This was a very comfortable win for the Arsenal in the end, with lots of positives after Arsene Wenger made lots of changes and gave some crucial experience to young players like Maitland-Niles, Akpom, Holding and Martinez. And there was much needed maych time for the likes of Kieran Gibbs, Gabriel and the Ox as well
The EFL cup clash away to the Championship club Nottingham Forest also allowed the boss to give the new signings Lucas Perez and Granit Xhaka another run out and they rewarded him and gave him some selection decisions to make by scoring the first three goals to give Arsenal a 4-0 win and put us into the next round.
Even though it was comfortable in the end, with the Gunners totally dominant in the second half, we had to ride our luck early on, when the former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner could have had a goal and an assist in the opening exchanges.
Kasami’s glaring miss was the best chance for the home side and they paid for that miss when Xhaka produced another powerful long range after his opener at Hull on Saturday. There was a deflection and the Forest keeper should have done better but we were in front and never really looked back.
The win was sealed on the hour mark when Lucas Perez got his debut goal from the penalty spot after a clumsy tackle by Mancienne. He took it well but his second was much more impressive and showed the strength, speed and finishing that Wenger bought him for.
It was almost the perfect night for the Spaniard with a decent chance for a hat-trick but let’s not be too greedy eh? It was great to see a fine finish from Chamberlain in the dying minutes to cap a good game and make it four without reply. All in all a great night for the players involved, Wenger and the club in general.
Bob.
Long range passer + Long range shooter… Xhaka!
Well-done Lucas Perez for getting two goals..
Ox iced the cake.
In the end, it was a comfortable win. Well-done boys.
Don’t forget that Perez also assisted OX by splitting the defence with a skillfull through-ball.
That player definitely adds a new dimension to our game.
Wenger says Peraz uses his left to much, Sanches uses his right all the time, so who is the better striker Perez can use both feet Sanches has only one leg. CB
Elnene..5mil..nuff said
Holding 2 mil nuff said……stones 50 mil nuff said
Xhaka Xhaka boom boom………!!!!
Double for perez..
and a clean sheet…..
what more can we ask
Boom Xhaka Luca(s).
Almost a hat trick for Perez and rat tricks for Lansbury. Gabriel and Holding were immense! Also very impressed with Mainland Niles!
Another thunderbolt for Xhaka, he must start against the Plastics! OX was anonymous in the beginning but started to show quality towards the end.
That second Perez goal though… shrug the defender off, round the keeper and knots it home. Would definitely like to see him start more often!
Oh and credit to Wenger today: very young team but still oozed with experience. Perez at 28 years old was our oldest player on the pitch..? Anywats, team selection was spot on.
The OX caps 4-0 Arsenal win you mean? Great play from Chambo and Elneny, who I thought controlled the midfield. It’s pleasing to see Chelsea will be playing extra time as well, he he
Chambo lost the ball every time he touched it for the first 25 minutes… thankfully he got a lot better.
Martinez- wasn’t much to do but commanded the box when called on.
Maitland Niles- Class performance
Cb’s- Great display
Gibbs- I can’t see why some of you want him sold
Xhaka, Elneny- Class performance
Chuba – well played for the penalty call
OX- Started slow but better 2nd half
Rein Adelaid- Class performance
Perez – slow start but got going with his 2 goals.
All in all great show by the lads. These young guns are definitely promising. It’s good to have such depth.
Xhaka and Elneny were great tonight. Solid win
🙂 🙂
I am so glad Lucas got his first two goals
Hopefully he will score lots more
Chelsea next
The way Lucas and OX combined at the end was exciting to watch. We are talking “pace into space” here. It will be interesting to see if they can develop their partnership further. Poor Wenger….he is definitely going to have selection headaches from now on.
My god… I know it’s only been what.. 5 or 6 games? But what a signing Granit looks in comparison to £110 million Pogba!
And Fellaini isn’t half the player Mo’ Elneny is. I ain’t mentioning Cazorla, Ramsey and Coq just yet. GAWD!!!!
Scary isht.
What I liked most is the depth of our squad MAN! look at other big boys, they are playing their first team players even with less injuries they have, still we have Ramsey,Giroud,Welback out who could play this game as well! Selection headache ahead!!!!
Arsenal’s next 6 fixtures:
Chelsea H
Basel H
Burnley A
Swansea H
Ludogorets H
Middlesbrough H
#afc
My only concern about Granite is that he doesn’t seem to move about too much, unlike Coquelin and Elneny. I think he’ll struggle unless a more mobile midfielder is played alongside him.
I get you. However, I consider this much as a strength of his than a weakness.
In the middle of that chaos, he is very settled so he can read the game well, and effect it in a way that many can’t.
Most of the time, he will not be caught out of position. That is extra protection for our midfield and CBs, plus a valuable launch-pad for our counter-attacks.
i’m happy for the win and all that, but don’t you think it’s kinda sad how ox and iwobi have switched roles from the previous year?
Amazing result…
I just want us to beat Chelsea on Saturday, it’s about time.
The interesting thing is that there seems to be goals spread across the team this year.
Granit, Eneny, and Lucas are long range specialist.
On his day, Walcott can penetrate any defense with his runs in behind, scoring from close range.
We have many options for penalty-takers. Cazorla being the boss here.
Don’t forget Alexis and Ozil can deliver goals from direct free kicks. Maybe you can add Lucas to that list now.
Ramsey with his late runs into the box can also chip in one or two here and there.
Finally, Alexis (a.k.a match winner) can go solo, dribbling everybody on his way to score an injury time match winner.
This is looking GREAT!!
I don’t remember Lucas scoring any long rangers. You seem to be in a hurry to put him in the list of long range scorers.
Not for Arsenal yet. Some of those goals I saw him score in those youtube vids looked long-range to me. Or maybe “outside the box” is the correct word to use here. Remember the famous volley too?
Little wonder he did those, because he’s got a short back-lift on his shots. Don’t be surprised the next time you see him pull one of those for the Arsenal. Because he is able and capable.
Would like to see a midfield of Xhaka, Elneny and Cazorla, PASS MASTERS alltogether!
Ozil sends his greetings.
Hehehe
I’m glad I ain’t the only one who sees the potential in this combo
Centre Midfield 3 of :
–Cazorla—Elneny
——–Xhaka—–
will guarantee you almost 100% possession of the ball, I tell ya!!
Folks don’t like this tho, as it somehow takes Ozil out of the equation.
But I’d like to see us (and I think we will) use that configuration in one of them games where we absolutely have to control the midfield.
even if in ur formation, Cazorla has to be the most advanced midfielder of the trio
Saturday: Granit Xhaka scores from 30 yards vs. Hull. ?
Tuesday: Granit Xhaka scores 30 yards vs. Forest.
with Alexis seem to be adapting to the centreForward role more and more as the game comes ll u rather Alexis starts upfront vs Chelsea (Iwobi on Leftwing) or Lucas upfront( Alexis on leftwing) ?
I’m still waiting for Giroud to come back, but he has a rather bad record against Chelsea. We may as well try something different. I’d like to see Lucas start though, I question whether Alexis can disturb a decent defensive team playing down the middle. Watford and Hull aren’t enough evidence. When he played against decent defenders in PSG game he was absolutely useless until he moved out wide, which is still by a longshot his best position.
@Rsh I tell u what,I prefer giroud against Chelsea not for anything else but holdup play and aerial duels in the Chelsea box else our crosses will be useless.giroud tires out defenders and will allow for Sanchez and walcott to express themselves more.here’s my team selection against Chelsea.
chech
bells. mustafi. boss. Montreal
coq. santi
oz
walcott. giroud. sanchcez
as much as I would love iwobi to start, I think he’ll have a really tough time against ivanovic or azpilicueta. bench…….xhaka,ospina,iwobi,elneny lucas
I believe Iwobi can play against any team at the moment. Did you watch him against Barcelona last season, and this season again against PSG, I don’t think they come any bigger than that. I really just want him to work on his positioning when helping out the left back.
Also don’t forget that the Chelsea’s back for are currently being beaten by teams with fast paced forwards.
a great win, but dont get too carried away. It was Nott Forest. but a positivr perfomance for sure