Sunday, August 17, 2014

14-15 Recap: Matchday 1

Arsenal starts the season with a hard-fought three points to put them on top of the table. My Palace lineup was rather off, but it was hard to guess with all the injuries and keeper Julian Speroni though he is the keeper of tenure for the Glaziers, Wayne Hennessey had finished the last campaign and was a more than capable selection during his stint with Wolves in the Premier League. The Gunners in the first half an hour or so looked like the "boring, boring Arsenal"  of the 70s & 80s and had seemed to struggle against the Eagles. Wait 'til they have to play at Selhurst Park. Arsenal cannot afford to start matches like that. Fortunately for them, they managed a goal just inside first half stoppage time to change the scenery at the break.

The second half seemed to be very agonizing despite some of the chances Arsenal had and let's face it there was only one shot the had before the stoppage time goal against Speroni, who forced a very brilliant save. That would pick up after the break but the Arsenal still had very little to show for their efforts. Finally another break comes the Gunner's way: Puncheon is sent of for a second bookable offense, another reckless challenge in the 89th minute. Sure enough, not a Islington minute later it was Aaron Ramsey for Arsenal and the Welsh international captain's strike sealed the win and the points in front of the home crowd at Emirates Stadium. It's Beşiktaş on Tuesday when former Gunner midfielder Oğuzhan Özyakup's team will host Arsenal in Istanbul.

-Ricky

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