Result: Arsenal 1 – 2 Manchester City
Competition: Premier League
Date: 1 January 2022
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Arsenal: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Lacazette
Subs: Leno, Holding, Cedric, Tavares, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Pepe, Lokonga, Smith Rowe
Arsenal lost 1-2 to Manchester City at home due to a late goal from Rodri and contentious refereeing decisions. Saka put the Gunners ahead in the first half but City levelled through a controversial penalty in th second half.
Gabriel was also unfairly sent off for a second yellow but the home side defended well. Unfortunately, Rodri snuck in a goal deep into stoppage time to take all three points for th visitors.
Arsenal may have lost the match but left the pitch with their heads held high as this was one of their best performances against a top team in years.
Pre-Match
Arsenal started the game with their most in-form team and players. The settled midfield and forward positions remained the same from the previous game against Norwich.
Ramsdale kept his place in goal and Tomiyasu returned at right back after recovering from Covid-19.
The biggest absence from the game was manager Mikel Arteta who was recovering at home from his second bout of Covid-19. His assistant, Albert Stuivenberg, took his place on the bench.
First Half
Man City was a big test for this resurgent Arsenal team and for the first 10 minutes, the home side matched the boys in blue very well.
We started with a structured defensive formation, cutting out City’s passing lanes and only looked to press when the ball reached the halfway line. Sterling tested Arsenal with his dangerous jinking runs but the likes of Tomiyasu, Partey and White were often in place to crowd out the tricky English winger.
Arsenal had their own tricky Englishman in the form of Saka who often took on Ake down the right.
Man City had a couple of good chances within the opening minutes with Jesus going close from a corner but Arsenal had a decent shout for a penalty on the 9th minute during a daring counter attack.
Ramsdale drove the ball into the left wing area and Martinelli took down the pass expertly mid-air. He shifted the ball towards Lacazette who put Odegaard through down the right. Ederson stuck a leg out and seemed to catch Odegaard’s foot, especially from some angles during VAR replays. Unfortunately, it only earned Arsenal a corner.
By mid-point of the first half, Manchester City started dominating possession but Arsenal stood firm with Partey exceptional in winning the ball and redistributing it to his teammates.
30 minutes in, Arsenal’s composure was rewarded with a goal. Ben White intercepted the ball and started a counter attack with lovely exchanges in midfield. Odegaard moved it to the left to an onrushing Tierney. The left back slid the ball into the centre of the penalty box towards a couple of Arsenal’s forwards.
In the end, it was Saka who stepped forward to strike the ball into the bottom corner to send Arsenal fans into delirium. 1-0 Arsenal
The Gunners continued to counter well with Martinelli terrorising the City defence with a curled effort which went just wide and a sensational dribble from the half way line into the left channel deep in the penalty box only for the ball to slip inches past the far post.
It was an excellent first half from Arsenal who were often outplayed by Manchester City in recent years.
Second Half
Arsenal began the second half the same way they ended, looking purposeful in defence while attacking quickly when they won the ball. It was Martinelli again who threatened immediately but was wiped off the ground by Rodri with a horrendous tackle outside the box. Shocking that it wasn’t even called for a foul.
A refereeing decision was at the centre of the game on 50 minutes due to a dive by Bernardo Silva. The midfielder made a jinking dribble into the penalty box and looked set to fall while there was a slight tug by Xhaka.
The referee waved it off intiially but with slow motion replays, the tug looked incriminating and the penalty was finally given. Xhaka was given a yellow and so was Gabriel for protesting. 1-1 City
Arsenal almost got ahead immediately when Dias headed back to an onrushing Ederson. The ball looped past Ederson and looked to be trickling into the net if not for Ake’s goal-line clearance. The ball fell to Martinelli’s feet but he could only shank it wide.
A big turning point happened just moments later as Ederson made a long pass into Jesus in the centre circle. Gabriel was just behind him as his compatriot spun and turned away from the defender. Jesus’ fall was theatrical at best but it was enough to convince the ref that Gabriel deserved a second yellow. A farcical decision.
Lacazette and Saka were duly replaced by Smith Rowe and Elneny accordingly as Arsenal held on and defended deep to hold onto the result.
It was a testament to Arsenal’s quality that despite being down a man for most of the half, they hung on for the draw and were competitive throughout. But it was not to be as City stole a win deep into stoppage time. Rodri pounced onto a weak clearance and tapped in from the six yard box to disbelieve from the home team and crowd. 1-2 Man City
Much of the criticism of Arsenal has been their poor performances in the big games but despite the loss today, the performance was a major step forward in the growth of this young team.
The Gunners should be proud of themselves. Continue playing like this, and they will compete strongly for fourth place.
Cheated.
Again
Should’ve been pen on Odegaard. Bernardo is a diving fish flopping cheat. Ref shouldn’t even be reffing youth games. Xhaka should’ve gone to Roma. But still proud of the performance, lung busting performances from everyone. We deserved to win and then some, completely dominated the bald fraud.
The offals had two penalty calls to make today. They got one wrong.
They got them both wrong.
The offals had two pen calls to make today. They got one wrong.
Xhaka played well except for the penalty. Diver ran into Xhaka and dived. Xhaka shouldn’t have pulled the short though.
Wonder if being bone headed like Xhaka is non negotiable?
It is irritating that it struck Arsenal, but I think most fans hate both shirt pulling and shouting at the ref.
Xhaka has always been our Achilles heels….the shirt pull inside the penalty box is so unnecessary
What hurts the most is the fact that he has been a mainstay in the team since he first signed and his brain farts have been constant.
Could this Xhaka be a secret agent with compromising photos or info on our coaching staff which he uses to blackmail his way into starting 11?
Please let 2022 be the year we finally get rid of this idiotic, self-destructive ball and chain
I’m not gonna put that on xhaka today we played f**king fantastic , partey bossed them even with ten men Tommie had sterling in his pocket all day keep the heads up, any team watching that today will know they have to bring their A game to play us.
After Norwich I commented it is building with xhaka. Yep, he was slow to cover, stuck out his leg and then pulled the shirt. Damn it that is so xhaka…everything going your way and he pisses all over it.
Xhaka is Xhaka and will always be Xhaka (that’s how it goes).
He is 6.5/10 player, a leader, a bit stupid but he’s the best we have right now on the squad to support Partey
I’ll be the first to cheer when we got a better player and or replacement for him but till that time, I’ll support him, especially since he’s giving all his, kind of limited, best.
I think Lokonga is an upgrade on Xhaka personally.
not just yet
Everyone always talks about Xhaka’s leadership qualities but I don’t see it. He’s prone to hot headed/emotional outbursts and stupid mistakes, he regularly lets the team down. A good leader should be leading by example on the pitch, he has rarely done that….I’m sure he has great timekeeping skills and other attributes Managers rate but surely in Football what happens on the pitch should count above all?
I am equally pissed off by the shirt pulling resulting in a penalty, all I ask for is consistency. Next time I see a corner and see shirt pulling I wanna see a pen. Just as long as its not us.
I agree, as would Peter Walton as he contradicts himself.
All that hard work, just to get robbed by Xhaka
Glass ceiling with xhaka in the team, move him on quickly.
blame refs all you want, we had chances to kill the game and then Gabriel loses his head in the space of two minutes and throws the whole game which is completetly inexcusable. A better team would have won that game regardless of refereeing.
It is all xhaka, if he doesn’t act like xhaka Gabriel wouldn’t been sent off.
Two wrongs dont make a right. Dont know how you can ever defend getting a yellow because another one of your players gives away a clumsy penalty. They both cost us the game.
I hate to agree with you, but this is correct. All in all, an encouraging display. The better team was wearing red and white today. Also, whoever called St. Pep the bald fraud, i love that. What a pack of whiney, cheating shits he has. Barca at Peak Pep was a diving pack of @unts. (I include Messi in that, as he’s the best player in the world doesn’t need to cheat and yet he still dives – A LOT.) Its disgusting to see his players – arguably he may have the best 11-15 players on one team now –… Read more »
Proud of the effort. We are getting there with our recent performances. Can understand missed sitters and fouls but how many times can Xhaka can just get away with it.
How does VAR not see that Silva dives before the Xhaka tug anyway. Shouldn’t Silva be given a yellow for diving, thereby making the Xhaka tug meaningless?
Why didn’t the ref go and look at the Ode penalty?
Make it make sense.
Either way, proud of the lads. More of this please!!!
Such an electrifying performance. Gutted. We all know Xhaka and Holding weak links so once they are replaced the future is red. Prick of a ref
I thought Granit played really well and his example drives the younger players.
Edison was out of control on Odegaard and was lucky. Xhaka was censured fully by a poor ref.
Xhaka could score 3 own goals, injure our own player and get red carded in a Champions League final and some apologists will say he was hard done by, and his locker room team talk was the reason we went to the Final in the first place. The man is a disgrace, season after season and time and time again.
Apart from the fact that he had a great match and the penalty decision an utter disgrace.
Apart from that he was ok and the team played excellently well. But his mistake literally cost us 3 points? And this isn’t the first time this happened, nor will it be the last. He’s a liability to the team when on the field, and this is just another example in a long line of on-field tragedies.
No, you are wrong, no arguments neded as you dont accept any
Xhaxa is a decent player what i dont get is why people dont understand why an upgrade in his position transforms this team.
Just like any decent Arsenal fan won’t blame Martinelli for missing an open goal and Gabriel for being naive, we won’t blame Xhaka for a poor and inconsistent ref being conned by Bernado.
If Atwell hadn’t set a screen on Martinelli, he might have buried it. He had to run around Atwell, in the box, to get the shot off. How often do you see refs inside the box?
Xhaka is a brainless idiot. Shouldn’t be at Arsenal right now. He always makes something that ruins our games. It will keep goingh until he is sold.
Let’s buy a new starter and shoot this guy into the space!!!
The problem for Xhaka is that his card has been well and truly marked by these refs. There is bias (whether or not unconscious) that means they are quicker to judge his fouls more harshly than some we could mention. We see it time and again, the ‘If that was Xhaka’ moment. How Harry Kane was allowed to stay on in that game against Liverpool is the clearest example of that. The refs in this league are shockingly poor
Xhaxa played well but his lack of mobility put him in a bad position.
Exactly – this.
Until we upgrade on that traffic cone, this shit is gonna keep happening.
He can’t defend.
Oh enough of that shit please.
You can’t say he played well, and his example drives the youngsters, when another one of his stupid moments basically changes the whole game.
Stop being comfortable with mediocrity. We need to drive weak links out and build on the quality that we do have
well said sir
Mediocrity is generous. The man is a longstanding liability, with zero self-examination to boot. Never has a player’s defenders exceeded their defensive ability by these many orders of magnitude.
I agree. Xhaka is a disgrace. No other player in the world makes mistakes.
His example drives the younger players?! I’m fairly sure if I can tell all the younger players in the team are far better at playing football than Xhaka then they’ve all worked it out too. They’re probably as desperate to see an upgrade on Xhaka as we are.
Xhaka is a horse in a land of cars and Holdings hair deserves praise but he’s out of his depth
No offence but fuck off mate. Both Xhaka & Holding put in shifts & deserve credit.
Not their fault that the ref & var were shit.
Don’t give the ref an opportunity. Which Xhaka did.
Well, Ederson gave the ref a decent opportunity and he did nothing.
It was a match where the officials started by making a few mistakes and then it ran away from them. They don’t do it on purpose, but we just have a low standard of referees in this country.
Watch your language unless talking about the ref , there’s children present. V proud of Arsenal today and identifying what I consider to be the glaring issues in our exciting squad, in Xhaka and Holding being a tier below the high level now required is not worthy of your abuse. As another poster said, Xhaka apologists will say anything – now its celebrated to put in a shift even when your actions cause the team to lose its advantage, same with holdings header. Fellas has one job and its not to put in a shift
We played brilliantly as a team, both the starting 11 & subs that came on, yet instead of recognising that & simply supporting the side some have to stick in a sly dig at our own players to further some strange cult like narrative.
A bit rich going on about Xhaka apologists when his name is literally the 1st thing out of your mouth regardless of the spirit & class the entire team showed.
No offence but fuck off mate.
I don’t recall the ref or VAR pulling Bernardo’s shirt inside the box
None taken.
You’re right, neither pulled his shirt but everyone in the studio agrees the shirt pull wasn’t enough to bring him down & it was a dive.
I’m actually fine with that being given a pen, even though I disagree. It’s more the inconsistencies in not awarding ours that I find frustrating.
Also find it a bit frustrating that Lescott & Rio gives our players the benefit of dount more than some of our supporters. Especially after watching a performance like that.
Yes he was on the way down.
If Xhaka didn’t have a hand full of shirt, there’s no decision to be looked at. There’s no defence for that with everything caught on camera
And yet ppl that have no connection to arsenal did put up a defence whilst some of our support are wetting themselves at the opportunity to make an incredible performance all about how shit they think Xhaka (& strangely Holding) is.
are you an arsenal fan? you’re entitled to think we’re better off with xhaka and that he’s the root of all our problems. but have a rant at him in 5 comments in a row and spread hate on him in your name’s totally unnecesary. show some class mate this ain’t chelsea’s blog
No offence but fuck off mate. I don’t recall the ref or VAR checking the Odergard penalty claim.
No offence taken.
Refs make mistakes – how many times have we said that? Which makes it all the more important to take care of business on the pitch, and not have the same player make another stupid mistake, to ruin every other players hard work
Spot on the beast. Those two dimwitted aliens saying that about xhaka who actually had a decent game
The fact that people consider a game in which he gave away a penalty “a decent game” tells you how low people’s expectations are.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these “controversial” calls usually happen to him.
Decent game, and gave away a stupid penalty in a tight game.
You call people dimwitted aliens?
Not sure how this comment’s passed site guidelines. If we were all to express ourselves on number 34 in this fashion, the discussion would be nothing but expletives.
Yep. Xhaka has a long history of gaffs but the ref and VAR were the reasons we lost today.
Very frustrating. Brilliant first half undone in 10 minutes. Xhaka a liability…and Gabriel will miss the Tottenham match. And ESR didn’t score as substitute…
Annoying and unjust.
Actually think he only misses the Cup game.
I think that would only be the case if it were a straight red card, but could be wrong. (Not sure how many times I’ve had to check the rules on this and still don’t know, ha.)
Gabriel misses Nottingham Forest
Really? Sweet
No he won’t. He’ll miss Liverpool semifinal 1st leg only
Yes you’re right
Yesterday I didn’t believe we could win, today I can’t believe we didn’t win…
To me, this is why Xhaka shouldn’t be an Arsenal MF. Regardless of how he does, there’s always a chance he has a brainfart that messes everything up, and he doesn’t seem to learn
He was excellent all game. It was a clear dive (which the ref intially called). You cannot blame Xhaka for that regardless of your opinion on him
Well said. It is such a tired argument to blame Xhaka as soon as something goes wrong. It was poor refereeing and a dive.
Indeed. Plus the first city goal not the turning point of this game. The red card was.
The first yellow was a result of the penalty being awarded against Xhaka
Did Xhaka ask him to go scuff the penatly spot ?
He got a yellow for dissent, not for scuffing the spot.
He did what he did to take away some disadvantage for his team, he was unlucky to get caught, unlike Ramsdale.
All stems from another moment of madness from an idiot
The 1st yellow was a result of Gabby not keeping his mouth shut after the penalty was given. A yellow for dissent is not new to football.
And that’s fine, but if his card and Saka’s farcical card are the standard for a yellow for dissent, then City should have had several in this gsme and in nearly every game they play for how they hound the referee in packs after every call, seeking cards for th opponent. And that’s just the calls that have already gone their way.
It is only tiring because he keeps making the same mistakes. To see people defending his routine mistakes is even more tiring. Youbare defending the inexcusable.
Xhaka grabbed his shirt largely due to his lack of speed making him prone to getting beat there. You simply can’t do that in the box.
The question has to be put this way: “Was the shirt pulling a reason for Bernardo to not complete his attacking effort?” And the answer is: No, it was not. he dived well before Xhaka grabbed him. No penalty. End of story.
That as blogs put it was very much a penalty we would be calling for if it were Rodri doing it to Martinelli. Xhaka just keeps putting the team in these spots repeatedly, largely down to his lack of speed.
Actually watching it again, it does look like a dive but Xhaka was clumsy grabbing his shirt. He did play well, credit where credit is due. I just think there are so many of these clumsy incidents with him that he does get scrutinised more, although most players at some point will do something like that.
Disagree he stuck a leg out and pulled his shirt. We need an upgrade to move forward. Thought we were brilliant first half.
Agreed. Xhaka can’t be one of our starting midfielders.
Rubbish. A total dive and ref should have stuck to his original decision. Same as our penalty call which was a clear penalty.
If that was in their box on one of our players, we would want a pen, but our player would be booked for simulation.
I thought the penalty could’ve been for the shirt tug or for sticking a leg out. I definitely would want a penalty if I was a Citeh fan, and I’ve seen penalties given for much less. Yes we could also feel hard done by with VAR, but Xhaka shouldn’t leave refs with these decisions to make. He’s unecessarily walking a fine line. I also disagree that the penalty wasn’t the turning point of the game. Gabriel got yellowcarded because of the penalty, and we ended up conceding and going down to 10 men. Both directly related to the penalty. Saying… Read more »
Agreed. Clear penalty. I kind of like that this lot on here are mostly saying no penalty. Sign of stronger support to go with a strong and fresh team. I like where this is going!
Today was a kick in the bollocks at the end, but it really is mostly positive stuff. Hopefully the boys take this out on Sp*rs in the next league game!
Why did he has to do the shirt pulling?? That was clumsy
Because he’s an idiot
Well explained mate.
And no other player does it.
I usually defend Xhaka and I also agree that it was a dive from that little idiot, but Xhaka did use his hand.
He did it because his main weekness (slowness) was exposed spectacularly against a very good dribbler.
I think the swiss worked hard all the game but if he doesn’t learn how to handle his weeknesses it will continously cost us a lot in the future.
Xhaka hasn’t been the only slow professional footballer, but how many great, slow midfielders/defenders have there been over the years, who find ways to not make their lack of pace constantly cost the team
There are not much, but there are some.
Matic, Busquets for example…
Mertesacker was slow, but knew how to compensate
Odegaard made a mistake for the penalty against Liverpool. Xhaka did the same thing today, make no mistake about it. The difference is that Odegaard’s is a one off, while Xhaka does this time and time again in big games. And he never learns. Make stupid mistakes in the box? Check. Slide in two footed? Check. Slide in with your studs up? Check. Defenders are all taught now to stand on your feet and don’t grapple forwards in the box. Xhaka can’t be taught though, can he? He did hold the keys to his house and legend has it never… Read more »
The question has to be put this way: “Was the shirt pulling a reason for Bernardo to not complete his attacking effort?” And the answer is: No, it was not. he dived well before Xhaka grabbed him. No penalty. End of story.
And another question would be, “Is dangling a leg when the attacker went past you and tugging his shirt in the box worthy of a pen?” Yes it’s a soft penalty, but it’s not 100% the wrong call. Giving the ref a decision to make is a big mistake, especially when it involves TWO grey area events in the box. And having us come up with these contextual questions is the epitome of Xhaka. End of story.
Agree with Jeremy, terrible VAR decision, Xhaka was excellent today.
Yes he was…. until he wasn’t. Sadly, an all too familiar story.
It was a dive, but before that dive it was a penalty. Just like we should have had a penalty in the first half.
Dive or not. Xhake made the decision easy for the ref, by pulling his shirt. Anybody with a brain knows not to do that in the box
He was not excellent all game. He was what he always has been, a passable body in midfield roughly slightly below the level of Alex Song. With the added feature of a game-killing mistake.
He was actually brilliant today as he has since he has returned apart from Everton match. Player dived and penalty an utter disgrace
No, but you can blame him for pulling the shirt of a known diver for absolutely no reason, giving the numpty on VAR an (absurd, yet apparently sufficient) reason to demand the penalty be given.
It was absolutely a dive, but Xhaka is an idiot for letting him dive. Absolutely suicidal to pull someone’s shirt in the box for no reason whatsoever.
The issue with that is you can bet that’s exactly what Xhaka thinks, so he’ll make no effort to learn and change.
And this will happen again, and he’ll act hard done by, again.
Commentators said it was given for shirt holding. I though he was trying to stop the poor lad falling on the floor.
If it was for shirt holding we may as well all give up now as all sides will end up with 7 players on the pitch.
Haha good one 😀
This is exactly quintessential Xhaka. He’s actual a very good midfielder, he played a very good game today. But he can’t just avoid doing something that ultimately turns the game against us.
He really is a good midfielder, but at best he needs to be a bench player for us and not in our first 11.
Xhaka fouled the guy twice. First he upends him with his leg, then he tries to pull his shirt. The ref was terrible today, but why even put yourself in that position. It was weak, it turned the entire game and we lost what looked like a certain win. The attacker is always going to look for contact. Xhaka is a professional, an international, and he should know this, but he got turned inside out and manhandled him. As soon as it went to VAR it was obvious which way it was going to go. Proud of the boys for… Read more »
A clear dive. He had a great match.
I can’t stand Xhaka and I still believe he should never have been allowed to wear the Arsenal shirt after his outburst a while back.
Having cleared that up, that was a dive all day long. How can you fall down forwards if you are being held by the shirt? the guy was already in free fall. 100% dive.
Yes, but it goes back to Xhaka again and his reputation. These days, I’ve come to believe that if really it’s ever in doubt the refs will always penalise Xhaka.
Their perception of him is absolutely warped! But we can keep giving them that opportunity. We need to get Xhaka out of our first 11
I had believed we would win this game all month. We played and competed extremely well. I like my team.
Why does it always has to be Xhaka…
Xhaka is as xhaka does
To be fair, if that was anyone else the ref wouldn’t have even considered a penalty. Because it was Xhaka and he has a reputation…
Unfortunately, no matter what he does he can’t shake that reputation. He’s a good player, but he can no longer be in our starting 11. That reputation has robbed us of too many crucial points
You can’t keep letting him off like that! There was no need to pull the shirt. They player was in the middle of falling to the ground so Nigel Winterburn said?
It’s a well deserved reputation. Leave referees, Arsene Wenger pointed out he doesn’t have tackling technique fit for the league. That was a manager who would defend the indefensible at times. So Xhaka’s tackling was beyond indefensible in 2015. In 2022, it’s just farce.
That one hurt.
But how good were we?? COYG!
Absolutely! But that’s partly why it is a hard one to take – to play like that and come away with nothing is galling.
Proud of the Arsenal. Definitely on the up and today was confirmation of that.
Yeah, but we didn’t make it..
I genuinely do believe the
best team lost today.
Really fantastic effort by the boys. But once again a brain fart by Xhaka causes us grief. When is he ever gonna learn? Was there even a reason to grab his shirt? We all know the city player dived, but this is Xhaka and his reputation goes before him!!! So, so frustrating.
Good effort, especially after going a man down. All that training on maintaining defensive shape was (almost) worth it. Replace Xhaka with competence, I think we take this.
Very enjoyable game. At least until the ref remembered who pays the bills
I’ve never seen a better CDM performance in my own eyes than Partey’s today.
I’ve never seen an Arsenal team so good in my life.
I adore every single one in Arsenal right now, even Xhaka, even Auba.
Thank you Arteta and Edu, I’m sorry Kroenkes.
COYG
You are right…this was Partey best game. Shame he has to go to AFCON just after settling in and putting together a run of great performances.
Unbelievable Partey. Hopefully Auba knocks him out of AFCON at the group stage, we need him back.
Yes sorry Ghanians but im sure you can understand….
No more Xhaka, ps
Thanks Arteta and Edu. No thanks superleague Kroenkes.
yeh, forgot about that one for a sec
You probably haven’t seen our 2002-2005 squad. They were the best Gunners team ever, the current one is still far away from that level.
Still, I am beginning to seriously root for this team to give us some spectacular success in a few years.
I fucking hate City.
Club without soul, fueled by oil.
I feel nothing. Plastic club.
I swear almost all Man City games Kve ever seen (against us or not) they always get the suspect VAR calls. Thats why they can’t do anything in the UCL because they do VAR right..
Something we can all agree on.
I know I don’t know them & I’m sure the feeling will pass eventually but Silva & Rodri are the biggest pricks going
Wow. What a horrible, horrible bullshit. So proud of the lads but so dissaspointed by the outcome.
Lots of could have beens in this game but from a big picture perspective, what a difference in the way we played today compared to the recent years.
Proud of everybody in a red shirt today, expect for one idiot.
Xhaka needs to fuck off from this club, and anybody that disagrees can fuck right off too.
Arteta is building a real team here
No need for that. Even if Xhaka’s foul was a bit silly and we’re fully aware of that, let’s stick behind our players for once! He will be super important player for us for the rest of the season (whether one likes that or not), so let’s focus only on the positives which were plenty today.
Xhaka super important?
Tell me ONCE were Xhaka has put in a big performance against a top side, or when the team’s back is against the wall.
Now tell me how many times he’s cost the team with his stupidity, and we’ve ended up with a loss.
This was a big performance from Xhaka, he played the key pass for the goal, and honestly he should never have been exposed like that for the penalty he gave away. He’s got a chequered enough past that I wouldn’t much mind if he were to move on, but if you take this game on its own this was a great performance from him and the entire team, and it was sheer bad luck that we didn’t get 3 points out of it rather than this burning sense of injustice.
It’s very frustrating, I know. We’re all rightfully upset. But honestly, as heart breaking as the ending was, this game really makes me hopeful for the future. We really went out and showed we can compete with the biggest players.
We just need to ensure we get a starting 11 caliber MF to replace Xhaka this window and we can make top 4
Missed my point. All I’m saying is that at the moment it’s clear that for Arteta Xhaka is a starting 11 player and one of the leaders in the dressing room, and that automatically makes him super important. Once you realise that, whether we like him or not doesn’t matter at all. Would I like us to get someone else instead of him in the summer? Of course, but until that happens he will be in the team and today’s match is all about the big picture + the team as a whole doesn’t deserve any negativity. Let’s stick together… Read more »
Xhaka’s foul was A BIT silly? My daughter throws food to the floor at the dinner table and that was a bit silly. I still gave her a scolding off to make sure she learns not to do it again. Xhaka is a supposed professional who makes another error leading to a goal in a big game, costing us 3 points, and it’s only a bit silly? Will he also try to blame the referees and an unjust reputation in the PL for this penalty? He’s an idiot.
A “bit” silly, “super” important, whatever. Totally besides the point.
The point is Xhaka is an idiot.
Totally agree. Anyone who thinks Xhaka makes our team better are blind and ignorant. I’m so angry
With all due respect your above comment about Xhaka and anyone disagreeing with you fucking off makes you look a bit of a plonker!
Oh no Bill, he looks like a plonker. Anyone who has a second of consideration for Xhaka in arsenal’s future looks like a right eejit!!!!
I couldn’t care less. Too many idiots on here would defend Xhaka even if he choke slammed their mum in the supermarket.
Enough is enough now
How do I go about fucking right off, if I may ask ?
In the process of fucking off, I guess you turn right?
Or maybe you turn left, because you are ‘fucking right off’
Please bring Xhaka along with you.
That made me chuckle. 🙂
So you want Arteta to f*** right off?
Xhaka’s interview this week mentioned that the only reason he was still at Arsenal was becsuse of Arteta.
Which frustrates me to be honest.
I also want us to move on from him.
I thought Gabriel’s 2 yellows were way more stupid than anything Xhaka did today. Don’t see any hate for him on here in the comments. I think Xhaka had a good game for us today and got cheated by a crap ref and a dive…
we can talk tomorrow about how well we played, about how we deserved to win against the best team in the world, about how they didn’t shoot on target until the 75 minute. but today it sucks to have had the chance to win and just shoot ourselves in the foot
Good shout mate
Xhaka screwed us twice against City this season so far. Sad. Sooner he is gone, the better. He hinders more than he helps. Overall good performance though.
Amazing performance to be proud of. Youngsters make me want to cry they are doing so well. There are very fine lines to why we didn’t win today but I tell you, if we play like this for the rest of the season, we WILL get Top 4. After this, I am confident that we will beat Tottenham. This is the Partey we wanted!
That turn in the first half, absolutely stunning
Just as he leaves for Afcon.
100%
Unfortunately I think Partey is gone for AFCON and won’t be available vs Sp*rs
I was literally crying in the first half.
So many years of disappointment, we’ve come a long way.
Agree completely, and at today’s level, Chelsea are easily within range by end of season. So exciting to be an Arsenal supporter right now and nothing that happened today changes that a bit, for me.
Feels like 3 points stolen away from us. Hurts real bad given my silent optimism
Why does this game feel like the one against Manure? I totally enjoyed and am pleased with this though despite the result. A little bit lesser of the mistakes and we could have had it. Chin up and onwards lads.
Proud of the lads. We went gun for gun with the best team in the league. To a man they stood up. Gabriel will learn, not the smartest thing he’s ever done for the first yellow but the penalty was bollocks anyway, the kid will be a top level CB. Best i’ve seen us play in years. COYG.
We went gun for gun with the best team in the world. There. . .fixed it for you.
That is soooo Thomas Partey to say he was a 4/10, then suddenly drop a 10/10 performance before he buggers off for a month
Bet he gets injured in his last game before coming back too. That would be sods law.
I said it here a couple of months back, Parps major problem with us has been injuries. Everytime he started to gather a head of steam he’d pick up a knock… and on returning, he has to play himself back into form. He’s had too many injuries that have disrupted his progress.
A shame we are losing him now when he’s starting to get back to form!
So gutted, but immensely proud. We deserved much more than this. We were unlucky with both penalty decisions, Martinelli chance, then red card and the late goal after they didn’t even trouble Ramsdale for half an hour with 11 vs 10. Partey was excellent, Tomi great, Gabi is a menace. As Blogs said some days ago – I like this team.
Haven’t felt like that after a game for so many years. So angry at the injustice of the world but immensely proud of the team.
Gabriel is going places, he is actually keeping ESR out of the team, and rightly so (through no fault of ESR).
Will let others talk about the referring “performance” but incredibly proud of this team, do think we’re building something special here. Partey desevedly MotM, his best performance for us, shame it’s happened right before he leaves for AFCON but hopefully he comes back ready to go.
Arrrrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhh. As stupid as Xhaka’s penalty was, what the hell was Gabriel playing at getting booked for scuffing the spot? Really dumb move.
Other those brain farts, we played so good today.
The yellow card was actually for dissent apparently
Call this for what it is Arseblog. Corrupt. The integrity of the game is at stake.
Strongly agree. And Rodri gets a first yellow card for taking his shirt off.
You dont win anything by making excuses.
Oh please go away with this macho ‘excuses’ bullshit. The team thoroughly deserved to win and we’re undone by a referring performance which at best was suspect and at worst downright corrupt.. If a rock fell on someone’s head and they complained of having a headache you’d cite ‘excuses’ and say they should have had the foresight to not stand under the rock. It’s ok to feel hard done by sometimes.
We were undone by a clumsy penalty given away by Xhaka and Gabriel completely losing his head and picking up 2 completely unnecessary yellows in the space of two minutes. If you cant see that your clueless or just downright arrogant .
The referee will be talked about & I agree that if Silva is a penalty then Odegaard’s has to be too,
But Gabriel was stupid with both yellows & Xhaka was criminal. Why tug a shirt when you are in the area? It’s so stupid and this is yet another occasion where he has cost the team.
Xhaka is labelled a ‘leader’ in the dressing room but he has to be sold as soon as possible, he’s a liability who has never learned. Sell him and move on, I’m sick of him.
I know this will be contentious but if it’s possible to take the GX element out of the scenario – it looked like he was pulling B Silva’s shirt to stop him from diving – did anyone else see it like that? He was already falling, it’s not like the shirt tug was stopping any forward momentum, only attempting to prevent downward motion! So it seemed downright silly for the penalty decision to be given based on the shirt tug
There’s just no need to tug the shirt, if he doesn’t do that then it’s not a penalty, simple as that, it’s brainless.
How many more games is he going to cost us?
I think it was more to the situation than shirt pulling, Xhaka also set his foot out in Bernardo’s path. But I hate shirt pulling anyway. Sell Xhaka.
He probably just doesn’t want the guy to lose his teeth. He’s forgotten professional divers don’t have to worry about that.
Granit do you know how easy it is just to not pull a shirt??
He’s a leader. History proves that he’s a really, really shit one though.
I dislike players running up to the ref at every occasion. It’s hard to play good football, but it should be easy to avoid silly cards like Gabriel’s. Only the captain should ever speak to the referee. Nobody should run towards him. Players not following this rule will be sold to Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo in the current window.
Excellent performance, should’ve scored more, massive positives to take from this game
Still can’t believe how we blew the game in that little 5 min stretch
The less said about some of the refereeing the better
Bring pool and spurs on, let’s show them that today’s performance was no fluke!
COYG COYG COYG COYG COYG
I’m 42 and that’s the proudest I’ve ever been of this team. That was heartbreaking but what a team we have on our hands. Crowd was the best I’ve ever heard us. We are the Arsenal
Proud of the young team. Showed commitment, pride, it was enjoyable to watch. Tough to take, all major decisions against, officiating was shocking today.
Pained.
Arsenal lost to Arsenal… and the VAR.
There was no way City would win that.
Xhaka is a liability to this team. We learned nothing new in this game. Refs are still blind when it’s convenient. Xhaka is still a fool. And our young team will be a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately such young shoulders need to carry the weight of Granit Xhaka pulling us down.
Crushing because the players still on the pitch deserved more with that effort. Putting aside VAR, Xhaka’s foul, idiotic Gabriel missed opportunities, all that nonsense… We went toe to toe with with one of the best sides in Europe right now and shone. We dominated them in the first half and held them off for almost all of the second, eventually letting in 1 from open play. That’s what I take from it and we will only get better. There are so many talking points but I put a lot down to immaturity and I can’t help thinking if we… Read more »
The most painful bit is that this was our best performance all season. We outplayed City until xhaka happened and a biased referee did the rest to ensure we didn’t get a result. What would it take to bundle xhaka out of Arsenal?
Well played boys.
I am going to say something which might go against the grain somewhat, but I don’t think the referee had as much of a shocker as is being made out. He was consistent with the two penalty calls (didn’t give either of them). The huge, massive, piss-boiling problem is VAR. We can’t blame the ref because VAR only sent the ref to review one of those decisions.
They were both pens. Stupid fool Xhaka.
VAR isn’t Skynet. There are PGMOL officials behind it, and the ref made the final call on the field.
There is a difference between making the final call in real time (our pen shout) and being sent to the monitor to make the final call (their pen). I have sympathy for the on field ref
To me, neither were penalties. The city keeper just about played the ball first for our one, then their guy dived expecting contact but Xhaka had pulled his leg away
So proud of the boys.
We move onwards and upwards, looking forward to the 3 cup games coming up.
Ah man, what it is to be an Arsenal fan. Was thinking to myself early in the second half how I hadn’t enjoyed watching us play this much in years – should have known that would jinx it, sure enough the pen and the red came along soon after… Our players got some things wrong today, moments that changed the course of the game (critical misses, overheated contact) but at the same time we did so many more things overwhelmingly well, we were a team with conviction, playing against the holders like we believed in what we were doing. We… Read more »
A lot of 12-year-olds playing Football Manager and Fantasy EPL on here calling for Xhaka to be killed, instead of looking at how well we played and how utterly corrupt the refereeing was. You idiots don’t even play football and have probably never watched a single football game live, whether you live in North London or elsewhere
I’m 33, I would never want Xhaka killed. But I can say he’s an idiot as a footballer. I can also see how well the team played, and conversely how much Xhaka is a liability to this team. Referees have been shite for as long as I remember, back from Rooney’s dive to end our unbeaten run, or when Titus Bramble pushed Arshavin’s butt cheeks just as he was about to score without being given a penalty. Xhaka is an idiot for giving the referee a decision to make, twice. Moving his thighs to block the player as he was… Read more »
where’s the ⚽ justice?
The process is probably one year ahead of schedule! This bunch is a champions League second round team in 18months! Weldone you gunners!!
Fuck the result. I am so proud of this team we have.
1. Great overall performance: we dominated the best team in the division for an hour. City very lucky to get the three points.
2. Xhaka: please fuck off. Your brainless shirt-pull in The box was the turning point of the game. I don’t trust you. It’s time for you to go.
3. Saka and Martinelli both MOTM
4. We are making great progress but need to sign a striker and midfielder in this window.
5. I’m proud but very frustrated today. We should have won but self-destructed instead.
I thought partey was superb in the middle. Bossed it.
Partey over Gabi without a doubt – despite the ref earning his petro-pounds with the screening box run across Gabi, the lad should nonetheless have made it 2-1.
Partey was utterly immense.
Let’s hope we take it out on Tottenham when we go there next. Gabriel misses that one, does he? Or will just the Liverpool match cover it?
In my view, every one in the team gets a 10. What a performance.
What a performance. To say this was Partey’s best game isn’t saying much, he was simply unplayable. Tomi, Saka, Martinelli fantastic as well.
Stupid from Gabriel, though the second yellow was cheap (was it his first foul?). And stupid from Xhaka but that was never a penalty, he was falling way before Xhaka grabbed him, that cheating cunt.
Ah well.
Happy new year
So we see again how the ‘top’ teams get back in to a match with a cheap penalty. As if one did not detest City and all they stand for enough already.
The referee bought it all today.
Lord spare us the unlikable Guardiola’s post-match condescension.
Great credit to almost all our players – and Albert S.
I cannot remember a more frustrating player than Xhaka. Apart from his brain fart he was outstanding. Problem is that again and again his brain farts are so bloody costly.
Genuinely proud of the team after that performance. Nothing wrong with losing if it’s done in a dignified manner.
Great game from Thomas Partey. Of course he regains his form just as he’s leaving us.
Great performance, poor result, City we’re lucky. I don’t need to see Xhaka anymore though. I don’t blame him fully but the frustration will never pass until he goes
We went toe to toe with the best team in the world.
The progress we have made in 4 months has been phenomenal.
Have you noticed how city always get help when they are struggling.
Also, I can’t remember a single match where I felt like the ref was so good to us it felt like we were cheating.
Partey was ready and fearless today. Xhaka did it again. It was a soft penalty but he did it again.