I think our game plan was to hit them early with high energy and nab a goal or two. Now that that failed we are just hanging in as players hit their fitness wall. But maybe just maybe one of our shots will actually go in??? Like Auba's just now had a good chance, except that he kicked it right at the goalie.
68' and the game has been opening up. Pepe takes a pass wide, turns back to his left and curls it into the corner. 0-1! Game on!
Weird what happens when you don't make any outfield subs in your second match in 3 months. Good shit, guys.
And there you have it. 1-1 I was just in the middle of posting something that said "nervous about us sitting back and trying to manage a 1-0 lead"... et Voila!
I'm not a ref complainer, but man, Arsenal really does get ********ed by the officials more than any other team I've ever been a fan of. Not allowed to make subs correctly, phantom fouls that wipe out penalty claims, just various levels of referee incompetence that always seem to conspire against Arsenal.
The ref apparently screwed up our last substitution. Not allowing a double-sub means that we only can have one more sub exchange? (I think) Arteta was pissed. Hopefully this won't bite us as bad as the VAR f-up screwed Sheffield out of 2 points.
Weird the way Arteta waited until 78' to make his first voluntary substitution of OF players. And then waited until 85' to make his final subs. Seems to run contrary to the conventional wisdom of player fitness & rotation in these first few games after the restart.
You seriously expect him to admit he's in the dog house? Rather than something veiled like "tactical reasons"?