I liked Van Persie giving it to Krul after a late winner against Newcastle.

Feel a bit sorry for Lacazette, the winner has been given as an own goal

Hard to analyze players after that finish, but the subs definitely deserve a mention. Pépé looked dangerous and the goal was brilliantly taken. I've been very harsh on Nketiah, but he really contributed when he came on. Not just his involvement in the first goal, but he worked his socks off and his pressing made it really difficult for Wolves when they wanted to just play the game off and get a draw.

Thought Ødegaard was excellent throughout the game. Partey was poor in the first half, but shooting aside was very good in the second. Saka didn't have his best game, but even on an off day he makes things happen and has the ability to tear defenses apart.

Great goal from Pépé tonight and I hope you're right and he can continue. I think his perpetual problem has been that after ever goal or reasonable match he seems to strut around a bit like he's now #1 and slackens off. So lets see if he can maintain the hunger and show continued levels of effort. Personally, I'd keep him as an impact sub until he's shown the effort for a few more weeks before handing him a starting spot after 1 goal.

Agree with this. He's absolutely snake bitten at the moment, but he always put a shift in. I still wouldn't be surprised to see him start scoring more soon, he does get into good positions, but his finishing is a bit desperate right now.

We would have lost that game 2-0 or 2-1 a while back. The good, the bad the ugly for me is we have some fight in us to come back that late. The bad is we shouldn't have been in that situation at home to a top 4 rival. The ugly is our lack of a sense of urgency in some games. From start to finish in the spurs game we were on them. Same with Liverpool in a draw and losing effort. Gulf in class but we didn't play like it. We played with heart against City.

Maybe its being a young side or lack of preparing the squad mentally but Mikel but Klopp has his sides pushing form the start. One could argue he does it to the point they will eventually implode but along the way he gets trophies and results. And he rebuilds them fairly quickly.

We have the luxury of a lot of time between matches. I would hate to think its too much time. But it seems like it.

Bruno Lage made a point about the foul given against Coady for the dive by Ben White. We did get lucky there because Coady didn’t touch White who jumped over him and went down, without the free kick Wolves were in 2v1, one of those two was Coady who is not well known for slotting away chances like that but we did get a lucky decision there

Gidday John
.... yeah that impressed me too ... I prefer Lacazette with that big grin on his dial than the moody moaning sullen ***&^ .

One delicious little feature no-one has thought of ..... imagine how p**sed off all those Tottenham fans watching the game are .

Especially after their Burnley debacle ; enjoying us possibly to drop three points , then two ... and then last kick of the match .....................F*** those jammy wa****

Okay lovely day in NZ fine 23 degrees ... out to the shed ; make some new blades for my lawnmower .

Actually we are toughing out some great results this year.

If we had lost those two tight games with Wolves we’d have been 7 points behind them and with them on a mega roll. Even the Burnley result gains perspective as things have developed since.


Super mentality.

Its a pity Lacazette wasn't credited the goal. A mishit effort going in to win a game in the last minute would do wonders for his form, I think.

Tough selection issue for Arteta, with Pépé surely hard to drop now and Emile Smith Rowe coming back.

If only it were possible to conceal this from him!

Yeah, I'm not sure it will affect him much that it ended up being an own goal. The way he celebrated both after the goal and the final whistle, you could see the relief on his face.

Pretty handy bench too.

Your point about Wolves is interesting. So nearly a great season for them.

They are bang in form they have won 5 of their last 7, the two they lost were to us.

Where a *%^@*** win!!!
Yes.
That was mind blowing!!!!
Literally would have taken the point but that was just the best feeling ever to get that late winner.
Against a *%^@*** niggly team who would have LOVED to have beaten us.
So so sweet.
6 minutes.
Payback for their time-wasting
*%^@!!!
Massive massive win.
We deserved it.
Kept on going.
Great goal by Pépé.
We need to believe in him because definitely a player in there and makes things happen.
I'm ecstatic

It links to your point about good defenses. I think that makes you more consistent against the lesser side. Like us, they tend to lose only to the big guns. Our recent league loses have been to City and Liverpool; theirs have been to City Liverpool and Arsenal. With the exception of our visit to liverpool, those were all very tight games too.

Yet again a team attacking right to the final whistle gets its rewards. Critics can say all they want about Wolves' could haves and should haves, luck and all that tosh - the game is, and always will be, about who scores more. And it was us tonight. Enjoying the team spirit too.

Sitting nice on the table now. 4th is definitely in our hands.

What’s everyone’s thoughts on Tierney right now? Perhaps he’s just out of form but there are a few things holding him and us back right now. Can’t fault his commitment and effort but his lack of trust of his right foot can put us under pressure and stunt attacks, his 1v1 defending looks more suspect these days. There was a couple of times when semedo and Podence skinned him or he gave far too much space to them. His better games for us seem to be when there is more space for him, at least half of his attacking ability is blunted somewhat by us not having a decent target in the box for his crosses.

It may seem odd to say about someone who is in line to be our next captain but if we want to push on and be title challengers I’m not so sure Tierney is the left back Arteta will want to do that with. I fully expect him to be here next year as he’s far from an area of the team we desperately need to improve, perhaps a more mobile left midfielder to replace Xhaka and a target man in the box will help

As much as the two subs were brilliant in changing the game I thought Ødegaard was once again the driving force behind our attacking. And it was more noticeable in the second half that White and Gabriel were winning far more of the longer balls Wolves cleared which is huge for the momentum of attack after attack, making Wolves feel like they can’t get out at all.
I can easily see Ødegaard as the next captain of Arsenal, I didn’t realise he’s been the national team captain for the past year……maybe he could have a word with Haaland

Much is made of Lacazette’s goal drought but in the last two games we’ve had an absolute nailed on penalty turned down for Brentford handball and what looks like more than a good shout for a penalty turned down in the first 30 seconds v Wolves. When a striker is going through a tough patch a penalty can bring them out of it and stop people talking about it.

I’m always staggered why on some of our penalty shouts we’re not treated to the full long var replay to decide. It took me at least 2-3 slow motion replays of the Martinelli penalty shout to work out exactly what happened and who did or didn’t touch the ball.

This is where I think we need refs mic’d up. Just to hear the explanation of why they have come to the decision and the conversation between them and the var ref.

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He'd be my first choice. I love Tierney and the commitment he shows, but Ødegaard is emerging as a central figure for us. So much of our offence goes through him, he works tirelessly and he looks like a real leader on the pitch, always urging the team on.

Agree on his committment and effort, but the one thing I noticed and didn't want to mention on here hence I get accused of whatever, but he appears a 'one trick pony' of sorts.

If I was defending him, I wouldn't take the bait and commit when he feigns right. He's going to go left. He has decent pace, a good left foot and he'll eventually go left down the line.

As you say, we are not a team set up for crosses in the air in the box. Dead ball set pieces, okay, somewhat decent at it with White, Gabriel, Xhaka in the side. But open play? Nah, unless its dragged back towards the 18 yard box where we usually have someone there.

Personally, I like him a lot. He needs to diversify his game and change it to accomodate what we need.

Ødegaard has found a home. You can see it on him. His loan spells were all about impressing RM to give him some minutes. Once he realized that it was over, his form was good and the fans appreciated him, I think he now feels its 'his' team and he's also a fulcrum for the attack.

I think that's the reason for his playing so good. He's settled now, realized the club is big, and he's wanted and needed.

I was never in doubt even when I turned it off at the 90th minute. Don't let the resigned look its a draw fool ya, even if I missed the winning goal.

VAR is implemented in a completely stupid way. Rangers had a perfectly good goal disallowed last night.

The referee was called to the monitor and based on what he saw (very inconclusive) he reversed his decision. But crucially VAR does not show the referee all the footage available. The TV viewers were able to see quite clearly that there was no foul at all.

I couldn’t agree more about Ødegaard. I think he has turned himself into a giant in our team. One of the first names on the team sheet. If not the first, however good Saka is. Because I think practically everything good about us going forward seems to go through Ødegaard, arguably to an even bigger extent than with Saka. Let me say that is not a criticism of Saka in any way, shape or form. I just feel Ødegaard is near to being at an even higher level. We’re lucky to have both and Saka extending his contract is a huge priority.

What excitement there was at the end of the game. The atmosphere shared between the crowd, players and even the bench was astonishing and a reason why, apologies to the many here and elsewhere who do, watching games on telly just isn’t the same. The same thrill simply isn’t replicated at home or a pub. Even an Arsenal pub.

He does not get back quick enough when we turn over possession. The problem is that the majority of Tierneys balls into the box are high crosses which may have been okay at Celtic but are eaten up in the EPL. He needs to get in the box on the line and get the ball back to an onrushing forwards or midfielders on the ground.

When Taverz played, Arteta would have noticed his versatility in being able to go both inside and outside and his retreat to fb is super fast. The problem is he is inexperienced and makes more mistakes.

It would not surprise me if Arteta looked for a better LB or keeps trying to change Tierney's game which does not seem to be happening. Captain material - not for me. His commitment is not in doubt but he is not a good fit with Martenelli. Martnelli often gets the ball wide and is looking for an inside runner to slip it to and Tierney is back behind him a long way and so the ball just goes back or he is actually forward of Martenelli on the wing but has a player between them making a pass impossible. If Martenelli loses the ball Tierney is out of position. It is worth looking at the right hand side for how the system can work better.

I hadn’t seen Hazuki’s post before I did my last one. But I fully agree with him.

Seen Ødegaard being mentioned regarding the captaincy. Worth a thought in my view.

You’re quite right about telly not being the same for those games where there is a special atmosphere.

For me there are far bigger priorities than a new left back. However, when Tierney joined I was hoping he’d end up joining Sansom and Cole as a group of three. I’m now more hopeful of him joining the likes of Clichy and Monreal in a group of three. Good, if not bloody good, but not at the top level.

I heard someone behind me yesterday liken Tierney to Gibbs. I thought that was unfair, and still do. He’s comfortably better than Gibbs ever was, not that Gibbs was that bad. He was decent.

https://twitter.com/DailyAFC/status/149 ... WucC6GkmVw

Very sneaky from White. I'd be fuming if the other team did this to us and wasn't yellow carded for it. He needs to be careful

https://twitter.com/189NlNE/status/1497 ... WucC6GkmVw

The turn from Partey at 1:05 in this video was quite brilliant.

He like the rest of the team really stepped up second half, he's quietly playing very well at the moment - if only he'd either stop shooting from long range or learn to not balloon them over the bar!

Yep, Saka is and has the x-factor but Ødegaard is the conductor in attack. Saka will dribble and beat 2-3 players which Ødegaard won't but Ødegaard can beat them with a pass. It is a rare and overlooked quality to dictate the attack in such a congested area of the pitch, to be so careful and efficient with the ball but also not safe with it.

And also, football is supposed to be a form of entertainment, and I can't see how VAR has helped in that regard. With both our goals yesterday, I delayed the celebration for 5-10 seconds, wondering if they were going to be waved off for some reason. With those tight situations in the penalty area, plenty of players around the ball, you just never know if they're going to find an offside or a foul somewhere.

I think he’s a good player and we miss him when he’s not in the side but there seems to be a stigma amongst our fans that if he doesn’t provide a match winning cross every game then he didn’t play well. For me he’s still the best left back we’ve had since Cole. Not much comes down his side.

As I noted in a prior post, the NFL had the same issue initially. Now they have more angles than a porn movie.

They need more cameras at different angles.

He's getting there but the player I thought were getting was primarily a defensive mid fielder who read the game and would go box to box once in a while when needed. Get the odd goal. He's far more attacking for Ghana from what I can tell.

Not sure if its lack of confidence, being told its not his role, not a great partnership with Xhaka or something else.

Again, he's playing better but not the level of player I thought we were getting.

I totally agree with this. I also believe porn should have many more different angles.