Dog's Football Thread Part Five.

[Trapper John]

Well my fears were confirmed tonight, Arsenal are still going to cause me big problems with my blood pressure.

Well what a match to start off the Premier League season, Sky couldn't have asked for a better game for the neutral viewer in a new opening season Friday night slot and the game being shown live in 189 countries worldwide.

It had all the ingredients we love, masses of attacking football, defensive cock-ups, intricate passing, counter attack breaks, great saves, great near misses and of course plenty of goals, seven in all, as it ended 4-3 to the Gunners.

It started well with Arsenal's new striker Alex Lacazette placing a beautifully headed ball in the back of Leicester's net within 2 minutes of the start, a joint EPL record for an opening game of the season.

I'd barely relaxed my smile when Leicester equalised 3 minutes later from a dead ball against an abortion of an Arsenal defence. To be fair. it was a makeshift back three because of injuries and a ban for Koscielny but nonetheless, schoolboy errors.

My mood darkened just on the half hour as Jamie Vardy breeched our poor defence and did what he's good at, making the score 2-1. I was just off to make a cuppa, cursing our amazing ability to let games get away from us, when in the last second of 2 minutes stoppage time at the half way break, Danny Welbeck levelled the score at 2-2.

Filled with anticipation for the second half with Arsenal on the up, I looked forward to our next goal, then bang! 11 minutes later we're down 2-3 with Vardy netting again from a dead ball....for fuck sake!

Mood darkening even worse than earlier, Wenger at least makes a couple of substitutions much earlier than his usual 15 minutes before the end, bringing on Ramsey and Giroud and we really began piling on the pressure.

This turned out to be inspired, with Ramsey levelling the score with 7 minutes of normal time to go, with a well taken shot and then Giroud grabbing the winner with a fine under pressure header 2 minutes later.

The ref found an extra 5 minutes from somewhere at full time but Leicester were down and out by then.

The stats don't really reflect the actual game, they show Arsenal with overwhelming control, 70% possession, 27 shots with 10 on target, against Leicester's 6 with 3 on target and 9 corners against 4. It was a much closer game than that, or it certainly appeared to be for me, Leicester could easily have come away with a victory or draw.

In the end though, Arsenal's class won out against a dogged Leicester who were deadly on the break, it was a great game for the season opener, lets hope the excitement carries on right through until the end in all the games, it could be a monumental season for the EPL.

You can keep the Champions League, with the part-time posing peacocks of La liga and the Bundesliga, the English Premier League is where it's at now, the most exciting and competitive league in the world.

[Vicky]

So Arsenal won 4-3 last night.

Those kind of games are great for the neutral, but not so good for the fans of the actual teams as they spend most of the game up to high doh.

The Scumbags were playing the Jags in the SPL last night and Partick Thistle were robbed!!

The referee clearly supports Celtic and he denied Partick Thistle a blatant penalty near the end of the game.

So it looks as though it's going to be another season of the Scumbags playing with 12 men.

[Vicky]

Tom English of the BBC must have been pished oot his brain last night, when he wrote that boak making post.

"Patrick Roberts is a player the Celtic fans adore" "The other football people in Scotland will let out a sigh if he joins the club again"

Fuck off.

[Trapper John]

I'm sick of Sky's commentary team and their partisan views.

Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher made a big thing about a nothing ball which came to Ozil, claiming it was handball and although we scored from the resulting corner several minutes later, claimed that Arsenal should still have been 2-3 down because a free kick would have gone to Leicester. They majored on this incident 2 or 3 times after the game claiming Leicester were unfairly treated and Arsenal were lucky.

At no time did Ozil put hand to ball or use his arm to control it, which is obviously how the ref saw it because he was right there. Despite this the pair still said Arsenal got an unfair advantage.

Yet much earlier in the game, Leicester defender Ndidi, handled the ball in their penalty box for what was a stonewall penalty. Arms up in the air going for the block and actually moving an arm toward the ball to deflect it. Despite protests, the ref waved it away, I can only think because it was at close quarters but that shouldn't matter if a player deliberately moves an arm, already in an un-natural position, into it's path.

Neville and Carragher both dismissed the claim saying the ref was right and we never saw another showing of the incident. Now I've watched some You Tube highlights of the game, taken from other broadcasters like Fox Sport and Bein sport etc., all agreed it was a definite handball and penalty.

This pair are biased wankers, always have been always will be, it's about time we had some real neutrals in the Sky studios.

[Vicky]

SPL Action today..

Glasgow Rangers v Hibs.

This is the first league meeting between the teams for six years and it's set to be a cracking game.

Especially now fuckface is the manager of the spoon burners and his hate for Rangers seeps from his pores.

Rangers have played well in the last two games and we'll hopefully continue to get better as our new lads settle in and get to know each other better.

[Vicky]

And people wonder why he's hated.

[Vicky]

This is the incident that led to Ryan Jack of Rangers being sent off yesterday.

The Gers have to appeal it, because nobody can see what he did wrong.

[Vicky]

Look at fuckface taunting the Rangers fans.

I don't actually hate Neil Lennon, but if he was on fire and i had a glass of water, i would drink the water.

[Trapper John]

Big results over the weekend, I suppose the main talking point is champions Chelsea's 2-3 defeat at home to Burnley. For the majority of the game Burnley were 3 goals up after an early challenge by Gary Cahill saw him see red for a studs up foul. About time he was punished for his so called 'clumsiness' ..... like the 'clumsy' elbow he used to almost take Per Mertasacker's eye out with his elbow in the Community shield game last weekend.

Anyway, even a late rally which saw them claim 2 goals wasn't enough to save them from their first defeat of the season. Cesc Fabregas also saw red late on after another nasty challenge got him yellow carded again to add to the one he received earlier in the game for sarcastically clapping the ref for giving a decision Chelsea's way.

They have big problems at Chelsea, reminiscent of the last Mourhino season, it looks as if the Conte 'honeymoon' is over and could be heading for a nasty divorce.

[Trapper John]

Other notable games from the weekend, apart from Arsenal's battling defeat of Leicester City on Friday night, which I've already reported on.

Manchester United sit top of the table nominally, as they beat a jaded looking West Ham 4-0 at Old Trafford. The Hammers steadfastly defended for much of the first half but it wasn't enough, once United scored it was only ever going to end one way. Bilic might be a nice bloke, but a manager? ..... don't think so. Much vaunted striker Hernandez who arrived in the window had no chance up front on his own with little or no service, Bilic's game plan after the first goal appeared to be to avoid getting an embarrassing trouncing, it didn't work.

Newly promoted Huddersfield got off to a great start with a superb 0-3 hammering of Crystal Palace away from home. A lack lustre performance from the London club shows that new manager Frank de Boer has a lot to do.

Watford held Liverpool to a 3-3 draw after the scousers were given a dubious penalty decision after equalising an early Watford goal. Liverpool held on to their 2-3 lead right up to the last seconds of the game, when Watford stuck a well deserved equaliser into the net. Mr Klopp won't have been very happy.

Other new boys, Brighton & HA looked like having a baptism of fire, entertaining the bookies title favourites Man City down on the south coast. Although losing the game, Brighton held their esteemed visitors at 0-0 for 70 minutes and had several good chances to take the lead. Aguero eventually put away the first goal after Brighton beagn to tire and lose a bit of concentration, then an unfortunate own goal gave City the 0-2 victory.

[Trapper John]

Last but not least, the final newly promoted team Newcastle United entertained Spurs after spending a season in the Championsip.

No doubt fearful of the drubbing they got the last time the two teams met, which turned Spurs supposed title challenge into a damp squib, the other team from N.London started cautiously.

Though they had most of the possession and better attacking moves, Spurs didn't appear to be able to breakdown Newcastle's stolid defence and a mediocre first half ended 0-0.

Now I don't know for sure but I reckon that Mauricio Pochettino took a little walk along to the officials room and said to the ref something on the lines of "Good god man, how can you expect us to win this match without giving us some sort of advantage?"

It worked, because almost as soon as the game resumed for the second half and much the same as last season - where Spurs could only win a game if they were given a penalty or had their opponents reduced to 10 or less men - the referee sent off Newcastle captain Jonjo Shelvey for a game of hopscotch he played with a prone Dele Alli, who made all the right whinging noises.

At last, it was business as usual for Spurs, a suitably handicapped Newcastle were there for the taking, it must feel like last season never ended for the Spurs players. Though it did take them almost 15 minutes more to take the lead and double it 5 minutes later, Newcastle saw they were fighting a losing battle and Spurs ended the game 0-2 victors.

If I were a Spurs fan I would be asking the manager and board, not "are we going to buy anyone - even someone you need to google?" or "Do we have the means to challenge on all fronts this season?" my question would be, "Will we ever win a game without being given one or more penalties or having the opposition reduced to 10 or less players?" ...... but I doubt they could answer that because they don't know themselves.

[Sunny]

Last but not least, the final newly promoted team Newcastle United entertained Spurs after spending a season in the Championsip.

No doubt fearful of the drubbing they got the last time the two teams met, which turned Spurs supposed title challenge into a damp squib, the other team from N.London started cautiously.

Though they had most of the possession and better attacking moves, Spurs didn't appear to be able to breakdown Newcastle's stolid defence and a mediocre first half ended 0-0.

Now I don't know for sure but I reckon that Mauricio Pochettino took a little walk along to the officials room and said to the ref something on the lines of "Good god man, how can you expect us to win this match without giving us some sort of advantage?"

It worked, because almost as soon as the game resumed for the second half and much the same as last season - where Spurs could only win a game if they were given a penalty or had their opponents reduced to 10 or less men - the referee sent off Newcastle captain Jonjo Shelvey for a game of hopscotch he played with a prone Dele Alli, who made all the right whinging noises.

At last, it was business as usual for Spurs, a suitably handicapped Newcastle were there for the taking, it must feel like last season never ended for the Spurs players. Though it did take them almost 15 minutes more to take the lead and double it 5 minutes later, Newcastle saw they were fighting a losing battle and Spurs ended the game 0-2 victors.

If I were a Spurs fan I would be asking the manager and board, not "are we going to buy anyone - even someone you need to google?" or "Do we have the means to challenge on all fronts this season?" my question would be, "Will we ever win a game without being given one or more penalties or having the opposition reduced to 10 or less players?" ...... but I doubt they could answer that because they don't know themselves.

Hello gooner....seems like you didn't watch the match to see how many times Alli was being booted about until the ref finally made that decision, but
anyway a lot of good came out of our initial game.

1. We won 3 pts.
2. Kept a clean sheet.
3. Nice to see, son , Wanyama have a bit of game time.
4. A great performance from Kyle Walker Peters.
5 Although Kane still didnt give an August premier goal, he was pretty close.
6. Alli opens his account.
7. A great game from all the boys. Eriksen was great. Ben Davies also opens his account.
8. And finally Alli came out unscathed as it seems the toon army were out to injure him.

So, as it stands Arsenal are where they belong....



Oh and as for new signings.....we might pick someone up like Barkley but who can possibly replace what we have already, its so hard to find anyone now to play first team every week as our current 11 are all too good.

[Vam]

Herewego! Herewego! Herewego!

The hat trick of Vic, Traps and Sunny = me being interested in British footie again

[Sunny]

Herewego! Herewego! Herewego!

The hat trick of Vic, Traps and Sunny = me being interested in British footie again

LOL Vam....good to see you.

[Sunny]