Arsene's Party Pooped With Borough Stalemate

    So how did that go?? Well Arsene had to settle for communion wine (Heard he is catholic or was) instead of the champagne we planned. Middlesbrough came with a plan and stuck to it, they got that point they came for, might have been all 3 if not for Cech and the woodwork. Full credit to them, you cant fault an oppositions work ethic when its industrious even if it means sticking a twist into ya cruise control. Arsenal did not have a plan B to borough's organisation at the back, hence could not break down a resolute defence. We mentioned it before that while they have lost games, they have only lost one by more than a goal margin and that was telling if you asked me. The game started with Arsenals usual style of trying to overwhelm the opposition with some sleek movement of the ball which was good to watch at times. The flow however didn’t deliver this time as they stayed compact and organised. For all our more than 75% possession in the first 20 minutes we never caused Valdes any sort of concern in their goal. Lots of possession little penetration!!! Özil seemed a little jaded and Walcott didnt have that verve he has shown in recent weeks, or could it be that we missed the ambi-dexterity of Santi in midfield. He gives arsenal more penetration from deep with his incisive passes, no offence to Elneny and Coq but none of them come close to the Spaniards nifty or craft. 

Image Credits: Arsenaldotcom.

    Arsenal's initial dominance waned as the first half wore on then Middlesbrough settled into the game and started to turn the tide. It just wasn’t happening for the gunners, what was more worrying was that Cech was the busier of both keepers coming up with a double save in the first half just to keep us in the game from Traore and Negredo …first, then Gaston Ramirez stuck the post with a sweet free kick that left Cech almost tearing his own net as he tried to reach the ball, thank God it missed the target [top right corner it was headed]. Cech was again quick to save from a far post header by Ramirez. Cech was really our man of the match with these saves. We had our own moments but our final balls were a bit too short or too long, summing up our frustrating day at the office. Ozill and Alexis both struck freekicks into far far row Z and Victor Valdes safe punch respectively. Middlesbrough went into the half with their tails up. The second half was a bit tame from borough with the same approach, stay compact and hit them on the break. The gladly let us have the ball to dominate possession without us penetrating their banks of four. Arsenal brought on Perez and Ox for Neny and Iwobi but the closes we came to a winner was an Özil goal that was rightfully disallowed for offside. Arsene Wenger said post match which captures the mood nicely.

“We had a lot of the ball but that’s not enough to win games., it was a frustrating match”match

not so good but a point is better than none. Put into context the fact that Man United got tanked at the bridge and all top 3 drew at the weekend. Not so bad then, 2 points dropped but still joint top of the table......glass half full init??

    We welcome Reading at the Emirates tonight in an EFL 4th round cup tie, after our performance this past weekend, it’s a bit foolhardy not to thread with caution while expecting us to still do enough for a win. Its understandable that we will be rotating a lot for this match, after all its our 4^th game in 8 days, that’s a lot. Jenkinson is back while Oliver Giroud is a possible feature as he returns from his mysterious toe injury that’s kept him out of the team this long. Ramsey is totally out as is Danny Wellbeck. I expect the same Team that beat Forrest last month to take to the pitch, without Xhaka who serves his second match ban while Akpom sits out due to an injury.... hopefully they can do the business by getting a win to keep us still unbeaten……Consolation for Wenger too. My line up will see a couple of changes:

Subs: Ospina,Jenkinson, Giroud, Wilcock, Zelalem, Bielik, Macey.

  Anyway thats it from the me, hope you enjoy the game wherever you are, do share the post.....Ciaoo