Who Laughs Last , Laughs Best .

What a super duper Sunday I must confess ! I had a splendid Sunday night knowing at the back of my mind the Gunners secured a convincing victory over the almighty Reds that never walk alone . Before the match kicked off , I was skeptical about Arsenal getting a victory from this match . It will be in the Emirates so at least Arsenal should get a draw I thought to myself if the worst happens . A defeat will outrighthly deal a real blow to any hopes of gunning for the title .

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Going into the match , Liverpool sat on top of the Epl table leading the Gunners with 5 points who were 3rd on the log . I'm certain most Reds fans and neutral fans won't give Arsenal a chance of coming out with a victory. Considering the fact that Liverpool pummled Chelsea in the midweek the blazing guns the Reds came with into the Emirates might be tought to handle .

The Gunners on the other hand had other ideas as the opposite seemed to be the case . As soon as the whistle blew for the kickoff the Gunners wouldn't just stop spreading their tentacles all over the pitch gaining full control and dominance of the game.

It wasn't long for their intense pressing gameplay to result into a goal in the 14th minute. A sublime lobbed through pass from Martin Odeegard was enough to break the Liverpool solid defense. The pass found Kai Havertz who unfortunately couldn't beat Alisson from a one time shot which inturn led to a rebound for Bukayo Saka to smash it home .

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Football is indeed a beautiful game , one moment you're boasting about your team's prowress the next minute you're throwing tantrums about a lackluster performance from them . This was actually me when Liverpool grabbed an equalizer in the added minutes of the first half . The lack of communication between Raya and Saliba gave room for Luiz Diaz to pounce on the ball which then led to a Gabriel own goal . Half time scores , one goal a piece.

During the halftime break my friend who is a Liverpool fan was surely confident Liverpool will come into the second half with a better display and wrap things up with a deserved victory . He claimed with the late first half goal the Reds scored will give his boys enough momentum to see the game through in the coming second half. I didn’t flinch because the Gunners performance in the first half was pretty solid if not for the avoidable mistake in the tail end of the first half . I knew the Gunners will come back into the second half with a much pretty decent performance.

I can bet most rival fans and of course Liverpool fans laughed and made jest of the Gunners defense after Gabriel's own goal in the first half. That being said I know you're quite aware of the saying "who laughs last , laughs best". This of course came to reality in the match. Blunders from both Alisson and VVD provided Martinelli with an icing on the cake type of goal in the 67th minute making the scores 2-1 in favor of the Gunners .

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Now that the Gunners were conveniently on the driver's sit one could smell a victory cooking for Arsenal. Leandro Trossard who has a knack for scoring goals against Liverpool especially at his time at Brighton came on as a substitute in place of Martinelli later in the second half . He marked his presence in the match with a solid solo performance. He beat two Liverpool players at quick succesion and then fired a low shot in between Alison's legs to score the third goal for Arsenal in the 90+3rd minute. Final scores 3-1 in favor of the Gunners .

While Arsenal's performance over 23 games may suggest they are in contention, it's important to remember that consistency and resilience are key in the Premier League. While being closer to the top than further behind is certainly advantageous, it's premature to crown them as title contenders based solely on this. Manchester City and Liverpool's sustained excellence makes the journey ahead challenging.

Albeit, Arsenal's position is promising, the boys should not get ahead of themselves just yet . There's still a long road ahead at seriously contending for the title. For now they should work harder on their consistency, resiliency, responsiblity and grinding out desired and necessary results . There's certainly no room for complacency henceforth if they really want to get a silverware this season.



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10 comments
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THIS IS ARSENAL

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Hopefully the boys don't get complacent .

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The Brighton boys or who sir?

Please I don't manufacture problems in my mind and hope it doesn't happen to my team. Complacency hasn't been a problem with this team and it isn't likely to suddenly make an appearance, esp at this business end of the season.

My Arsenal friend and I at home told ourselves just before the Liverpool match, "Arsenal doesn't forget", so the match result and especially the endeavour of our players, was no surprise.

West Ham is another team Arsenal has serious scores to settle with. The issues of December are clearly spelt out here– https://peakd.com/hive-115900/@ogeewitty/whats-wrong-with-the-gunners. Arteta has begun going the direction of the recommendations of that post and victories are following naturally. Nice to have Tomiyasu back.

Cheers man

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I used the word complacent because when you really need them to spurn out important and decisive results they get caught lacking sometimes . The Westham game at the Emirates is a perfect example, I hope they are able to get their revenge tomorrow ..

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(Edited)

Well I know a complacent Arsenal, I saw many examples of complacency in the latter Wenger days. The team doesn't just turn up in an important match.
This current team is nothing like that bro. Even the Westham game you spoke about, you could see the attitude of Arsenal, they came with a fight with a sense of purpose. It just happened that victory didn't come. That's not complacency.

Complacency is when you turn up for a match with a poor attitude, no fight, mysterious lack of real effort in a key match. Oh I remember these kind of matches in Wenger days, this Arsenal is different.

It's easy to predict them especially when there is bragging rights at stake of something important. At the very least you see the fight in them for the whole match.

I could easily have made a sweet blog on the Liverpool victory, but frankly I expected the victory, so I saw no need for a celebratory kind of blog.

Well, I guess we all see differently.

Cheers man

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No doubt this is a rejuvenated Arsenal team but what we will say happened at the tail end of last season ? isn't that complacency ??

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Oh no, that wasn't complacency. Did I do a post on that? Ok I can't lay my hands on it, but this one in May last year gives some answer– https://peakd.com/hive-101690/@ogeewitty/no-half-measures

So there was no complacency, it's just the expertise of the coach that was lacking, in team selection. You didn't employ an Ancelloti or Pep, you employed a young coach who was far from the finished article, so he must show incompetence somewhere. Incompetence isn't complacency.

Note that the failings of Dec 2023 is quite similar to that of my May 2023 blog above.
See, my joy is that Arteta keeps learning and improving. Already I told you he's following the recommendations of that my blog above, so stay calm Westham or not. Remember, "Arsenal doesn't forget".

So last season's ending has nothing to do with complacency pls.

Cheers man

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@ogeewitty what can you say about yesterday's loss to porto in the CL?

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(Edited)

Hi bro, sorry been away from this zone for some weeks. Still away though for now.
Firstly the loss wasn't complacency. It was that kind of match where the opponent seems to know you inside out. Could have been a draw if the keeper didn't wrongly position himself.

You see why that my blog says something about surprising the opposition? That was the third match with exactly same starting 11. Eventhough you are sure they are all fit you can bench one to create an element of surprises, plus it sends some good vibes to the players who don't usually start. Be rest assured that Arteta learns fast.

Not to worry, like I told you, Arteta's Arsenal never forgets, that's why I didn't celebrate the Newcastle win. I more than expected that win, especially with a Newcastle that has even declined slightly.

Also the stats(even the negative ones) in that CL match and endeavour tells me we can be rest assured of qualifying.

No p, this team ain't complacent.

I'm out, battery 1%.

Cheers

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