Southampton End Arsenal's 22 Match Unbeaten Run !!!

Arsenal's unbeaten run came to end on Sunday as Charlie Austin's late goal condemned Arsenal to a defeat on the south coast. Incidentally this was Ralph Hassenhuttl's first game as the Saints manager which tasted even sweeter amongst the Southampton supporters. Heading into this match Unai Emery had a very difficult task to field his back 4, considering that Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopolous and Rob Holding were all unavailable due to suspensions and
long term injuries. Southampton looked the better the side from the start and they took the lead with a Danny Ings header in the 20th minute after a delightful cross from Matt Targett. However Arsenal got back into the game with a beautifully worked goal, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan providing the finish. At this point the game was balanced between both sides, however on the stroke of half time, Danny Ings delivered an identical header to the 1st goal, making it 2-1 to Southampton. Nevertheless, Arsenal's relentless spirit came to show when they managed to draw again, Mkhitaryan with his his second of the game in the 53rd minute. Southampton's Charlie Austin provided the killer goal in the 85th minute after a howler from Arsenal's goalkeeper Bernd Leno, to give his side the victory.
It seems visible to many that Arsenal need to strengthen with additional signings in the January transfer window and Emery had something to say about it,

" I don’t know now, because we don’t have a lot of possibility in January but if we can [we will find] someone to help us. But only if we think they are the player than can help us with good performance. January is not good for this reason, but we are going to look and the club is working for this in January. Our progress is also with young players and we need to give them more chances to play and show us their progress. But also for our big demands, we need a high level on the pitch and in the squad."

Following this unexpected defeat Arsenal will be looking to bounce back on Tuesday when they will face Tottenham Hotspurs in the quarter final of The Carabao Cup. They will have to do a lot more on Tuesday to have a chance against a very good Spurs side in order to advance to the next round. Unai Emery will be looking to rotate his squad, considering the busy festive period that is upon the British teams, but will be focusing on keeping the consistency that has improved the whole team this season.

Arsenal Players Hippy Crack Scandal !!!

Arsenal football players were filmed inhaling hippy crack from balloons while Matteo Guendouzi passed out. A video released by The Sun newspaper, shows Arsenal players at a vodka and champagne exclusive party, inhaling the substance from balloons while laughing around the area. The footage shows Alexander Lacazette, Sead Kolasinac, Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Matteo Guendouzi at the heart of the scandal, with the latter passing out soon after inhaling the substance. With the video from August, being released at this time when Arsenal are on a 21 unbeaten game run, it has caused wide anger from various parts of Arsenal supporters with many looking to boycott the newspaper. Moreover Arsenal representatives were forced to comment on the situation, "The players will be spoken to about this and reminded of their responsibilities as representatives of the club."

Futhermore when asked about the headlines after the 1-0 win over Huddersfield on Saturday, Unai Emery responded to Arsenal official website;

Maybe you are speaking about problems outside here, but in the club we’ve been speaking about that. There are no distractions, I don’t want distractions. Today every player had their focus on the match, and it was a tough match. It had a slow rhythm but we won and we deserved to win.

 Having had a positive run and the incident happening way back in August, Emery doesn't see the need for punishment and wants all his players to focus on the footballing side of their life. However he did remind them of their responsibilities as professional footballers and role models. Arsenal will be looking to continue their unbeaten run on Thursday when they will face Qarabag in a Europa League fixture, where Unai Emery will introduce youth team players to gain further experience on the European stage.

Arsenal trash Tottenham in Thrilling Derby

In an electrifying atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal managed to beat bitter rivals Tottenham by 4 goals to 2. Prior to this encounter both teams were heading into this match with great confidence following last week's victories in European competitions. Arsenal started the match on the front foot when on the 10th minute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang slotted home a penalty after a hands ball by Jan Vertonghen. As the game progressed Tottenham grew into the game and on the 30th minute Eric Dier headed the ball over the line to make the score 1-1. Moreover, Harry Kane scored a penalty on the 34th minute after a clumsy challenge by Rob Holding on Heung- min Son, making it 2-1 Tottenham. However, Arsenal's new found grit under new boss Unai Emery was apparent in the second half when after a wonderful counter attack Aubameyang slotted home past Hugo Lloris making it 2-2. With 15 minutes to go, substitute Alexander Lacazette gave the advantage to Arsenal, with Lucas Torreira putting the icing on the cake two minutes later, scoring their 4th goal. Having been on an 18 game unbeaten run Arsenal continued their fine form with Emery’s philosophy of high intensity football coming to full use in this match. Heading into December’s busy festive period Arsenal will be looking to add to their 30 points that they have accumulated so far, leaving them in fourth place of the Barclays Premier League. In order to do this, they will have to beat old- rivals Manchester United, when they visit Old- Trafford, next Wednesday night. It will be another massive test for Unai Emery’s side who will be looking to keep up the momentum following today’s match which he described as, “This is a special victory, it’s for the fans.”

 "We know it's very difficult in Manchester, in history and in present. We are going to prepare the best possible way to have the best performance against them. We know it will be difficult, it's a big challenge for us and we want to have a lot of challenges like that."

https://www.skysports.com/football/arsenal-vs-tottenham/390887

https://www.arsenal.com/news/special-victory-its-fans

Arsenal

This blog is going to be about my favourite football team, Arsenal. This is a football team whom I have supported all my life and have a huge passion for. This team form North London participates in the Barclays Premier League, renowned by many as the best league in the world, while taking part in other competitions such as The Europa League, The F.A. Cup and The Carabao Cup.   I will be posting latest news regarding the team as well as providing match analysis following their games. I will be providing the facts as they happened while also giving my personal opinion on some decisions that I may not agree with. This will be a great place where I can express my thoughts and feelings about my first passion, Arsenal.