The Lads went to Arsenal and saw their cup dreams ended thanks to a thoroughly efficient Arsenal performance. After going behind to two home goals that both had a bit of fortune about them (a save that went straight to their man and a deflection), we put the Gunners under pressure for the final twenty minutes of the half and got one back. We were knocked out of our stride by Broadhead's injury at the end of the half, having to change formation as well as personnel. While the fifth might have made the scoreline a bit harsh, Arsenal gave us a football lesson in the second half and fully deserved their victory.
After wrapping myself around a full English to tide me over for the trip south, a fairly uneventful coach journey was only enlivened by me and John having the luxury of a table and the Covid ventilation necessitating the wearing of hats. There was time to catch up with Monsieur Salut in the Lamb and hand over his ticket (the price, man!). A couple of pints were enjoyed as we discussed what possible further restrictions might be imposed – apparently we can have gatherings of up to eight people without issues. I’m not sure I know that many people without issues, mind. We arrived early at the ground to allow for the inspection of Covid passports and all that, but they were ignored, although there appeared to be more than enough security staff to make up the average League One attendance – and that’s before the polis, horses and all. After the places we've visited over the last few seasons, it was a stark reminder of our fall from grace to experience a big, modern stadium.
Burge
Doyle Wright Flanagan
Winchester Neil Embleton Gooch
Pritchard
Broadhead Stewart....in the favoured 5-3-1-2 or 3-4-1-2, whichever you prefer. On the bench were Hume, Cirkin, O’Brien, Kimpioka, Evans, Younger, Dunne, Xhemalji, and Patterson. Nine subs to choose from, but no Alves because of an “attitude problem”. That’s him back to West Ham next month.
We lined up kicking away from our 5,000 fans and spent a while trying to play it out from the back but not quite managing, particularly on our left. We did, however, get in the first shot of the evening when Gooch’s cross wasn’t properly cleared and Pritch stepped away from his marker near the edge of the box only to see Leno save comfortably, With the home side looking patiently dangerous whenever they moved forward, we really needed to take advantage of every chance we got, as their quality was obvious from the start. When we set Stewart away down the inside left channel, he loped into the box and went down. We clamoured for a penalty – of course we did – but the ref was having none of it, then Urchy’s dad sent a message that on TV it looked like Stewart was lucky not to be booked for making the most of a fair challenge. Oh well. Just as we were looking like we might be able to keep the Gunners at bay (we did cheer as we passed the ten minute mark with Burge’s goal intact –memories of Tut Henry and Denis Bergkamp are still raw for some of us) Embo flew in to block a cross and whacked it off the top of the bar. Memories of Bally at Sid James Park returned, but we dealt with the corner – mind, that was hardly a surprise, as their man had clearly placed the ball INSIDE the quadrant. Isn’t he supposed to be a Premier League cheaty type?
There was another ironic cheer as we passed fifteen minutes on level terms, but we didn’t get to sixteen. A corner was won in the air by Arsenal, and Burge did well to get down to his right to save, but he could only knock it straight to Nketiah, who prodded it in from a couple of yards. A tad unfortunate, but that’s what happens with Prem players – they tend to be in the right place at the right time.
Gooch lost his rag a bit when a decision didn’t go his way, and in typical fashion, clattered into Pepe and was booked. After a patient build-up from the free, Pepe and Cedric took their time to get in a cross which should really have been nodded in at the far post – but Balogun produced a real ten bob bit of a header and the ball came closer to me than the net, and I was near the corner flag. The same player then picked up a pass from the ever-dangerous Smith-Rowe but Burge was down smartly to save. We were by no means out of the game, but on 27 things got worse when Pepe and Cedric, despite sounding like a French mime act, produced another clever one-two and the former’s shot whacked off Doyle’s lunge and beyond Burge for their second. Again, a little bit of fortune about the goal, but we didn’t let our heads drop and really upped our game.
After working hard to settle ourselves, Pritch, who’d been ratting about with commendable levels of energy, won the ball in the centre circle and found Neil. Young Dan’s clever pass was rolled into the path of the rapidly advancing Embo. Young Elliot’s even cleverer ball went clean through the home defence and Broadhead continued his scoring streak by clipping it over Leno and in. As you’d imagine, the visiting fans went berserk in celebration, and that berserking seemed to seep over the touchline and permeate into the players, as we enjoyed a really good last fifteen minutes of the half. We were winning tackles cleanly and passing it around on a level that was on a par with the Gunners, making for some really enjoyable passages of play. Winch found that the home defence could be run at, and when he cut in from the right and hit a low shot across the goal, his left-footed effort was palmed away by Leno from just inside his right hand post. Up went the noise level in the away section, and another shot from distance, this time by Pritch, was comfortably held by the home keeper, then as the break approached, we built another attack, Broadhead checked his run to stay onside, and went down in a heap. Burge did well to keep out a Smith-Rowe effort before play was halted, three minutes added time were announced – almost all for Broadhead’s injury, and he limped off to be replaced by Hume. Of course, this meant a change in formation, with Hume going to left back (where else) and Gooch going up the field. That was all we could work out before the break.
We made no more changes for the second half, and we’d hardly got going when Stewart had us worried that he’d knacked something after going down following an aerial challenge, but after the application of a bit of embrocation to the affected area he shook of whatever it was and was back in the fray. We’d continued our improved form of the latter stages of the first 45, but after five minutes we went further behind. Tavares left his marker in his wake before his cross from the left was flicked in by Nketiah at the front post. Bugger, but we weren’t dead yet, as Embo showed great determination to come along the edge of the area from the right and curl one towards the far top corner – but it didn’t curl enough, smacking off the outside of the post to safety. Still, it had us bouncing and roaring the Lads on.
With the hour approaching, though, Arsenal did the dirty and all but ended our hopes. With Balogun on a yellow, they replaced him with Xhaka, and a couple of minutes later Pepe left Hume for dead and set up Nketiah’s hat-trick with yet another low cross – this one was backheeled beyond Burge. Ah well, it had been a laugh, this cup run, and we’d had a day out in London – possibly our last for a while. There was no way we were coming back from a three goal deficit.
Our second yellow of the night came when Hume was turned on halfway and he clumsily hauled down Pepe, with the Arsenal man showing him up again soon after with a nutmeg in our box to set up another chance. This time Burge was equal to Odegaard’s effort, but they kept showing all the good Arsenal stuff on the big screens – it might have been nice for the home fans, but not for us. We didn’t give up on the field, though, and Gooch won a free when he was sandwiched trying cut in from the left. Pritch set the ball, a few yards in from the touchline, and then reacted to a shout from our fans, going over to the hoardings and having a listen before returning to the job in hand with a smile. He whacked in a vicious curler that Leno had to punch away from under the bar, and Pritch gave the thumbs up to his advisor in the crowd. A nice moment.
Wright was caught out as Arsenal broke down their left, and was booked when he dived in on Martinelli, who’d just come on for Odegaard (at the same time as Gabriel had replaced Ben White. Not fair, having all those top-notch subs!), out near the touchline as we started to get a bit ragged. On came Evans and O’Brien for Gooch and Embo, probably because LJ had promised them a run out at the Emirates, so they got their twelve minutes or so. Doyle was booked for a clumsy one, adding to our potential disciplinary problems in the New Year, and he was soon there again, putting our hearts in our mouths when challenging Nketiah in the box. The referee looked to have awarded a penalty, then we thought he’d booked the Gunner for diving – who could be so thick as to dive with a hat-trick in the bag and the game safe? A footballer, that’s who, but the ref had merely been a bit dramatic in indicating a goal kick. They brought on their latest wonderkid, Patino, and he proved a bit of a pest for the last ten minutes, as you’d expect.
Wright was skinned by Tavares, but the shot from wide hit the back row, almost extinguishing one of the phone torches. In an attempt to replicate a Michael Bolton concert, many of the home fans had turned on their phone torches – I don’t remember raised tab lighters at Highbury – and this was greeted by a crude enquiry from us as to what it was supposed to be. We changed our song to Get Your Phones Out For The Lads and waved ours about for a laugh.
I don’t know if that ironic response is what started things, but coffee cups began raining down on us from the home fans in the middle tier. Naturally enough, some were returned, Pepe was at it again with his umpteenth low cross of the night which Patino poked home to make it five, then the coffee cups turned to plastic bottles which flew in both directions – and then full ones, and pint pots, came down and the stewards up there were slow to react. A lone Gooner decided to celebrate their fifth by running around on the pitch, JL swapped Stewart for Kimpioka, and I don’t know if he even touched the ball in the few seconds he was on the field as I was dodging missiles. I missed the final whistle as well, and another Gooner had a run about on the grass.
Game over, and we were well beaten but by no means disgraced, although the gulf in class was there for all to see. In Dan Neil, Elliot Embleton, and Pritch, we had players who more than held their own against illustrious opponents, even if those opponents were missing the likes of Saka, Lacazette, and Aubameyang amongst others, but it was still a very strong home side who’ll be out to win this competition. Look, they have players who cost more than our club and players who earn more in a month than our squad cost. While possession was two thirds Arsenal, we contributed twelve of the game’s thirty one shots, and five of the seven corners, which made for an entertaining, if ultimately disappointing, game from our point of view. Probably the biggest disappointment was Broadhead’s injury. Not only did it rob us of the player who looked like he could take advantage of Arsenal’s defensive philosophy on the night, but it looks like we’ve lost him for at least a few games – depending on JL’s grading of the injury and application of a pencil-sharpener analogy.
Man of the Match? Pritch – always happy to receive the ball, not afraid of his opponents and not fazed by the occasion.
… and to round things off, our bus ran over something large and sharp, wrecking one of the tyres and making us the subject of numerous video clips from cheering Gooners, which will no doubt be filling their social media for a while. After limping three miles to prevent us blocking the road, we sat in a North London bus stop until repairs were complete at 00:10 hours, then snoozed as best we could all the way home. Just out of interest, of this season’s seventeen away games in all competitions, I’ve “enjoyed” five bus breakdowns and two late or cancelled trains, a 41% failure rate.
Isn’t football great?
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