Derby Day Victory

On a rainy day in North London, the referee blew the final whistle in a tightly fought battle between eternal rivals. On paper, both teams looked equal but in the field, it was the men in red against the boys in white for large spells. We deservedly got the victory on the day and brought ourselves closer to contention for European competition.

Prior to the start of the game, there was already controversy about the lineup, with Auba being dropped. People on Twitter poured out their emotions about the decision by the manager, with a large section inclined towards disapproval.

Despite the decision, we looked on the brighter side for most of the game. From the get-go, we created chances upon chances but sadly couldn't hit the final ball.

I don't know if it was the terrible tactics of Spurs or Arsenal's positional setup, but we dominated in virtually every aspect of the pitch. I felt very confident until Spuds scored that beautiful Rabona sucker punch.

I must say, going behind was a kick in the teeth. Striking the woodwork a moment later through Cedric didn't make me feel better either. However, we looked quite comfortable on the ball and looked dead certain to grab the equaliser.

Just 11 minutes after going behind, we grabbed the equaliser through a combination of Tierney and finished by Odegard. We've looked really good since the Scot left back came back into the team and for large spells, his combination with Smith-Rowe on our left flank was too much for Doherty top handle.

The icing on the cake

After grabbing the equaliser, I was still very nervous, despite looking much better than the opposition. As far as I'm concerned, anything but a goal won't save us from the impending self harm that we'd almost certainly cause ourselves in the latter stages when exhaustion and nerves start to come into play.

Pepe's introduction turned out to work a peach because his incisive pass to Lacazette led to the penalty. After tucking it nicely, we went back to the status quo, with Spurs looking quite horrible.

In the end, it was a tensely fought battle. Despite going one man down, the smaller North London team created chances in the dying embers that almost brought things level.

However, the football gods were on our side today, and we managed to hold on. Next up is a crucial Europa League fixture against Olympiacos and while we have one foot in the quarters, we can't be complacent. Until we meet again, up the Arsenal.



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7 comments
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Mourinho got it wrong today and i will not complain :D

We played well through the game, got an unlucky but great goal and after that continued to play good. We could see how it looks when you have a good player playing with Tierney and Smith-Rowe is not even a winger.
I don't want to beat the dead horse but :) they went player down, we brought Willian and we looked like we were a player down.

Partey looks like he is still not fit for 90 minutes as he had some mistakes in last 10 minutes that looked like he was late (so most probably not fit).

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Yeah I noticed that about Partey too. I understand why Arteta kept him through out the match though. We needed presence in midfield but sadly that couldn't prevent the onslaught.

It was nice to get the victory though and I ain't complaining at all 😄.

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It was a great display from the Gunners. If they've been showing sure energy ever since the start of the season then they wouldn't be at their current position

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We're still in a transitional phase, so I expected some turbulence. The manager has largely steadied the ship. We don't concede silly amount of goals, we're very compact and our attack seems to have improved a lot.

All we need is consistency, some improvements in the squad and time for the team to gel. I'm sure we'll be competing at the highest level in the coming seasons

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Arsenal should not be in a transitional phase now. They are bigger than that and should have transitioned from being low-class to high-class already.

All the same, I wish them the best. Bad things happen to people sometimes though

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