Shootout success in LA as transfer dealings come to a head

Morning all, as I start writing this it’s 5.45 am in London.

On the other side of the world, Arsenal have just beaten Bournemouth 5-4 on penalties having drawn 1-1 after 90 minutes. I’ve not watched any of it, so cue the doorbell music while I figure out what happened…

*30 minutes later*

Right, I’ve got the gist of things via the club’s match report and some bitty highlights from some of the Arsenal aggregators on Twitter. 

Here goes…

The lineup

Having predicted yesterday that we’d go strong from the outset, Arteta selected more of a mix-and-match outfit. Karl Hein started in goal, the defence featured Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ayden Heaven, Ben White and Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey anchored midfield. Ethan Nwaneri and Salah-Eddine played in front of the Ghanaian while Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieira supported captain Eddie Nketiah up top. 

As expected, there were plenty of subs as the game went on. Odegaard replaced Salah-Eddine at the break before a raft of changes at the hour-mark saw Jorginho, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Omar Rekik, Jakub Kiwior, Leandro Trossard, Charles Sagoe Jr and Gabriel Jesus come on. White and Nwaneri made way later to allow Jimi Gower and Josh Nichols late runouts.  Three keepers, Michal Rosiak and Emile Smith Rowe (more on him later) were kept in reserve. 

It’s worth pointing out that Bournemouth, coached by Arteta’s boyhood pal Andoni Iraola, played a very strong side. 

The goals

Arsenal took the lead on 17 minutes. Nwaneri swept a pass out to the left flank for Nelson who worked his way to the byline with a stepover and change of pace before dinking a cross to the back post where Vieira hammered home a left foot volley. It was a very aesthetically pleasing finish from a player who needs to hit the ground running given last season’s lukewarm campaign. His celebration was befitting of the occasion, very understated. 

The equaliser came on 73 minutes. Omar Rekik, trying to dribble out of defence, was dispossessed by…

Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/07/shootout-success-in-la-as-transfer-dealings-come-to-a-head/

Author : Andrew Allen

Publish date : 2024-07-25 06:32:08

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.