Morning Gooners. What a weekend. What a win. Where to begin?
Arsenal have risen to the challenge time and time again this season. This grudge match against United at the Emirates was no different. Our earlier controversial loss against them represents our only time taking no points this season, so this was already a huge opportunity to avenge that. The noises about United being title challengers have also, prematurely in my opinion, gotten louder and louder as they have admittedly been in a good run of form. Then we got hit with a strong punch early in the match with a phenomenal individual goal from the in-form Marcus Rashford. Credit where it’s due, it was a great bit of skill. Without a doubt many past Arsenal teams would have crumbled, but there’s something so different about not only this team and the support from the fans in the stadium. Everybody refocused, rose to the challenge and we ultimately got the equalizer. The late winner from Nketiah was incredible, but personally I couldn’t immediately celebrate it. We all knew VAR was going to have a look and it was going to be a tight call on the offsides for both Zinchenko collecting the wide ball and Eddie on the cross. VAR confirmed the goal, much to Richard Keys’ displeasure, and the Arsenal world erupted. What a moment, what a win.
So many different players put in Man of the Match worthy performances, but Oleksandr Zinchenko stood out as the key man on the day. I’ve never seen a player do what Zinny is doing. It genuinely seems at times that he is playing a completely different game to the other 21 people on the pitch. He was literally everywhere and that’s no figure of speech. He’s technically our left back, but it’s known he realistically operates in central midfield more often than not. It’s impressive enough how he can contribute offensively from that more advanced central role, while also defending well at LB. But then he pops up on the right wing, on the left wing, in the box, EVERYWHERE! It’s simply unbelievable. And again, he still is back in defense shutting down the 100 million euro man in Antony (lol.)
The question I can’t help but ask – WHAT WAS MANCHESTER CITY THINKING!? How could they possibly let this guy go. We talked about what he did on the pitch from a footballing perspective, but what about the intangibles? He has singlehandedly changed the way this team thinks. Top four? HA. He doesn’t care about top four, it’s about winning the title. He is firing the team up, engaging with the fans and providing a massive sense of control. I’m not saying he’s perfect. He kept on the ball too long a few times and gave up possession in some dangerous areas, but it’s outweighed so significantly by everything else he brings to this club. You have to feel for Kieran Tierney, as he went from the first name on the team sheet to an afterthought who will surely need to leave in the summer. To think that Zinchenko was our second choice target to Lisandro Martinez is bonkers. I mean thank the lord he chose United, as he could never do what Zinchenko is doing. And that’s nothing against Martinez, as he is a really good player. He just isn’t Zinchenko. Nobody is. €35 million has to be the steal of the season with what he’s brought to this club. Worth every penny and then some. Pep knew the player he had. Why, I mean WHY would he let that leave? Their loss is very much our gain. As long as he stays fit he is going to be vitally important to this title run.
Let’s continue to enjoy this before Friday’s match against City. I’m expecting a full strength team in that match given the gap between that and our next game. More on that later this week.
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Absolute Arsenal 
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