Arsene Wenger knows when to dial up a season, and when to put on a show. His band of temperamental misfits pulled it together to a very empty stadium, and dropped CSKA from a great height onto a slab of polished concourse concrete.
Not even Arsenal can fuck up a 3 goal advantage.
The performance was dominated by Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil. The Welshman was in full on ‘give me the Ozil money’ mode. He absolutely dominated the game with his energy and attacking instincts. He popped up with two goals and was unlucky to have an early attempt disallowed. Our German superstar was in his element, he was given free rein to pick out space and runs all evening. His three assists and an asisst to the assister gave him the MOM.
The first goal came when he found Bellerin on the right. The Spaniard fizzed a searching low first-time cross into the penalty area, it found Ramsey at the back post where he cooly smashed his shot past Akinfeev.
The second didn’t take long to arrive, and it went the way of CSKA. A shoddy Mustafi clearance, a weak header by Xhaka, and an aggressive clear up operation from Koscielny led to a freekick being given about 20 yards out. Golovin made no mistake, masterfully looping the ball over the wall and dipping it under the bar. Petr Cech had no chance.
It didn’t really feel like a game changer, we had all the momentum. Arsenal looked comfortable on the ball, we were definitely fitter, and we had way more talent. CSKA played the way Wenger needs teams to play to win. Totally open, zero agression, with no clear plan.
Our second came from a penalty after Ozil was felled in the box for the second time in a week. This time, the penalty was a bit more justified and the contact came before the ball was touched. Lacazette took the kick and scored his second of the week.
Our third was so good that I’m still waiting for my excitement to subside, you know what I’m saying, right?
Mesut Ozil picked out a Ramsey late run into the box with a diagonal lofted ball into the CSKA area, Ramsey pirouetted mid-air and turned the ball over the keeper with the side of his heel. Ballerina beauty. A Puskas nomination is surely forthcoming. Give him the keys to north London while you’re at it. Also, force him to sign a new deal.
The night was capped off with a slick move. Xhaka played a great ball down the left, Ozil put in a sprint of exceptional gusto, then rattled a ball across the box, he found Lacazette about 10 yards from goal, he controlled the ball with one touch and rattled home a precision strike back across goal. A real fox in the box strike.
The only shame of the night is we didn’t really make sure of the result (you know, to properly safe levels), but to be honest, CSKA were so off the pace, it’s hard to see how they’d come back into the game.
There were no major upsets in the other games. Leipzig beat Marseille 1-0 at home. Atletico dealt easily with Sporting with a 2-0 victory, they’re certainly in the semifinals. Lazio beat Salzburg 4-2. All the strongest teams look very likely heading into the next round.
… Just pray we don’t meet Atletico.
Right, that’s all I have, see you in the comments. x
Michael24 …there’s another one..
“So you don’t want to see the club you love do better?”
thought this was a ridiculous question
Michael 24, still waiting for an explanation…..you’re very forward when you insult people who have a different way of seeing things to you. When confronted with a genuine question you appear to disappear.
Possibly you’ve finally realised that your masochistic tendencies are doing you no good and you’ve decided to do something else with your time. Good luck to you if that’s the case.
But if you do persist to insult people who are simply following their enjoyment of Arsenal, occasionally people may ask the question, Why do you bother if Arsenal is making you miserable?
@Vic – “I find the narratives of some posters on here a bit ridiculous,why would you sit your fat ass behind your device and moan all day about proper fans spunking money to watch a team they love?unless maybe you’r just a proper ‘armchair’ fan with absolutely no hope of ever going to matches,most funniest aspect of it all is you claim you get zero joy from the club at the moment but yet churn out gibberish everyday in your pathetic attempt to dictate how others go about supporting the club,lol,really enjoy to see you lot squirm” Spoken only as… Read more »
Lol no wonder the club is in the state it’s in with fans like Vicuntious.
Would you rather Mikki come back too early and damage himself? Or would you rather he heal propely and fully, given his age and history of injuries Pierre?
Grow up already, your schtick has worn straight through a concrete wall. Such an asshole you are.
Pierre
I am sure you can recognise a rhetorical question when you see one. My problem is that some seem to satisfy themselves with so little when this club can do so much more.
Some if us wish to see the club push further as it has the means to do so.
Ps: and why the insults? Did I resort to any?
Pierre, your logic is tenuous at best. You want Arsene out, whatever it takes. Anybody not boycotting Arsenal is part of the problem. Okay, fair enough…that’s your opinion but having a go at a supporter for supporting is ironic, wouldn’t you say. Some people, like yourself are so poisoned by Wenger’s continued existence that anybody not of the same mind as you, are by connection a Wengerite. It’s almost a form of madness, let’s call it Wengeritis, where people lose all reason and balance because they’ve been infected so acutely. Then when someone who has derived pleasure from Arsenal scoring/winning… Read more »
So what would you suggest, Bob? That we simply remain patient for Wenger to die before we see real change at the club? We know he wont leave and you also know he will look for a new contract – he wont retire either.
How low should the club go before, say someone such as yourself, says enough is enough?
cofeecakes
‘Spoken only as a true asshole could describe himself.’
Just like a moth to fire,you know you’r a plum when your only contribution on here is calling Wenger a ‘cunt’ or berating fans who attend matches
It’s not an exoteric knowledge that Wenger’s future doesn’t depend on if we win the Europa cup or not,it SOLELY rest on one man,’armchair’ fans like yourself don’t just want any relative success for the club whatsoever because of your hatred for Wenger and of course been total LOSERS
Never ever called Wenger that word and you know it. As deserving as you are of being called that word, equally I have never called you that. Nor have i ever berated anyone for attending matches. Nice try, but you still remain an asshole with Pierre and NorthernGoof as your only peers as assholes.
This period is the annual Aw give the abused wife a bunch of flowers hoping she will forget about the beatings from September to February!
chavs crunker
“Lol no wonder the club is in the state it’s in with fans like Vicuntious”
wonderful input from you as always,comment of the day,all hail the legendary chavs crunker
The only way the specialist in failure leaves Arsenal is in a coffin. Someone needs to finish him off.
you know the value of the comment section has gone to the dogs when pedders allow posters like chavs crunker run amok with comments like this:
The only way the specialist in failure leaves Arsenal is in a coffin. Someone needs to finish him off.
pathetically inhumane comment deserving the bin
Frankie, I’m almost as bored with Wenger as I am with people who go on about him. I want him gone. At the moment Kroenke doesn’t. I am hoping his son is not as limp dicked as Stan is and sees the blatantly obvious need for a new manager. It may end this Summer, I really so. I think because he’s been around for so long people can imagine extension after extension. Personally I don’t see it. It may be EL success and a back door way into CL may save him, I hope not. I want Arsenal to win… Read more »
Ramsey and co. Don’t need the pathetic senile tool on the touchline to win this cup. It’s obvious they are really up for it.
The same spirit is shown sporadically in prem games.
There is enough talent in the arsenal team to win this cup, even with a clown dragging them back with whatever tactics are applied before the match starts…if any!
Problem comes if they do win it…as we all know the cnut will announce he will stay for another…yes another! 2 years.
There are signs that Ramsay is finding his form of a few years back when he couldn’t stop scoring.
The problem is that he hasn’t committed to arsenal and he’s heading into his final year. Arsenal will now have to offer him a truly massive wage this summer if the club wants to keep him.
As you will have noticed Bob, as with Emiratesstroller, i dont ever question your decisions to attend in person. Its a personal choice and i can always respect that. I choose to not spend my money towards Arsenal which those like Bamford seeing this as useless and pointless. I believe a boycott is an effective means to make ones point felt. Again, i don’t begrudge nor deny you the choice of attending in person.
Wenger doesn’t deserve to leave with dignity. I want him disgraced/hounded out of the club.
The fans are supposed to boycott the club at this stage. Player are supposed to be downing tools. Both seems to be equally clueless.
Fair play Frankie. I don’t believe the missing thousands will have gone unnoticed. As far as actively boycotting, I’d love to know how many people are just bored with what’s on offer and are just saying enough and how many are taking the idealistic stance of boycotting in an attempt to affect change.
Either way season ticket renewals are going to be interesting.
Really Steve, you seem to be the expert on clueless.
12 year old Vicky,
“see the usual suspects running monk like rotten rabbits in headlights,this bitter filled lot can’t just help themselves with a smidgen of joy at the moment,spoiling the blog with their regurgitation of mostly banal vitriol unending,disgusting lot”
Wtf are you trying to say ? Rather than looking up words on google and desperately trying to sound clever (which you are clearly face planting in doing so) why don’t you just use words you understand ?
Numpty troll.
Bob N16
I’m not sure your earlier comment should have been directed towards me as my thinking is very similar to yours .
I went to the game the other night and thought it was great entertainment , ozil was majestic , Ramsey was ….Ramsey , well played to him ,let’s hope he proves all the doubters wrong and scores the winner in the final (fuck defending eh).
Anyway Bob ,keep the good work up , stand your corner and don’t let the bastards grind you down …..
Cheers Pierre, I don’t think I had you in mind when I was reacting to posters who criticise supporters for supporting our team.
Ramsay has some real quality in the final third. Feel as though Wenger has let him down, asking him to play a disciplined CM role. If only we had a top defensive DM, Ramsay could be freer to do his damage in forward positions. His flicks are great further forward but in our own half, it does my head in!
RIP Jacques Higelin
Funkier raw Chanson you will not hear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqYq2dlD7Zc
Bob
That’s one of the reasons this blog exists
Fair point Hillwood.
RIP
5 times World Darts Champion Eric Bristow
The Crafty Cockney age 60
What I do object to is people telling me to stop supporting Arsenal until Wenger leaves. Can’t do that. Not an option. People should be open-minded enough to recognise how supporting a football club gets under the skin. You don’t have to agree with my viewpoint but it’s hard to take another Arsenal fan insulting me for this position.
Well done Bob! Good man. Trolls want you to be bitter along with them, as if that would truly hound WENGER out.
steve must be a little special kid or an absolute imbecile.
Either way, he’s a spud cunt.
Lol Daledacunt must be an Wenger groupie for sure.
utASS
Wtf are you trying to say ? Rather than looking up words on google and desperately trying to sound clever (which you are clearly face planting in doing so) why don’t you just use words you understand ?”
hey dumbo,not my fault you can’t comprehend basic English language,i suggest you go back to school or fvck off or probably do both,either way you won’t be missed.
‘steve must be a little special kid or an absolute imbecile.’
honestly think it’s a combination of both,and also cant make out if his buddy(utASS) is a chavs or a spud cunt,but HE is definitely a cunt.
Augusta has to be the most scenic golf course in the world
Wake me up when the specialist in failure is gone
hillwood
Stunning place
Vicuntious probably drinks from Ty’s Waterbottle filled with Wengers you know what.
“There are some seriously thick posters on here …”
And you are at the top the table Pierre……
It’s being reported this morning that Arsenal are opening contract talks with Ramsey. Seems his performance against the very poor CSKA has changed the opinion from previously reported that the club were going to sell him. For me Ramsey is a squad player at best. He’s positionally undisciplined and injury prone. The fact that he’s had to be rested this season with only playing one game a week says it all, especially as he should be in his prime at 27. What’s the point of paying a lot of money for a player who can’t manage one game a week?… Read more »
To WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN
“I find the narratives of some posters on here a bit ridiculous,why would you sit your fat ass behind your device and moan all day about proper fans spunking money to watch a team ”
aka being a true fan means spunking money on lost cause?
You must be an AKB alias moron mate
Yes 12 year old, I must be the dumb one obvs.
heck, I picked an uninspiring day to pop in, eh? le grove at the end will just be steve & red going at it.
Good morning tony, how are you ?,did you and your son enjoy the game the other night or has your son jumped ship yet to get away from listening to you endlessly whining about the club/manager…….if he has I don’t blame him. I was just looking at your recent comment “For me Ramsey is a squad player at best. He’s positionally undisciplined and injury prone. The fact that he’s had to be rested this season with only playing one game a week says it all, especially as he should be in his prime at 27.What’s the point of paying a… Read more »
If Arsenal are going to progress or even, godforbid, win the EL, there is one player they need to keep fit, healthy and happy.
Alexander Lacazette may not be everyone’s cup of tea but he is the one person capable of hitting the target on a regular basis, providing, that is, he is given the right service.
Although I can’t see Arsenal overturning AM, with Lacazette fit and mentally stable they could, oh dearey me, just could, do it!
Just watched the highlights of the CSK game. Wasn’t around for the live match. Scintillating stuff. Ramsey and Ozil were both on fire and Lacazette was a man possessed on a mission. Well done. Great to watch.
Jeff
It’s just that bloody defence!
Leaving aside decisions to be made about manager and coaching staff it is clear that Arsenal need to make structural changes to the first team specifically the first choice starting X1. Goalkeeper. Cech will be 36 next season. His performance level has declined. For me finding a replacement is a priority, because Ospina is not a solution. If we go for World Class options it is going to cost in current market £50 million+. Second tier goalkeepers will cost £20-30 million. Centre Backs. Koscielny will be 33 next season. He has become injury prone and is not capable of playing… Read more »
Emiratesstroller
Defensive Midfielders. My guess is that Arsenal will not replace Xhaka.
Nooooooooo! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream
He stinks of Wenger’s naive football philosophy.
Oh well. No helping them is there.
Nice to hear from you Pierre. Nothing to d with me but my son prefers to play football and do his jujitsu than watch Arsenal at the moment. He has asked to watch the United game and if we make the semi of the EL, so he has some interest. He’s on his school holidays and I’ve just allowed him to start training in our home gym doing HITCV and weights and abs programs. Probably piss you off but we have a 100 square meter state of the art gym at our house. Successfully working one’s arse off for 40… Read more »
In agreement Stroller, defensive spine and an out and out fast winger. Although I’d prefer a greater overhaul of CM, it won’t happen.
Haha is there a dick measuring situation between Tony and Pierre?
Le Grove is hilarious at times. Go on lads
I wonder how Musa and the other black players survive in Moscow.
Most hostile place for people of color.
Debuchy own goal in injury time…….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jat2Nd6GfqE
‘Successfully working one’s arse off for 40 years has its merits.’
Such a shame it doesn’t do anything to your Small penis syndrome.
Tony
“Any time you’re over you’re more than welcome to come to train. We’re the same age, so it would be very interesting to see your capabilities.”
No way will you be seeing my capabilities ….I’m not that way inclined !!!!
You wouldn’t catch me in a gym , pumping weights to boost my ego , .its big enough as it is…..not for me thanks.
golf’s my game mate ….a game of skill ,power and finesse….you should try it sometime instead of flexing your geriatric muscles in front of the mirror..
How many golfers are on Le Grove out of curiosity?
ES
I think we’re aware of and in agreement with most of what you’ve highlighted.
Listing all the players as you have, shows what a complete and utter cock up Wenger has made of things over the past few years.
Your ideas and suggestions are based on logic. However, you have to remember, we have a clown incharge, who has no concept of such a thing.
It always goes back to one key factor.
Every bloody time!
Did you watch it last night Charlie…I had an each way bet on bubba (top 3 finish after round 2) 125/1.
It was all looking good until the par 5 , 15th hole…his 2nd shot landed on the green and spun back into the water …gutted.
Solanke looks so much like Sturridge.
Lol.
TonyD
I’m sure there are some on here who have lots of nice things in their homes.
Gloating about your 100 square meter, state of the art,home gym . Good for you!
I’m presently helping out with a victims support group, close to where I live. I get more satisfaction at helping those less fortunate people in life, rather than promote (or should I say flaunt) my own material success.
“I’m presently helping out with a victims support group, close to where I live. I get more satisfaction at helping those less fortunate people in life”
That’s awesome man.
Great save by Karius
My garden is as big as Augusta and has Crocodiles and fakes!
Milner is human engine
What has happened to Nathan Clyne is he injured or can’t get into team?
My bad he’s playing der.
Pierre
Yes mate, don’t miss a minute if I can help it!
I’ve replied three times now, obviously there’s a word I’m using that’s on the naughty list. Ffs Pedro idk what you’ve included
Samesong
Did you mean lakes and not “fakes”?
Not sure if that was your tounge in cheek response to @TonyD.
Whatever, I like it!
Tongue
Charlie
I just play a few rounds a year with mates
And watching the Majors to see how golf should be played
How about you?
Michael
You get it, nice
.
Samesong
I have a 5sq meter garden shed, infested by spiders, slugs and empty fuckin paint tins!!
I also have a 3sq meter pond that had 6 goldfish in until the fuckin seagulls came a calling!
The thing is though, I’m happy with my crib and am not a dick!
“I just play a few rounds a year with mates
And watching the Majors to see how golf should be played. How about you?“
Turned into a bit of a fair weather player lately, but I’m an avid golfer. Played to a alright standard growing up, and will always tune into the majors
I have a 1000sq ft harem in my home filled with state of the art inflatables.
Who says you shouldn’t boast about material possessions.
TonyD
Where are you based in the States?
Will be visiting family in DC later in the year.
Maybe I can drop in and have a go on your treadmill?!
Everton are really dire
Liverpool could play at 25% capacity and still stay on cruise control.
Charlie
Where are you from
Dissenter
Love it!!
Lads, lads, you got nothing on me.
I have 24341 Ramsey posters, I win this contest.
Congrats @TonyD.
Comment of the week!
Liverpool dominating.
Bound to score if this continues.
Rooney not too happy.
I remember that the tones when Schneiderlin was the darling of legrove.
Is this Goodison Park?
Surely not!
*I remember the times
It’s good to see Seamus Coleman back
Karius is getting better and better.
Dissenter
Agree.
Everton and Walcott have come alive.
Great weekend of sport
Football-Bahrain GP-US Masters
I won’t get much painting done !
TR7
I agree with your sentiments regarding Karius
He was highly rated in Germany before he came to Liverpool. He’s beginning to find his form.
Manchester derby
Madrid derby
Eddie Howe.
Would you take him ahead of Wenger?
Michael24
I’m in Thailand and you’re welcome to drop in for a session.
Formerly from the UK but moved here permanently in 2008 but had business in S East Asia from 1999.
Good lord there’s some WALTER MITTY’S on here.
What with the Blueberry pie boys we now have a wannabe
TING TONG.
Sorry, family obligations in the States. Thailand a bit out of the way.
Do you have any Asian Goldfish to spare?
Michael You’re not the only one who helps the less fortunate and there are many here in Thailand. I wasn’t gloating and Pierre loves to bring my family into the blog. I wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise. The MC club I’m part of does a lot of charity work, especially with kids. So cool your jets bro. Having spent my early childhood in an orphanage in the 50s and 60s I know what brutal and tough life is all about. You’ll find many successful people do much for charity but prefer to do so anonymously, which is true if my… Read more »