Even though Arsene Wenger made a complete change to the Arsenal starting line from the weekend draw away to Chelsea in the Premier League, he was still not willing to take too many chances in this Carabao cup game at home to Doncaster, so the visitors were facing a strong Gunners side including Walcott, Giroud and Alexis Sanchez up front.
So the boss will have been a bit disappointed to hear the halftime whistle go with Arsenal only having scored the one goal. It was a lovely run, touch and finish from Theo Walcott to latch onto a perfectly weighted long ball over the top from Alexis.
Giroud had nearly scored a goal of the season contender earlier on with a great overhead kick but his shot struck the bar. There were other chances from Arsenal but despite dominating the first period comfortably we had not tested the Doncaster keeper nearly enough.
They even had a few half chances of their own, and enjoyed a good period just before the break, so it was far from being done and dusted. The second half was even worse and ended up being a nerve wracking affair which saw far fewer chances from the Gunners but a lot more from the visitors.
Towards the end it needed a last ditch block from Mertesacker and then from the corner they hit the bar. To be fair to Doncaster they were a bit unlucky and this was not the confidence building result we could have done with, but the simple fact is that Arsenal progress and will be in the next round.
Bob.
Glorious victory.
Bristol City next .
Yes, very glorious. An expected lacklustre win, because of the competition’s prestige.
– Sanchez: Very rusty at the beginning, lost a lot and did not chase back. He looked not too interested, but growing into the game after the bad start.
– Dasilva: Looks promising and very composed.
– Maitland-Niles: I didn’t know he can run that fast. No wonder Wenger always uses him as a left wingback.
– Wilshere: Didn’t do anything special, but he still has the skills. Need to play more often to regain his abilities.
– Elneny: As usual, he kept everything simple, but also very composed.
– Walcott: Very fast as usual, but still cannot offer anything else apart from scoring. He should have scored his second goal, if he was calmer.
– Giroud: Didn’t do anything special. He is more suitable as super sub or plan B.
Sanchez was utterly pathetic, this mirrored the performance against Liverpool where he was their extra man on the pitch. He was disinterested as if this cup/game was beneath him , he also seemed to break down our attacks ON PURPOSE HE TRACKED BACK LAZILY TO DEFEND . Was with the stupid side flicks around the corner between Giroud and Sanchez , it didn’t work the 1st 15 times they tried yet they continually persisted on doing it every chance they got .
Personally I would let Sanchez rot on the bench and give his spot to a player whose heart is with Arsenal . Iwobi or Reis Nelson or the like .
The Chelsea game proved that Sanchez and Ozil are not needed and they are indeed LUXURY PLAYERS .
I am sure Sanchez could go back to his prime. He still has the skills and the willingness to fight, he just needs to find his motivation again.
Because Welbeck is injured, Arsenal would need him to command the attack along with Lacazette and Iwobi. These three players have great ball control and skills, I cannot wait to see them play together in the field.
Sadly for Arsenal Sanchez is a liability both on and off the pitch. His loyalties and heart lay in Manchester. Wenger is the most paternal , forgiving man in football history. No other coach would put up with the nonsense Wenger endures with his players . It’s time an example is made to strike fear into these players to ensure they give 150% on the pitch at all times . If we to bring the rest of the team in line so that we salvage a title challenge then it’s time to put an end to the drama on and off the pitch . Right now all that drama emanates from Sanchez and Ozil
Wilshere was impressive… The pass for Giroud’s overhead kick, and seems he’s getting more confidence to shoot – didn’t even know he could shoot from such range. He had a good performance… Really glad he’s back.
I like his is shooting from outside…its something we need since ozil dont know that is able for a midfielder to shot to the goal…otherwise, im not so impresse with wilshere performance…avereage to me, but good he is getting playing time..for now, he is not the answer, i prefer iwobi as acm, but he didnt play well today too…
Very poor performance for alexis…im a fan of him
and im ok with him if he lose the ball and out “fluency” since he is the only one who break the innercy and makes things happen like the pass to walcott today. BUT, today was too much, he lose the ball many times and not because of trying, but because of being careless…hope he can find his motivation before he moves (i repeat, im a fan of alexis, im chilean, but to me, we should have bought lemar and sell alexis for 60m…next year we cannot find a good player to replace him and if we could, we would not buy a dm and an ozil cover (i mean an acm, a cone is enought to replace ozil)
Norwich city
By tomorrow morning, Arsenal fans would have forgotten all about this Theo Walcott goal
I didn’t watch the game. Followed the match text on BBCSports. Anyway, we won the game but I hoped for more goals.
Arsenal next EPL game is on a Monday..
i couldnt get it
did maitland niles play for us or Doncaster ?
looked like a championship team out there.
None of these youngsters are going places
What you talking about they did Ok come on now we had 8 sure chances on goal their keeper did well ospina was board and was called for action this was a football game we did not concede so all in all we did ok the players did ok they achieved the win
Sanchez was really off pace hope he can get back to his best. Am happy to see Wilshere get some game time. All together a good but average win!
“Average Win” that sound like a defeat. What is the different between winning 5-0 and 1-0 in a knock out competition. Some of us won’t stop coming up with demeaning phrases or clauses to discredit the team.
I hope you have seen Arsene’ reaction! He is not too pleased as well because it was an average performance!
nice to see wilshere start again in Arsenal colors.
True , I hope this gives him confidence and inspires him to wrestle the central midfield role away from Ramsey . If Sanchez and Özil are to leave then Ramsey should play further forward in Özils role and Wilshere can play alongside Xhaka.
I’m really proud of the boys tonight. They put in a great shift against the might Doncaster Rovers and grinded out that win. This will immensely boost our confidence and morale when we face the legendary Alfriston FC in the upcoming round of The Sing Off. Way to go lads!!
Honestly this should have been a cake walk, but we made Doncaster rovers look like a top 2 premiership team, but hey a win is a win! Coyg!
Home to Norwich
Please don’t blame Wenger today for bizarre performance. I was very angry on performance of Nelson, Giroud and elneny. Nelson thinks he is already a superstar and he has attitude problem. He must learn from santi to be a humble player. So many mistakes. Per was just like a eifel tower. Sanchez never got a good support. Jack Wilshire must be man of the match as he showed his abilities. I think this match must be forgotten asap. Nothing special and no dominance.
Go watch the ox highlight from Liverpool game Tuesday, you won’t be very angry with Nelson anymore. In fact, you would probably be glad he is playing instead of ox.
Aweful finishing! Do Arsenal ever practice taking chances and shooting at goal?
I don’t care… We kept a clean sheet & most importantly won… That’s what matters
Would have hopefully scored more but who cares, we are through. Good to see Wilshere start. Sanchez is a spoilt brat and if he can’t be bothered, drop him till he can.
Let’s move on and not pay too much attention to what is frankly a mid-week distraction. We simply must beat a type of opposition we frequently struggle with in West Brom on Monday.
Wenger invited Alex Fergusson to Emirates to watch our game against Doncaster – a team managed by Darren Fergusson ( Alex’s blood.
What A a big risk !!!
what if we were beaten. It could have been a story of a manager beaten by Father and Son.
Thank God it never happened.
I noticed something positive from Wilshere’s game today that is shooting from distance, i really love that. We need more of our players to shoot from outside the 18 yard box, sometimes you win matches by shooting.
That is something that ALL ARSENAL PLAYERS NEED INSTILLED INTO THEIR BRAINS . THE clever flicks and tricks as well, as trying to dribble 10men plus the goal keeper and the goal post is not working. Norwich will be a much stronger opponent that won’t let the multitude of mistakes we made go unpunished. If this team don’t take the games seriously we will won’t be successful in winning this tournament
Really?
Not in this match alone. There were several shot attempts from outside the box at Stamford Bridge. That was one of the reasons we pushed Chelsea 11, to their 18 yard or thereabout, defending most part of the game.
We thrashed several teams in the league cups before but none of them are memorable. I dont think scoreline matter, a 1-0 win is enough. I think its goood that we won 1-0, our players dont get carried away. Good job gunners, on to the next one
£100 mil forward line scores 1 goal against DONCASTER.
Man City’s multiple hundreds of million pounds won just 2-1
Tactic is shitty. How many youngsters does AW intend to destroy by playing them as wing back?
Stop that stupid act, AW.
It was a bad game because certain players thought it was beneath them.
Alexi should be Left to rot in the bench.