Arsenal made it through to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 win at the Emirates over Blackpool. Stephan Lichtsteiner and Emile Smith Rowe put the Gunners 2-0 up before Matteo Guendouzi saw red. Paudie O’Connor pulled one back for the visitors but he was later sent off himself for a foul on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Unai Emery’s team saw out the win.
Read the report and see the goals here.
Ratings
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Jenks was great. Smith Rowe too.
Referee less so.
also think 6 was quite a harsh rating for Jenks. Had more than “a hand” in the second and was pretty solid defensively considering he hasn’t played at that level for ages and played on the wrong side. Grandpa will be proud tonight.
Yup, Jenks was always a danger being out of position, muscled his way through. Impressive given how Licht was on that position recently despite the lower opposition here. Get in there, lad!
That level? It was against a league 1 team. Just saying.
Jenk’s penetration from the left was outstanding, although his left footed crosses were not ideal, but surely took part for Emile’s goal. I really really like to see him playing on the right.
Don’t agree about Smith Rowe. All he did was play it sideways. He looked at the level of the opposition. His goal makes it seem like he had a great game. When you compare the fact he is the same age as Nelson and Guendonzi i don’t see what the fuss is about with this kid.
Jenkinson was a willing runner getting forward and had a steady game which I do agree with you on.
He’s a late bloomer, slowly gaining confidence. Give him time.
I read somewhere that Ivan Rakitic (also a late bloomer) was in the youth system. Seems to me like we kept the wrong Ivan.
That Jenks run on the outside of Welbeck for the second goal was fireeee
Pleguezelo’s visage (or lack thereof) is quite unsettling!
It was the guys first competitive start, not sure how much you can read into his performance other than a solid outing
Not sure if I’m missing something here, but I think NW Gooner is referring to the lack of facial features on the caricature of Pleggy & is not a critique of his performance.
Well, and to think that Blog rated Jenks and Mustafi with 6 and the new defender with 7???
What have you got against Mustafi, Blog? Is it because he’s the only one player we’ve got that throws himself about and puts his body on the line just so he can block the shots towards our goal??????
Throwing yourself about really isn’t a sign of a good defender.
Fair enough. Much like having a great engine and never hiding really aren’t signs of a good midfielder. Thanks for the memories, Aaron, but it’s time to say goodbye.
The ref’s name is Willy Wanker.
something’s not quite right with the grammar of the bonus rating.
I think I see what you did there.
A scrappy game that was quite hard to watch. Still, an important win. Still puzzling about where the 6 minutes of extra time came from – that and the easy cards made me wonder if the ref was a championship fan. I still don’t know his name either.
Ref was D. Coote (not a spelling mistake whatever you may think of him!) – in 7 games this season (2 PL) he has given 18 yellows and 1 red before tonight. Last season in 36 games he managed 145 yellows and 5 reds. In total he has reffed 281 games (mainly Championship and below) and dished out a mighty 936 yellows and 39 reds.
I think he just hates footballers!
Stats courtesy of Transfermarkt.
Wow, that’s quite some track record! Makes you wonder if he’s found the right vocation.
Not sure 145 yellow cards in 36 games is much higher than typical–four yellows per match, which seems pretty common in a Prem match. (Not defending these particular cards.)
Apparently Mkhi should have stamped his authority on this one but the Welsh Jesus did some nice things and gets half a mark more. It’s all opinion but with Auba not scoring highly either this was a game the main players were not raising themselves for.
Really should have had an easier time with them given we were playing at home and the experienced lineup we had (mixed in with some young players of course), but a win is a win. Cech definitely did not do himself any favors in trying to win his starting spot back
I’m rooting for you, Julio. You’ve been written off, but always looked more than decent at u23s.
Really sad about Eddie. I suspect he’s going to be hankering for a move soon.
What about Eddie again?
Classic arseblog assessment regarding Ramsey. “Some nice moments but never got on top of the things in midfield” after ninety-plus minutes against a League One side at the Emirates. Brilliant.
Im glad the Ramsey bias is there for all to see.
What is a good Ramsey performance like? What does it consist of, outside of goals? What does he really bring to the table that a striker doesn’t? Are goals a logical measurement for the game of a Central Midfielder? Why is such a good player always complimented about how he never hides?What about positioning, passing, tackling, intercepting, transitioning play, dribbling and ball control? Is he good at any of those? He has moments, like the winning goals in the 2 FA Cups. Does anyone remember what he did in the rest of the FA Cup campaigns other than scoring the… Read more »
Ramsey is a myth. A decent footballer who is looked at as world class for some reason. Ramsey did fuck all in both finals too. Yes i will forever love him for the winners but go and watch both games he was awful. Cant remember the last time he had a good half let alone 90mins. That season next to Arteta was so good but now just a distant memory.
I’d question that season myself.
For one, his purple patch was for half of it, but even then a few of us would ask “outside of the goals, he didn’t play well” but would get shut down with “DO NOT QUESTION THE WELSH JESUS”.
And yet the ultimate myth, Ozil, is lauded all day long by hipster buffoons who think it’s chic to stick up for his incompetent performances.
206 games played. 41 goals scored. 72 assists made. Arsenal average of 1 key pass every 34 minutes. Fastest player to 50 assists in premier league history. Most prolific chance creator in the premier league when played at #10. Most consecutive games with an assist at 7 games in a row. All of this without a world class goalscorer at Arsenal playing ahead of him for the majority of his time here. Ozil doesn’t have fan boys, or at least I am not one. What I refuse to do is blindly criticize a unique player without trying to understand his… Read more »
I agree with you completely about Ozil, but you don’t need to tear down Ramsey to believe that. Ramsey is a very good player (no, not in the same class as Ozil). I hate the narrative that Ramsey never hides and Ozil disappears, because it is just a lazy excuse not to watch what is actually happening–but it is a little silly to take the contrary position, that Ramsey’s energy, engine, and goals are irrelevant.
Ramsey is my biggest regret as an Arsenal fan in terms of a talented player not reaching his potential. I loved Diaby, but he was held back by his injuries. Ramsey has had injuries but he stil averages more than 20 games a season in his Arsenal career. I put his current plight down to him and Arsene. Ramsey because he lost what made him such a good player. Ramsey had his 13/14 season and let the hype of his attacking play get to his head and he forgot that he actually put up defensive stats that matched Arturo Vidal… Read more »
Okay, I think a lot of what you say here is right. I still don’t like the shorthand versions, which are oversimplified (like your last sentence); he’s almost never as bad as people say. But maybe I have convinced myself too often to see the possibility that Ramsey holds instead of the reality –maybe he’s almost never as good as I hope.
What goals? Ramsey averages about 5 per season. If he actually scored a lot of goals, he’d be worth keeping.
Good to see Maitland niles back much needed backup for Torreira and competition for Xhaxa and Guendouzi. Jenko looked better than ever before. I have seen Kola and Lichtsteiner play worse against comparable opponents. Mhki and Ramsey were shocking. There is no excuse for not being able to impose yourself on a game at home to lower league opposition while trying to get into the first 11 against Liverpool .
Didn’t watch until Iwobi came on, but if putting him on the right is such an issue playing him with Ozil works out — as it is, our three behind the striker swap positions throughout the game. I can see him and Ozil operating well out of the n.10 and wide right positions. Can’t recall which game but they probably have done so already, Palace being a game where it didn’t quite come off, along with most of our game. For me though Iwobi being less effective on the left is kind of a non issue. By that logic, Aubameyang… Read more »
Using Aubameyang is a silly example considering he spent the vast majority of his senior career playing LW and only convert to the striker role 3-4 seasons ago.
1) Cech – Clearly ball at feet is problematic for him. Attempted dribble nearly ended in blushes. Could have been more commanding coming out for that ball that led to their goal maybe….well, he’s just back from injury. 2) Lichsteiner – He’s no nonsense isn’t he. Better today (but of course taking into account opposition). Great poach for the goal. Takes no prisoners. 3) Mustafi – Assured today and was tasked with playing ball out of the back. Got attracted to the ball alittle for their goal but probably right to challenge for that. Issue more who we had behind… Read more »
Ramsey was shit..And his best season was alongside Arteta which was basically what he failed at today.._and ever since tbh.
Bit harsh he will be gone in the summer. I don’t see why everyone hates him.
She’s much better than the male lineswomen.
Did anyone notice how infrequently the ball was passed back to Cech (or as he is known on Bein Sport 3, “Petra Setch”) in the first half, and how awful things looked in the second half when that tactic was employed in the second half? It’s not just the fact that Cech is crap with the ball at his feet, it’s the fact that his teammates know is. And yet… And when the backs lose composure and panic, the default Plan B seems to be “I know what to do – I’ll do a shit in me pants, that’ll work…”… Read more »
Two second halves as well…
I wouldn’t even say Cech is crap with the ball at his feet. He doesn’t move into positions is the real problem. If you watch Leno everytime he passes the ball out the back he runs to receive it whereas Cech stands still so then when opposing players attack he is stationery and can’t move his feet quick enough.
So it’s a “thing”. He puts himself under pressure and his teammates don’t help his cause. I’m much happier with Leno in many respects, but principally his greater assuredness with the ball at his feet.
Guendouzi started everything we did going forward.
Was creative and everywhere and got the assist. We will miss him for Liverpool.
Ramsey tried to perform a midfield distribution type of role and did ok but nothing special.
Let’s hope he studies guendouzi’s performance ahead of Liverpool.
Guendouzi looked every bit of why Arsenal decided they didn’t need to pay Ramsey’s wage demands. They don’t do the same thing – Guendouzi fits into the team and does what we’ve wanted / needed Ramsey to do for years, but he clearly can’t / won’t. Ramsey isn’t a bad footballer, but he doesn’t fit.