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Morning all.
December is always a bit of a grind as fixtures come thick and fast and there’s no let up for those competing on all fronts as Arsenal currently are. Our next game at Villa Park will be this Saturday at midday, so precious little recovery time. Therefore after the last three massive games the Gunners needed a match last night where everybody calmed down a little and we could focus on doing a competent job on a dangerous but ultimately beatable opponent and that’s Brentford. Sounds simple doesn’t it?
The walking wounded are returning, but they needed matches to get up to speed. Those who have carried the cause during the recent injury crisis possibly needed a breather although most of them would say otherwise so then we are left counting the days and crossing our fingers over those that are still recovering. I love seeing a game every three or four days but I’m acutely aware of the toll it actually takes on our players and that’s a big worry.
As Arsenal fans we are well aware of how injuries have derailed us in recent seasons so it’s understandable to see anxiety amongst us but everybody is suffering to a greater or lesser degree and we now have the required strength in depth.
After last season, Arteta and the players have definitely worked hard to avoid any unnecessary confrontations with the officials, last Sunday was a reminder how one-eyed some of our referees are but mistakes are still nibbling at our stress levels. A possible off-side on the Chelsea goal, a couple of stone-walled corners not given, nothing changes on that front.
With those three titanic games last week in mind Arteta decided to shuffle his pack yesterday evening and in came the reliable but underused Ben White alongside the newbies of Mosquera and Hincapie. Midfield stayed fairly unchanged but Odegaard came in and Eze was given the night off and sat down. Up front Mikel went for some badly needed freshness. Trossard was still absent so Martinelli and Madueke made up the wide attacking support for the ever-improving Mikel Merino whilst the battered Saka dat this one out. Well, that was the plan!
The Gunners started fast. I got the sense that Arteta was hoping to see his boys get this one put to bed early and Calafiori led the charge – he’s so impressive when he’s on the gallop. At the same time Brentford, also resting some players, still looked dangerous on the turnovers so we couldn’t relax.
Brentford lined up with a back-five with three monstrous centre backs at its heart so crosses into the box seemed out of the question. Then on the 11th minute the lively Madueke worked the ball towards the right of the Brentford penalty area before sliding Ben White in on the overlap. White clipped an inviting cross into the box and Merino outfoxed the land of the giants and flicked home a marvellous header. He is so calm in those situations and as a finisher he’s one of the best we have.
From then on Brentford came out of their low block and gave us an uncomfortable evening although in fairness we pretty much kept them at arms length. Odegaard put Madueke in on goal and again Noni did a soft shoe shuffle but his shot was saved. On 21 Schade got in a great header from a corner but Raya tipped it onto the bar and it was cleared, but we had been warned. Back came Arsenal on 27 and good build up between White and Calafiori set up Martinelli but he wastefully shot over the bar.
The game was finely balanced when on 37 it looked as if the Gunners had got the breathing space we needed, great work by Calafiori put Rice free on the left and his cross looked destined to be turned home by Madueke but a Bees defender got in a block and another chance was gone. A few moments later Madueke was in again but he hesitated instead of taking the shot. The chance was gone and so it seemed was his confidence as his influence pretty much got the tube home from then on.
On the 42nd minute Mosquera collapsed after heading a high ball and the injury jinx continued its transference from our forwards to our defenders. Off he went and on came a devout Christian in Jurien Timber and he continued the Lord’s work this time as the partner of Hincapie and we prayed for a 2nd Arsenal goal. The game finally reached oranges time without anymore drama. H/T 1-0.
I spent the half-time break making a cup of tea and recalling all those points we dropped last season in these types of games where we drew after wasting the many opportunities we’d had to cement the points, so as the 2nd 45 kicked off the need for an anxiety settling 2nd goal was paramount. But enough about our new sponsors, after 61 minutes of minimal progress Arteta acted and on came Saka for the increasingly sidelined Madueke and Eze replaced the ineffective Martinelli. Brentford made three changes also and the game speeded up. On 69 Merino put Rice in on goal after some good work, Declan cut into the box and let fly but Kelleher saved and Merino missed the follow up. More grinding of teeth.
The game was becoming a slog, Brentford made two more changes and Gyokeres came on for Rice on 83. Arteta later admitted that Rice had a problem which was just the kind of news we needed, not! Immediately afterwards Hincapie went down holding his head which was exactly what we didn’t need, but these Ecuadoreans are made of hard knocks and he returned to battle on.
On 89 Calafiori again went on a fine run into the box and his shot was pushed wide by Kelleher with Saka unable to follow up and the slog continued. As the added time was announced, Merino played Saka in on goal and with an unmarked Gyokeres waiting for the pass Bakayo, took the shot, Kelleher got a strong hand but the ball dropped over him and over the line, praise the Lord.
The relief of the crowd and in my front room was palpable but we weren’t lucky we just weren’t efficient with our chances, it was a game we’d dropped points in before but this season we’re getting it over the line. Tiredness is a factor, Liverpool drew at Anfield with Sunderland, Chelsea lost 3-1 at Leeds, other teams won after conceding a lot of goals.
Arsenal kept a clean sheet despite the injuries so that’s a positive. Games like these are quickly forgotten, you might see the goals again in a compilation video but the match is best consigned to the file that says ‘best to forget’ and move on.
We march on…
**By Kev**