just mentioned the greek boy he does have a name for fucks sake! He Was brilliant today. Plus niles and what a nasty put clean tackel at the end by joe!!! Nelson too didnt let us down well done lads.
Ooh Mhiki you’re so fine
and BFG lookn good too…
but, always…
Fuck that gert Fellainious fuckn all-elbowy fucker.
and was that “OldTraffordy” or what?
At least we didn’t get an 8-2 pasting. Considering the team fielded, we did decent. BUT this merely serves to illustrates how incompetitive we are. If we are going to deliver on more than one front, we do ourselves no favours by hiding under the illusion that ‘the kids are alright’. Plainly put, it isn’t good enough. We lack depth in the squad. We are lacking at least one winger who can beat a man or two on his own accord to help us transition more efficiently from defense to attack. We are missing an authoritative competitor in midfield to… Read more »
Holding didn’t play. Cbacks were Chambers and Mavropanos. They were both very good.
Did you watch the game?
Xhaka single handedly ended Wenger’s career. Shame. His signing was the start of our journey into the depths of mediocrity in the PL. Should have been Kante… should have been Kante.
We miss Viera. We really do. I will be watching Xhaka against Atletico. These guys still have a chance to repay the faith shown by Arsene and the fans. As a club we deserve better.
Arsene would still be playing kante at lb to help his development and understanding of space
Oh come on. One guy did not ruin Wenger. That’s just idiotic.
Played well but we really need a goalkeeper. That bloke on Thursday was good and there are quite a few around but most teams know that if they keep crossing Ospina won’t come and get the ball.
Disgraceful punditry on sky again – sourness is shocking – pulling the sky commentator guide book page 1 out – something happens, blame xhaka
Very unlucky, we controlled the game especially in the first half what a bright future i think niles will become beas cdm he is in a process of learning and playing as a full back is already help in him for when he plays DM. Credit to wenger and also for mavropanos the guy looks like a beast what a chalange on lukaku now i see what wenger said that what he saw in training changed his mind to send the kid on loan i hope he will get more games in the league till the end of season. Xhaka… Read more »
Great performance by the boys.
You sound like we should be proud we lost?
Great performances do not win games.
Goals scored do.
I blame those fucking horrible blue kits
Very interesting. A real “issue” for the so called ” big clubs”. These days the ” fans” demand instant success and do not give Managers time to build teams and develop youth. Net result is they buy ” established” names / stars rather then give youth a chance. Jose has been as guilty as anyone. To be fair Klopp has given youth a. Hance as have the Spuds. Lets hope the new Arsenal Manager ( whoever that may be) will give youth a chance and the supporters afford the new Manager time to build a team. In my view the… Read more »
Just for the record Blogs, you’ve listed Cech in the starting line up (and on the bench).