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Tag: Arsenal

  • Arsenal and Liverpool share spoils in 6-goal thriller

    Arsenal produced a stunning fightback after a woeful first-half display to overturn a two-goal deficit against Liverpool.

    But they were denied an improbable victory as Roberto Firmino salvaged a 3-3 draw for the visitors on Friday night at the Emirates.

    In disarray for 45 minutes and behind to a rare headed goal by Philippe Coutinho, Arsenal were in danger of suffering a pre-Christmas nightmare.

    That was when Mohamed Salah raced away to put a rampant Liverpool 2-0 ahead in the 52nd minute with his 15th league goal of the season.

    But the hosts suddenly came alive and, unbelievably, they were ahead by the 58th minute with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil turning the game upside down.

    Firmino made sure Liverpool returned north with a point with a 71st minute equaliser but Juergen Klopp was left scratching his head at how his side squandered two points.

    “A point at Arsenal is a good result for most teams in the world but it feels not too good at the moment,” the German, whose side remained in fourth spot a point ahead of Arsenal, said after getting his breath back at the Emirates.

    “Arsenal were not in the game apart from 10 minutes.”

    Liverpool had scored at least three goals in each of their four Premier League matches against Arsenal under Klopp, winning three and drawing one.

    They found the Gunners defence in flimsy mood again as the festive programme opened with a cracker.

    The visitors suffered an early blow when skipper Jordan Henderson limped off with a hamstring injury.

    However, his replacement James Milner began the goal rush when he released Salah whose cross was glanced home by Coutinho for his first-ever headed goal for the Reds.

    Firmino had already squandered two glorious headed chances for Liverpool before Coutinho’s deft header.

    Also, Salah missed two gilt-edged opportunities shortly before halftime as Liverpool carved open Arsenal’s rearguard with glee.

    The Gunners trudged off to a chorus of boos at halftime and were no better at the start of the second half as Salah was allowed to maraud forward unopposed.

    The Egyptian curling superbly past Cech to make it 2-0, his shot deflecting off Shkodran Mustafi.

    Arsene Wenger’s side had offered nothing but were given a lifeline when Sanchez, invisible before halftime, punished Liverpool’s dozing defence to head home Ozil’s cross.

    Xhaka then let fly and although his 25-metre shot swerved, it should have been meat and drink to Simon Mignolet who looked crestfallen as the ball nestled in the net.

    Liverpool were stunned and the sky fell in on them when Ozil fired Arsenal in front after a superb back heel by Alexandre Lacazette to send the home crowd into delirium.

    It seemed unlikely that would be the end of the drama and so it proved as Firmino turned and struck a powerful left-foot shot that Cech could only parry and the ball looped into the net.

    Wenger admitted his side had been lucky to only be one goal behind at the break.

    “We played frozen with fear and not at our level in the first half. In the second half we played at our level. It was a thrilling game,” he said.

    “I am frustrated at not winning but that is the type of game you want in the Premier League.”

    Few of the 59,000 present would disagree.

  • England midfielder Jack Wilshere expects new arsenal deal

    Injury-plagued England midfielder Jack Wilshere expects to sign a new Arsenal contract in the coming weeks.The 25-year-old, whose current deal expires at the end of the season, has made 15 appearances this season, having returned from a calf injury in August.

    He spent last season on loan at fellow Premier League side Bournemouth

    “I definitely want to be here. I want to help Arsenal get to where they should be,” Wilshere, who made his Gunners debut in 2008, told Sky Sports.

    “We just have to sort things out and I’m sure that will happen in the next couple of weeks and it will be sorted.”

    Wilshere has started two league games for Arsenal this season, including Saturday’s 1-0 win over Newcastle United.

    He is chasing a recall to the England team for the 2018 World Cup having received support from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger last month.

    “I think I’ve proved to myself that I can play in the Premier League and I trust my body again and that I can affect games. I can have a positive effect on this team and then maybe we’ll see if the England manager picks me,” he said.

    Wilshere won the last of his 34 England caps at Euro 2016 in the last 16 defeat by Iceland.

    England manager Gareth Southgate has insisted Wilshere cannot be included if he is not playing regularly for Arsenal.

    BBC Sports

  • Ex-Arsenal player Rosicky retires from professional football

    Former Arsenal midfielder and Czech national side playmaker, Tomas Rosicky, ended his professional football career on Wednesday after years of injuries often kept him off the pitch.

    Rosicky, 37, came through at Sparta Prague, where he is now also finishing his playing days.

    He moved to Borussia Dortmund in 2001 and to Arsenal in 2006 where he played for a decade.

    Rosicky, dubbed “Little Mozart’’ for his playmaking abilities, started 105 games for the national team, making him the third most-capped player in the country’s history.

    His career, though, has often been plagued by injury, limiting his playing time especially in recent years.

    “My body was telling me for a long time that it does not want (to do it) anymore,” he told a news conference.

    “I will probably have nothing to offer my team mates and Sparta.”

    “I lived through beautiful moments, but unfortunately also terribly negative ones,” he added.

    “Without even thinking about, I will immediately do it again.”

    Rosicky won a Bundesliga title with Dortmund and two FA Cups with Arsenal, for whom he appeared in 246 games and scored 28 goals.

    He returned to Sparta Prague in 2016 and appeared 12 times for the side.

  • Superb Ozil strike gives Arsenal victory over Newcastle

    Newcastle suffered a fourth defeat in a row as Arsenal moved back into the top four with a narrow victory.

    Mesut Ozil’s brilliant volleyed goal in the first half was enough for Arsene Wenger’s side, who dominated until a late rally from Newcastle.

    Ainsley Maitland-Niles hit the side-netting for Arsenal before the break, but Newcastle had chances in the second half for Jacob Murphy and Ayoze Perez.

    The result puts Arsenal into fourth place while Newcastle have now claimed just one point from the last 27.

    Newcastle only came to life in the latter stages, with Perez failing to take advantage of two rare chances when he put a shot and then a header over the bar.

    Jack Wilshere came the closest to giving Arsenal breathing space late on when he saw his side-footed shot saved by the recalled Rob Elliot in the Newcastle goal.

    It was Newcastle’s 10th straight Premier League defeat to Arsenal and they are now without a league win since 21 October when they beat Crystal Palace 1-0.

    BBC Sports

  • Mourinho hits out at Arsenal, Koscielny after Man United win

    Mourinho didn’t park the bus away from home against a top four rival like he usually does, but he had David De Gea to thank as Arsenal had 15 shots on target and 75 percent of the possession but were caught out but ruthless United counter attacks on three killer occasions.

    United’s Portuguese boss was not happy with Arsenal and accused them of diving to try and win penalty kicks and made a sly remark about Alexandre Lacazette‘s fitness, as well as hitting out at Laurent Koscielny for his part in getting Paul Pogba sent off in the second half.

    Speaking to reporters after the game, Mourinho was asked if he was upset with Arsenal appealing for multiple penalty kicks as he lambasted their “desire to go to the grass” with the most obvious situation coming in the second half as Danny Welbeck appeared to be scythed down by Matteo Darmian in the box.

    “Look if it is not a penalty, it is not a penalty. I know the pitch is amazing and maybe it creates a desire to go to the floor. If it was hard, no. If it was mud, no. But the pitch is absolutely beautiful. I think they were a bit too much,” Mourinho said.
    He then made a point of congratulating both medical departments with his tongue firmly placed in his cheek.

    Ahead of the game Arsene Wenger, Mourinho’s arch nemesis over the years, had declared that Lacazette was completely out of the game. He started, scored Arsenal’s goal and played a full 90 minutes.

    “I don’t want to forget my congratulations to both medical departments. My medical department managed to recover [Nemanja] Matic from a maybe to a yes. But Arsenal’s medical department managed to recover a player from a no to a complete 90. Amazing. I congratulate them all.”

    Mourinho also hit out at Arsenal’s center back and captain Koscielny, who was at fault for two of United’s three goals and could have been sent off late on for hauling down Romelu Lukaku when he appeared to be the last man.

    His beef with Koscielny was how he reacted to try and get Pogba sent off following a studs up challenge on Hector Bellerin. Mourinho said that Pogba was far from impressed with his international teammate for the way he reacted.

    “The red card, I didn’t see. I was not even looking in that direction. No television yet for me. I know that Paul is frustrated. A bit disappointed with his colleague Koscielny with this kind of reaction,” Mourinho said. “Paul is frustrated because everybody knows that Paul is a clean player and it was not his intention, not at all, to be close to a red card.”

    Asked what kind of message this result (it is Mourinho’s first win as United managed in eight attempts against one of the so-called “top six” since he arrived at United) he downplayed the importance of closing the gap to Manchester City, momentarily, to five points.

    “No message. We are second in the table. We win four games in the Premier League, two at home, two away. The two away difficult teams Watford and Arsenal. We managed to win and win well and to play well. I am just happy,” Mourinho said. “There is no message. There is match after match. Now it’s on to CSKA.”

    Everything is set up for a blockbuster clash between United and City next Sunday in the Manchester derby but without the suspended Pogba and a shaky defense bailed out by David de Gea, Mourinho will still have plenty on his mind besides Arsenal’s supposed simulation.

  • Man Utd beat Arsenal in thriller but Pogba sent off

    Man Utd beat Arsenal in thriller but Pogba sent off

    Manchester United ruthlessly punished defensive errors to become the first side to win a league game at Arsenal since January in one of the games of the season so far.

    Jose Mourinho’s side were reduced to 10-men late on when Paul Pogba was sent off for a dangerous tackle and they were aided by a stunning goalkeeping display by David De Gea throughout.

    But they did telling damage early on when Antonio Valencia pounced on a loose Laurent Koscielny pass to drill the opener, before Jesse Lingard side-footed a second after robbing Shokdran Mustafi to link smartly with Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial.

    The strikes meant United had scored as many goals in 11 minutes as they had in eight away fixtures against the Premier League’s so-called ‘big six’ clubs.

    But an end-to-end first-half, which delivered 20 shots on goal, saw Arsenal hit the woodwork through Alexandre Lacazette and Granit Xhaka during a frenetic goalmouth scramble, before De Gea denied Hector Bellerin, Sead Koasinac, and spectacularly prevented a Lukaku own goal.

    The Spaniard could do nothing about Lacazette’s simple finish on 48 minutes but after Lingard had hit the post in a breathless start to the second half, De Gea produced an unbelievable double save from Lacazette and Alexis Sanchez.

    His heroics maintained the advantage during an opening 15 minutes to the second half which saw United have just 26% of possession, but Lingard was on hand to tap in a third on 63 minutes after good work by Pogba.

    Pogba’s dismissal arrived when he mistimed a tackle to effectively stamp on the back of Bellerin’s leg, and the Frenchman will now miss the Manchester derby next Sunday.

    But his moment of woe felt merely a footnote in a riveting encounter which moved second-placed United to within five points of their city rivals.

    Mourinho opens up in a thriller

    Mourinho has garnered a reputation for defensive set-ups on trips to the league’s traditional big clubs but his side went after their hosts early on, hounding possession high up the pitch to great effect.

    Their opening two goals owed much to slack use of possession by the home side but needed clinical finishes, notably when Martial cleverly flicked into the path of Lingard for the second.

    The reward for their adventure secured a first win for Mourinho in his last 12 away fixtures against the so-called ‘big six’.

    He could be forgiven for not enjoying seeing Arsenal fire 33 shots at goal in a fixture which lived up to its billing in every way.

    But while the shot-counter and De Gea’s brilliance point to United riding their luck at times, they were impressive in offering a balance between defence and attack.

    Nemanja Matic was consistently well placed, never more so than when blocking a goalbound Aaron Ramsey shot with the score at 2-0.

    And the presence of the defensive midfielder once again freed Pogba, who in bursting into the box to lay on Lingard’s second now has five assists this season, surpassing his four in the previous campaign.

    Whether Mourinho will choose to live so dangerously against City next week remains to be seen, but those watching from a neutral stance would be fortunate to see a game as good as this one again.

    Errors leave a mountain to climb

    Arsene Wenger will be familiar with this feeling.

    Only twice in 18 meetings with Mourinho has he got the upper hand and the charitable way in which his side gave away goals will not sit well.

    Koscielny’s cross-field pass and Mustafi’s indecision ultimately left a mountain to climb if Arsenal were to record a 12th straight home win in the league.

    The ease with which Pogba sauntered into the area to create a third just as Arsenal were seeking to build on Lacazette’s goal also smacked of weakness.

    Arsenal can justifiably feel aggrieved by a penalty shout that was turned down late on when Danny Welbeck was caught by Matteo Darmian but by that point, the 10-men of United had finally managed to calm a frantic affair.

    Wenger’s side drop out of the Champions League qualification places into fifth. They may well scratch their heads as to how they only found the net once but, not for the first time, it was at the other end where their shortcomings showed up.

  • Ronald Koeman – Not signing Giroud contributed to my sacking

    Former Everton manager Ronald Koeman says the failure to sign Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud this summer contributed to his sacking.

     

    Koeman was dismissed on Monday with Everton third from bottom in the Premier League after suffering a 5-2 defeat to Arsenal at home on Sunday.

     

    He claims France international Giroud, 31, was on the verge of agreeing a move to Goodison Park.

     

    “I had Olivier Giroud in the building,” said Koeman. “That was hard to swallow.”

     

    He told Dutch football magazine Voetbal International: “That would have been perfect but he decided he’d rather live in London.

     

    “You tell me where you can get a better striker.”

     

    Everton sold Romelu Lukaku, their leading scorer for the past four seasons, to Manchester United in July in a deal worth an initial £75m.

     

    Koeman said, “Lukaku was important to us, not only because of his goals, but because of his way of playing – strong, quick, direct,”

     

    “There was always the option of the long ball to him. Now we missed such a player, we had Nicola Vlasic and Wayne Rooney, players who want the ball in to feet.”

     

    Everton spent £150m on players over the summer, including midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson for £45m, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for £30m, defender Michael Keane for £30m and midfielder Davy Klaassen for £24m.

     

    Dutchman Koeman added: “We sold Lukaku for £90m. Our most expensive purchase, the Icelander Gylfi Sigurdsson, cost half.

     

    “It’s a lot of money, but in England you work in a world of different numbers. Players here all cost a lot more than they are actually worth. That’s how the market works.”

     

     

  • Germany dropped Ozil ahead of World Cup qualifiers

    Arsenal star, Mesut Ozil, has been dropped by Germany for their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan.

     

    The German has been the subject of criticism so far this season, which is liable to be his last at the Emirates Stadium, where he is out of contract next June.

     

    Ozil, played five times so far for the Gunners this season but was only on the bench for Monday’s 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion , having suffered knee inflammation a week earlier.

     

    The playmaker finds himself on the sidelines along with Mario Gotze of Borussia Dortmund and Juventus midfielder, Sami Khedira as the World Cup winners aim to secure their place at Russia 2018.

     

    Germany has not yet booked their place at the World Cup finals, though a point against Northern Ireland in Belfast would be enough.

  • Whelan: Klopp wasted money signing Chamberlain

     

    Former Liverpool captain Ronnie Whelan has been unimpressed by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the former Arsenal man.

     

    Oxlade-Chamberlain is yet to start a league game for Liverpool since his move from Arsenal on transfer deadline day and has played just one minute in the Champions League for his new side.

     

    Whelan said, he’s signing another player that he’s got 10 of already for £35m (€39.9m) or whatever.”

     

    “I’m sure Arsenal fans are looking at it thinking; hmmm we’ll take that because he’s not one that was always in Arsenal’s team.

     

    He also explained that Liverpool Boss, Jurgen Klopp, needs someone who will protect the centre-backs like Matic, like Fernandinho, Kante.

     

    “We’ve got Henderson and Can who get on the ball as a defensive midfielder and start running with it. It leaves a big hole.”

  • Luiz sent off as Chelsea, Arsenal play goalless draw at Stamford

    David Luiz was sent off as ten-man Chelsea were held at Stamford Bridge by Arsenal for the first time in six years.

    The Brazil centre-back was shown am 89th-minute straight red by referee Michael Oliver, for his high challenge on Gunners’ left-back Sead Kolasinac.

    It sparked angry scenes on the touchline with Carlo Cudicini, assistant to Antonio Conte, involved in a furious row with the Arsenal bench.

    It also means Chelsea have now had as many reds in their last five Premier League games as they have had in their 73 games combined beforehand (three).

    Earlier former Chelsea keeper Petr Cech pulled off an outstanding save to deny Pedro with the Spain winger clean through.

    Aaron Ramsey blew Arsenal’s best chance when he ghosted past two players into the Blues box, only to hit the post.