Saturday, April 2, 2016

Arsenal 2015-2016: April

Saturday April 2, 2016 Arsenal vs. Watford 10AM EST


 You can call this one a grudge match. The last time these two teams met at Emirates Stadium Watford stunned Arsenal by booking their place in the semifinals of the FA Cup. It was a humbling and unexpected defeat and the team has pretty much been treading water ever since.

Arsenal continue to confound fans and pundits. They can come out and put on a masterclass in how to play football...then they can come out and look completely inept while allowing lesser competition to get an advantage. Which Arsenal will show up today?








Today it was the good Arsenal that showed up. With 69% of the possession and almost three times as many shots on goal as their opponents, Arsenal's dominance resulted in a rather easy 4-0 victory.

Alexis Sanchez gave Arsenal the lead early on with a fourth minute goal. Alex Iwobi was given the start up front along with Danny Welbeck and repaid his manager's faith in him with a great performance. He scored his second goal in as many games and worked hard for the team.

Arsenal's 2-0 half time lead became 3-0 within three minutes of the restart. Hector Bellerin's shot deflected in to the back of the net. Theo Walcott came on as a sub in the 74th minute and finished off the scoring in the 90th minute.

In addition to Iwobi's performance, new midfielder Mohamed Elneny had a match high 127 passes with 96% of them completed successfully.

 The hope is still there for a miracle title push, but there is no room at all for slip ups.








Saturday April 9, 2016 Arsenal at West Ham 10AM
West Ham have had an amazing season and currently sit 7 points behind Arsenal and just three points off of the top four. As for Arsenal, this match is a must win if they have any chance of pulling out a miracle finish and winning the league. Regardless of results elsewhere, Arsenal need to take care of Arsenal first. Despite what West Ham have achieved this season, Arsenal have the talent to get a result.

Petr Cech is back in the squad but Ospina gets the start and Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck are up front while Giroud and Walcott only get a place on the bench.

 Let's hope the "real" Arsenal show up.









If ever a match summed up this season, this was it. It all started out well. Back in the starting lineup, Alex Iwobi proved that he's one for the future. He played provider for Mesut Ozil who scored Arsenal's first in the 18th minute. In the 35th minute Iwobi passed to Alexis Sanchez who slotted home Arsenal's second.

It looked as if Arsenal were going to roll and that the outcome would be a victory. That was until the 44th minute. Within a two and a half minute period Arsenal's ugly side appeared. It should have been easy enough for Arsenal to tighten up the defense and go in to the half with a two goal advantage.

Of course this being Arsenal that's not what happened at all. Instead, Andy Carroll scored twice before the half time whistle blew. He was given too much space in both instances and instead of a two goal advantage it was all even at the half.

Within seven minutes of the restart Andy Carroll had completed his hat trick and Arsenal trailed. Laurent Koscielny got one back in the 70th minute but in the end it was another two points dropped and another frustrating outcome for supporters.









Sunday April 17, 2016 Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace 11AM EST


Time is running out for Arsenal if they are to have any chance of catching Leicester and even more upsetting, Tottenham. If the Gunners don't get their act together this could be a year without a St. Totteringham's Day. That in itself would be a disaster.

Crystal Palace are currently in free fall sitting just above the relegation zone. A home match against a bottom of the table should be no problem for Arsenal. Three points are a must. Anything less and there will be anarchy at the Emirates.









Well, so much for that easy match at home versus a bottom of the table club. Alexis Sanchez got Arsenal's goal just before half time. It was only the second shot on goal from the home side and it went downhill from there.

 It was yet another typical Arsenal match where they dominated possession by a huge amount, 72% versus 28%. YES that was 72% to Crystal Palace's 28%. Shots on goal was dominated by Arsenal as well with 21 to Crystal Palace's 7.


Despite all the domination, Arsenal couldn't score a second goal and it was inevitable that Crystal Palace would ruin the day for the home crowd. That they did, when Yannick Bolasie scored an equalizer in the 81st minute.

This one was pretty much the final nail in the coffin for even the slightest chance of catching Leicester. At this point, finishing in the top 4 is once again the best that Arsenal can shoot for. With five matches left in the season, let's hope that Arsenal can at least accomplish that. 








Thursday April 21, 2016 Arsenal vs. West Brom 2:45PM EST
It's Arsenal's game in hand and we're running out of ways to say this is a must win. With Man City dropping two points at Newcastle it is a vital lifeline that Arsenal must take advantage of to secure a top 3 finish, let alone a top 4. 


In the reverse fixture back in November Arsenal ended up on the losing end of a match that they should have won. Of course all these months later we've become used to these type of results.

The fact that ManU is just one point behind us (despite having played one extra game) pretty much sums up the dire situation Arsenal find themselves in. ManU have been absolute shite this season and yet there they are right behind us. That pretty much sums up how bad Arsenal's form has become.

WIN. That is the only result that will be accepted by a disgruntled and fed up fan base. Anything else and it will be all out anarchy in the land of Arsenal.








It was the Alexis Sanchez show as Arsenal were comfortable 2-0 winners in front of a rather empty Emirates Stadium. The Thursday night kick off was very unusual, but disgruntled fans used the occasion to make a point about how disappointed they were with the team by not showing up. 

Sanchez helped to keep the atmosphere from turning truly ugly by scoring an early and exceptional goal from a Mesut Ozil pass in the 6th minute. The Chilean left Sandro in the dust and ran through three other West Brom defenders to beat Ben Foster in goal.

Then in the 38th minute, Sanchez took a free kick which perfectly eluded the West Brom wall and left Foster standing motionless as the ball flew in to the back of the net.



In the end that was all that Arsenal needed. Once again the Gunners dominated possession 71% to just 29% for West Brom. Finally, however, this domination resulted in an Arsenal win.

It may be too little to late for the title, but with Manchester City dropping two points at Newcastle earlier in the week, it means that Arsenal are back in third position in the table.










Sunday April 24, 2016 Arsenal at Sunderland 9:05AM EST


A trip to relegation challenged Sunderland should be easy. Nothing less than three points will be acceptable from this match. The way the season is going though, you never know which Arsenal team will show up.








So much for an easy three points. Instead it was another disappointing performance and two points dropped.









Saturday April 30, 2016 Arsenal vs. Norwich City 12:30PM EST


Arsenal face another relegation challenged team this week with Norwich coming to town. As has been said a lot recently, a win is an absolute must. If Arsenal are going to finish above Spuds and celebrate St. Totteringham's Day then they need to win matches such as this.







Danny Welbeck scored in the 59th minute with an assist from Olivier Giroud. While not quite a vintage Arsenal performance, the win gave the team the three points and shut up some of the Wenger Out brigade for the time being.




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