|
Post by Football News on Mar 18, 2017 15:53:10 GMT
West Brom 3 - 1 ArsenalWest Bromwich Albion’s Dawson soars to pile pressure on Arsenal and Wenger Home team scorersCraig Dawson 12 Hal Robson-Kanu 55 Craig Dawson 75 Away team scorersAlexis Sanchez 15 Arsène Wenger endured another black day in the Black Country, his side comfortably beaten by a West Brom side who in losing their last two matches appeared to have switched off on reaching 40 points. No such luck for the visitors, who remain outside the top four and will not gain their annual pass into the Champions League playing like this. Two of the goals Arsenal conceded were from set pieces, always on the cards against a Tony Pulis side, while the one in between was a farcical mix up in defence. There were odd flickers of interest from Alexis Sánchez, though only occasional ones, and players such as Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck were merely peripheral presences. “There’s only one Arsène Wenger” could be heard throughout the game; unfortunately it was the home fans doing the chanting. West Brom got off to a flying start. After breaking into the Arsenal penalty area Allan Nyom might have done better after five minutes than hammer a cross across the face of goal that neither Salomón Rondón nor Darren Fletcher could reach, but when Chris Brunt’s inspired pass allowed James McClean to bring an early save from Petr Cech the home side took the lead from the corner. Nacer Chadli’s delivery was excellent and Craig Dawson timed his leap to perfection to climb above Laurent Koscielny and head down and in from barely two yards out. From that point on looked as though it might be another long afternoon for Wenger, subjected to the indignity of a light aircraft buzzing the ground trailing a banner demanding his removal, though his players did manage to dust themselves down and draw level within four minutes. Granit Xhaka’s diagonal ball picked out Alexis Sánchez unmarked at the far post and before the home cover could close him down he had controlled the ball with his chest and rifled a shot past Ben Foster. The action was evenly balanced for the remainder of the first half, so much so in fact that another plane appeared a banner reading: “In Arsène We Trust”. Typical Arsenal. Why stop at one ostentatious gesture if you can afford two? On the pitch Walcott was unable to convert at one end after Sánchez had won the ball from Chadli, and Fletcher brought a save from Cech at the other with a shot on the turn from Jake Livermore’s neat pass behind the Arsenal back line. That turned out to be the Arsenal goalkeeper’s last significant action, for he pulled up sharply in the act of passing to Xhaka a couple of minutes later and immediately signalled he could not carry on. The second half opened with Rondón missing a header in front of goal after reaching Brunt’s cross ahead of Koscielny, at which point Pulis hooked his striker in favour of Hal Robson-Kanu. This looked like a stroke of coaching genius when the substitute scored with his first touch. There was an element of comedy to the goal, David Ospina leaving his line to deal with Chadli’s chip into the box but succeeding only in finding Robson-Kanu, and though Arsenal felt McClean was both offside and interfering he was not actually obstructing anyone by allowing the ball to roll through his legs. Olivier Giroud took the field on his usual rescue mission but it was Welbeck who slapped a header against the bar from Xhaka’s corner, before Ospina made some amends for his earlier misjudgment by leaving his line promptly to deny Robson-Kanu a second. Though Wenger could be seen debating the legitimacy of West Brom’s second goal with the fourth official for some minutes afterwards, any sense of grievance Arsenal had went out of the window when the home side scored a third. Again from a corner, again from Dawson, this time finding space for a free header on the six yard line. At such times Wenger really must feel like giving up. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” was the travelling support’s reaction to the sight of Sánchez being replaced by Alex Iwobi. The home fans were blunter still, with: “You’re getting sacked in the morning.” While it would be an enormous surprise were that to actually happen, Wenger’s team are not currently doing him any favours. Guardian
|
|
|
Post by evertonfan1968 on Mar 18, 2017 17:05:04 GMT
That's what I call a good result for us but it also shows WBA haven't given up as well. We play Arsenal on the final day.
|
|
|
Post by rugbytoffee on Mar 18, 2017 18:53:06 GMT
End of Wenger methinks in the summer
|
|