Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Toronto Villa on April 14, 2024, 06:29:04 PM
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Decent result
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DOMINANT.
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Who needs 5th for CL???
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Can we play you every week
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By my reckoning this is our joint second highest points total in 38 game season and we still have games to play
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Won 2-0, hit the woodwork twice. Piss easy.
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My word!
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Brilliant 2nd half, totally dominated them and 0-2 didn't flatter us at all.
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Routine away win
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2023 called, it wants its Villa back!
Oh me of little faith, i'd have taken a 1-0 loss just to stay ahead of Spurs on goals scored, and now look what they done did.
That second half was ours and ours alone from start to finish. Brilliant.
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Honestly, looking at that run of 3 league games, I'd probably have taken 4 points out of 9 beforehand. The Brentford switch off is still annoying, but quite possible if that hadn't happened we wouldn't have gotten this performance today.
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Unbelievable. Delighted to be wrong!
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We’ve done the double over this lot and had the double done over us by Newcastle and Man U. Make it make sense.
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I only saw the second half but my god that was a sensational half of football and we battered then virtually from whistle to whistle.
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Well done Unai. He'll have enjoyed that. Arse's loss is our gain.
So glad we've done the double over them. I'll be cheering for them against Spurs in a couple of weeks though.
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Tittenham fans 😭
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I had a feeling about this all week. Great result, performance even better.
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Brilliant performance. By far the better team in the second half.
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Incredible performance
The lads stepped up to the plate today
UTV
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As good a second half performance i think Ive seen from Villa. Just brilliant.
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I hate Arsenal. This result will be enjoyed.
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I completely forgot we didn't even have Luiz today. What a result.
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Magnificent performance. 10’s all round. A total tactical masterclass. Arsenal did not lay so much as glove on us in the second half. I did not see that coming. Sometimes, life is just so f*cking sweet.
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Man city at home was brilliant, but that was simply magnificent. No letting up now boys
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Manchester City are the big winners. Apparently.
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I think ive wet myself
So proud of them. Absolute heroes.
Diego motm. If we play anywhere near like that vs lille it doesnt matter how well lille play we win
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Thank you Villa, Thank you. Sorry for doubting.
UTV
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That was just utterly, utterly brilliant. What a performance.
Every player was superb.
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Absolute masterclass.
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Not bad.
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We’re keeping all the receipts. Up the ‘kin Villa.
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Haha. Best performance of the season. Fuck off everyone else. Fuck. Off. UTV
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I'm not sure when we last played a half of football as good as that second half. We totally and utterly outplayed them, and had them on their knees.
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I'm smirking 8)
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I was desperate for a point. Wow!
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I honestly thought we were going to get mauled, given the injuries. Never been happier to be wrong. Brilliant performance, best of the season.
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Never mind fourth, second is on.
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Well I did say yesterday that the Spurs debacle could give us a boost 😎
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I’m sorry… it needs to be done.
(https://i.ibb.co/0VG1wLG/IMG-6628.jpg) (https://ibb.co/BKCv1JC)
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I honestly thought we were going to get mauled, given the injuries. Never been happier to be wrong. Brilliant performance, best of the season.
Same. I’m sorry for doubting!!!
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That was nice.
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Just fantastic
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Emotional. UTV.
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Emery must have loved this more than us, if that’s possible.
Berated by that club for his accent and because apparently he wasn’t good enough. Now he’s done the double over them and is in charge of a proper club.
This man is a bloody genius and I absolutely love the bloke!!!!
UTFV
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(https://i.ibb.co/n8yjJ0m/IMG-2512.jpg) (https://ibb.co/n8yjJ0m)
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We’ve done the double over this lot and had the double done over us by Newcastle and Man U. Make it make sense.
Stop making sense. David Byrne is a Villan!
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Fair. Fucking. Play. Humble pie being eaten. Please keep McGinn deeper whilst Kamara is out, Mr Emery.
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Those two goals were not easy either.
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Best game of the season for us. I'm quite emotional about the way we did this, given the media expectations. My wife's been asking why I'm crying ...
Chapeau to Emery.
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I'm so grateful to have shared that with you all on here. One of the best I've seen Villa play, considering how many players out, who we were playing, where we were playing. Sometimes Villa make you so bloody proud. Incredible win, against the odds. Well bloody done, Villa.
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Little embarrassed at my prediction and first half whinge. That was beautiful 😍
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Best thing is, no one can say it wasn't fully deserved.
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Incredible performance, did I expect that? No, but the team were outstanding all over the pitch. Really looked comfortable throughout the second half.
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No Dougie, no Kamara, Konsa at right back which is apparently a disaster and we put in a performance like that. What a fucking manager we have, fuck me.
I thought mcginn was absolutely totemic in a quiet sort of way. Carlos who has looked like a liability played out of his skin today. Lost for words, very emotional.
I love aston villa
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Absolutely buzzing, I would've taken a 0-0 stinkfest beforehand.
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We've just handed Ratboy and Man C££y a double treble.
So f**kin what, all we care about is AVFC.
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Wasn’t expecting that
Best performance of the season bar Man City for me
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Best thing is, no one can say it wasn't fully deserved.
100%. And we had to deal with some appalling refereeing at times.
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I know the Brentford result was painful in how we threw it away. In hindsight we’d have all taken a win there and a draw at Arsenal. Funny how things work out
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What an amazing performance. What sums it up for me is things like the shot which went well over from Declan Rice and Morgan Rogers absolutely busts a gut to throw himself in the way of the shot. Love to see that type of commitment. Not a single poor performance from Villa. Diaby just couldn't get into it but that apart, we were superb. Best I've seen us play since before Chrimbo. Clean sheet, two lovely finishes and it shuts the Arsenal sycophantic pundits up. Wonderful Villa.
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Absolutely buzzing, I would've taken a 0-0 stinkfest beforehand.
I probably would have taken the 0-0 at 80 minutes.
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Those two goals were not easy either.
Bailey obviously watched a Trezeguet highlights reel.
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Dear ArsenalTV,
Enjoy.
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Those two goals were not easy either.
Bailey obviously watched a Trezeguet highlights reel.
Without that specific backpost Trez goal none of this would be possible.
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Swoon.
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Bloody Brilliant. Apparently we're in real contention for 4th place now 🤣
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Well bugger my old boots. I said before the game I was looking for a performance more than the result, because I felt even if we played well we could lose against them. But the performance and the result were there - bloody amazing. We haven’t hit that level in 2024 and it’s a massive result, well deserved and well done.
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I was even thinking a tight 1-0 defeat wouldn’t be the end of the world.
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What a performance
What a result, egg on my face for moaning about Z starting.
11 + 1 stars on the pitch
All stars on the touchline.
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So proud of them, the odds were stacked heavily against us today.
We haven't played near our peak in months but this was one of the most impressive 90 minutes we've put in under Unai, which is saying something.
This squad/coaching team is primed to be successful. Let's bring it home - silverware in this era is a must, we'll never get a better chance.
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I'm still a bit worried about West Ham catching us; we're only 15 points ahead, and our goal difference is only 25 better.
That second-half performance was absolutely magnificent; you'd have thought we were top of the league.
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those blue kits..
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I was even thinking a tight 1-0 defeat wouldn’t be the end of the world.
That was my top ambition as well today. Just wanted to stay 4th.
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Brilliant, brilliant absolutely brilliant Villa.
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What a result second half we just dominated - big shout out to Carlos who was brilliant today and I have been critical of.
Zaniolo was good today too who I have been critical of - but everyone was brilliant.
Rogers looks like a steal.
Amazing save by emi in the first half. Reminded me of the amazing save he made v Man City - It does help having the best goalkeeper in the world!!
Watkins just gets better - brilliant finish and out it beyond doubt.
Well done everyone - perfect weekend for us
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I only watched from 60 odd minutes. Piece of piss.
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I'm still a bit worried about West Ham catching us; we're only 15 points ahead, and our goal difference is only 25 better.
That second-half performance was absolutely magnificent; you'd have thought we were top of the league.
Mate, you watch the media this week telling us manure could snatch 4th.
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Going to enjoy the rest of the Sky coverage and on here, before going off for a pint of Spurs tears on their forums.
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Emerys finest hour and we've had a few. Immense and with Luiz out as well. Immense.
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Super duper performance. We only moved when we needed to which means we'll still have enough in the tank for Thursday. Backed us to win at HT with stupid odds. Perfect!
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This is absolutely killing Sky and I love it.
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6 goal turnover over Spuds. They can fuck right off....
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I think that’s the best away performance of my lifetime!
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Post match interview with Emi & Ollie, still managing to make it about Arsenal.
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6 goal turnover over Spuds. They can fuck right off....
Exactly!!
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They had a nailed on penalty turned down though......didnt see it myself but i reckon Arteta did
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What a fantastic game, dogged first half and blew them away second.
I slagged of Diego last game but today he was excellent.
UTV
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Post match interview with Emi & Ollie, still managing to make it about Arsenal.
I was hoping Emi was going to say that 'I'm at Villa now, so Arsenal can fuck right off'.
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Going to enjoy the rest of the Sky coverage and on here, before going off for a pint of Spurs tears on their forums.
They all seem delighted that Arsenal lost.
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Going to enjoy the rest of the Sky coverage and on here, before going off for a pint of Spurs tears on their forums.
Arsenal Fan TV should also be good tonight
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That was fucking superb from start to finish, from 1-11 and subs. Unai you’re a genius. That was no smash and grab either, utterly dominant in the second half and fully deserved. This Villa team isn’t going away and we’re going to Lille to fucking show who we are. The passing and possession today was top quality some of the balls to beat the press were superb. Special
Mentions to Carlos, Tielemans and Zaniolo, oft criticised but all superb today.
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6 goal turnover over Spuds. They can fuck right off....
Exactly!!
So true
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I'm still a bit worried about West Ham catching us; we're only 15 points ahead, and our goal difference is only 25 better.
That second-half performance was absolutely magnificent; you'd have thought we were top of the league.
Mate, you watch the media this week telling us manure could snatch 4th.
Yes, I'm certain they will!
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Manchester City and Arsenal, home and away, we won 9 points off them. Champions, my arse!!
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It's not like anyone can say we cheated in any way. Fair and square over 98 mins.
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Manchester City and Arsenal, home and away, we won 9 points off them. Champions, my arse!!
Man City almost certainly will be, to be fair.
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https://twitter.com/AFTVMedia
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Manchester City and Arsenal, home and away, we won 9 points off them. Champions, my arse!!
Man City almost certainly will be, to be fair.
The lesser of 3 evils!
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There is nothing a fan loves more than being proved wrong by one of his own players.
Diego Carlos, I salute you.
Tielemans was back to his Leicester cup winning form. He has his foibles, but the man is a. genius of a passer.
Everyone was brilliant, except perhaps Diaby and Zaniolo, but they still put in 7/10 performances.
Fan-bloody-tastic.
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Yes didn’t see that coming. Absolutely tremendous, and with all the injuries even more impressive. Diego Carlos was Maldini esq today, and everyone worked their bollocks off which I think compensated for the lack of a defensive midfielder. And we always know that our forwards will take chances if they get them.
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Unai is the best we’ve had since Ron Saunders. Now let’s see where he can take us. Great days.
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An absolute tactical masterclass.
Every player 10/10
Considering the 6 pts we gave the red filth and our long term injury list...Next season we challenge for the title
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Thank you unai
I fucking love you. GOAT
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I'll take it.
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What a beautiful performance.
We had to work hard to stay in the game at 0-0. However for most of the second half we surprisingly got stronger while Arsenal just tailed off which was amazing to watch.
The sort of result that gives you an extra 10% to get 4th and get through v Lille so perfect day.
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Brilliant result for you boys today, only trouble is that you’ve handed the title to city
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When Arsenal have lost this season at home they have lost 2-0.
Emery knows
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Best thing is, no one can say it wasn't fully deserved.
No and the performance was key - it shows we can do it even with players out. That can be carried forward.
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Brilliant result for you boys today, only trouble is that you’ve handed the title to city
They have won it many a year, but Legohead with his moans etc, and the wankfest if Klopp won it on his memorial season does make them more preferable.
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Brilliant result for you boys today, only trouble is that you’ve handed the title to city
We have our own agenda. We'll deal with the title in the next few years.
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https://www.skysports.com/premier-league-highlights/video/36504/13115549/arsenal-0-2-aston-villa-premier-league-highlights
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Brilliant result for you boys today, only trouble is that you’ve handed the title to city
I think you need to blame your own club for that im afraid mate
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Best thing is, no one can say it wasn't fully deserved.
No and the performance was key - it shows we can do it even with players out. That can be carried forward.
I think this is really significant. Getting performances out of average players and making good players great. It's been a while...
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For a team that's being held together with sticky tape and positive thoughts that was a formidable display.
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"Vengeance is mine," saith the Emery.
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Brilliant weekend for us - now carry this forward to Lille.
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Brilliant result for you boys today, only trouble is that you’ve handed the title to city
Thanks Londonfranky, and unfortunately I suspect you're right. Your lot did well today too: surely you're safe now!
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Arteta getting ready to play Villa
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLJNMwkXIAAjFZE?format=jpg&name=900x900)
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Brilliant result for you boys today, only trouble is that you’ve handed the title to city
No one cares if Man City wins the league anymore, we drown in apathy.
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"Vengeance is mine," saith the Emery.
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Arsenal were virtually full strength we were nowhere near and we played them off the park without luiz too. Impressive
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I’m a believer mate ♥️🩵
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That was an absolutely brilliant performance, the performance of the season for me. I’m happy to be proved wrong as I predicted a 3-0 Arsenal win. Totally controlled the 2nd half and fabulous goals particularly Ollie’s. And great to see the loyal Arsenal fans leaving after Ollie’s goal brilliant to see
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Arteta says they should have been 3 or 4 up 1st half? What game was he watching ????
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I can hear the ground from where I live. Arsenal fans are a good bunch, but this feels GOOD.
Unai, I salute you.
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"we played a top team but we were brilliant in the first half should have been 3 or 4 but second half they took the momentum away from us"
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(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/onesport/cps/800/cpsprodpb/9276/production/_133149473_gettyimages-2148614796.jpg)
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Brilliant result for you boys today, only trouble is that you’ve handed the title to city
I think you need to blame your own club for that im afraid mate
Huh? Fulham are innocent. Did us another favour today, quelling the kit-stealers.
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As an aside, we must contenders for most away wins at the Emirates.
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And there's nothing even that classless twat Arteta can whinge about. No dodgy decisions, no tight offsides, no goals not given for them. They were the best side first half but we could have won 4-0 overall.
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And there's nothing even that classless twat Arteta can whinge about. No dodgy decisions, no tight offsides, no goals not given for them. They were the best side first half but we could have won 4-0 overall.
And the ref kept giving them decisions.
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Even Phil McNulty is full of praise for us.Am I in parallel universe?
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As an aside, we must contenders for most away wins at the Emirates.
Plus our record in London is incredible. I remember during the last decade of horror, it was absolutely abominal. Just wish I'd been to see some of these games in the flesh, not living too far away compared to my VP commute.
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Brilliant result for you boys today, only trouble is that you’ve handed the title to city
I think you need to blame your own club for that im afraid mate
Huh? Fulham are innocent. Did us another favour today, quelling the kit-stealers.
Isnt he a arsenal fan?
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Its one of those results I have to keep reminding myself I'm not daydreaming. I'll wake up in the morning and need to check it did happen. I've woken up many a time over years imagining a Villa win or loss.
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Brilliant result for you boys today, only trouble is that you’ve handed the title to city
I think you need to blame your own club for that im afraid mate
Huh? Fulham are innocent. Did us another favour today, quelling the kit-stealers.
Isnt he a arsenal fan?
Nooo, Fulham.
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So just to clarify we have won at brentford fulham spurs chelsea and arsenal in all same season.
Has that ever happened before?
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Enjoy
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(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/onesport/cps/800/cpsprodpb/9276/production/_133149473_gettyimages-2148614796.jpg)
Did it clip off Smith Rowe on the way through?
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I love Fulham. Tony Xia and Steven Gerrard got their matching orders after losing to the Cottagers. Amazing how history could have gone if either of those two defeats had gone the other way.
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Nah. It's Ollie's magic.
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And there's nothing even that classless twat Arteta can whinge about. No dodgy decisions, no tight offsides, no goals not given for them. They were the best side first half but we could have won 4-0 overall.
Managers have to say positive stuff after defeats to placate the fans, I wouldn’t hold this against Arteta. Personally they are the least objectionable of the 3 left standing and play decent football. Can I be the first to wish them well on Wednesday?
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Love how this post match is 98÷ arsenal and 2% villa. Fucking shit arseholes sky
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So just to clarify we have won at brentford fulham spurs chelsea and arsenal in all same season.
Has that ever happened before?
1989/90
1-0 at arsenal
2-1 at chelsea
2-0 at spurs
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We absolutely murdered them in the second half. One of the best performances I can recall from a Villa team considering everything at stake, our injuries etc. To see that Arsenal team visibly shrink in front of our eyes (and a rapidly emptying stadium) will live long in the memory. What a day! First half was shaky but we always looked dangerous on the counter. Merson actually called it pre game that leaving out Jorginho could leave them vulnerable to our counters and that's how it played out.
Martinez 9 - save of the season and his presence is elite
Konsa 7 - struggled first half but solid second
Carlos 9 - carried defence in first half, his two performances against Arsenal have been outstanding
Torres 7 - poor first half but comfortable second
Digne 7 - lucky to get away with daft first half error but dealt well with Saka
McGinn 7 - miles off it first half but reminiscent of Gareth Barry at his best in second
Tielemans 7 - same as McGinn really, great shot hit the bar, brave passing too
Diaby 4 - started ok but so timid and no surprise that he was hooked early
Rogers 7 - One of our best in first half, much better in centre, this guy looks some find
Zaniolo 8 - delighted for him, finally using his bulk and bullied White, his touch is elite
Watkins 8 - another one who dominated his marker, so unlucky in first half but made it count at the end.
Bailey 8 - razor sharp upon his introduction, made that finish with his right look easy when it wasn't. Moreno 7 - thought he did well too.
Emery 10 - the perfect day
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On the coach home, stuck in London traffic, not quite sure what I witnessed.
On to Thursday and Lille 👍🏼 UTV
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What's with the 7s and 8s bronte?
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Love how this post match is 98÷ arsenal and 2% villa. Fucking shit arseholes sky
Even the main presenter said something along the lines of "A good win for Villa but the talking points will all be about Arsenal"
Why will they? Tbf I turned it off after the game so dunno what they spoke about. Neville on comms seemed to be enjoying us winning.
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In fairness Neville was giving Villa plenty of praise during the second half.
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Just seen a great video of Heath Ledgers Joker walking away from the exploding building except its Emery superimposed over the top instead. "Unai leaves Arsenal in tatters." V funny.
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Another result in the capital. How many's that now?
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Amazing result and performance. What a team we have and what a fuckin manager!
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I like Kolo Toure he keeps saying Aston Villa is one of the best team in the country and every time Merson keeps putting him down. ******.
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So just to clarify we have won at brentford fulham spurs chelsea and arsenal in all same season.
Has that ever happened before?
If it has it would have been before the Second World War. That was the last time Brentford were in the top division.
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What's with the 7s and 8s bronte?
To be fair to Brontë he’s the L’Equipe of player performance scores so this is his world class performances range.
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Another result in the capital. How many's that now?
Isn't in 9 unbeaten for Emery?
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(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/onesport/cps/800/cpsprodpb/9276/production/_133149473_gettyimages-2148614796.jpg)
Did it clip off Smith Rowe on the way through?
I thought it did, yes, need to watch it again (and again and again and again)
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Piers isn't happy. https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1779559247782572115
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Oh and kudos to Kolo Touré who continues to talk up the Villa on Sky when everyone else pretends we weren’t even involved in then game.
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Arsenal fans are a good bunch, but this feels GOOD.
Are they? More like a bunch of goofs :D
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For those who have Instagram, this is fab. Punjabi Villans never fail to make me smile but this one is so ace.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5wC7xUrUVy/?igsh=MWppdmZsYWhjaWM3OQ==
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Yes it did flick off him
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So just to clarify we have won at brentford fulham spurs chelsea and arsenal in all same season.
Has that ever happened before?
1989/90
1-0 at arsenal
2-1 at chelsea
2-0 at spurs
1993
1-0 Arsenal
1-0 Chelsea - no Big shock in those days
0-0 Spurs
3-2 at Wimbledon
1-2 at QPR
1993-94
2-1 and 1-0 at Highbury
1-1 and 2-1 at Spurs
1-1 at Chelsea
2-2 at QPR and Wimbledon
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Yes it did clip Smith Rowe but it was utterly superb from Ollie. Jumping around the kitchen after that one. Marvellous just marvellous.
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Thanks Brontebilly, I feel as if I was there!
I took my mother out to lunch today and a little lad walked past our table in full away kit with ‘Watkins’ on his back, so clearly, that was an omen!
Drove back down South in the afternoon, deliberately avoided all coverage and comment on the match and found out we’d won just as I walked through my front door at full time. Thanks, Unai, thanks Leon, Ollie and Emi especially, thanks all in the Villa team and coaches, and nuts to Sky and TalkSport!!!
And it’s my birthday! 🎂 (Well, yesterday, but it’s officially all weekend, right?)
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Unai said we the fans had something to do with it 💪
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Sour grapes/deflection from Arteta - four goals or more better in the first half? Didn't sound like it. Anyone got the xG?
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports: "Two very different performances. The first half was superb, one of the best halves we have played against a top team. It should have been three or four - or more.
"We didn't put that score line up and didn't reflect that second half. We lacked momentum. We didn't have the flow we had in the first half and then we conceded two very, very poor goals.
"Credit to them, in the second half we were a bit unprecise with the ball, we weren't able to do what we did in the first half. In the end we lost it so we have to congratulate them on the points."
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Just seen a great video of Heath Ledgers Joker walking away from the exploding building except its Emery superimposed over the top instead. "Unai leaves Arsenal in tatters." V funny.
Well don't just describe it, link it!
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So just to clarify we have won at brentford fulham spurs chelsea and arsenal in all same season.
Has that ever happened before?
1989/90
1-0 at arsenal
2-1 at chelsea
2-0 at spurs
Thanks mate. Incredible!
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A bit more like it from Deco:
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, speaking to Sky Sports: "It's tough, really tough to take.
"Especially with the chances we had in the first half, the spaces there was. We had to take one of them because in the Premier League, teams will come back to bite you and hurt you.
"That's what Villa did in the second half."
"We've been so dominant in games but Villa have got some unbelievable players, technically unreal and Ollie up front is a constant goal threat.
"If you can't win games of football, don't lose. Look up at the clock with 15 to go and it's 0-0, if you aren't going to win then you take a point, especially in these situations.
"So to lose is a real kick in the teeth."
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Absolutely fcking brilliant! Great weekend with Spuds getting mashed and Villa putting in THAT performance. It ain’t very often you get to screw both Arse and Spuds in the same weekend is it. Oh happy day!
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Sour grapes/deflection from Arteta - four goals or more better in the first half? Didn't sound like it. Anyone got the xG?
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports: "Two very different performances. The first half was superb, one of the best halves we have played against a top team. It should have been three or four - or more.
"We didn't put that score line up and didn't reflect that second half. We lacked momentum. We didn't have the flow we had in the first half and then we conceded two very, very poor goals.
"Credit to them, in the second half we were a bit unprecise with the ball, we weren't able to do what we did in the first half. In the end we lost it so we have to congratulate them on the points."
That last paragraph squeezed like lemon juice out of a cat's arse.
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Sour grapes/deflection from Arteta - four goals or more better in the first half? Didn't sound like it. Anyone got the xG?
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports: "Two very different performances. The first half was superb, one of the best halves we have played against a top team. It should have been three or four - or more.
"We didn't put that score line up and didn't reflect that second half. We lacked momentum. We didn't have the flow we had in the first half and then we conceded two very, very poor goals.
"Credit to them, in the second half we were a bit unprecise with the ball, we weren't able to do what we did in the first half. In the end we lost it so we have to congratulate them on the points."
Arsenal had an xG of 1.6 which Trossards chance probably equates for about 0.9 of that. That was a truly incredible save from Emi but not sure how Trossard gave him the chance
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I know C115y at home was as good as we’ve played in a long time but was this, dare I say, better?
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Zaniola had a great game gave us much needed physical presence and today the ball stuck to him. Ogdegard was good for them I was glad he limped off. Didin't even know £100m Rice was on the pitch. Fantastic performance and result.
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Oh and kudos to Kolo Touré who continues to talk up the Villa on Sky when everyone else pretends we weren’t even involved in then game.
Exactly what I said in a post earlier and Merson the twat is being an arse.
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I know C115y at home was as good as we’ve played in a long time but was this, dare I say, better?
That's a tricky one. This one feels bigger because of the context, but the City performance was truly dominant.
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Zaniola had a great game gave us much needed physical presence and today the ball stuck to him. Ogdegard was good for them I was glad he limped off. Didin't even know £100m Rice was on the pitch. Fantastic performance and result.
Rice was fried.
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Oh and kudos to Kolo Touré who continues to talk up the Villa on Sky when everyone else pretends we weren’t even involved in then game.
Exactly what I said in a post earlier and Merson the twat is being an arse.
I suspect he’s having to pick between his two favourite children tonight which is tough. He genuinely likes the Villa but understandable he’s bias towards Arsenal
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:(
They had a nailed on penalty turned down though......didnt see it myself but i reckon Arteta did
He admitted he didn't see it because he didn't have his Arsenal glasses on
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Arsenal fans are a good bunch, but this feels GOOD.
Are they? More like a bunch of goofs :D
That is a thing of beauty
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Voice gone.
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https://www.facebook.com/share/v/vjeKbPgm37GrBNb3/
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I know C115y at home was as good as we’ve played in a long time but was this, dare I say, better?
That's a tricky one. This one feels bigger because of the context, but the City performance was truly dominant.
.
Hard to separate them. The City performance was brilliant, but was at home with a full team. This was away in shaky period with some big players out. Given the circumstances and the fact the pressure's on to finish 4th, I'd go for today. But the City game was utterly brilliant, of course. A mention for Brighton at home as well.
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I’ve always liked Kolo Toure as a pundit.
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So just to clarify we have won at brentford fulham spurs chelsea and arsenal in all same season.
Has that ever happened before?
1989/90
1-0 at arsenal
2-1 at chelsea
2-0 at spurs
Thanks mate. Incredible!
Was 3-0 at Chelsea that year!
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Sour grapes/deflection from Arteta - four goals or more better in the first half? Didn't sound like it. Anyone got the xG?
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports: "Two very different performances. The first half was superb, one of the best halves we have played against a top team. It should have been three or four - or more.
"We didn't put that score line up and didn't reflect that second half. We lacked momentum. We didn't have the flow we had in the first half and then we conceded two very, very poor goals.
"Credit to them, in the second half we were a bit unprecise with the ball, we weren't able to do what we did in the first half. In the end we lost it so we have to congratulate them on the points."
Pardew just contradicted him on his first half bollocks by saying "I don't think they should have been 3-0 despite a brilliant 20 minute spell, in fact Watkins should have made it 1-0"
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UAE 0 - 2 Sultan of Unai
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I didn't fancy us at all but fuck me, didn't we play well? Superb, all of them.
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Given we were under the cosh for most of the first half, it is difficult to overstate just how good that second half performance was, we had control of the ball pretty much throughout, or so it seemed. Our confidence on the ball was a joy to watch, from thee goalkeeper, across the back, through the middle, and in their half. And then the application of killer instinct at the point when Arsenal were just about on their knees. I'm not sure when we last played as well as that away from home, and certainly not against a 'top team.'
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Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan
·
1h
Arsenal’s lack of a proper striker has come back to haunt us. So many chances in first half, but none taken. If Watkins was playing for us, we’d have won this 3-0.
Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan
·
1h
FFS.
We’ve choked again. Unbelievable
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Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan
·
1h
Arsenal’s lack of a proper striker has come back to haunt us. So many chances in first half, but none taken. If Watkins was playing for us, we’d have won this 3-0.
Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan
·
1h
FFS.
We’ve choked again. Unbelievable
I think he is right.
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The press/public are latching onto how good Watkins is, fair enough, but it's lazy to overlook the rest of the team many of whom have had great seasons. And give Unai 11 average-joes and he'd make them over-perform.
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Oh and kudos to Kolo Touré who continues to talk up the Villa on Sky when everyone else pretends we weren’t even involved in then game.
Exactly what I said in a post earlier and Merson the twat is being an arse.
Merson was hyperventilating. He must be on something.
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Brilliant game !
10/10 to all of them (even though Diaby probably didn't deserve it).
That is all of them except Diego Carlos...who gets a 20/10 - from his previous dodgy performances to today's brilliance was quite something to behold.
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For his first half claim, Lego is probably forgetting that a couple of the chances saved by Martinez were offside anyway.
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Just want to big up Digne for the cross for the first. To be so far forward and battling in the 84th, and then putting in that ball......
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In a pub in Derry and sweet Caroline being sung, guess what I join in
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Arsenal fans are a good bunch, but this feels GOOD.
Are they? More like a bunch of goofs :D
That is a thing of beauty
'Leon Bloodclart Bailey!!!' - I'm howling at that.
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Whilst they had some pressure in the first half, I never felt we were fully under the cosh. It wasn't as if Arsenal were all over us.
In the second half, it reminded me of Man City at home, how we closed them down and restricted them. We haven't played like that against a top team away for ages.
I can't fault any of them today; Zaniolo played well Diaby did his defensive duty and we linked up really well in the 2nd half.
Emi really enjoyed his after match celebration at the end.
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Still flying after that. It was an Unai masterclass really. He knew they were going to come after us first half, but it was like he was just testing them out, letting them throw all their punches and tire themselves out. We just took over second half and battered them.
Very similar to the away game at Spurs on new years day last season, only against a superior side in Arsenal.
I know performances and some results have been up and down in 2024, but Unai really is the man.
Hard to pick out individuals today, but I thought Tielemans and McGinn were outstanding in midfield and Zanioloa and Rogers ran their nads off.
Cannot wait for MOTD2 tonight
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Arsenal fans are the worst thing on the internet.
Their online fanbase is just fucking awful.
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Up there with the 1-0's in 1990 and 1993, this one.
And poss far more important for our long-term future.
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Who's their audience? Why wouldn't Arsenal fans be watching the game rather than some virgin sitting in their bedroom babbling incoherently about it?
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If those Arsenal TV guys were such good fans why aren’t they at the stadium?!
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Three, four or five goals!
Lay off the crack pipe before doing interviews mate.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to BBC's Match of the Day: "We're obviously very disappointed with the result, especially with the way we have been performing. The first half was one of the best halves we have played this season against a top team. We should've scored three, four, five, we haven't scored. In the second half, the game changes, we struggle to gain momentum, we struggle to get the ball into certain areas and we were very sloppy with the ball and the game was there with not much happening. A few corners for them and then we concede a very poor goal and then, on top of that, we were chasing it and then we concede another one and it was a painful loss.
"I think we played much better than we did against Brighton in the first half. Much better. I think we should've scored three, four, five goals in the first half and that would've been a very different game. That's not the case and we have to accept that and we have to praise the opponent, they beat us and we have to move. It is about reacting now.
"For sure, because we had the momentum and we were the better team on the pitch but you have to play for 96/98 minutes and we haven't managed to maintain that level in the second half and that is down to us and we have to improve.
On Ollie Watkins saying he could sense Arsenal getting tired: "That's him saying that. No.
Do Arsenal have to win every game now?: "We all know that, the impact is now. How you react to that, there was always going to be a bump in the road. We won 10, drew one. Unbelievable, everybody is on board. Win, win, win win, win, win, win, win - everybody is happy. Very easy to maintain momentum and be on top of that. It is now after that defeat, how you show you character and your leadership and going to Munich, we have a beautiful opportunity to do that."
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Just wonderful. Thank you Aston Villa. Whole team performance.
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Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins to BBC Match of the Day: "I felt like we grew into the game a lot. The longer Arsenal didn't create much, we could see from their body language that they were getting tired and definitely getting frustrated and I think we used that as momentum and motivation really. We grew into the game and we played some really good football. We didn't go long too much, the boss demanded that we played out and were brave. If we lost the ball and they scored from it, so be it, but that's the game plan and it worked today. We frustrated them and in both boxes, we were really good.
"When I saw Youri's hit the bar and the post, I thought 'ah no, it's not going to be our day is it?' I was always calm that we were going to get something. We were frustrating them, we were creating lots of chances and we could see that they were getting tired and we kept plugging away and we stuck at it. I'm delighted with that, it's a massive win. A lot of people doubted us or definitely favoured Arsenal coming into this game. We've been playing well and been a bit lackadaisical and lost concentration, so today, we showed we're a really strong team and we're fighting for the Champions League.
"Every day, the boss is really demanding. Whether we win or lose, it's back to the training field and work on what we need to do to perform on the pitch. That's one thing we're all very clear on is the game plan. When we're going in, we have long meetings. We had three meetings today, which is tiring but it's clear when you go on the pitch, what you need to do and what is going to happen.
"I think it was from a corner. I could see that they were all pushing up on the edge of the box and I was kind of not goal-hanging but waiting for that ball to come and I thought maybe I had lost the chance a little bit when Smith Rowe was running through, but as the keeper came out, he made my mind up and there was only one finish there to dink it over him. I think it shows how far I have come. I think going back, I probably wouldn't have scored that but I'm definitely very composed in those situations now and I back myself in those scenarios at the end of the day.
"I think it is what it's about. As a striker, you want to score as many goals as possible. I'm not going to lie, I'm chasing that, I'm doing all that I can to help the team to win and for me to score as many goals and assists to my teammates as possible. I definitely have my eyes on the golden boot. I'm not going to lie to you.
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Who's their audience? Why wouldn't Arsenal fans be watching the game rather than some virgin sitting in their bedroom babbling incoherently about it?
Always wondered that. It's just a load of simpletons trying to be as over the top as possible and shouting "oh my days blud" over and over again. Weird.
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Aston Villa manager Unai Emery to BBC's Match of the Day: "100%. Very proud of the players, how faced them being very competitive. Being also struggling at times but waiting our moment and progressively, we were dominating the match. But of course, beating Arsenal here is very difficult and we needed to play and be focused 100% and being very demanding in everything and more organised defensively, we needed the biggest commitment to do better than we did against Manchester City, that was the sample we used for this match and then, tried to face them playing in this level because this is the level I want to get to with our players and progressively, we are getting better. Of course in 90 minutes, we struggled, maybe if they scored one goal the match would be different but we defended very well, we were very competitive in the first half. In the first half, there was more defending and in the second half, we were more competitive with the ball, tried to keep possession and tried to impose our position on the pitch.
"Football is to play with the ball. Without the ball, we tried to get good posititoning, we tried to stop the opponent, we tried to win. We tried to play and then tried to play with our skills. Of course, we did everything in those ways I think very well.
"90 minutes is for everything. The first half, we were being consistent, we weren't doing bad defensively. We were trying to dominate with the ball, keep the possesion tight to avoid players. We didn't do very well, but we were tired but we even got one chance with Ollie Watkins hitting the post. In the second half, we were planning the same but we did better than in the first. We were imposing, but we had more chances and hit the post but then we had two very good goals and we didn't concede a lot then and this is the mentality. The mentality is true and every player is responding on the pitch.
"It is 38 matches, today we played number 33. Today, something is more difficult with some things, but we had to always try to learn and try to improve, try to get to our highest level individually and collectively. Today is a very good example, but we now, we need to keep going, move on positively and now, try to avoid circumstances like how last week, against Brentford at home. But this is the Premier League, the most difficult league in the world."
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Odegard and Saka vanished after the break, I maintain the latter is overrated anyway.
I can't be having Peter Drury so had a commentary team of Jim Proudfoot and Matt Holland. Excellent, balanced and non-hysterical. I think Proudfoot has a soft spot for us from his time at BRMB.
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He's such a class act when you compare him to the unpleasantness of some other managers.
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Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan
·
1h
Arsenal’s lack of a proper striker has come back to haunt us. So many chances in first half, but none taken. If Watkins was playing for us, we’d have won this 3-0.
Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan
·
1h
FFS.
We’ve choked again. Unbelievable
I think he is right.
If they still had Unai and Emi they'd be running away with it and would've won last year as well.
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I’ve got to be truthful, the knowledge that Blose are getting a £3 billion new stadium has sucked all of the joy out of today’s result for me.
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It shows that he also managed to get a message over to them at half time.
We looked so confident in the second half.
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The press/public are latching onto how good Watkins is, fair enough, but it's lazy to overlook the rest of the team many of whom have had great seasons. And give Unai 11 average-joes and he'd make them over-perform.
I was just looking at Ollie's stats and thinking he must be a serious contender for player of the season for the whole league. But then I started thinking he's not guaranteed player of the season just for Villa, so many of them have had such a good season.
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What makes me laugh is arteta saying they should ahve 3 or 4 up, i mean its not like we didnt hit the post and then the crossbar and post in one move. If anything its us that should have been 4 up
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Odegard and Saka vanished after the break, I maintain the latter is overrated anyway.
I can't be having Peter Drury so had a commentary team of Jim Proudfoot and Matt Holland. Excellent, balanced and non-hysterical. I think Proudfoot has a soft spot for us from his time at BRMB.
I had them as well, very balanced and knowledgable.
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Odegard and Saka vanished after the break, I maintain the latter is overrated anyway.
I can't be having Peter Drury so had a commentary team of Jim Proudfoot and Matt Holland. Excellent, balanced and non-hysterical. I think Proudfoot has a soft spot for us from his time at BRMB.
I’m glad it’s not just me then about Saka.
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I’ve got to be truthful, the knowledge that Blose are getting a £3 billion new stadium has sucked all of the joy out of today’s result for me.
It’s difficult to enjoy a result when you are rattled.
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Well I enjoyed that.
Arteta is the least gracious manager in the League, so delighted to beat him twice. And there can be no arguments, we were the better team today.
Can Watkins break the 20 goal curse for us?
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What makes me laugh is arteta saying they should ahve 3 or 4 up, i mean its not like we didnt hit the post and then the crossbar and post in one move. If anything its us that should have been 4 up
He's such a wanker, I'm delighted with his comments as I've no need to reevaluate my opinion of his as a result.
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A bit more like it from Deco:
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, speaking to Sky Sports: "It's tough, really tough to take.
"Especially with the chances we had in the first half, the spaces there was. We had to take one of them because in the Premier League, teams will come back to bite you and hurt you.
"That's what Villa did in the second half."
"We've been so dominant in games but Villa have got some unbelievable players, technically unreal and Ollie up front is a constant goal threat.
"If you can't win games of football, don't lose. Look up at the clock with 15 to go and it's 0-0, if you aren't going to win then you take a point, especially in these situations.
"So to lose is a real kick in the teeth."
He lost Bailey for our first and went AWOL for our second. Can't stand him
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Rice always seems decent enough to me.
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Fabulous result.
And while positive results shouldn't matter about the performance at this stage, the performance was also magnificent.
Defensively sound first half, despite lego heads insistence that they should have been 3 or more up at HT (you weren't. Tit.), we dominated second half with a couple of cracking goals & 3 posts hit in 2 shots.
And considering we are down to the bare bones player wise, massive credit has to go to both the players on the pitch, but more importantly, the manager for his game-plan.
Fucking wonderful.
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Rice always seems decent enough to me.
Same.
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I’ve got to be truthful, the knowledge that Blose are getting a £3 billion new stadium has sucked all of the joy out of today’s result for me.
It’s difficult to enjoy a result when you are rattled.
(https://i.ibb.co/5MV0YjC/IMG-20240408-WA0015.jpg) (https://ibb.co/5MV0YjC)
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He’s a good player, he was just Emery’d today.
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Arsenal fans are the worst thing on the internet.
Their online fanbase is just fucking awful.
I’m sure. Not surprisingly they are IRL too. I live about 25mins walk from the Emirates and I’ve never met one - in 40 years - that isn’t an obnoxious nob (social class makes no difference). By contrast Spurs fans - and I know plenty - are generally alright, I’ve always found. Still wankers, but alright wankers.
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Carlos immense in defence. Youri and McGinn in the middle were superb, we’ve seen McGinn have great games there but Tielemans really stepped up. Rogers great first half and thought Zaniolo had his best game for us, it helped that White got a yellow card but take nothing away from him.
There were a few loose balls in the first half but we recovered into our positions well and Arteta is talking out of his arse regarding they should have been 4 up, I’ll give him Trossard’s but that was it.
Absolutely fantastic performance.
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I like Rice, but did laugh at someone on the Man City forum saying he's never a £100m player and he's 'not fit to lace McGinn's boots, as seen on the pitch today'.
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As well as the incredible performance and result, this should give the team some real belief and confidence going into the last few games.
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Sky stats say Arse had 4 shots on target all game. So how they should've been 4 or 5 up at half time, I'm not sure. What a ****** lego head is.
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Total domination in that 2nd half. Tielemans denied a world class goal by millimeters. Thank you Unai Emery you have put the pride back into B6.
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Rice always seems decent enough to me.
Same.
Agree with that. I'd love to see him at Villa. He'd never get a game obvs.
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Arsenal fans are the worst thing on the internet.
Their online fanbase is just fucking awful.
I’m sure. Not surprisingly they are IRL too. I live about 25mins walk from the Emirates and I’ve never met one - in 40 years - that isn’t an obnoxious nob (social class makes no difference). By contrast Spurs fans - and I know plenty - are generally alright, I’ve always found. Still wankers, but alright wankers.
They were rampantly arguing with each other in the queue back to Finsbury Park about why Arteta should be sacked, and whether they were going to take Doku or Grealish from Man City. The most entitled, deluded fans around.
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Morgan Rogers will be pivotal in the run in. He's filled the hole JJ left brilliantly, he's tough as well, still a bit raw but he can only improve.
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Arsenal fans are the worst thing on the internet.
Their online fanbase is just fucking awful.
I’m sure. Not surprisingly they are IRL too. I live about 25mins walk from the Emirates and I’ve never met one - in 40 years - that isn’t an obnoxious nob (social class makes no difference). By contrast Spurs fans - and I know plenty - are generally alright, I’ve always found. Still wankers, but alright wankers.
They were rampantly arguing with each other in the queue back to Finsbury Park about why Arteta should be sacked, and whether they were going to take Doku or Grealish from Man City. The most entitled, deluded fans around.
They are great entertainment though when they get beat
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Morgan Rogers will be pivotal in the run in. He's filled the hole JJ left brilliantly, he's tough as well, still a bit raw but he can only improve.
He’s growing in stature with each passing game. Unlucky to get booked as, surprise surprise, Saka made the most of a challenge, where after watching the replay, there wasn’t much contact for me.
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Fantastic performance. Interesting we played better without Luiz .
Tielemans McGinn Rogers all superb and Zaniolo was very good too .
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We’ll have a great choice of midfielders next season when JJ, emi2, kamara are all back.
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We'll still need a spare DM to get through the mucky stuff next year, with Kamara likely sidelined for a fair chunk of next season.
Someone with the workrate of Nakamba. But far more quality on the ball, obv.
That's a worry for another day, mind.
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Piers isn't happy. https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1779559247782572115
He’s blocked me so I can’t see it.
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Absolutely cracking second half. Given our missing players, I really think this was our best performance of the season. After seemingly going off the boil in 2024, this performance has come at precisely the right time. 3 more wins will hopefully clinch the elusive 4th spot for us.
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Rice always seems decent enough to me.
He is a fantastic player and like you say he’s decent too. Considering our injuries I thought we’d really struggle in the midfield, but if anything we grew into the game. That’s a massive achievement against this Arsenal team. The form they have been in has been so good and they have swept so many sides aside with ease.
Amazing performance.
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Bailey was fantastic once he came on. Made his goal look easy .
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Just landed from Cloud Cuckoo Land. An unbelievable performance and a thoroughly deserved win. 10/10 to everyone.
My neighbour, Arsenal fan, popped in at full time and was gracious in defeat. Reckons we beat them psychologically and Unai played a blinder.
Unai knew Arsenal were desperate for a win and the longer the game went on without a goal the more they would panic. We slowed the game down whenever possible and played on their mental fragility. They completely lost their shape and we tore them a new one.
A masterclass. We are always capable of scoring and bided our time until the Arses bottled it and fell apart.
Completely ruined Man U, Spuds, Geordies weekend as well. A bonus.
Well done Unai and the lads, sorry I ever doubted you.
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An outstanding performance. Let's remember that Arsenal since Christmas have played 11 Premier League games, winning 10 and drawing at Man City. They have been scoring for fun and only conceded 4 goals in that run. They had a full team out and an extra day's rest after Europe. To top it all, they had the motivation of the Liverpool loss to Palace. Villa meanwhile were without Luiz, Kamara, Ramsey and long term injured Mings and Buendia.
Every thing pointed to a comfortable home performance.....step forward Mr Emery. The way he prepares the team, tweaks tactics mid game and motivates and develops his players is truly remarkable. A masterclass.
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Bailey was fantastic once he came on. Made his goal look easy .
He really was
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Very nice.
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As well as the incredible performance and result, this should give the team some real belief and confidence going into the last few games.
We have the big team mentaliy back
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Torres and his unintentional dummy had a big hand in that first goal. I thought it was Watkins who had missed the ball at the time but he drew in all the defenders and the keeper to the near post and then they were scrambling.
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So just to clarify we have won at brentford fulham spurs chelsea and arsenal in all same season.
Has that ever happened before?
1989/90
1-0 at arsenal
2-1 at chelsea
2-0 at spurs
Thanks mate. Incredible!
It was 3-0 at Chelsea wasn’t it?
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I was flying back from hs during the match and what a lovely welcome home prezzie when I landed! Get in.
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So just to clarify we have won at brentford fulham spurs chelsea and arsenal in all same season.
Has that ever happened before?
1989/90
1-0 at arsenal
2-1 at chelsea
2-0 at spurs
Thanks mate. Incredible!
It was 3-0 at Chelsea wasn’t it?
Might not have all been wins, but the season when Tom Ross had his cockney rant (when Townsend was captain), I thought that was because we were unbeaten in the capital.
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Piers isn't happy. https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1779559247782572115
He’s blocked me so I can’t see it.
I don't have twitter. I can see it. Don't worry. There is no insight. Just an observation.
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Morgan Rogers will be pivotal in the run in. He's filled the hole JJ left brilliantly, he's tough as well, still a bit raw but he can only improve.
He’s growing in stature with each passing game. Unlucky to get booked as, surprise surprise, Saka made the most of a challenge, where after watching the replay, there wasn’t much contact for me.
It wasn’t a foul, ridiculous booking.
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Foresight. Kinda.
This is only going one way.
Our task is to control the goals against.
True, too few clean sheets kept this season.
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The sign of how great this manager is. He’s obviously spotted the defensive frailties and fixed them in short order. Today reminded me of the first away game at Brighton. That day the defensive shape was just sex. Today was similar but with the added bonus of being a so much better side than that day. Mcginn and Tielemans in those holding roles were immense.
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Morgan Rogers will be pivotal in the run in. He's filled the hole JJ left brilliantly, he's tough as well, still a bit raw but he can only improve.
He’s growing in stature with each passing game. Unlucky to get booked as, surprise surprise, Saka made the most of a challenge, where after watching the replay, there wasn’t much contact for me.
It wasn’t a foul, ridiculous booking.
Agreed, with Rogers power I do think he hurt Saka. Wasn't moving freely after it. Rogers is a unit.
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https://x.com/liamgallagher/status/1779567584884507002?s=46&t=GdM6cpVxe5IloByNCRheWA
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An element of Arsenal fans really are massive twats. I've seen some calling for Arteta to be sacked, plenty saying they are bottlers etc. When in reality even allowing for today they've taken 31 points from the last 36 available. Drama queens.
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Odegard and Saka vanished after the break, I maintain the latter is overrated anyway.
I can't be having Peter Drury so had a commentary team of Jim Proudfoot and Matt Holland. Excellent, balanced and non-hysterical. I think Proudfoot has a soft spot for us from his time at BRMB.
Peter Drury only went to day 1 of commentator school
Lesson 1 "When a player has a chance to shoot just shout his name very loudly" only to be used when its a Sky 4 team
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Morgan Rogers will be pivotal in the run in. He's filled the hole JJ left brilliantly, he's tough as well, still a bit raw but he can only improve.
He’s growing in stature with each passing game. Unlucky to get booked as, surprise surprise, Saka made the most of a challenge, where after watching the replay, there wasn’t much contact for me.
It wasn’t a foul, ridiculous booking.
Agreed, with Rogers power I do think he hurt Saka. Wasn't moving freely after it. Rogers is a unit.
Hard to run properly when you have shat your keks.
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From the introduction of Leon Bailey on the hour, Villa were genuinely dominant. He happened to score the breakthrough goal but it came towards the natural end of a period of complete supremacy – between the 61st and 87th minutes, Villa scored twice from three shots, hit the crossbar and post from the other, had six corners, 64.4% possession and an 85% pass accuracy; Arsenal had one shot, one corner, a 74% pass accuracy and spent an uncomfortable amount of time in their own defensive third. They have not been made to look so ordinary for such a sustained period all season.
The hosts didn’t even do anything particularly wrong. This performance would have beaten most teams. It just came against and was ruthlessly punished by the best of them outside of the title challengers.
F365 (https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-arsenal-humbled-villa-bottle-white-odegaard-bailey-watkins)
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An element of Arsenal fans really are massive twats. I've seen some calling for Arteta to be sacked, plenty saying they are bottlers etc. When in reality even allowing for today they've taken 31 points from the last 36 available. Drama queens.
That's about right. The noisy ones were continuously calling for him to be sacked for 2 years before last season.
Knobbers - based on all financial factors (fair and not so) they should be 3rd or 4th each season.
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That’s a very fair summary and nice to be recognised. Not sure Sky will agree.
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those blue kits..
Tielemans becomes prime Zidane in this kit.
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Man City was a more complete performance from us, restricting them to only 2 shots all game. However, this one feels better, given the recent form of both sides, that we were away, and that it was today!
Carlos was a titan in the ManC game too.
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The game very much reminded me of Chelsea away last season where we grew into the game and win 2-0.
Shame that Tielemans effort didn't go in, some goal that would have been .
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Man City was a more complete performance from us, restricting them to only 2 shots all game. However, this one feels better, given the recent form of both sides, that we were away, and that it was today!
Carlos was a titan in the ManC game too.
And those two shots were in the same move as well. So really we only gave them the one chance all match.
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Wasn't Captain Black complaining they should have beaten us at Villa Park by 3 or 4 goal as well? So he reckons they should have beaten us this season 8-1, yet actually lost 3-0.
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Man City was better, but this is a close second. No one outplays Man City like we did that day.
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From the introduction of Leon Bailey on the hour, Villa were genuinely dominant. He happened to score the breakthrough goal but it came towards the natural end of a period of complete supremacy – between the 61st and 87th minutes, Villa scored twice from three shots, hit the crossbar and post from the other, had six corners, 64.4% possession and an 85% pass accuracy; Arsenal had one shot, one corner, a 74% pass accuracy and spent an uncomfortable amount of time in their own defensive third. They have not been made to look so ordinary for such a sustained period all season.
The hosts didn’t even do anything particularly wrong. This performance would have beaten most teams. It just came against and was ruthlessly punished by the best of them outside of the title challengers.
F365 (https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-arsenal-humbled-villa-bottle-white-odegaard-bailey-watkins)
Lovely.
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Man City was better, but this is a close second. No one outplays Man City like we did that day.
Agreed. A very close second.
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I said to a mate though when the teams came out, I'm glad they're playing Gabriel Jesus. He's so overrated.
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Man City was better, but this is a close second. No one outplays Man City like we did that day.
For rating them, a factor between that match and today. Then, we had as full a strength side (barring Emi2 and Mings obviously) where they were missing quite a few obvious first teamers, including Rodri, and we were playing at Fortress VP. Today we were missing a shitload more key players and I think Arse were pretty much full strength and playing down there.
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Man City was better, but this is a close second. No one outplays Man City like we did that day.
For rating them, a factor between that match and today. Then, we had as full a strength side (barring Emi2 and Mings obviously) where they were missing quite a few obvious first teamers, including Rodri, and we were playing at Fortress VP. Today we were missing a shitload more key players and I think Arse were pretty much full strength and playing down there.
They were missing Rodri KDB and Cyborg. It was brilliant but today is on a par for me given their form and being full strength and we were a bit depleted .
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Man City was better, but this is a close second. No one outplays Man City like we did that day.
Agreed. A very close second.
I think this beats it in the context of players available, having played a big game on Thursday and their form.
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Man City was better, but this is a close second. No one outplays Man City like we did that day.
For rating them, a factor between that match and today. Then, we had as full a strength side (barring Emi2 and Mings obviously) where they were missing quite a few obvious first teamers, including Rodri, and we were playing at Fortress VP. Today we were missing a shitload more key players and I think Arse were pretty much full strength and playing down there.
They were missing Rodri KDB and Cyborg. It was brilliant but today is on a par for me given their form and being full strength and we were a bit depleted .
They had Cyborg, he just couldn't be found until Konsa emptied his pockets. Doku and Grealish were the other absentees at the time, although common knowledge was the latter deliberately got suspended to miss the match.
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Man City are likely to win a 4th straight title (6 in 7 years) and possibly a second straight CL. They've lost 1 game in 6 months, us. And we hammered them all game. Arsenal are headed for a 4th year of winning nothing. Man City game all the way for me.
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It was perfection. The way Emery constantly finds solutions to problems is incredible, what other teams would cite as an excuse he just seizes on as another problem to solve.
18 months ago we were outside the relegation zone on goal difference.
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Man City are likely to win a 4th straight title (6 in 7 years) and possibly a second straight CL. They've lost 1 game in 6 months, us. And we hammered them all game. Arsenal are headed for a 4th year of winning nothing. Man City game all the way for me.
Yup agreed. Although the character of this display does add something. We basically haven’t played well for an entire game in 2024, and have looked really shaky defensively. To go to a team who hasn’t been behind in 2024, with the suspensions/injuries we have, and put in such a coherent and high quality display is remarkable.
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Let's hope it continues.
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Piers isn't happy. https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1779559247782572115
He’s blocked me so I can’t see it.
Same here. The colossal twat …. (was probably one of the references which led to him blocking me).
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Man City are likely to win a 4th straight title (6 in 7 years) and possibly a second straight CL. They've lost 1 game in 6 months, us. And we hammered them all game. Arsenal are headed for a 4th year of winning nothing. Man City game all the way for me.
Fair point . Today was still brilliant though.
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I will say that after years of being utterly shit it's rather splendid to be debating which fantastic performance is better.
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Had a few drinks but on such a high, probably have to give up season ticket next year because of distance, but I think we are in good hands
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Man City was better, but this is a close second. No one outplays Man City like we did that day.
Agreed. Probably the best performance I’ve ever seen or at least can remember. We battered them 1-0.
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Man City was a more complete performance from us, restricting them to only 2 shots all game. However, this one feels better, given the recent form of both sides, that we were away, and that it was today!
Carlos was a titan in the ManC game too.
Don’t forget the second of their 2 shots came in the 17th minute.
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Man City are likely to win a 4th straight title (6 in 7 years) and possibly a second straight CL. They've lost 1 game in 6 months, us. And we hammered them all game. Arsenal are headed for a 4th year of winning nothing. Man City game all the way for me.
But when we played City in Dec they had only won one in four in the league which extended to two in seven before they sorted themselves out. Now they are in full flight we lost 4-1.
But Arse form was supposedly them on full flight with only one draw in 2024, were top of the prem and definitely the most inform team in 2024. The only other team to stop them scoring a league goal in 2024, was said inform Citeh who also couldn't score against them.
But I am only putting forward some reasons why today might be 1st rather then 2nd for performance of the season. When we wallop Liverpool in a few weeks time this will probably be mute anyway.
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He's such a class act when you compare him to the unpleasantness of some other managers.
This. Guardiola for one could learn much about dignity from the great man.
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In recent history I’ll go with
Man City 1-0 perfect 90 mins of football against the treble winners and best team in the world apparently
Liverpool 7-2 incredible game of finishing against a team who at time couldn’t be beaten
Arsenal 0-2 right up there as one of the best, with an injury and suspension ridden team masterclass second half
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I think even Pep gave us our dues after the Man City game in December. They dropped a few points around that time and he said the Villa game was the only one they were actually outplayed in.
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Rice always seems decent enough to me.
Agreed. His comments are very fair and he comes across as a good bloke.
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Fantastic performance. Interesting we played better without Luiz .
Tielemans McGinn Rogers all superb and Zaniolo was very good too .
Zaniolo was very good - in the end- but he was dreadful in the first fifteen minutes. To say he ‘grew into the game’ would be an understatement. It doesn’t matter - we were brilliant.
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Just got back, what a performance & result. It's days like these that make it all worthwhile.
There were limbs everywhere for the second goal.
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I think even Pep gave us our dues after the Man City game in December. They dropped a few points around that time and he said the Villa game was the only one they were actually outplayed in.
True. And he did look clueless on the touchline that day. But injuries and a bit too much belief in his own aura had him starting two defenders in midfield that day.
Plus we won it with a deflection. It's still beating the European champions, but there is that.
Against a team going for the title at the business end of the season and with our own well documented injury issues, this feels a bit sweeter. We nullified them to start with, broke their spirit and then finished them off with a bit of attacking verve.
A big club performance, as Ollie might call it.
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The second half performance was superb and they just didn't have any answers. When you think that three of our first choice midfielders were out and Konsa was shifted to RB again, it just makes the performance even better.
Thought Moreno coming on in front of Digne worked well in the latter stages and it added something.
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In recent history I’ll go with
Man City 1-0 perfect 90 mins of football against the treble winners and best team in the world apparently
Liverpool 7-2 incredible game of finishing against a team who at time couldn’t be beaten
Arsenal 0-2 right up there as one of the best, with an injury and suspension ridden team masterclass second half
Yeah agreed although the caveat with the middle one is the Covid weirdness. The other two are higher level displays I think.
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Man City was a more complete performance from us, restricting them to only 2 shots all game. However, this one feels better, given the recent form of both sides, that we were away, and that it was today!
Carlos was a titan in the ManC game too.
Don’t forget the second of their 2 shots came in the 17th minute.
11th.
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Just got home. Results like this are even better when they’re absolutely not expected. WHAT a result! On to Thursday! UTV
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Arsenal fans are the worst thing on the internet.
Their online fanbase is just fucking awful.
Just home.
The Arsenal fans considering they are challenging for the title were so ridiculous shite.
Not one proper song the whole game.
Just the occasional Arsenal Arsenal
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I will say that after years of being utterly shit it's rather splendid to be debating which fantastic performance is better.
Yes.
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Arsenal fans are a good bunch, but this feels GOOD.
Are they? More like a bunch of goofs :D
That is a thing of beauty
'Leon Bloodclart Bailey!!!' - I'm howling at that.
This is comedy gold. Over-privileged tossers in full-kit-wanker mode with their self-important microphones for no-doubt another podcast on Arsenal that no one demanded.
I know we all go nuts on the match-thread in reaction to what is happening both good and bad, but I would hate to see Villa fans doing this kind of sad shit.
Special shout-out for the lad with the sound-effects button of fans cheering when a goal is scored - he had the respect to press it for both Villa goals!
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Off to bed knackered just thinking about the performance
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Arsenal fans are the worst thing on the internet.
Their online fanbase is just fucking awful.
Just home.
The Arsenal fans considering they are challenging for the title were so ridiculous shite.
Not one proper song the whole game.
Just the occasional Arsenal Arsenal
So small time with the drum aswell.
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Man City was better, but this is a close second. No one outplays Man City like we did that day.
For rating them, a factor between that match and today. Then, we had as full a strength side (barring Emi2 and Mings obviously) where they were missing quite a few obvious first teamers, including Rodri, and we were playing at Fortress VP. Today we were missing a shitload more key players and I think Arse were pretty much full strength and playing down there.
They were missing Rodri KDB and Cyborg. It was brilliant but today is on a par for me given their form and being full strength and we were a bit depleted .
They had Cyborg, he just couldn't be found until Konsa emptied his pockets. Doku and Grealish were the other absentees at the time, although common knowledge was the latter deliberately got suspended to miss the match.
Konsa was playing right-back that night. It was Carlos who marked Cyborg out of the game.
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Just watching the highlights there and to be fair to Arteta, they did have 4 really good chances in the first half. Jesus and Saka both went for goal and hit the side netting when they should have cut it back across the goal, Martinez made that amazing save, and then Saka had a good shot that just went wide. Not saying they should definitely have scored all 4 of them, but it's not an exaggeration to say they could have had 3 or 4 in the first half.
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Well do me sideways. I wasn’t expecting that.
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Zaniolo played really well today in holding the ball up. Everybody played well, second half in particular, but I felt he really added a lot to the way we played. We defended well, but there was a nice calmness to the way we played I'm our build up. We seemed confident and that confidence grew, on the way we executed everything we did.
Superb save from Emi first half, but he didn't have much to do and I felt they quite quickly ran out of ideas. Thankfully that coincided with that irritating drum ceasing. They're such a cringey bunch of Tarquins.
We had more bottle and belief in what we were doing too. That giant lightweight Havertz just didn't get close to Digne and boom, great cross for *checks notes* our centre half Torres to attack near post and then Bailey slots very neatly home.
Quite comfortably the most mental an away end has gone this season. Absolute explosion of nutty joy! Ollies' 2nd was fantastic and made it so much more enjoyable. Great scenes and noise, it was just a superb day allover.
I have no idea how Tielemans or Ollies' shots stayed out either.
Made sure I sat by some northern Arsenal Tarquins on the back, because I'm that kind of dickhead.
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I couldn't listen today, kept on sneaking a look and was surprised every time it was goalless. Risked a quick listen just as we scored, then went back into stealth mode before another quick look at 2-0.
Massively enjoyed swerving the whole thing. Brilliant win.
And has Arteta always been such a mardy little arse, or is he just following the trend? In a crowded field I think he's my most disliked opposition manager.
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Of course you can enjoy it nearly as much by going to the game, like Ads above.
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Hard to give a MOTM they were all superb . If I had to choose it's Martinez , a world class save and he sets the tone from the back. Calm , confident , a true winner .
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The form Arsenal have been in, getting that result without our first choice holding midfielders Kamara and Luiz. It’s a massive effort from all involved considering Arsenal had extra days to prepare too.
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I couldn't listen today, kept on sneaking a look and was surprised every time it was goalless. Risked a quick listen just as we scored, then went back into stealth mode before another quick look at 2-0.
Massively enjoyed swerving the whole thing. Brilliant win.
And has Arteta always been such a mardy little arse, or is he just following the trend? In a crowded field I think he's my most disliked opposition manager.
The dog had a lovely walk during the second half. I just checked the score at 630. I do disagree on gated managers, as Klopp is still at Liverpool remember.
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Genuinely quite amazing performance. Given the opponents, given the pressure, given our recent less-than-convincing displays, this was a genuinely top-level display. We'd have beaten Real Madrid with that today.
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Ian Wright is the only one who has stated the amount of injuries we've had this season and still performed well. Its always about the so called top clubs.
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Just watched it again.
What a performance. The entire second half, we absolutely owned them on their own pitch. Kept the ball, passed it around brilliantly, made it look easy.
Let's use this to win every fucking game between now and the end of the season.
Let's FUNERAL all these motherfuckers.
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Missed the first half on a flight, and sat in taxi home nervously refreshing the match thread. Delighted with the result and the performance. Spurs have some hard fixtures to play, and you have to think the momentum has shifted towards us getting 4th place now.
The joy is somewhat tempered by my cat being ill, sat in the vets whilst they try and figure out what’s up with old girl.
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The form Arsenal have been in, getting that result without our first choice holding midfielders Kamara and Luiz. It’s a massive effort from all involved considering Arsenal had extra days to prepare too.
They had 31 from 33 points.
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Spoke to a couple of Arsenal fans before the game and said would you take a draw.
They said no way - and we are going to buy Ollie.
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I've decided I like Arsenal. 15 points since promotion, and Emi.
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https://x.com/avfcofficial/status/1779567113570590989?s=46
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On the spurs forums they seem delighted with our win!
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One thing about Bailey’s goal is that he finished with his *right* foot - I remember when he arrived he looked so one-footed, but it’s obvious this season he’s been working hard on the option to cross/finish with his weaker leg.
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After our first went in I was gobsmacked at how many of their supporters headed for the exit, there was plenty of time left, what a load of pissants they are. They don't deserve to have a decent team.
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One thing about Bailey’s goal is that he finished with his *right* foot - I remember when he arrived he looked so one-footed, but it’s obvious this season he’s been working hard on the option to cross/finish with his weaker leg.
100% I have been saying this to anyone who would listen. I was at the Wolves game in January of 2023 when he missed a gilt-edged chance with his right foot that would have beaten Wolves. He was gutted. I do believe that that was the moment that saw him begin to work on improving with his right foot. Whatever has got him doing it, it has made him a better all around player. Credit to him for putting the work in!!
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Man City was a more complete performance from us, restricting them to only 2 shots all game. However, this one feels better, given the recent form of both sides, that we were away, and that it was today!
Carlos was a titan in the ManC game too.
If i am brutally honest yesterdays win was far bigger than citys and heres why i think so.
Yesterday' we had how many first team players out yet we kept a clean sheet with a makeshift back four and this was arsenals best 11 they have literally no injuries. Furthermore it waa at arsenal.
City was a deserved win and a incredible win. But it was at home our team was stronger and they had no rodri grealish or doku in that game.
So for me this was the win out of the two. Bit its not really important as both wins were fucking incredible!!
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On the spurs forums they seem delighted with our win!
I cant tell you my phone blew up last night from all spurs fans happy yesterday. One went as far to say he would be relegated than arsenal winning the league. They are more interested in arsenal doing shit than their own club doing well. Seems very small fry from them 😂
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Man City was better, but this is a close second. No one outplays Man City like we did that day.
Agreed. A very close second.
I think this beats it in the context of players available, having played a big game on Thursday and their form.
Yes, Lee, and in the context of recent form.
This game was awesomeness defined.
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You look at Arsenals form since the start of the year, they haven’t just won they have wiped the floor with everyone. I’d say with how paper thin our squad is, that performance just tops the Man City game.
(https://i.ibb.co/P1ghKcp/IMG-0849.jpg) (https://ibb.co/P1ghKcp)
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Still cant believe arteta thinks they should have been r or 5 up at half time. Is he on drugs?
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Fantastic result and performance - I hope that everyone enjoys their Monday
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That ball from Tielemans through to Watkins was sublime.
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The passing around at the back was effortless and every time we hit long low passes to midfield /attack I winced but 90% of them went to their intended targets which was absolutely superb.
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Still dont understand why arteta had ESR on ollie on that counter attack. Made no sense 😂
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Still cant believe arteta thinks they should have been r or 5 up at half time. Is he on drugs?
They did have 4 or 5 really good chances in the first half that on another day all would have ended up in the net. Havertz, Jesus, Saka x2, and whoever it was Martinez made that save from.
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As we are capable of throwing in some dreadful performances we are equally adept at yesterdays sort of display. Making one more common than the other is the Managers challenge but that needs the players of a certain quality to play to a certain level. How many times have we said that so and so wasn't at it or below par? That wasn't the case yesterday and the subs were very good as well.
The invitation of the press then having Torres to play through it is key, the energy of SJM and and an above par display by Tielemans had an enormous impact. We were measured and controlled, cut out the silly mistakes and never panicked, particularly in the first half when we were under so much pressure.
It does help that Woolwich always look fragile when the pressure is on and the longer the game went on the less happy they looked, the crowd were quiet and there was no atmosphere at all. This, in part, was behind my prediction of a win (well that and hope) and how wonderful to see those swathes of empty seats long before the end, a world away from the hysterical celebrations that they seem to specialise in following routine victories.
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Still cant believe arteta thinks they should have been r or 5 up at half time. Is he on drugs?
They did have 4 or 5 really good chances in the first half that on another day all would have ended up in the net. Havertz, Jesus, Saka x2, and whoever it was Martinez made that save from.
They had 1 really good chance. They also had a couple of balls they put in the side netting, that Emi would have had if on target and they similarly had an Havertz effort Emi saved well that you would expect any keeper to do. He's full of shir, the bitter Lego haired twat, as he had no idea how to change the game 2nd half.
We grew in confidence playing it out, so their 4 centre halves weren't gobbling up everything in the air. Anything that did, Zaniolo held up, dominating Ronseal, so much so he went off.
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Gary Neville talks about Emery here about 4 minutes in.
His quote about how Emery almost designs an outcome of a game was spot on to what we say yesterday.
https://youtu.be/-zZ79vsnHbk?si=vCCWiIMEgwMutyXe
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The point is they did create those chances and with better decisions/finishing they could have scored 4 or 5. So Arteta isn't smoking crack when he says they could/should have scored a few in the first half.
Saka's one into the side netting was definitely going in if he'd pulled it back across the goal.
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Still cant believe arteta thinks they should have been r or 5 up at half time. Is he on drugs?
They did have 4 or 5 really good chances in the first half that on another day all would have ended up in the net. Havertz, Jesus, Saka x2, and whoever it was Martinez made that save from.
They had 1 really good chance. They also had a couple of balls they put in the side netting, that Emi would have had if on target and they similarly had an Havertz effort Emi saved well that you would expect any keeper to do. He's full of shir, the bitter Lego haired twat, as he had no idea how to change the game 2nd half.
We grew in confidence playing it out, so their 4 centre halves weren't gobbling up everything in the air. Anything that did, Zaniolo held up, dominating Ronseal, so much so he went off.
Took the words out of my mouth. They had lots of the ball, they pulled us around a bit, but they only really had the Trossard chance that he should of scored, but Emi made the worldie save. Despite them having much more of the ball, Ollie was unlucky when he hit the post.
Emery acknowledged it might have been different if they went ahead, but they never and we dominated the second half.
Its Arteta bullshit.
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https://x.com/avfcofficial/status/1779567113570590989?s=46
Did John get whisked away for a:
1. Drug test?
2. TV interview?
3. A well deserved Tikka Masala?
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The point is they did create those chances and with better decisions/finishing they could have scored 4 or 5. So Arteta isn't smoking crack when he says they could/should have scored a few in the first half.
Saka's one into the side netting was definitely going in if he'd pulled it back across the goal.
He didn’t say that could have scored 4/5. He said they should have been 3/4/5-0 up. Which is a nonsense. Considering we can closest to scoring.
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Still cant believe arteta thinks they should have been r or 5 up at half time. Is he on drugs?
They did have 4 or 5 really good chances in the first half that on another day all would have ended up in the net. Havertz, Jesus, Saka x2, and whoever it was Martinez made that save from.
Honestly NO. They did not have 4/5 really good chances. They had 1 good chance (Emi save) and 3/4 run of the mill chances, routine in about 45 mins of football.
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This performance was so good that the match thread had a completely measured tone throughout, until we scored and then it was a bit mental for all the right reasons.
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Still cant believe arteta thinks they should have been r or 5 up at half time. Is he on drugs?
They did have 4 or 5 really good chances in the first half that on another day all would have ended up in the net. Havertz, Jesus, Saka x2, and whoever it was Martinez made that save from.
Im sure i read they only had one shot on target first half?
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If those Arsenal TV guys were such good fans why aren’t they at the stadium?!
They were. They’d just left early with the rest of them 🤣
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Still dont understand why arteta had ESR on ollie on that counter attack. Made no sense 😂
Same reason we often have Diaby as one of the covering players from attacking corners. The non-aeriel threat quicker players do the chasing back.
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I'n not going to lie because the camera was focused on Tielemans I thought Ollie's goal was offside.
There I was with the rest of my Villa supporting family shouting "That's it Ollie pretend you didn't know you were offside and waste a little more time".
Even as Ollie was celebrating i'm still saying what a shame that was a great finish. So because of me there was silence....until the replay!
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Still cant believe arteta thinks they should have been r or 5 up at half time. Is he on drugs?
They did have 4 or 5 really good chances in the first half that on another day all would have ended up in the net. Havertz, Jesus, Saka x2, and whoever it was Martinez made that save from.
Im sure i read they only had one shot on target first half?
Second half. First half they had three in the first but only one was a save most keepers wouldn't have made.
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I'n not going to lie because the camera was focused on Tielemans I thought Ollie's goal was offside.
There I was with the rest of my Villa supporting family shouting "That's it Ollie pretend you didn't know you were offside and waste a little more time".
Even as Ollie was celebrating i'm still saying what a shame that was a great finish. So because of me there was silence....until the replay!
I didn't celebrate either until the replay showed his run from our half. I thought he may have been off.
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Still dont understand why arteta had ESR on ollie on that counter attack. Made no sense 😂
I'd be so pissed off with him if I was an Arsenal fan. He had more or less half the length of the pitch to put a foot in or otherwise somehow put Ollie of his stride, but didn't get anywhere near him. Even taking one for the team and getting sent off would probably have been better for them by the final whistle.
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Still dont understand why arteta had ESR on ollie on that counter attack. Made no sense 😂
I'd be so pissed off with him if I was an Arsenal fan. He had more or less half the length of the pitch to put a foot in or otherwise somehow put Ollie of his stride, but didn't get anywhere near him. Even taking one for the team and getting sent off would probably have been better for them by the final whistle.
Yep absolute lightweight of an effort - no football brain at all.
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I'n not going to lie because the camera was focused on Tielemans I thought Ollie's goal was offside.
There I was with the rest of my Villa supporting family shouting "That's it Ollie pretend you didn't know you were offside and waste a little more time".
Even as Ollie was celebrating i'm still saying what a shame that was a great finish. So because of me there was silence....until the replay!
I didn't celebrate either until the replay showed his run from our half. I thought he may have been off.
same for me, I thought he was offside too
a great run, well timed and what a finish
UTV
The Doc
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Still dont understand why arteta had ESR on ollie on that counter attack. Made no sense 😂
I'd be so pissed off with him if I was an Arsenal fan. He had more or less half the length of the pitch to put a foot in or otherwise somehow put Ollie of his stride, but didn't get anywhere near him. Even taking one for the team and getting sent off would probably have been better for them by the final whistle.
I'd not really considered him all that quick anyway. Obviously he's a professional footballer in his early 20s, so he's not going to be slow, but not the sort who is going to catch Watkins or Bailey if they break.
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Still cant believe arteta thinks they should have been r or 5 up at half time. Is he on drugs?
They did have 4 or 5 really good chances in the first half that on another day all would have ended up in the net. Havertz, Jesus, Saka x2, and whoever it was Martinez made that save from.
Im sure i read they only had one shot on target first half?
Second half. First half they had three in the first but only one was a save most keepers wouldn't have made.
4 or 5 really good chances? I would say half chances and that's being generous.
They had 1 great chance which as Dave Woodhall would say was a routine save for Martinez.
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I just wanted us to go there and look like a top 4 side. I obviously wanted a result too, but that was my main ask of the team before the game. My goodness, did they do that! No smash a grab going on, and Arteta is speaking utter bollocks with all of the "4 or 5 up" nonsense. The way we controlled the 2nd half was quite breathtaking. Absolutely amazing performance.
It should be the kind of result that puts the wind back in our sails for what is gearing up to be a famous end to a brilliant season.
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https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472 (https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472)
Every time I watch this I see something new, look at Digne's celebration, look at Pau's celebration (and Ollie picking him up), look at Rogers who has only been here 5 minutes. What a team.
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Still dont understand why arteta had ESR on ollie on that counter attack. Made no sense 😂
He didn't have him on ollie because Ollie was one side of the pitch and he was the other. But if you look when the initial corner was taken. Ollie was defending near post and Smith-Rowe was offering himself for the short corner. After the initial corner, and whilst the ball was loose in the air after Tielemanns clearance, Watkins sprints up the pitch and ESR is the only player to attempt to follow. The main fault is Gabriel who looks, sees that Watkins is further forward and vaguely points, then gets drawn to the ball even when he was standing next to another of his players.
Still we saw AND exploited the press.
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https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472 (https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472)
Every time I watch this I see something new, look at Digne's celebration, look at Pau's celebration (and Ollie picking him up), look at Rogers who has only been here 5 minutes. What a team.
Beautiful.
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I just wanted us to go there and look like a top 4 side. I obviously wanted a result too, but that was my main ask of the team before the game. My goodness, did they do that! No smash a grab going on, and Arteta is speaking utter bollocks with all of the "4 or 5 up" nonsense. The way we controlled the 2nd half was quite breathtaking. Absolutely amazing performance.
It should be the kind of result that puts the wind back in our sails for what is gearing up to be a famous end to a brilliant season.
Arteta was talking like a man who is worried about losing his job. Judging by the Arsenal supporters response he may have a point.
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https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472 (https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472)
Every time I watch this I see something new, look at Digne's celebration, look at Pau's celebration (and Ollie picking him up), look at Rogers who has only been here 5 minutes. What a team.
Beautiful.
Soon stopped the drumming too.
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Man City was a more complete performance from us, restricting them to only 2 shots all game. However, this one feels better, given the recent form of both sides, that we were away, and that it was today!
Carlos was a titan in the ManC game too.
If i am brutally honest yesterdays win was far bigger than citys and heres why i think so.
Yesterday' we had how many first team players out yet we kept a clean sheet with a makeshift back four and this was arsenals best 11 they have literally no injuries. Furthermore it waa at arsenal.
City was a deserved win and a incredible win. But it was at home our team was stronger and they had no rodri grealish or doku in that game.
So for me this was the win out of the two. Bit its not really important as both wins were fucking incredible!!
If it was a makeshift back four yesterday, it was a makeshift back four against Man City, seeing as how it was the same players in the same positions.
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https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472 (https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472)
Every time I watch this I see something new, look at Digne's celebration, look at Pau's celebration (and Ollie picking him up), look at Rogers who has only been here 5 minutes. What a team.
You can also see why Moreno isn't that great at defending as he gets no where near Bailey.
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Still cant believe arteta thinks they should have been r or 5 up at half time. Is he on drugs?
They did have 4 or 5 really good chances in the first half that on another day all would have ended up in the net. Havertz, Jesus, Saka x2, and whoever it was Martinez made that save from.
Im sure i read they only had one shot on target first half?
Second half. First half they had three in the first but only one was a save most keepers wouldn't have made.
Its not like artetas exaggerates much does he?! 😂
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I have to admit i was thinking wtf was emery thinking having digne and moreno at same time yesterday but did work yesterday. That was a good tactical decision
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Haven't got round to joining in yet, was behind enemy lines and thoroughly enjoyed my day. Blew my cover when Ollie hit the post and then didn't care by the time to goals came. It's a shame there was a fire drill or something just after Leon scored so most of the people who had been around me didn't get to see Ollie's goal! Went back to meet my wife and friends (a very happy Spurs fan) in the pub and got home just in time for MOTD2. My future son-in-law said he's not taking me again ;D
I don't know how to post a video on here so I'll put it on Twitter and link it.
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I have to admit i was thinking wtf was emery thinking having digne and moreno at same time yesterday but did work yesterday. That was a good tactical decision
Keeping the angles the same as they had been with Zaniolo on the pitch. The two left-footers on that side kept things tight round the outside and caused them problems going forward. And Moreno's basically a winger anyway.
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https://twitter.com/ShawDJ8/status/1779801056509153723
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One Arsenal fan this morning told me we were lucky Arsenal had played in midweek. He didn't have much to say when I said so did the Villa and it was two days later.
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I have to admit i was thinking wtf was emery thinking having digne and moreno at same time yesterday but did work yesterday. That was a good tactical decision
Keeping the angles the same as they had been with Zaniolo on the pitch. The two left-footers on that side kept things tight round the outside and caused them problems going forward. And Moreno's basically a winger anyway.
When I saw him come on I thought it a good move. Both subs were perfectly time yesterday. Thought he may have brought Duran on for Rodgers at same time as 2nd sub but hey ho glad he didn't
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One Arsenal fan this morning told me we were lucky Arsenal had played in midweek. He didn't have much to say when I said so did the Villa and it was two days later.
How ignorant is that?
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I have to admit i was thinking wtf was emery thinking having digne and moreno at same time yesterday but did work yesterday. That was a good tactical decision
Keeping the angles the same as they had been with Zaniolo on the pitch. The two left-footers on that side kept things tight round the outside and caused them problems going forward. And Moreno's basically a winger anyway.
Yeah it was absolutely masterstroke sub. Wouldnt be suprised if he does this vs lille in later stages on Thursday night of we are trying to hold onto a lead
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I have to admit i was thinking wtf was emery thinking having digne and moreno at same time yesterday but did work yesterday. That was a good tactical decision
I thought it worked well and we looked threatening when Moreno came on. I thought Digne had a good game yesterday.
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Arteta is a rubbish person. Lovely to see players like Saka looking so disappointed and sad. Horrid cheating little screbs. Rice with a buffon and a red face. Again, rubbish.
Arsenal have unbelievable delusions of grandeur.
'It should have been 3, 4, 5 in that first half, etc etc, I'm a twat, blah blah blah yawn'.
Suck my balls you abysmal testicle
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That Sky interview with Ollie and Emi afterwards was the weirdest I've seen a long time.
Just asked them about whether Arsenal were out of it, whether Ollie was an Arsenal fan as a kid, and what Emi thought of them.
Seriously disrespectful and symptomatic of the Sky love-in for some clubs.
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Arteta is a rubbish person. Lovely to see players like Saka looking so disappointed and sad. Horrid cheating little screbs. Rice with a buffon and a red face. Again, rubbish.
Arsenal have unbelievable delusions of grandeur.
'It should have been 3, 4, 5 in that first half, etc etc, I'm a twat, blah blah blah yawn'.
Suck my balls you abysmal testicle
Every time they showed an Arsenal player in the last few minutes they looked like they were going to cry, they're made in the image of that bellend on the touchline alright.
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Saka always seems to start limping or feigning some kind of knock when things aren't going his way.
I like him, seems a nice bloke and he's an excellent player, but he'd do well to stop with some of that shit.
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Arteta is a rubbish person. Lovely to see players like Saka looking so disappointed and sad. Horrid cheating little screbs. Rice with a buffon and a red face. Again, rubbish.
Arsenal have unbelievable delusions of grandeur.
'It should have been 3, 4, 5 in that first half, etc etc, I'm a twat, blah blah blah yawn'.
Suck my balls you abysmal testicle
Every time they showed an Arsenal player in the last few minutes they looked like they were going to cry, they're made in the image of that bellend on the touchline alright.
Yes indeed. It's true of most teams that they embody their leader. As for Gabriel Jesus, he looks like he's about to burst into tears when they're winning.
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That Sky interview with Ollie and Emi afterwards was the weirdest I've seen a long time.
Just asked them about whether Arsenal were out of it, whether Ollie was an Arsenal fan as a kid, and what Emi thought of them.
Seriously disrespectful and symptomatic of the Sky love-in for some clubs.
Ollie shut that down double-quick. I thought with his performances this week and that clarity in his interview he seems extra-focused at the moment. Of all of the players Emery has improved, Watkins is out in front with how much he has taken from his methods.
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Saka always seems to start limping or feigning some kind of knock when things aren't going his way.
I like him, seems a nice bloke and he's an excellent player, but he'd do well to stop with some of that shit.
Him being dispossessed and claiming a foul and not playing on led to the first goal v France in last World Cup where France had a spare man in midfield
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Arteta fails to recognise on another day we score 4 . The woodwork saved them from a battering .
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I have to admit i was thinking wtf was emery thinking having digne and moreno at same time yesterday but did work yesterday. That was a good tactical decision
I thought it worked well and we looked threatening when Moreno came on. I thought Digne had a good game yesterday.
I'd start with Moreno over Zani on Thursday.
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https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472 (https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472)
Every time I watch this I see something new, look at Digne's celebration, look at Pau's celebration (and Ollie picking him up), look at Rogers who has only been here 5 minutes. What a team.
Thanks! Just watched that ~15 times.
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There didn't seem to be anyone to galvanize Woolwich during that second half and the "crowd" weren't any help either. I know we go very quiet when it goes against us but at least you hear some semblance of effort to sing and encourage from The Holte, that seemed in short supply yesterday. The air of defeat once they conceded was alarming considering how close they are to the title.
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It was all very Spursy. And as others have commented they don’t seem to be able to emotionally handle it as either a team or as fans. They massively overreact to any win as if they’ve won the Champions League then when it starts going against them they seem to go completely the opposite way and crumble. That said I hope they win on Wednesday for the coefficient.
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The air of defeat once they conceded was alarming considering how close they are to the title.
Plumstead fans have seen this a lot. A derailed title challenge is as common to them as an FA Cup 4th round weekend off is for us. I suspect that familiarity and inevitability saps them of the very little energy they display during moments of intense hope and joy.
Anyway, I got offered a job just before midday yesterday. Then things got better... God I enjoyed every last bit of that match.
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A defensive masterclass 1st half, totally outplayed them 2nd half, a lot of contenders for MOTM, but it has to go to Carlos, he was immense.
Of all the 67 years of supporting Villa, can't think of a better performance we've had at Highbury or The Emirates.
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https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472 (https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472)
Every time I watch this I see something new, look at Digne's celebration, look at Pau's celebration (and Ollie picking him up), look at Rogers who has only been here 5 minutes. What a team.
Thanks! Just watched that ~15 times.
For many a year Chrissy Price's late winner down there was the wildest celebration I could remember, that looked to be in the same class.
There's a smugness to Arsenal that makes wins like that so much sweeter.
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A perfect day from start to finish. Up there as one of the all time great away days. That 2nd half performance was incredible, and the celebrations will live long in the memory.
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The games had the feel of the Chris Price one. Even better when we scored the second.
The celebration was as good as any in an all seater.
My favourite ever away end is the reaction to Daleys at the hawthorn’s in the cup in 1990.
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Rogers is a star in the making, a superb range of passing, he's pretty quick and strong and looks like he's not too shabby in front of goal. He's really effective at building attacks.
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I have to admit i was thinking wtf was emery thinking having digne and moreno at same time yesterday but did work yesterday. That was a good tactical decision
I thought it worked well and we looked threatening when Moreno came on. I thought Digne had a good game yesterday.
I'd start with Moreno over Zani on Thursday.
I think Zaniola was superb yesterday, but I don’t think either him or Moreno will start on Thursday. Think it will be McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers and Dougie as the midfield 4
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Rogers is a star in the making, a superb range of passing, he's pretty quick and strong and looks like he's not too shabby in front of goal. He's really effective at building attacks.
He is. There’s lots to like about him, he has real potential. It’s also cute the way he apologises to his team mates for a misplaced pass or a potential screw up. I’ve seen it 3x now. Once he feels more part of it and with more confidence that will slowly disappear.
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Brilliant win and brilliant away day what a performance.
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Things you love to see!
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The form Arsenal have been in, getting that result without our first choice holding midfielders Kamara and Luiz. It’s a massive effort from all involved considering Arsenal had extra days to prepare too.
Agreed, to be honest I thought McGinn and Tielemans were miles off it in the first half. McGinn played like a man possessed after half time and Tielemans was incredibly brave with his passing.
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The form Arsenal have been in, getting that result without our first choice holding midfielders Kamara and Luiz. It’s a massive effort from all involved considering Arsenal had extra days to prepare too.
Agreed, to be honest I thought McGinn and Tielemans were miles off it in the first half. McGinn played like a man possessed after half time and Tielemans was incredibly brave with his passing.
I think Arsenal played quite well first half and got behind Konsa and McGinn a few times. But I also thought there was a strategy of containment going on, where players were told to conserve energy for later in the game, second half everyone just played higher up the pitch. Apart from the first 10 mins where i don’t remember him touching the ball, i honestly thought Tielemans had a great game.
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Saka always seems to start limping or feigning some kind of knock when things aren't going his way.
I like him, seems a nice bloke and he's an excellent player, but he'd do well to stop with some of that shit.
Him being dispossessed and claiming a foul and not playing on led to the first goal v France in last World Cup where France had a spare man in midfield
Give me Jarrod Bowen over Saka all day long. He is just a diving, whinging twat.
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No I think Saka is a super player, but he is absolutely a diving, cheating twat.
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Just saw a comment elsewhere that read:
'The A in NaCl stands for Arsenal'
Great work
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I have to admit i was thinking wtf was emery thinking having digne and moreno at same time yesterday but did work yesterday. That was a good tactical decision
I thought it worked well and we looked threatening when Moreno came on. I thought Digne had a good game yesterday.
I'd start with Moreno over Zani on Thursday.
I think Zaniola was superb yesterday, but I don’t think either him or Moreno will start on Thursday. Think it will be McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers and Dougie as the midfield 4
He did play well, good hard working display and put himself about well. I think in a euro game like that though Moreno can give you similar but also has the potential to wreak havok on the break and put some lovely balls into the box for Ollie to nick that away goal that we'll may well need.
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https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472 (https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472)
Every time I watch this I see something new, look at Digne's celebration, look at Pau's celebration (and Ollie picking him up), look at Rogers who has only been here 5 minutes. What a team.
Thanks! Just watched that ~15 times.
For many a year Chrissy Price's late winner down there was the wildest celebration I could remember, that looked to be in the same class.
There's a smugness to Arsenal that makes wins like that so much sweeter.
At one point late on, Konsa got played in down the right and that's what I thought of, Pricey in 1990.
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Quote from the Guardian report on the match:
'Things could have been even worse for the home supporters – most of whom stayed until the bitter end in hope rather than expectation of a comeback ...' !!!
Maybe Ed Aarons also left early.
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I think that bringing Bailey on when he did was a game changer. Arsenal went from trying to win the game to trying to stop us. His pace and his dribbling skills were too much for them. Arteta became the latest manager to get schooled by Emery.
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https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472 (https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472)
Every time I watch this I see something new, look at Digne's celebration, look at Pau's celebration (and Ollie picking him up), look at Rogers who has only been here 5 minutes. What a team.
Thanks! Just watched that ~15 times.
Same, that was fucking lovely.
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Following Oli’s comments at the weekend the players have really taken on the responsibility to act like a ‘big club’ and believe in themselves.
Five years ago we had to do a similar thing when we were 1-0 down with 10 men, at half time, against Rotherham.
We’ve come a long way since then.
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Yesterday isn't a day I'm going to forget in a long time. I even managed to miss the first half after a run in with the Feds. That second half was a beautiful reminder of Villa 2023 and the timing couldn't be better. We've had a few recent growing pains but I believe we can finish the season on a high. Every player knows what's required and the lads gave it their professional all. A joy to watch.
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Since that fucking second half at Old Trafford our defending has been chaotic. Yesterday went against all that. Its as if we'd had a short break from 2023 but decided to give the relationship another go yesterday.
That result feels pivotal.
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https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472 (https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1779788249659068472)
Every time I watch this I see something new, look at Digne's celebration, look at Pau's celebration (and Ollie picking him up), look at Rogers who has only been here 5 minutes. What a team.
Thanks! Just watched that ~15 times.
Same, that was fucking lovely.
Loved Ollie holding off celebrating until he collected the ball for Pau to boot into the crowd.
Learning shithousery from Emi 😂
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Since that fucking second half at Old Trafford our defending has been chaotic. Yesterday went against all that. Its as if we'd had a short break from 2023 but decided to give the relationship another go yesterday.
That result feels pivotal.
Agreed. Bournemouth and Chelsea at home next. Win both of those, and Spurs will be looking at a nine point gap and a minimum of a +5 GD to overcome. With their next three games being Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, I don't think they'd be at all confident in making that ground up.
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Since that fucking second half at Old Trafford our defending has been chaotic. Yesterday went against all that. Its as if we'd had a short break from 2023 but decided to give the relationship another go yesterday.
That result feels pivotal.
Agreed. Bournemouth and Chelsea at home next. Win both of those, and Spurs will be looking at a nine point gap and a minimum of a +5 GD to overcome. With their next three games being Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, I don't think they'd be at all confident in making that ground up.
Good chance we can be 9 clear by the time they next play.
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Er, that's what I just said!
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Could be 9 points clear by the time Spurs next play.
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Hope we beat chelsea after what happened in cup game
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Chance to be nine points clear before spurs even play again.
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When we won 3-0 at this place during the "Ghost Season" i thought it would be hard to top that against these lot.
Yesterday surpassed it given the context and circumstances . Absolutely brilliant .
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Chance to be nine points clear before spurs even play again.
I was just about to say the same. 2 more wins, 9 points gap possible.
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Hope we beat chelsea after what happened in cup game
We owe them .
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I've just been looking at the fixtures and there's a decent change of being 9 points clear of Tottenham.
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If we can win the next 2 matches what will the position be? I’m amazed nobody is mentioning this. Can someone post on here, finally.
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Hope we beat chelsea after what happened in cup game
We owe them .
Plus I have consistently considered them complete and utter c***s ever since I started following football in the 1960s. Along with Dirty Leeds.
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If it was still two points for a win, we could potentially be six points ahead of Tottenham before they play a league game again. But as it's now three points for a win, that would be nine points in total.
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To be 9 points ahead, am I right in assuming we'd need to play 3 games, ie 9/3 = 3?
Asking for a friend, like.
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To be 9 points ahead, am I right in assuming we'd need to play 3 games, ie 9/3 = 3?
Asking for a friend, like.
Well yes, but the first of those 3 was yesterday.
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To be 9 points ahead, am I right in assuming we'd need to play 3 games, ie 9/3 = 3?
Asking for a friend, like.
Well yes, but the first of those 3 was yesterday.
Two more wins will make it 9 points clear.
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https://twitter.com/ShawDJ8/status/1779801056509153723
Brilliant!!
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Great praise on Monday night football for our performance from both Jamie Carragher and Dele Ali.
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The kids now giving Arsenal a kicking too. Leading 3-1 as it stands.
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The kids now giving Arsenal a kicking too. Leading 3-1 as it stands.
Edit: make that 4-1
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&ab_channel=AstonVillaFootballClub
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The kids now giving Arsenal a kicking too. Leading 3-1 as it stands.
Edit: make that 4-1
Finished 5-3
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&ab_channel=AstonVillaFootballClub
Just love these Pitchside videos, fantastic views of the “limbs”.
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If it was still two points for a win, we could potentially be six points ahead of Tottenham before they play a league game again. But as it's now three points for a win, that would be nine points in total.
Yes but mathematically which one is better, 6 or 9 points?
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&ab_channel=AstonVillaFootballClub
Just love these Pitchside videos, fantastic views of the “limbs”.
Fantastic..Love it.
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Good analysis.
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Good analysis.
Very good. The point about the space for Martinez’ second half passing to Zaniolo is well observed.
Putting Bailey into the gap left by zinchenko/Martinelli is the sort of detail you know that Emery probably obsesses over.
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Still dont understand why arteta had ESR on ollie on that counter attack. Made no sense 😂
He didn't have him on ollie because Ollie was one side of the pitch and he was the other. But if you look when the initial corner was taken. Ollie was defending near post and Smith-Rowe was offering himself for the short corner. After the initial corner, and whilst the ball was loose in the air after Tielemanns clearance, Watkins sprints up the pitch and ESR is the only player to attempt to follow. The main fault is Gabriel who looks, sees that Watkins is further forward and vaguely points, then gets drawn to the ball even when he was standing next to another of his players.
Still we saw AND exploited the press.
You are being g unfair.
It wasn't just a clearance. Yuri intercepted the ball and picked a superb pass for Ollie's run.
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Still dont understand why arteta had ESR on ollie on that counter attack. Made no sense 😂
He didn't have him on ollie because Ollie was one side of the pitch and he was the other. But if you look when the initial corner was taken. Ollie was defending near post and Smith-Rowe was offering himself for the short corner. After the initial corner, and whilst the ball was loose in the air after Tielemanns clearance, Watkins sprints up the pitch and ESR is the only player to attempt to follow. The main fault is Gabriel who looks, sees that Watkins is further forward and vaguely points, then gets drawn to the ball even when he was standing next to another of his players.
Still we saw AND exploited the press.
You are being g unfair.
It wasn't just a clearance. Yuri intercepted the ball and picked a superb pass for Ollie's run.
It was a fine pass. Still Gabriel didn't look too smart at all on Sunday. Think Saliba carries him much of the time.
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Still dont understand why arteta had ESR on ollie on that counter attack. Made no sense 😂
He didn't have him on ollie because Ollie was one side of the pitch and he was the other. But if you look when the initial corner was taken. Ollie was defending near post and Smith-Rowe was offering himself for the short corner. After the initial corner, and whilst the ball was loose in the air after Tielemanns clearance, Watkins sprints up the pitch and ESR is the only player to attempt to follow. The main fault is Gabriel who looks, sees that Watkins is further forward and vaguely points, then gets drawn to the ball even when he was standing next to another of his players.
Still we saw AND exploited the press.
You are being g unfair.
It wasn't just a clearance. Yuri intercepted the ball and picked a superb pass for Ollie's run.
It was a fine pass. Still Gabriel didn't look too smart at all on Sunday. Think Saliba carries him much of the time.
I assume what Somniloquism is referring to is where Tielemans hoofs it in to the stratosphere directly from the corner, before it gets recycled back to him to then deliver the killer pass. It was in the air for hours!
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Oh ok I see that now.
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I assume what Somniloquism is referring to is where Tielemans hoofs it in to the stratosphere directly from the corner, before it gets recycled back to him to then deliver the killer pass. It was in the air for hours!
That is the one, it falls to Youri in the box and I'm not sure what the clearance was meant to be (get it out the box, get is far up field, get it out for as throw in?) But the time in the air meant Ollie decided he didn't need to defend anymore and ran straight to that space appearing as the Arsenal players got drawn to the ball. Tielemans second pass to get him away was then perfect.
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&ab_channel=AstonVillaFootballClub
Just love these Pitchside videos, fantastic views of the “limbs”.
Fantastic..Love it.
The aerial camera view of Watkins breaking away for the second (and the ensuing limbs in the away end) is a thing of beauty.
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What's been interesting in the post-match press reports is that a number of our players have been lauded as one of the players of the week.
Zaniolo won POTM.
Martinez for his saves.
Tielemans as Arsenal's midfield couldn't get near him
Watkins for his finish, and all-round work-rate.
Carlos just for being immense again.
On top of that we know that the rest of the team all put a shift in too. Bailey was brilliant, Diaby worked hard in that first half, Digne was solid and got an assist, McGinn was just his usual self and Konsa was on it.
Honestly brilliant all over the park.
That pitch-side thing highlighted to me what a team player Rogers is, he congratulated Martinez after that save, pointed to Tielemans for the pass, congratulated others too, he's a great addition.
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Apart from Garth Twatting Crooks, who only put Emi in!
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Carlos was MOTM, on Sky at least.
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Good analysis.
Yeah, he's good that guy.
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Good analysis.
Very good. The point about the space for Martinez’ second half passing to Zaniolo is well observed.
Putting Bailey into the gap left by zinchenko/Martinelli is the sort of detail you know that Emery probably obsesses over.
Ive learnt stuff from that, very good analysis. God what a strategist Unai is
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Carlos was MOTM, on Sky at least.
Yep, I think it was Zaniolo on the OS?
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What's been interesting in the post-match press reports is that a number of our players have been lauded as one of the players of the week.
Zaniolo won POTM.
Martinez for his saves.
Tielemans as Arsenal's midfield couldn't get near him
Watkins for his finish, and all-round work-rate.
Carlos just for being immense again.
On top of that we know that the rest of the team all put a shift in too. Bailey was brilliant, Diaby worked hard in that first half, Digne was solid and got an assist, McGinn was just his usual self and Konsa was on it.
Honestly brilliant all over the park.
That pitch-side thing highlighted to me what a team player Rogers is, he congratulated Martinez after that save, pointed to Tielemans for the pass, congratulated others too, he's a great addition.
I thought our performance was ropey enough in the first half. That would have been the general consensus at half time on the match thread too. Thought were were completely outplayed in midfield and Odegaard caused a lot of problems.
But Carlos and Martinez were outstanding at the back to keep us in it. Rogers and Zaniolo were very good too even in the first half, when we did get out we looked dangerous and Arsenal seemed light in midfield with Havertz lost. Getting two of their back four booked early was good too, White and Gabriel were bullied by Zaniolo and Watkins thereafter.
Thought we schooled them on the pitch and sideline in the second half. Timing of Bailey sub was perfect.
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Honestly, comparing that guy's analysis on FourFourTwo to the Sky coverage...I mean, God bless the guy, but it's been a while since I've seen Merson and I just cannot believe how inarticulate he is.
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Monty think he is upset.
He has a lot of affection for Villa but Arsenal is his professional wife.
As for the game - I'd say Carlos, Tielemans and Zaniola haven't contributed enough quality this season overall. On Sunday they went a long way to putting that right. Well done.
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I think even in the first half we did very well in possession, laying the foundations for what was to ensue in the second half; enjoying not quite the 'especially intimate relationship with the football' that Arsenal are of course renowned for, but enough to shut up the commentator and his mate for blissful periods of time.
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Honestly, comparing that guy's analysis on FourFourTwo to the Sky coverage...I mean, God bless the guy, but it's been a while since I've seen Merson and I just cannot believe how inarticulate he is.
To be fair, Carragher did a pretty good job analysing our tactics vs Arsenal on the Monday night football last night. Certainly far better than those in the studio on Sunday. He highlighted similar things to the FourFourTwo bloke, especially the role of Martinez acting like an extra outfield player to break the press. It was interesting that Martinez had the most touches of any goalkeeper against Arsenal in the league this season, basically because he was playing like a 3rd centre-back while we played out in the second half particularly. He also pointed out that the second half was the only half of football Arsenal have played this season where their press didn't recover the ball in the final third AT ALL. Not once. That's how good we were at breaking their press in the second half.
I think the praise for Unai's tactical approach has been pretty much universal. And well deserved it is too.
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Yeah I enjoyed Carragher's analysis, to be fair. I like how he said we coped with playing against a top team by playing like one ourselves - chimes with what Ollie said after the Brentford disappointment about having a big team mentality. Emery's really got these guys believing.
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I think even in the first half we did very well in possession, laying the foundations for what was to ensue in the second half; enjoying not quite the 'especially intimate relationship with the football' that Arsenal are of course renowned for, but enough to shut up the commentator and his mate for blissful periods of time.
Haha, thanks for reminding me of that! definitely the most wtf of the afternoon up until the post match interviews.
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Just finished watched the 3rd full 98minute rerun of the match (yea I know I am immature like that) I am amazed at how well our away fans kept up the noise throughout the match. Well done to all of you who were there.
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And this is my favourite still from the game:
(https://i.ibb.co/8x36V7t/IMG-3423.jpg) (https://ibb.co/8x36V7t)
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we definitely left them feeling a little blue.
(no, not Craig Gardner)
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Just finished watched the 3rd full 98minute rerun of the match (yea I know I am immature like that) I am amazed at how well our away fans kept up the noise throughout the match. Well done to all of you who were there.
Bet Unai has done the same in re runs
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Just finished watched the 3rd full 98minute rerun of the match (yea I know I am immature like that) I am amazed at how well our away fans kept up the noise throughout the match. Well done to all of you who were there.
We were a bit noisy in the first half but even more so in the second...a bit like the Liverpool semi final at Wembley...you could just feel our pressure and momentum building and we were singing like f**k to somehow get us over the line!
A great classic away day!
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I think that I broke the world record for how many hugs in 2 minutes. Only interrupted by Ollie scoring. Wonderful atmosphere added to by the woman in the ladies screaming that she had been married to an Arsenal fan for 30 years and had been waiting for this day. One of the best away days ever.
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(https://i.ibb.co/XS4s17W/unai.png) (https://ibb.co/XS4s17W)