Arsenal: Leno, Jenkinson, Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal, Kolasinac, Guendouzi, Torreira, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Aubameyang
Subs: Cech, Mustafi, Elneny, Iwobi, Suarez, Ramsey, Lacazette
—
Arsenal made it three wins in a row, and consolidated their place in the top four, with a 5-1 win over Bournemouth at the Emirates this evening.
Unai Emery rotated again, handing a start to Carl Jenkinson in a back five due to injuries to Stephan Lichtsteiner and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, while Nacho Monreal, Laurent Koscielny, Matteo Guendouzi, Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emery Aubameyang also returned to the starting line-up.
The Gunners scored an early goal against Southampton on Sunday, and it was a similar story again tonight. Koscielny played it out wide to Kolasinac who headed it forward, got it back and played a first time ball to Ozil who was unmarked. The German drove into the box and in his inimitable style clipped the ball into the ground and beyond Boruc to make it 1-0.
The game was being played mostly in the Bournemouth half, but there were warning signs when King headed over in the 15th minute, and the visitors shifted formation to counter the Arsenal domination. It almost paid dividends in the 19th minute when King sent Fraser through on goal. Leno made the save, the rebound fell to Gosling but Koscielny was there to make a crucial block.
We weren’t really creating, but in the 27th minute we went further ahead. Bournemouth gave the ball away cheaply at the back. Mkhitaryan picked it up, played it to Ozil who immediately returned the ball to the Armenian who finished first time to double the lead. 2-0.
The lead was almost immediately cut however. Guendouzi was careless on the edge of our box, caught in possession, and as he claimed a non-existent foul Mousset rolled the ball home to make it 2-1.
King picked up a booking for a dive in our box, while Sokratis went into the book for a crunching foul in midfield. The first half played out with neither side able to fashion a good chance on goal, and the Gunners went into the break with the one goal lead.
An early goal is always welcome, and that’s what we got again. Arsenal took a short free kick in the 46th minute, played it backwards, then worked it down the right, Mkhitaryan took it, played it across the box, it came to Koscielny whose finish crept over the line. Aubameyang made sure but the goal was given to the captain. 3-1.
Torreira shot over when a corner broke to him on the edge of the box, Ozil almost made it 4-1 but was denied by the post, and Auba went through but couldn’t find a finish. Bournemouth brought on Charlie Daniels for Jordan Ibe, Gosling took a shot which deflected off Monreal and crashed back off the bar, before Unai Emery made his first chance bringing on Alex Iwobi for Kolasinac in the 57th minute.
Within a minute the Gunners had scored again. Mkhitaryan picked it up deep in our half, he drove forward then played a perfect pass through to Aubameyang who rounded the keeper and made it 4-1. Super counter-attacking play.
Ozil’s pass to Iwobi at the near post saw the Nigerian flick it just wide of the post, and Arsenal then made another change when Lacazette replaced Mkhitaryan in the 63rd minute. Leno made a good save from a stinging King effort, before Emery made his final substitution when Denis Suarez replaced Aubameyang in the 71st minute.
A foul on Torreira just outside the Bournemouth box helped bring about the fifth. Lacazette took responsibility, curled the free kick over the wall, Boruc got a hand on it but couldn’t keep it out. 5-1.
Koscielny had to defend well, getting a timely toe to a low cross which would have been a tap-in at the back post, and there was a heart in mouth moment when the captain went down injured making a sliding challenge. It looked as if it might be a knee problem, but replays showed he took the opponents studs to the knee so it was a painful one but nothing more serious (hopefully).
In the end, a good performance, a comfortable win and one which improves the goal difference too.
Next up, the derby against the homeless goblins, let’s do them.
Tottenham losing atm, us winning easily. Good evening.
Just need the others to lose now
Tottenham just scored an own goal. LOL
Good ebening you mean
A draw in that game would be better for us, both teams drop 2 points.
I try not to be a petty man, but…… Ahahahahahahhahaaa that second goal!!
Best own goal since Lee Dixon?
Only one of top six didn’t win this evening. Very Spursy. https://twitter.com/clivebullen/status/1089652469645365248 is getting very close.
Let’s hope they continue that next week.
10/10 for the entire team. Our biggest home win of the season. Now let’s beat shitty sp*rs and open up the race for 3rd. With them still to go to City and Liverpool, there’s a good chance we might get to celebrate our beloved St. Totteringham’s day again !!
Best post I’ve read, knocked Sr#;s and positive to the team
What a performance, very fluid and purposeful
My facourite part of that game was sokratis pushing the wall out of the way for lacas goal. Bloggs please make that the 10/10 bonus rating!
Yes, he made a nice Sokratis shaped hole in the wall…loved it.
And he also pushes Jenks (I think) away before hand, so he doesn’t mess up his plan haha
I think Jenkinson deserves a shout out for being solid and at least more dynamic than Litch today. He hasn’t been tested against the best yet (eg. SON and KANE) so I’m not sure whether he should start against Spurs or not. However, he was a solid 6/10 at least today. He would have a higher rating if he contributed more to chance creation as a Wing Back. He’s no Bellerin but an adequate man to block the channel it seems. He also held Fort when the system changed to a back Four. Hold your head up high Jenks, we… Read more »
Agree. Jenkinson was immense
Ozil had an absolute blinder. On par with the Leicester masterclass
When Emery didn’t play Ozil away against Bournemouth because he said they were too physical, I genuinely think he must have confused Bournemouth with Burnley, I guess they both begin with the same letter.
I still agree with that decision. By too physical, I believe he meant they are a high-intensity pressing side, not the burnley long-ball physicality. Ozil upped his game and did far more defensive work today though. Respect.
Ozil can handle high intensity because he has so much skill – he just moves the ball on quickly or shimmies past the opponent. What he does offer is little diagonal runs and being available to pass to. We just look better when he’s like that.
Convenient that u ignore Mkhi’s brilliance on display tonight
Anyone saying that Özil should have never been dropped or “think of all the points wed have if he wasn’t dropped needs to reconsider. This game was proof. His defensive efforts are ten fold better. I think for the long term, Emery had to get tough and he made the right move. Imagine an Özil with his typical masterclass AND doesn’t mind helping the team out defensively. We may have that Özil!
Didn’t take long for this inevitable post. FWIW, correlation does not equal causation. Just because some might have doubted Özil’s ability before his exile, it doesn’t mean his class *after* the exile is a result of being benched. Another way to idly speculate about this is to say, “after Özil put a foot up Emery’s backside with the Instagram post, he finds himself right back in the team and keeps being excellent.” That sequence of events certainly happened in that order, but to seek causality there is just as unfounded as thinking whatever Emery was doing with Özil actually worked.… Read more »
Never said he wasn’t class, Yankee. He’s world class in the offensive half. I’m not making up correlation. If I recall correctly, the correlation would be Emery himself questioning Özil’s commitment fairly openly. Emery demands team defense and effort. If Özil was lacking in that area (which it sure looked like he was prior to these last couple of days), then Emery has every right, no, an obligation to put effort into making Özil or any other player better in the areas they lack.
People seem to have really taken it personally that Emery dared not play Özil. I think it shows big balls for a coach to demand a certain standard from his most talented player and stick to it even when we seemed desperate for creativity.
The teams above us are full of players who don’t have a 1/3 of Özil’s talent. But they make up for it with intensity off the ball. That’s the difference between us and the top 2 teams, and if people put their hurt feelings aside for a minute they’d see the necessity in Emery’s approach.
But Ozil was doing his defensive work. For example the first game against Manchester City. No one mentioned that he had one of his best defensive performances in his Arsenal career. Today there were times when he helped more and times when he helped less but because we played great you remember only the positive ones. Ozil’s work rate is questioned only when we lose.
I appreciate your posts on here Olivije, but I respectfully disagree. His effort has looked much stronger of late. His defensive efforts were consistently questioned by the majority of Gunners fans, win or lose, in the past. Some went as far as questioning his desire for the game, which I personally strongly disagree with. The only think I’m saying is that it seems like Emery had a plan here to get Özil where he needed to be to fit the dynamic of this team. Why else would he have benched him like he did? It wasn’t for no reason at… Read more »
Oh please come of it. What plan is that? Freeze a player out especially when he had no disciplinary issues at the expense of results? Then that plan really sucks giving the fate of coaches nowadays where bad results can easily cost you your job. He has only realized how crap we play without Ozil. That coupled with the pressure mounting on him after series of negative football with the BATE lost climaxing the lot. I will say his call on Ozil is a panic call rather than any plan you so badly want to push.
At times it might appear that Özil is being held to a higher standard than other less talented players.
But I think Emery knows Özil is mature enough to understand that we demand more of him precisely because he’s the most talented player in the squad. It was a smart move by Emery to make Mesut one of the team captains. A little bit of carrot, a little bit of stick, and it seems to be working.
Ozil will deservedly get the headlines but I also loved every minute of Mhkitaryan’s performance. What a player he is turning out to be for us. If he helps us beat Manure to fourth- all the more sweeter.
This was Mhkitaryan showing his Dortmund form. Let’s hope for a lot more of the same.
That through ball to Aubameyang though!
You know is Ozil guy is pretty good
This
Dat Ozil guy, surely!
Ha, when you’re so happy with your comment that you come back later to reaffirm it.
Emery’s tough love job on him seems to be working.
Mkhi did more than 60 than Ozil did in 90, but very positive from both
The fact that Ozil was also brilliant means you should change your name to fictions.
Let’s not start a non existent competition between them. Particularly as they linked up beautifully.
Are you afan in disguise?
i know guendouzi gave away a cheap goal but, damn isn’t that kid something else…he reminds of yaya toure of barcelona.
Matteo Duracell Guendouzi
He does tend to hang onto the ball that shade too long, inviting tackles. Normally not so much of a problem when not on his own on the edge of our box.
His enthusiasm and running are infectious though.
Meanwhile Giroud with a worldclass assist to sink the spuds
The look on Trippier’s face as it went in… then hearing the Chelsea fans sing You’re fu*king shit ? brilliant
Trippier should get FPL points for that finish, so smooth.
Henry like ?
Amazing composure to slot it home like that. Goal of the week contender?
Absolutely! ?
Hey, that was nice! Thanks lads.
Guendoozi had a shocker. Hopefully Shaka can slot back into the midfield for the NLD and Guendo plops his behind on the bench. Masterclass from Emery and Mkhitaryan. Ozil positive today also. Up the Arse
Did you actually see the game? Guendouzi played well, a coupke of mistakes aside.
He was my MoM
I actually did m8. Apart from that pass to Lacazette, Guendo repeatedly slowed play down and invited pressure on himself. Next rubbish out of your mouth is probably that Ozil had a better performance than Mkhi.
I would love to meet you in real life.
Sully, you have to stop being so hard on yourself.
Obviously an Ozil hater. Must have really upset you to see a world class player
I can tell that you are a very astute observer of football so I’ll just leave it there.
He was ok, but the kid absolutely WILL NOT shoot the ball. It can be maddening watching him reach the box with momentum and then pull up and pass sideways or backwards. Let it rip!
I said a couple of weeks ago that the wind was in United’s sail, and I thought they’d finish above us, but Sp*rs we’re riding their luck, had the more difficult fixtures and were very catchable.
And it now looks like they’re about to implode in typically hilarious fashion.
Turning them over on Sat will certain give us the momentum, we should go straight for the throat, they are there for the taking.
Mkhitaryan excellent MOTM
Beautiful, beautiful goals I enjoyed all of them immensely
The number of goals in general that have been scored by the top six this year is incredible. City and lpools goal difference is scary. Team 7 onwards are <= 0 for GD. How often does that happen?!
Perfectly executed match against a weakened Bournemouth-side. We had some shaky minutes but overall this was in control. Big shout out for the whole team tonight, no one had a bad game really, 7-8s on everyone with Mkhitaryan and Ozil shining. It will be a delicate, tough selection for Saturday! Crucial points…
The 3 way battle for a CL spot suddenly becomes 4 way fight for 2 places.
Great performance except the rush of blood to the head from young Mateo but he’s 19. He didn’t shrink, he went on with his game, top man. Mkhitaryan my MOTM. Now if you would have said I’d be giving him top marks a month ago I’d would have said you were mad. In the last two games he has come to life. I did notice that he had somewhat of a free role as many times he came from midfield rather than on the right and this suites him much better. Coupled with Ozil gliding around like his old self,… Read more »
Good saves from Leno over last week, now if we can just sort his distribution out.
That Mkhitaryan run and pass for Aubameyang’s goal though. Not easy to pick that out and weight it so precisely running at full pelt, he was excellent tonight and a serious contender to start on Saturday.
Shout out to Jenkinson as well, thought he did really well.
Get in.
I liked Jenkison playing one touch into that wide space. It was effective. We made really good use of those wide pockets on both flanks (especially Kolasinac and Ozil with their runs).
Lacazette, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang and Ozil ALL scored:) Is that the first time this has happened? LMAO!
Yes.
He gets a hard time from many but generally we play much better with Mikhi in the team
Hopefully Emery dragged Ozil out of his comfort zone and back to his best. Is really hard to motivate players that achieved so much.
We have the best possible psychology and s***s the worst. Lets see. What if?
Please let the football gods keep Ozil & Mhiki fit and firing like this for the rest of the season. Just imagine how funny it would be to finish ahead of Spuds and them to be back to EL
I am so happy at the moment but I will be over the moon when we best this tiny tots.
Great team work today with ozil and makh exceptional
It’s going pretty well for us! Micki and Mesut brilliant today.
But the next two are going to define the season. 4 points and I’m very optimistic about top 4.
Has Emery sorted out Ozil? Has Emery started to make the team purr? It’s up for debate folks!? Well played the Arsenal! Bring on the spuds….
The look laca had while placing the ball down on the spot , I’d have bet my house it was gonna be in the back of the net.
Also brilliant by our two creators Özil and Mkhi. Both will prove to be real assets as we approach the business end. Fun game overall.
COYG ?
Not going to pretend I didn’t doubly enjoy us attacking well but also attacking well with the much maligned back 3 haha
Why so many arguments over Guendouzi and Ozil? whats wrong with this fanbase? The team plays well, gets a solid 5-1 result, and some people still got to argue about an individuals performance.
The team won, won well, lets enjoy it ffs.
I’m getting engaged on Saturday. Hopefully we win,and is a sign of good things to come
breakings news !!!! spud new home is again late because they have decided to remove the useless trophy room and open a new cellar instead , so many bottle collecting over the years
from the people who brought you “finishing 3rd into 2 horse title race” the new sequel “finishing 5th into 3 horse title race”
Good game. We are coming into some fluidity now and form. As mentioned, there is no ABSOLUTE preferential formation. It all depends on the opponents set up and our own strength and weaknesses. In this case, we ended up with a back 4 later and Iwobi on for the excellent Kolasinac. It was also in some ways to cover for the weaker Jenkinson on the right. Also noteworthy how high Koscielny was for much of the game (which reaped reward with his goal) as we added numbers to overload plus our players were all over the pitch. There seem to… Read more »
Someone please tell me Torreira is not suspended for the NLD having picked up the (fifth?) booking last night