The Arsenal players were clearly keen to get off to a good start after the disappointment of last week, kmowing that the home crowd could do with some encouragement and also aware that the in form visitors Hull City would be looking to exploit any nerves or poor play from us.
It nearly paid instant dividends as well, with Ozil, Alexis, Walcott and Iwobi combining to cause some havoc and hesitation in the Hull back line, but their goal survived and the game became more even as the tigers found their feet.
Arsenal were looking good at times and we created good chances but an actual goal looked elusive and the crowd grew more restless. THankfully the breakthrough came before halftime and before the nerves could really get a grip. There was some fortune to the finish as it came off the hand of our Chilean striker but there was no suggestion it was deliberate and Arsenal had upped our game in general before that and put real pressure on Hull’s defence.
The visitors had created some good opportunities themselves and did so again after the break, but without any completely scary momentsd for us, although Arsenal were not exactly banging the door down for a second. And with around 20 minutes left Wenger shored up the side a bit by replacing Walcott with Elneny.
Inevitably with just a one goal lead and with the respective feelinghs in the teams we ended up deeper and deeper towards the end of the game and were left hanging on a bit instead of pushing for a second but after seeing off some pressure and a succession of corners we managed to break through, Ozil and Alexis who crossed for Lucas to head in, but his header hit the arm of Clucas who was sent off.
Alexis took the penalty and scored to secure the points and put some gloss on the scoreline. It was not the best Arsenal performance you will ever see but it was the result that mattered and we got back to winning ways.
Bob.
Gibbs was good. He should start from now on.
Cech did a mini redemption, good saves.
OX MOTM hands down! What a performance. I think he should occupy that CM role from now on.
Markovic ran Gibbs and Kos to the ground most of the game. Not to mention Gibbs arguably should’ve been sent off but got lucky. Monreal still links up with Alexis much better. Neither are convincing for me though
So if Markovic ran Gibbs and Koscielny to the ground, you’re saying we should drop both?
A clean sheet is all that matters. We didn’t get that with Monreal starting so gladly he’s on the bench now.
When did i say they should be dropped? I’m saying they didn’t have great games. You’re praising Gibbs when the guys should’ve gotten red and wasn’t even doing too great before that.
@Juhi Mclovin
Gibbs was good going forward, but not defensively as Markovic caused so many problems down that flank. Although one could argue that Gibbs being out of position regularly was more to do with Wenger’s tactics. Also, it was a definite sending off for Gibbs. Markovic wasn’t going away from goal, he was clean through straight down the middle, and Gibbs was the last man.
I agree on the Ox though. MOTM performance! Ozil is now going missing against weak opposition, as well as the big boys. Cannot see him performing against Bayern.
Also, a special mention to Perez. The poor guy can barely get a start, and was only given around 13/14 minutes today, but still impressed. He would have scored if it wasn’t for the handball, so our second goal was a direct result of Perez’s header. Walcott was very poor AGAIN today, and Iwobi didn’t offer a lot. Cannot understand why Wenger refuses to give Perez game time? He impresses every time I see him.
Who knows why Wenger doesn’t play Perez..maybe for the opposite reason he keeps playing Ramsey.
Let Ox occupy CM role, cause like most of the others in midfield they won’t have a clue how to deal with Bayern Munich. Only Cazorla and Elneny actually mover around in midfield trying to close players down, all of the other wait for opposition to come near them then put a challenge in.
Gibbs should’ve been sent off, but I don’t criticize him because he doesn’t talk nonsesne after one win unlike some other British players in the squad.
Why should he have been sent off? The ball was in the air..the opponent did not already have it and was not clear through.Thats what yellow cards are for.
Okay game. Not the best but good to get back to winning. Still some poor performances today though and our decision making in final third is not good. Ox MOTM for me.
It’ll be sad if this performance convinces ppl wenger will come good. Our title challenge is still over and we’re now playing the rest of the season with no pressure.
And still perez will be on the bench… bro i dont know if wenger wants you to be promounced dead before he sees your quality in pace and positioning. Ozil still poor, Walcott to the bench please and give Perez his position
Was sick that he got robbed of that goal. At the same time I love when Alexis scores, just a pity that our golden boot candidate is not in the running for a winners medal. This is the type of performance we needed against Watford, they show here that they can stay with their markers and get back in numbers, also keep a shape. Why not always I ask, it’s the basics, I feel let down despite the win. Finally, AFC, please get Alexis signed, would improve any team on the planet.
I like Perez and I think he is a fine attacker but he do sent like defending and would not care to run and defend Wallcott would besides wallcott is the most senior player we have at Arsenal I would love to see Perez play and make runs in to defend Welbeck would defend and work hard well done to the OX football is a crazy game we won it with hand balls and only for that we would have drawn the game bayern will be difficult yet I am looking forward for it and praying to win
Good! On to the next match
Hope you enjoyed beautiful football. 4231. I think I will make this my signature.
What happened to the old Budd. He used to take everyone on with an optimistic viewpoint. I remember the Budd v Leo showdowns, Klingon an all. Serious note though, do you think we’ll win the CL this season, and if not, why the hell not.
Budd never liked 4231.
gibbs should have had gotten red.
The referee totally overreacted with the pen and red on the other side.
Sanchez goal should not have stood
11 0 to bayern
Hey Spurs fan.
What are you doing on an Arsenal site.
Liverpool is tearing the he’ll out of you at the moment. Write about that.
Clean sheet, 3points and sanchez scoring 2 were the positives.
Walcott and Ozil’s performance is nothing to write home about.
not a convincing win at the end but at least we got three points. why ozil was not substituted or left on the bench mr stubborn only knows. Lucas and danny should start and leave walcott and coc on the bench. well done ox another fine performance = gooner for ever
Can anyone tell Coquelin to stop those long passes please?
I totally agreed with you LeCoq trying those long passes when it is not in his style. This is why no matter the haters preferred Xhaka as he got in his range wheter is horizontal pass or on the ground. It was an average performance by miles and OK we got the win but Please if we play like this is the Alliance , we are gonna get beaten badly. To begin with, hull under this fella is playing decent football and I do hope they stay up as their passing is very intricate and ALL THEIR PLAYERS SEEMS TO BLEND. Secondly, I would have gone for wellbeck after 60 mins as Markovic was running riot Gibbs plus give bit of physical presence to the tall Hull players but we have to wait until 82 mins to bring them ON.If we want a good result in germany , we have to go with Welbeck – Alexis and Theo ( just cos pace ahead of Iwobi ) as bayer play lot with the wing backs like Chelsea does. in the Middle has to go Xhaka and giving the freedom to shoot as he has been restricted like with the NO TACKLING order given to him. Liek it or not , I would go with Monreal and Hector as full backs and Kos-Mustafi iin the centre. We can not get worse than what we are so far but If we avoid defeat thee , there will be slight chance to beat them at home. gain, poor performance but 3 poiints for our main goal..4Th Place. opinions divided but respected. have nice weekend Gooners
He thinks he is Pirlo. Been doing that for the whole season. If you look at it, he is less defensive now than he was when he first came to the team.
Glad that Ox put in a good game. Not too keen on the Elneny Coquelin partnership, you tend to realise, more so, what these two are lacking in when they play together. If we had of beaten Watford we’d be only six points behind Chelsea despite losing to them. I wish we could go back to the Eve game and have another crack at all the fixtures thereafter.
Why oh why does Wenger refuse to start Welbeck and Perez. as soon as they came on we looked more threatening.
Walcott is undroppable unless top four is at stake. This is why Wenger has to go. Ten years of investment in a player and he still has faith in him.
Walcott has been dropped plenty of times in recent years.
Well we got 3 points from two hands which ably assisted us, unfortunate for hull who has been playing very good football.
some points to look at
Ox really has been impressing in the middle MOTM for me, did his defensive and offensive duties pretty well, pushed the team forward on several occasions, can only get better with more run in that position.
Sanchez a little bit fortunate to get a goal with his hand, but actually put in a shift for both halves which has been missing in previous matches, got too goal which was deserving of his hard work.
Gibbs got burn on couple occasions but i actually like him playing over monreal, the games i have seen him in this season , i think he is an improved player
Iwobi still not doing enough defensively, walcott did not see much of the ball, Ozil improved performance but still should be doing a lot more defensively, the other players basically did their job.
Fair to say that Alexis had a HAND in both goals.
??
In my opinion, Ozil plays better with Giroud than Sanchez upfront. That’s why he had so many assists last season. My team against Bayern will be
Welbeck
Sanchez OX Perez
Coquelin Elneny
Gibbs Koscielny Mustafi Bellerin
Ospina
Good to see Bellerin finished the game without any injury issues.
I would make ox cm in place of com and have Phil in can.
Elneny did well for Egypt and he moves around a lot, looking for ball, opening spaces, pressing opposition.
I will take him over Ramsey any day, and xhaka until he learns how to not get sent off.
Such a poor game, it’s been like that all season.
And then they’ll go on a five game winning streak to “narrowly” miss the title.Which will convince fans for Wenger extended his contract and then it’s back to the same cycle again and again.
Under a right guidance, Chamberlain can be a really good box-to-box midfielder and Iwobi can be a very good playmaker. Ozil will not be dropped until he gets injured or another club is willing to get him. It appeared that the mentality of the players is still affected by the recent bad results. Hopefully they can find the battle spirit again for the Champions League and the FA Cup.
Yes lucky win, but nice all the same.
Difficult to see any improvements though. Still way too many chances to Hull, and when they can run/play through our midfield like that, I really fear what Bayern can do.
If we play like we did today against Bayern,we’ll get thrashed. Where would we be without Sanchez. I think Alexis is gearing Ox on to charge players down and also to move forward. Perez should start against Bayern,the guy deserves some game time,but am Guessing wenger put Giroud on the bench in other to start him against Bayern.
Good 3 pts. The table is tight 2-6 so maybe we won’t settle for 4th this year. Hopefully Ozil looks better against Bayern since AW seems to never be able to drop him. We need to step it up against Bayern though today wasn’t very convincing.
So relieved that we won and got the 3 points.
However, I got so disappointed to see the same system and starting players except for Gibbs on the pitch. After that severe defeat against Chelsea, how come Wenger didn’t feel the urge to change something? Considering it was Hull that we played, not the team of top 5 in the league, we can’t be too happy with our performance. Ox was great, though.
The game was mediocre and had no excitement as always until 82nd minutes when Welbeck and Lucaz came in. I guess it was the very first time for both of them to play with Ozil and Sanchez. I felt the expectation and excitement coming from the stadium even through my TV monitor. If Ozil gets fitter, they can create more. Lucaz should start over Walcott.
I hate to pick up any individual here, but Walcott deserves special mention. I never rate him high nor like him and I finally understand why. His position is hardly right as a striker.
He is always far from the ball and the goal. He pulls back, stays, wait and shout for the ball even when he should make a run to either near post or far post. I saw this at least 3 times in this game. Sanchez and Lucaz are far better to find a spot where is the best position to score. Walcott is not just “there” when others want to deliver the ball. I think it’s more of an instinct and he doesn’t seem to have it.
I admit he has scored more goals and improved diffensively this season, but he should not start with this lack of striker instinct.
Having that said, I can easily see Wenger play the same eleven as yesterday against Bayern.