Result: Aston Villa 1–0 Arsenal
Competition: Premier League
Date: 9 December 2023
Venue: Villa Park
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Martinelli, Saka, Jesus
Subs: Ramsdale, Cedric, Kiwier, Walters, Elneny, Jorginho, Nelson, Trossard, Nketiah
John McGinn’s early strike was enough to condemn Arsenal to a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.
The Gunners had enough chances to claim something from the match, not to mention goals ruled out for offside and handball, but a lack of cutting-edge proved costly.
The result, coupled with Liverpool’s late win at Crystal Palace, means Mikel Arteta’s side end the day in second place with tonight’s opponents breathing down our neck.
Pre-game
Mikel Arteta made one change from the side that started the win over Luton opting to field Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back at the expense of Jakub Kiwior. Despite his poor performance in midweek, David Raya retained his place in goal. In midfield, captain Martin Odegaard was making his 100th Premier League appearance.
First Half
Villa started quickly and wanted to test David Raya’s mettle following his slip-ups at Luton. The home side made a point of lofting balls into the box – the keeper dropped one under pressure – but didn’t look unduly ruffled.
Villa started the better of the two sides and clearly wanted to test David Raya with long balls although it was the Gunners who had the first chance. Saka switched play to Martinelli who looked to return the ball to the England international at the back post but he couldn’t quite get to it quickly enough and his shot was rushed and out of play.
Annoyingly, Villa made us pay immediately. They worked the ball through midfield, then out right to Bailey who had our defence backpedalling with a dart into the box. The Jamaica international showed decent composure to cut back to McGinn who spun quickly and fired past Raya. Ben White, who didn’t get close enough, beat the turf in frustration. (GOAL 1-0)
Conceding early against the backdrop of fierce home support was hardly ideal but our response was composed. Wary of letting the game get away from us, we proactively looked to slow the game down.
Zinchenko saw lots of the ball as we worked angles in the centre of the park but it was frustrating that several attempts to find Saka ended with the ball rolling out of play. When Havertz did feed him after stealing the ball in midfield, the winger’s shot was closed down immediately.
It quickly became clear that if we pressed high, there were going to be opportunities to steal the ball, which we did repeatedly for the rest of the half. Indeed, by the half hour mark when we mustered our first shot on target – a curler by Saka – we were completely on top. Odegaard had an effort blocked at close quarters, then tried to beat Martinez at his near post only for his daisycutter to fizz just wide.
The chances kept coming. Gabriel Magalhaes freed Martinelli and with Martinez racing out of goal, he managed to get the ball over his former teammate. Unfortunately, Costa read the danger and nicked the ball off the line.
Havertz then burst into the box, and found Jesus who laid back to Odegaard. The midfielder took a touch inside, swung his left foot and thought he’d scored only for Martinez to get across. Our former keeper also denied Jesus who cut in off the left.
It was one-way traffic through until the end of the half except for one save by Raya from Watkins who was flagged for offside anyway.
Second Half
Arsenal came racing out of the traps and when Jesus went down in the box under pressure from Douglas Luiz he was sure he deserved a penalty. VAR reviewed the incident but decided against sending Jarred Gillett to the pitchside monitor.
Emery could see that his side were under pressure. Having already brought on Moussa Diaby at half time, he took off Tielemans and added the energy of Jacob Ramsey to his midfield.
We kept turning the screw. A Saka corner almost squirmed in at the near post as Martinez flapped. Not long after, Odegaard screwed wide as Havertz found him at the penalty spot. If we’d had any cutting edge, we’d have been out of sight.
Raya made an important save from Digne to keep us in the game on the hour before Saka put the ball in the net only to have his effort ruled out for offside. As always, our winger also had to deal with the usual ankle kicks and his annoyance was palpable.
Villa benefitted from the game growing more ragged and Raya was forced into a decent stop by Watkins. Emery made two further subs before Albert Stuivenberg sent on Leandro Trossard for Martinelli. The Belgian’s first involvement was to accidentally block a Rice free-kick which he’d fired under the Villa wall.
A late onslaught didn’t look likely from Arsenal. Heading into the final 15 minutes, we were struggling to keep possession and tiring. Nketiah was sent on to add a bit of zip but the fact his arrival came at the expense of Jesus was surprising. Any momentum we tried to build was stalled by the home side’s physicality. Trossard went down after being caught by Cash and Konsa left an elbow on Nketiah.
In the final minute, Havertz thought he’d grabbed a vital equaliser by pouncing on a loose ball after a cross caused havoc at Villa’s back post. Referee Gillett immediately blew for handball and after an absolute age, VAR verified the call, even though it looked ridiculously harsh.
Arsenal continued to press during five minutes of stoppage time but unlike at Luton, we couldn’t find a goal. The sight of Nketiah heading over was enough for Arteta to scarper from the directors’ box before the whistle went. He’d seen enough, it wasn’t Arsenal’s night.
Why isn’t the Cash handball before Havertz touches it a penalty?
It hit Cash’s hand first. What the hell are the rules? Terrible reffing yet again. How was the foul on Jesus not a penalty? The guy kicked right through his leg and didn’t get the ball. What am I watching?
That’s what I couldn’t figure out. Why was it a disallowed goal and not a penalty since it hit Cash in pretty much the same way and location in his arm.
Because those are the rules ATM – for it to be a penalty for hitting a defenders hand the hand needs to be in an unnatural position or it needs to be deliberate – this wasn’t the case so no penalty. However if the ball hits the goal scorers hand in the build up the goal is disallowed regardless of whether or not it meets the same standards that defenders are held to.
The ref made the right call, as annoying as it is.
This, stupidly, is the correct interpretation of the rules as they stand. It’s total madness that a defender and an attacker are held to different standards, but that’s the scenario we have right now.
Do you really think we will get anything from pgmol for the rest of of eternity? Pgmol hates us and we them.
Fuck them and fuck Martinez.
Because the PGMOL are cunts made up of refs who are cunts.
Exactly. It might have been a graze at most to Kai’s hand, but Cash hand balled first FFS!!!!!!
my thoughts exactly, I watched it on NBC no mention of it.
I think and in fact now convinced that pgmol have decided that we will not get any slightest of advantage or benefit of doubt. We simply have to win the hard way.
Arm or no arm, we should have won this match by at least three goals. We feared Villa and but was why the panicking and so much respect we gave them. For crying out loud they play good at home but that shouldn’t put fear in us, look at how City dispatched us last season at home when it was literally the title at stake, they came in believing they were better than us and far superior, and they showed it, how do we go to Villa and show them so much respect! I can confidently say that this team… Read more »
Said it here the other day, Mikel Arteta aiming that tirade at the corrupt PGMOL has only gone and make us a target for them. Decisions like “penalties” for us will have to BE VERY CLEAR to be given. Whereas, teams like Liverpool will get soft decisions their way.
Second game in a row where we are denied a penalty. Just lovely.
Apart from that, we played well, but missed too many chances (not for the first time, this season).
Sure, it’s all Arteta’s fault and he should have been grateful and bent over for all the appalling decisions we were getting.
Overriding feeling of we weren’t great, but we were properly fucked.
Proper fucked Tommy.
I’m gutted for the players. Imagine give 100% every game only to be denied a thoroughly deserved equalizer by an inept and corrupt organization. Excellent performance. We deserved a draw at the very least. F*ck Emi Martinez and the PGMOL.
“100%”
if that’s 100% percent then we’re fucked
Don’t get me wrong, pal. I am NOT blaming him for reacting the way he did at all. If anything, them having a vendetta against us because of his reaction just proves how corrupt and bent they really are. I HATE that organization, cannot reiterate that enough.
We were a target for the Cartel long before Arteta came along. Just ask Arsene.
I think it deflected off cash arm on to havertz arm. Both close range , so very difficult for both to do anything about moving arm out the way .
Therefore play on , which villa did and the ball went in.
Cash and Kia arms were both a little high by not much
Arteta had every right to be scathing with that diabolical decision at Newcastle. We should have had a penalty but as usual VAR decided against us.
If we are honest though we should have at least converted a couple of chances. Frustrating loss but not a terrible performance.
Except it was not really a tirade. He said nothing that hasn’t been said 50x worse by other managers before or since. They’ve targeted him because the media hates him. We were targeted before and are still targeted now.
Arteta was right to make his comment. The refs in this league – the best footballing league in the world- are a collection of mostly incompetent clowns. But, yes, they are sticking it to us for his remarks. Fuck’em! This team is still good enough to win this league this year. From what I see we are still the best team in this league at the moment.
Mate, the refs moonlight in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. There are two clubs in the league that are literally owned by those two countries. Think about how fucked up that is for a second. Arteta’s comments didn’t change shit.
Why is that handball just because the ball brushes Havertz’ hand?
If the same happened to the defender it wouldn’t be a penalty…
Also looked to me like it hit Cash’s hand and arm several times. Should have been a wash and goal stands. I’m not one for conspiracy theories but that and the clear penalty for kicking Jesus and I can’t come to any other conclusion.
Yep, Cash was playing basket ball
Unfortunately (and this is how the rule is interpreted in England), an inadvertent handball by the defending team is ignored but the same by the attacking team is not, if it leads directly to a goal. Subjectively, they must have ruled that Cash’s hand ball(s) were inadvertent and therefore stuck with the on-field decision, even though they prevented a goal. In Europe, a penalty would probably have been given.
I thought if it hits the scorers arm then it’s disallowed regardless of intention/position etc. We were poor again lads, let’s be honest.
villa were there for the taking. we were shit
you are correct. if the ball hits the goalscorers arm before goal (even if unintentional) it’s not a goal.
Can downvote and argue all day but rules are rules and people are clearly just frustrated we don’t know how to score goals.
Yeah were poor, the ref didn’t cost us this one. Even with the penalties we all know if either of those were awarded against us people would be calling them soft and making the same comments in this thread moaning about refs being against arsenal. We didn’t take our chances well enough and that’s why we lost.
What a load of shit.
No VAR lines for the goal. Looked off, but I’ve seen people look off and be ON. Dodgy as fuck.
No way Havertz handball would be given as a pen…natural position, was moving AWAY from the ball. Goal should stand.
Not enough urgency from the team, too many basics going wrong. Ultimately LOADS of chances and should have been more but we love to punish ourselves to the max.
Where has the simple 2-0 win and go home gone??
Villa got away with two free points there.
PGMOL laughing at us from their Ivory Tower. Not only did every “VAR” check go against us, but they committed murder all game. I wouldn’t be surprised if Villa was to knife one of our lads, Gillett would give a stern look and wave his hands to keep playing.
What a waste of a Saturday.
This game was there for us to take. Didn’t see anything in this Villa team to think they are special. The next couple of games will prove me right about them. But God we were terrible. Very tentative with our passes, couldn’t complete passes, dilly-dallying on the ball. Quiet poor of us.
Well, WE MOVE!
Odegaard missing sitters. Saka and Martinelli did fuck all. Rest of the team were pretty good I thought.
Disagree, I think we were completely dominant from minute 10 to minute 70.
At no point did 3rd place Villa look better than us.
Well said. Refs are pulling their usual BS but that’s nothing new. We can always overcome the refs with the quality of our play. But the quality wasn’t up to normal levels today. If we were at our best we still would’ve won today, despite the cynical PGMOL incompetence.
Another game where we were the better dominant team. We are so good and very consistent. I think only injuries will stop us winning the league this time.
Injuries, or the PGMOL.
Another way to see it is if not for PGMOL incompetence we would have won today, despite poor elements of our play.
Really didn’t feel like having Unai Emery come to stay at my house for the rest of the fucking weekend. It feels like he’s in the bathroom taking a massive shit with the door open.
Maybe you should go and check
When will elbows and arms to the head in deliberate fashion be a red card? Asking for a friend.
When they’re used as WEAPONS! Duh.
When an arsenal player does it
Taking Martinelli off killed any momentum we had.
Get Arteta some binoculars next time he sits out.
It was more the changes Uni made than 1 player going off for us..
Yes, he used his changes really well to be honest. We were killing them at the beginning of the second half and he started making those changes at the right time to wrestle back some measure of control.
If there’s one thing I have always liked about him it is that he really knows how to use his bench.
our passing was shit, our keeper was shit, our bench was shit, the refereeing was shit, hearing a proper home crowd reminded me how shit the emirates is, and overall the lack of directness we had was shit. our luck was also shit. we can praise our effort and be happy about our position in the league tomorrow. today everything is shit. coyg
so much time wasting and substitutes. Should have been 8-9 min extra minimum. 5 was an insult. Overall ref and var 1/10. They could have had 2 red cards and should have had a pen. If that “handball” goal would have been against us I’m convinced it would have been given. Not the best performance but 11v13 it’s almost impossible
(almost) Every game it’s 13vs11 that’s also a problem..
We were so much better than them. The way the media have built Villa and Emery up I was really expecting more from them. But they’re not all that special, that’s the real disappointment.
More chances, more shots, more possession, more turnovers. Just superior in every way.
The ball hit Cash’s hand before Havertz and Carragher was so desperate to ignore it.
But the media will say it was an Emery masterclass! I’m not too fussed about this. Our performance for 75 minutes was really good, just no luck and not quite clinical enough.
And the way Peter Drury was talking about them. Calm down, they’re villa…
Did not find them impressive in the slightest.
Peter Drury rolling his r’s makes me want to burn his house down while he’s on the job (with zero casualties, of course).
Arsenal the far better side overall today. I will concede that the way Villa looked against City was quite formidable. A shadow of that today.
Two recurring problems bite us in the arse again – weak at left back and weak in front of goal.
Two recurring problems indeed, terrible referee and corrupt VAR.
50/50 means 99/1 against us these days
Whining about shit refereeing is a sign we’re not good enough in the first place…
Got to add Havertz to Zinchenco, they are not worth a place in the starting eleven.
Anyone notice that if our Wingers don’t have good games we almost never win? If Martinelli or Saka cannot get past their markers regularly we look static and out of ideas
Saka didn’t have his best game, but he still created a golden chance for Jesus (which he totally mis-controlled and the Havertz goal. Even when he is below par he comes up with a big moment in nearly every game.
Please buy Ivan Toney in January, (or even Solanke if Bournemouth will sell) Keep Jesus for the Champions league, where he well suited.
Thought that was Jesus worst game for us. Poor first touch, lost almost all his duels, tried to cheat free kicks several times which probably was a factor in not getting the penalty. Was stunned when we took off Martinelli who was just starting to get going and left Jesus on for 80 mins. A game we shouldn’t have lost. Frustrating evening.
Jesus was very week in every dual and that one on one, straight through on goal, crumpled to a heap when the defender got close . Feeble for the whole game
Jesus was good. Martinelli was actually really poor. Loads of good positions and messed up the end product every time.
Should be no reason not to give the penalty, but we do need that goal scoring striker though.
I’m bored of talking about the corrupt refereeing in the PL, it just gets to a point where you wonder why you even bother to get invested in it. If it was a film I wouldn’t bother watching it because the plot and acting was shit and predictable.
Sick of people moaning about the refs every time we lose too. Do you Gary o neill morning and having a meltdown ? He’s been screwed over much more than us. If we took our we chances we would have won the game but we were shit. End of , we move to the next one .
I moan when we win as well
The perception that Wolves are screwed over more than us, only arises because Wolves are not as good as we are. When they have been screwed over they have gone on to lose. When it happens to us, quite often we still get a result. Man City’s Kovacic on Odegaard, 100% red card, but we still won. Ridiculous red card for Tomiyasu against Palace, we still won. Should have had penalties against Wolves and Luton, we still won, I am sure there are more, and obviously we can include the 3 away games that we have dropped points. Newcastle (say… Read more »
My point still stands , if we had taken out chances nobody would have been mentioning the refs . How about we buy a striker in January who can actually put the ball in the net and then we won’t have to rely on the referees decisions .
Have you not watched his interviews? Gary O’Neil moans after every match – he just doesn’t raise his voice. He moaned about decision when they got outplayed by Arsenal and were lucky not to lose by more.
He also praised Arsenal for being the better team and hard to beat . he also criticised his team for the defending on the first goal and didnt blame the refs for losing . Not sure what point you’re trying to make here .
It’s killing my enjoyment of the game. Jesus money and corruption destroys everything. You try and look at a bit of football to get away from it all and it’s the same fucking bullshit.
I just want to enjoy 22 players going at it every weekend, thrills spills, great goals, and then at the end of the season sp*rs go down. I’m a simple man in search of simple pleasures.
Arsenal threw away the game rather than being beaten by Villa. Ødegaard sadly left his scoring boots at home. On another day, we be winning that 1 – 3.
We’ve move on though.
At least one in each hslf
One of the most frustrating games in recent memory. Maddening! No way we should’ve lost to that team. But we just weren’t sharp today. Mildly pleased that we dominated them the way we did but we have to be sharper in the final third and put the ball in the back of the net. Incredibly frustrating, that one.
There are some players who are just not performing at the necessary level. Unfortunately because of injuries we can’t change things up.
David Luiz playing again?
Slinky too many touches, caught in possession and wayward passing….deja vu
Paper tigers Villa are. Odegaard missed two, saka goal chalked off, bs handball goal waived off, villa escape a red… And our manager not around. We did fine. We’ll be fine.
That said, buy a proper #9 – tall, imposing. Give Rice a better partner in midfield. Without those additions, we’ll be not good enough for the title.
Other than a proper no9, we have enough to be able to win the title. It is arteta who needs to be good and flexible enough to win it.
I don’t live in the UK. But someone there needs to call out the PGMOL for corruption and doubke standard refereeing. Rice pulled in the penalty box, no penalty. Surely a penalty if our jersey is blue and our owner is a nation state. Jesus penalty shout was clear cut, but VAR’s corruption is also just as clear cut. Havertz goal was whistled for what? Foul on Emi Martinez by their own player? Or he got grass in his eyes? Cash handled the ball before Havertz, but VAR is again just applying their corrupt double standards. When they find a… Read more »
The media in England is a fucking disgrace. They should be the one calling out the inconsistencies, but they are all too biased against Arsenal and sucking each other off to care.
It was laughable seeing the DailyFail roll out article after article after that ref gaffe in the last AFCON tournament. How are you allowed to criticize referees from other continents but not yours? Baffling.
Can hardly consider EPL a sport at this point. It’s entertainment at the cost of sporting integrity. All the money. All the corruption. VAR just a tool for corruption and talking points to get views. Nation states throwing money at refs with no backlash. Poor refereeing with the benefit of multiple slow motion replays still getting backed by mainstream media. Our manager getting banned for over celebration. Since when is that a thing? Didn’t see Klopp getting sanctioned the same way today though? Errors in refereeing should be random. This is targeted. Farcical. I’m falling out of love with the… Read more »
Very frustrating evening.
We dominated the possession but did very little with it. No cutting edge at all.
Apart from scoring the goal Villa did nothing. White badly at fault for the goal: should have got tighter to McGinn. Odegaard should have scored twice but fluffed them both.
Eddie was Eddie at the end: sell him next month.
Martinelli MOTM and should not have been subbed.
Liverpool will win the title.
We are a nearly team with a nearly manager.
Eddie is a championship level player. Amazing he’s had so many chances under Arteta.
If we dont get a good no9 yes, no way we win the title.
We are a nearly team because of a nearly manager.
We used to be a no-where nearly team
I agree 5/7 and I agree that Liverpool is favourite and we are a nearly team
Zinchenko was nowhere on the goal. Again a defensive liability.
Just seems all VAR decisions are going against us now following Artetas comments (think he was right to say what he did after the Newcastle game). No idea how that goal can be ruled out for handball. Should of had a penalty on Jesus and I assume it’s perfectly fine to go around elbowing Arsenal players in the fucking head all the time now. Let me guess, he wasn’t using it as a weapon. This is a frustrating result to take as we should have got at least a point from this, if not all 3!
They weren’t exactly going for us before Arteta’s comments, which is why he made them!
No way we deserved to lose this game. We were far better than them. Shocking referee, how did he spot a handball at that speed? Where was Havertz supposed to put his hand? It just hit the top, slightly and barely affected the ball movement. Paid the price for 2 of our forwards playing very poorly, Martinelli and Jesus were so wasteful it was infuriating. Saka needs to start shooting more with his right foot, he had an easy chance in the first half, but stopped to put it on his left foot. Got to talk about the referee again,… Read more »
Impossible not to feel robbed by the ref on the Havertz goal, but overall we were not sharp enough in front of goal. We dominated but couldn’t put the ball in the net. Incredibly frustrating day!
When Saliba made that wrong pass between Raya and Gab in the 1st half, I knew we were in real trouble cos he doesn’t make glaring errors like that.
We had our chances, Ode’s first time shot narrowly wide, Jesus’ controls the ball from Saka and he’s 1 v 1 with the keeper.
There was really nothing special about Villa, we let them win.
Front four all looked half a step off the pace today. Three PL games in 7 days with a thin bench will do that. Would’ve been nice if we could rely on Nketiah to start or close out a game, but anyway. Hopefully we rectify it asap in January.
Villa high line stopped our wingers in their tracks which killed our progress and exposed Jesus and made him have to go back in our half to play link up and showed our absolute need for a true goal getting striker once again. In retrospect Kai would have been better suited for ST with Trossard at his position today. We didn’t do the basics right today. Last touch let us down. Onto next game.
That‘s the sub we should have made imo. Trossard on for Jesus. Trossard playing left 8 and Kai moving to the cf position.
I would have hoped the high line would have played into our hands with the pace of our wingers. Unfortunately we were unduly ponderous in possession. This is the kind of game where quick balls over the top into those channels behind the high line would have worked wonders for us.
I know Arteta is obsessed with control but I just didn’t work today.
Jesus was poor and Odergaar no better , we did not get behind their defense enough and when we did there was no one in the miiddle, we need a striker.
Thought we were profligate in the final third. But that was a goal and I’ll gladly wait for someone to tell me different.
We weren’t clinical enough but played well It now is beyond funny that the standard of refereeing & VAR is wholly corrupt ! Jesus ? Penalty ! Havertz ? Penalty ? Cash handed it to him FFS !!! Foul rotation all game was disgraceful but it’s the norm ! Don’t berate the performance just the result ! Finally Kai should have had a free pass to f**k up Martinez the Argie twat !!!
We need that 20 goal a season striker ( whoever that maybe) and a replacement for Partey.
Otherwise no need to stress it
I fear at Anfield we will have the majority of possession and not be clinical whilst they maybe.
There’s only souch Arsenal can do playing against PGMOL week in, week out
Have I ranted about fu*n Carragher yet ??? Disgusting nearly human being & a massive biased prick !!!
But to be fair, even he said we should have got that penalty. So he’s only a 95% prick this game.
Jesus was poor and Odergaard no better, the passing was poor and too much backwards and sideways passing. If we have got the money we need a striker.
Apart from the push, it was an obvious handball on Joelinton for the newcastle goal. I dont know how our goal tonight was ruled out. Corrupt
Bollocks!
The whole team looked exhausted in the last 15 minutes. The injuries and playing 2 games a week look to have taken a toll recently.
Which is why I would appreciate it if we put out the kids on Tuesday. I don’t care if we lose 10-0 – the result is completely meaningless. The players need a rest!
A hard battle and the team looked rattled from the start. PGMOL set us up to lose that game, from the soft card that banned Mikel to the missed red cards, the penalties we should’ve got, to the “lets make it up as we go along” handballdecision. Villa aren’t that great, but a combination of the referee letting them get away with anything, Mikel not there to gee up the players from the sideline, the players starting to tire, having a really thin bench, and even the shitty gusting wind, all made this a day to forget. It’s a pity… Read more »
Let’s be real….very pedestrian, predictable, one pace. Need a centre forward that scores goals….. Timid display
That was an incredibly measured and reasonable report for a game that absolutely wasn’t. Not one PGMOL ref is fit to run the game.
Why worry about Arteta banished to the stands. PGMOL have far better weapons to punish us with and it looks like they are using them.
We got what PiGMOL felt we deserved. The Saka goal wasn’t offside and i don’t understand why no lines were drawn. The second goal got me reminiscing on the Newcastle goal but this time it was Arsenal and it was always buond to get chalked off
I think we played right into Villa’s offside trap by playing the same thing throughout.
As for the penalty.. shouldn’t VAR be checking Cash handballs 1st before checking Haverz handbal…
Officiating as usual, the most corrupt league in Europe and if it was Arsenal leading that additional time would be 10minutes and above. Stupid clowns
Zinchenko reportedly ignore forward player runs breaking the line. Add to that his abject defending and the decision to loan KT is ever more mysterious
Jesus appears more interested in getting free kicks than playing a useful pass.
This was a poor performance,
No striker No title it’s really that simple
Villa very average , not much difference from the last few years. Should have put them away , we need a goal scorer.
There is no choice now, but to become a much better team that will overwhelm the opponents, so the referees won’t have any effect on the score.
how many minutes emi was in ballpossession? 30? 50? 70?