A shaky finish, with Mustafi coming up hobbling after their last foray, then a final corner to them. FT 1-1 on aggregate. We've got to play another 30 mins. Maybe that'll be in our favor if we prove to be more fit than them?????
97' Pepe goes down on the edge of the box. No call. It was marginal. This ref has consisently let a lot of things go this match, which I'm Ok with. Corner to Arsenal... comes to nada.
They're still bunkering. Playing for PK's or a counter-attack goal. Seems a dangerous strategy. Unless they are indeed less fit than us. 99' Auba with a shot that appears to come off a defender's hand. No call. It was his upper arm, by his side. Good no call.
104' Olympiakos with a great chance from 12 yards right. And they flub their lines again. They just don't seem to shoot very well. We. Need. To. Make. Them. Pay. Now.
Arteta witha pretty intense huddle now. Looks like Martinelli is coming on for the final 15'? But we've used all 3 subs, so I guess UEFA grants a 4th sub in ET... I had forgotten that. Yup Laca off for Martinelli.
109' We almost go out. Great curling shot from outside beats Leno and hits the bar. Yikes! 110' Saka puts in one of his trademark low crosses. It ends up 2yds in front of goal just sitting there still. Until someone clears it. We're back in possession, camping in their half.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!! Auba with an aerial side-winder bike. 1-1! 2-1 on AGG (Of course this is now a super dangerous score... if we concede, they win the tie) ((If a tree falls in the forest does it make any sound?))
AND GUESS WHAT??? That's just what fvcking happened. We're going out. Edit: and if I ever get to redo the offside law, that goal would be disallowed.
We were NEVER going to win this tournament. Did you watch the game tonight? p.s. AUBA FLUBS A WIDE OPEN SHOT at the death. We. Deserve. The. Result. Edit: Auba's miss was so shocking that 2 of the defenders put their hands on their head when he did that. The commentator on TUDN said "esta futbol" (or something like that... no habla espanol... but I knew exactly what he was saying)
Why the hell is Xhaka passing back to our keeper when we have 2 minutes to kill? As soon as he made the pass (that lead to that corner, I knew we were in trouble. Stupid stupid stupid. I hate away goals rule. Always have. Laca can go away. We are worse with him in the lineup.
This team is pure trash Our defenders and keeper suck Leno can make great reaction saves but his decision making and control of the box is horrific
Again, thanks for the updates, depressing as they were. Does Arteta put all his eggs in the FA Cup basket now and play a "strong" lineup on Monday?
You're welcome. It just woulda been nice to have a little feedback after HT. I can't imagine him playing this "strong" side again in 4 days. Personally I'd just concentrate on the league. We were never really going to win Europa. And FA Cup seems more ceremonial than anything. If Citeh's ban holds up, then 5th place gets us into UCL which is by far the biggest trophy we could win this year. (Ode to M. Wenger) And with the injury woes at Spurs, maybe just maybe...
We got a few good results but people seem to have forgotten we have a lot of trash, unmotivated or unskilled players in the team. When your best 2 outfield players are either over 30 or under 20 you are up against it. What's worse is if we do sneak a CL spot, I don't trust those responsible to make the right choices in recruiting new players.
I don't need nor expect CL but I do think EL is necessary for both financing and player acquisition. Helpful, at least. I also had a hope of finishing above S***s.
As bad as that possession play between Leno and Xhaka was ( I can't stand that Xhaka needs 3-4 touches to make the pass he could have made with 2, by the time he made the pass Leno was already under pressure), this is the kind of result that comes from playing the same players 4 times in a 10 days or whatever. This one is Arteta, I get needing to create on field chemistry but he was really gambling on getting one more match out of them and a knockout stage game with away goals rule, against a good balanced side, with a manager who has handled a usually turbulent league, wasn't the match to gamble on.