When I said last few weeks I really just meant Lenos goal kicks rather than being more direct which you are absolutely correct on we have been doing all year.

I think we played more boring football in Wengers last 2 years than at any point under George. The contrast between Wenger and Emery’s style is significant.

Last season in a game I remember Monreal breaking forward with Aubameyang running into the box being pursued by a defender but rather than toss it into the penalty area he cut it back, the opposition got defenders back and after a bout of over passing it was back with our defenders.

Now look at our 2nd goal on Thursday, Xhaka simply tosses a speculative ball into the area and Lacazette gets a head to it. Totally direct, I’m not sure we would have done that last year.

Absolute penalty & probably red card & once again the ref misses a Spurs player basically hack someone down . They should be made to explain.

Pawson is a very poor ref. Thankfully he had no option but to give Son a straight red.

Spurs down to 9 men and they have actually had some awful decisions in their favour! Dier could easily also be off and there was a definite penalty not given for Bournemouth.
Spurs have Everton last game, if they draw and lose their last two we can catch them

If we had only won 1 of those games we lost it would be all to play for.

Yes. The game against Palace was a monumental cock-up.

Even now we are still in with a shout if we don't mess up against Brighton, which is a distinct possibility.

Spurs 9 men not looking in much trouble in terms of conceding.

Bournemouth are rubbish. It's a depressing watch. All they are doing is firing crosses into the box. No invention whatsoever.

Yes!!!!

In added time.

Finally. 1-0. Bournemouth have been rubbish as you say and didn't really deserve it.

Heartbreak for Spurs fans

Actually, I think it s a bit of a fad. It has its origins in Barcelona with Pep bringing it to City and Klopp also adopting it. Ajax do it too. I think it's completely unnecessary and *%^@ to watch. Real Madrid and Juve don't go in for it at all and they've not done too badly in the last few seasons.

As it happens, Arsenal were dojng more of it at the start of the season. As for our attacking play it is more direct than the last few years of Wenger. It's not exactly dynamic or exciting though. Ball down the line for Kolasinac to hit it first time and heaven knows if it will find an attacker.

Yes, I take full credit for the Bournemouth winner

Spurs have lost their last 6 away from home in the league. Not that the media would actually report and criticise it.

Once again, spurs lose their sh*t and start kicking lumps out of an opponent when things don’t go their way.

If you get the chance to see the penalty not given for Bournemouth today for the foul by Dier on Wilson then make sure you do. It’s got to be he worst decision this season - and there is some healthy competition

Wouldn't it be funny if they contrived to drop out of the top four ...

Yep. Dier got it all wrong and just whacked him. Terrible miss by the officials. The Totts have lost 13 league matches this season. How bad are Chelsea, Man U and ourselves?

History may repeat itself (Keegan) if this scoreline stays (:28th minute) and the Toon army may end Liverpool's title hopes.

haha...that didn't last long.

So Alexander-Arnold handballs on the line and Newcastle scores the rebound to make it 1-1. Obviously the ref waited the couple of seconds and realised there was an advantage as Newcastle scores anyway.

However, considering Alexander-Arnold would have had to have been sent off and the penalty would have been given - you have to ask which is the bigger advantage?

20 mins in to a game and you’re 1-0 down. Do you take an equaliser and play the remaining 70 mins 11v11, or take the red card and pen, no guarantee you score the pen but you are guaranteed to play v 10 men for the remaining 70 mins.

I wonder if the situation could arise after the event where the ref asks the captain of the team who scored which decision he wants?

Guarantee if it was Arsenal it would be a red card and penalty... but I think a goal is the more 'football friendly' decision, surely there should be some guidance in this situation anyway??, it's not that unusual.

You can't ask a team which option they would prefer. The ref makes the call. He chose to let the goal stand, in which case he should have booked Trent Alexander Arnold. They changed the rule on this. Previously, the ref couldn't play advantage after a red card offence, I think. It's a tough one. If it's the last minute, you take the goal. If it's early in the game, I'd prefer the red card and peno. It needs looking at though, because if Arnold is sent off he gets a suspension so it is more than just the match itself that is impacted.

Would everyone be happy if we spent £60m on Fraser and Zaha for two new wingers this summer?

Salah coming off on a stretcher. That's a shame for a tremendous player.

I think they'd cost more than that. But Zaha I would like, Fraser is decent but is he really the top quality we need?

Sometimes teams do make a referee give the decision instead of playing the advantage. I’ve seen it when someone is fouled dead centre but 25 yards out and the attacking team still have the ball maybe out wide so they stop and effectively demand the free kick

That’s kind of my point. Fraser certainly isn’t a star name but he’s proven in the prem, quick, direct and gets goals and assists. What is it Arsenal fans want? We can’t afford any big names so are we more happy with a player we know from the prem or do we want one of those ‘foreign’ players we all know little about?

Fraser will only have 1 year left on his deal so could be us for £20m I reckon. Plenty of value in signing from clubs below us. Man U did it for years and Liverpool have done it a lot recently

Fair play to Liverpool for finding a way to win. Another excellent game between these two clubs.

Yep, they are forcing a fantastic title race.
Whoever wins it will have to have won maybe 10 straight and win it by a point - so had zero chance of a slip up. Whoever finishes 2nd will have been one of the most unlucky runners up.

The big difference for me is that Liverpool have had to grind or find a way to win games, late goals, opponents mistakes, whatever it is they’ve found a way and fair play to them....but city just seem so much more comfortable in the majority of their wins

Would there not be option to play advantage, award the goal and then issue a red for a deliberate hand ball.

That Aubameyang penalty miss against Spurs is looking very costly now.

If Arsenal gets 4th and also wins the Europa League, who gets the extra ECL spot? How does this work?

I think more of the younger players should come into the squad next season.
Buy experience and talent to fill defence and central midfield.

Kudos to both City and Pool for grinding out their wins week after week.

I really enjoyed the article and had a special like for this part of the article.

Graham was unwavering on his core principles. As he told a TV reporter: “I don’t think we should try and play the Continental style. I think we are used to playing a certain way in England. A lot of people talk in England about the passing game and all this, you know. Yeah you can pass and pass and not go anywhere. There’s got to be an end product to all the passing and that means efforts on goal, crosses - it means activity in the box. Because you can pass the ball all day long, but unless you get the ball in the box you won’t score.”

Kiwi will probably like this.

The rules say you can play the advantage, away the goal and come back for. YELLOW card, but not a red.

The free kick Liverpool scored their winner from yesterday was soft....when I say soft I mean it was a blatant dive.

We are really bad at this sort of thing. I watch Liverpool and look at the number of dangerous free kicks and pens the buy and compare that to us, the situations are the same but I don’t think are players are good enough at convincing the ref it should be our free kick. It can be the only explanation

So the door to top 4 is slightly opened again. All we need is for spurs or Chelsea to drop points in any of their 3 collective remaining games.

So will Emery put out a palace type team? I hope not. No problem with Iwobi and/or Mkhitaryan coming in to the team but no Elneny and no jenkinson. Play the best players put Brighton to the sword early on and then bring them all off for a nice rest before Valencia

Apart from yesterday, it is liverpool that have been winning more comfortably recently. Look at how they have narrowed City's goal difference and goals scored advantage.