Round one goes to Liverpool, round two goes to Arsenal! Although it was a Carabao Cup tie and many people will say it’s not a proper trophy, still being in the competition in the manner we are shows that we are made of something.
Leno won a lot of praise last night and so he should.
I will always give praise where it is due and Leno earned it when he pulled off some good saves to keep us in the game at 0-0 and although it was a very uneventful game the most eventful part of it was that it ended up with penalties having to be taken, and we clinched it 5-4 against Liverpool as we did in the Community Shield final!
It was a solid performance from our boys, and it was also nice to see Cedric back and Gabriel get another run out. We showed defensive ability and Leno of course pulled off some key saves. The only thing we lacked was being clinical in front of goal. But coming back to Anfield twice in four days is never an easy feat but we managed to bounce back albeit with a slightly different team, but any Arsenal team that plays is a team, we are one, we are a family. So, all results mean just the same.
Losing on Monday hurt and was disappointing but the quick bounce back and the manner in whcih we did it shows again the mentality Arteta has instilled in the team! The spirit is high no matter what and that is clear to see. To come back to the same place you lost only a few days ago and to grind out a win shows a lot about the character we have. Something we never really doubted, but of course it is always nice to see. A determined and courageous performance won out in the end!
The other positives other than the win was the performance of Leno and the solid back line. It’s always nice to keep a clean sheet and it’s even better when your keeper can pull off penalty saves and Leno did just that, not once but twice. If rounds one and two are anything to go by then I am sure any other rounds that come between these two teams will be just as exciting and full of quality!
So, let’s take this character, performance and ability into the rest of the season and we will undoubtedly get to where we deserve to be! Here’s hoping hey Gooners?
Shenel Osman