Arsenal v Norwich Review – Gunners lucky to escape with a draw

The game started very quietly with both sides feeling each other out. It was obvious that the Canaries arrived with a plan to frustrate Arsenal in the early stages and although the Gunners were doing all the attacking it was only in the 20th minute that they showed a little danger when hitting the bar.

But Norwich seemed comfortable and they finally made a possible attack just before the half hour which was easily saved by Macey, but just 5 mins later the Canaries sent Murphy clear in a one-on-one against Macey and with a very classy chip from Murphy suddenly Norwich were 1-0 up! Now the Arsenal second string are under pressure and can’t afford to be patient any longer….

Jack Wilshere has been wound up a couple times and is not doing himself any favours by retaliating and Norwich are gaining in confidence after taking the lead and nearly make it 2-0 with a curling shot but Macey is equal to it. Arsenal try hard to try and get into the game, but when they get anywhere near the Norwich goal they just seem outnumbered and they can’t seem to get past the wall of yellow shirts despite the best efforts of Nelson and Maitland-Niles…

As half time approached Arsenal were laying the Norwich half to siege, but the sideways passes never looked like making inroads and Norwich went in at half-time feeling like they had the measure of this unimpressive Arsenal side. Maybe Arsene can get them a bit more motivated and penetrative in the second half but I’m not holding my breath.

The first 15 minutes of the second half it looked like Arsenal were seriously scared of conceding a second goal and they were on the defensive, but as time went on they started to attack a bit more but with little success. The Norwich defence certainly look calm and unworried. The frustration was obvious as Coquelin got booked for a desperate slide after losing the ball, and suddenly the Canaries looked dangerous again…

Then Norwich nearly put the game to bed with two top chances in quick succession but both chances were wasted over the bar, then immediately tghey had another golden chance which was stopped at the death. At this moment in time it looks like Arsenal have very little hope of getting an equalizer tonight….

After a couple of attacks by the Gunners they lost the ball and Jack Wilshere did one of his trademark tackles in the opponents half and got himself booked. Jack, Giroud and Walcott simply look they can’t handle these Championship defenders…

Arsenal looked dead and buried but Wenger (we will call it a stroke of genius in the morning) took off our star youngster Reiss Nelson and replaced him with Neketiah, and 30 seconds later he scored the equalizer! Can we now go on and score the winner or will our reserves live to fight another day? Just five minutes to go and the pressure is on….

When Norwich’s Trybull took Wilshere down before he could get past the half way line it looked obvious that Norwich would be happy with a draw but Arsenal kept pressing. With 4 minutes added on giroud was presented with a free kick right on the edge of the box but when it went straight into the wall a draw looked obvious.

We can consider ourselves lucky yo have a chance to make things right in extra time, but I wouldn´t put my house on it!

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13 Comments

  1. In my opinion, most of the starters lacked the motivation and the playing time:

    – Giroud: Limited skills and movements as usual.

    – Walcott: As usual, no penetration and always offside-trapped. Josh Murphy, the scorer, looked so much better than him.

    – Wilshere: Spirited and has good skills, but the long injury records have hindered his development. He has to play with creative players like Sanchez, to improve his vision.

    – Iwobi: Has good technical abilities and athletic, but he lacks creativity and motivation.

    – Nelson: Very quick and looked improving in attacking, but needs to improve his defending ability.

    – Maitland-Niles: Looked improving in the left wingback position.

    – The central defenders: Have to improve their marking skills and their pace.

    – Macey: Decent performance.

    1. he just added this: “We can consider ourselves lucky yo have a chance to make things right in extra time, but I wouldn´t put my house on it!” LMAO

  2. Nke what? Bring on.
    E. Nketiah 2 – 1 Norwish.
    Let the little boy show them how to do it.
    So we can have an 18 years prodigy? He is not returning to the juniour team again even though you will say it’s just one match but…
    E. Nketiah? Am already singing his name. He knows where the opponent’s goal post is.

  3. I celebrated that win with a tinge of embarrassment as deep down I know that without the ref’s intervention things could have been very different. On another day Elneny would have been sent off and they would have had a penalty awarded against us. We were very poor today but somehow came away with a win.

  4. What the hell is going on with repeatedly starting Elneny at center back? Really don’t understand that at all. It has almost bit us badly several times already, and yet Wenger keeps slotting him in there. He’s a decent quality midfielder for rotation and occasional fresh legs purposes, let him stick with that.

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