Looool AW and Maureen with the handbags!![]()
Hazard and Oscar made that game for me. I'm glad Oscar is showing what he's really capable of. Here's hoping he can keep it up through the winter months (where he dropped off the last two years).
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "It was an even game, but at the end of the day they have financial power and used it in a effective way with players like Diego Costa and Eden Hazard making the difference.
"They did not work our keeper more than we did their's. We had more shots and missed opportunities to take more. We lost on details and this is unfortunate.
On his touchline clash with Jose Mourinho: "I went out of my technical area because I wasn't happy with the challenge and I wanted to see what happened. Someone stood in front of me and that was it. I say absolutely nothing else on that.
"Jose says we should have finished with eight men and I return that compliment. I don't know how Gary Cahill finished the game. I don't know how Branislav Ivanovic finished the game. I don't know how Oscar finished the game.
"It is a concern to be nine points behind Chelsea, with the quality of the teams ahead of us, but we will keep on fighting and go on to the next game."
I hope so too. Keeping him fit and not overplaying him will definitely help.
Oh, and I had to laugh at the bitterness displayed by that old Frenchman:
Financial power. Which would be a valid excuse... except for the fact that Arsenal has a higher net spend, and wage bill, than Chelsea. Perhaps he should've phrased it as financial acumen, then.
Maybe if his defenders played like Branna they wouldn't be such a weak side. He wishes he had players that like him. OK - Oscar had his mistimed challenges but then again, sometimes that's what you need. It didn't diminish his creativity so all round great game.
The funny thing is that the money comment probably set off a lot of Arsenal fans considering how we've gone about our business recently. Wenger really had no excuses.
His interview just seemed as if he's lost touch with reality.
So did Wilshere, who often barged over Fabregas. But it was a committed performance from both sides, so I understand the ref's leniency. I actually thought that he handled it rather well, the Welbeck challenge aside.
Agreed. But that's the norm with him, then.
So did Wilshere, who often barged over Fabregas. But it was a committed performance from both sides, so I understand the ref's leniency. I actually thought that he handled it rather well, the Welbeck challenge aside.
Ref was terrible, should've been like 5 red cards.
Ref was terrible, should've been like 5 red cards.
So Cesc block the ball with a raised arm in the box? How would you rate the referees handling of that.
Not saying Arsenal was going to win the game, but lets not pretend that Welbecks challenge is the only thing in the game the referee missed.
Wasn't in the box. Check the replay closely (his arm was over the line when the shot hit it), and if in further doubt, refer to Opta, who have it recorded as a blocked shot outside of the box. Anyway, if you expected Fabregas to go all John Terry and let it smash his face, that must have been disappointing (I would have been mighty impressed, though).
No, he missed Alexis elbowing Ivanovic, Chambers manhandling Schürrle after already being on a yellow, and a number of other stupid challenges all over the pitch. But as I said, in terms of how he reffed the game, he did pretty well.
He reffed a good game in hindsight. Also, he didn't send off Gibbs instead of the Ox (tsk, tsk Andre) - another improvement over last season's match.
I see that Sanchez definitely did punch Ivanovic, which was missed by the ref. Hopefully some retrospective action takes place here. Disgusting.
But there is something about Ivanovic that attracts these nutters. First Suarez, now Sanchez.