Category Archives: Match Report

Football, Match Report, Taskmaster, Tom's Reviews

Chicken City Vs Egg United – 11.5.24

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Match Report by Tom, 11.

Setting the Scene

This was the second year of Alex Horne’s Comedy Football match. Comedy football because it’s played by comedians, but also because of the rule changes that Alex introduced.

  1. You must shout your own name every time you shoot.
  2. A goalscorer can double their goal by pulling off a crossbar challenge immediately after.
  3. Goalkeepers must go up for every corner.
  4. Managers must be in the centre circle at all times but mustn’t touch the ball.
  5. When ‘Wrecking Ball’ by Miley Cyrus is played, a second ball will be introduced.
  6. If you get a yellow card, you must wear a yellow marigold glove for the reast of the game.
  7. If you get a second yellow card, you must do the washing-up after the match.
  8. If a team goes three goals up, every outfield player on that team must hold hands with another of their players while ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ plays (This rule was never introduced throughout the game).
  9. If the referee thinks that you’ve done something very well, you must wear the wonderful wig – a pink curly one! The player wearing the wonderful wig at the final whistle gets a £20 cash prize.
  10. Each manager has a party popper/ confetti cannon each and they can fire it whenever they want (but the ball must be out of play.) They then must choose one player from each team to play a one-on-one for the next two minutes. Both goalkeepers keep playing too though.

It was a really hot day and the match was taking place at the home of Chesham United, the Meadow.

My mum’s favourite bit was the songs that were played before the game. There were lots of well known songs that had place names in, but the place names were all changed to Chesham. Galway Girl, by Ed Sheeran, became Chesham Girl, Back in the U.S.S.R by the Beatles, became Back in the C.H.E.S.H.A.M and Walking in Memphis by Cher became Walking in Chesham. There were loads of others and they were all very funny.

Before kick off the teams lined up for the anthems. You can see the lyrics below.

The teams line up for the anthems

The Teams

Both teams were made up comedians with a handful of players from Chesham United’s men’s and women’s teams helping them out.

Chicken City

The reigning champions who played in the home kit of Chesham United in claret and blue.

Stuart Laws (GK), Mathew Baynton, Doc Brown, Maisie Adam, Ivo Graham, John Kearns, Matt Winning, James Gill, Elis James, Gemma Fraser (CUFC), Ellie Doerr (CUFC), Kieran Murphy (CUFC), Eoin Casey (CUFC), Ennis Alhashimi (CUFC), Hugh Dennis (Player Manager)

Egg United

The host, Alex Horne’s, team were wearing the Chesham away kit of yellow and black.

Tom Rosenthal (GK), Alex Horne, Tim Key, James Acaster, Mike Wozniak, Mark Watson, Sophie Duker, Charlie Baker, Annie McGrath, Alex Brooker, Jon Richardson, Jim Daly, Andy Devonshire, Becky Fraser (CUFC), Tasha Smith (CUFC), Lewis Rolfe (CUFC), Jeanmal Prosper (CUFC), Matt Rose (CUFC).

Director of Football – Nish Kumar

The Match

First Half

The game began with both teams in their own goals and when the ref blew the whistle, they all ran to the middle to try and get the ball. To start off, the holders, Chicken City, looked like the better team. The control then changed hands when Egg United scored the opener.

Then one of the Egg Utd players attempted the crossbar challenge and… failed. The Chicken City players continued to attack and their continuous relentlessness finally resulted in a goal. The Chicken City player failed the crossbar challenge and it was at 1-1.

The Chickens continued to press and it became 2-1 to Chicken City not long after. Can you guess what happened for the crossbar challenge? If you said that it would be missed, you would be correct. The Chicken City players weren’t as attacking but still scored again to make it 3-1, the crossbar challenge remained unconverted.

Now in came rule 5, the one about ‘Wrecking Ball’ by Miley Cyrus. The second ball caused some chaos, with the host, Alex Horne taking advantage and scoring for the Eggs. 3-2! Egg-citing! The crossbar challenge still remained uncompleted. Do you think that this rule is pointless?

Then Egg United had all of the momentum and, using that momentum, they score again just before halftime but, again, they didn’t convert the crossbar challenge.

Half-Time

During halftime, there was a penalty shootout between 75 local schoolkids and it only took two rounds to find a winner. At first glance, the goalkeeper looked tiny, but he made some great saves. in the second round, there was only one goalscorer out of about 35 kids.

Alex Horne led a minute’s applause for a local boy who tragically lost his life recently. If you are able, you can contribute to a Go Fund Me page to support his family here.

Also during half time, Sam Campbell presented Chesham United with their new mascot, Chess Ham. Chess Ham is a pig with a big chess piece on it’s head. Unfortunately, soon after Chess Ham came onto the pitch he started being chased by a butcher who wanted to make sausages out of him. It was very funny.

Second Half

The second half contained even more silliness and fun. The fox in the box, Alex Horne, kept causing havoc in the City box and made the 7th goal occur with the luckless John Kearns steering it into his own net. Oops! The crossbar challenge conversion was failed once again.

As the second half progressed, the Chicken City player/manager, Hugh Dennis, became the first of the two managers to fire his confetti cannon. This meant that there was a 2-on-2 match, including goalkeepers, happening for two minutes before the rest of the team rushed back on to join in again. This was a clever and funny rule, however, it didn’t result in any goals and the players involved looked quite tired. The same happened later on when the Egg United manager played his.

Throughout the second half, the tempo slowed due to the intense heat and the game looked to be heading for a 7-5 Egg Utd win. However, in the 90th minute, Maisie Adam scored to make it 7-6. As she stepped up to take the crossbar challenge conversion, the crowd were silent. Then, she became the first player, at the 13th attempt, to complete the crossbar challenge. 7-7! Adam celebrated in the same way that Chloe Kelly celebrated her winner at the 2022 Women’s Euros. She took her shirt off and sprinted around in extreme ecstasy. The crowd went crazy. The referee blew his whistle. The game had ended.

Penalties

The penalties were taken in a MLS-style shootout. Each player had 5 seconds from the referee’s whistle to score from about 40 yards out. They ran forward and tried to beat the ‘keeper. Most missed, finally Andy Devonshire scored meaning Chicken City had to score to stay in the game, but Elis James stepped up but couldn’t round Tom Rosenthal. Egg United were the Comedy Football Trophy Champions for 2024!

Congratulations to Egg United who lifted the massive pineapple

Notable Performances

Mat Bayton: Good on the ball driving forward from midfield.

Maisie Adam: A really good player and the only one to hit the crossbar making it a very exciting end to the game.

Elis James: Not great, but not as bad as Nish Kumar was telling everyone he was.

Alex Horne: He was clever by taking advantage of the confusion of the two balls on the pitch.

Mark Watson: A good defender who runs a bit like he’s stepping on Lego.

Mike Wozniak: Good at passing.

Jon Richardson: Tidy on the ball.

Tom Rosenthal: The only one to wear the wonderful wig twice because of some good saves. He looked really hot in it.

Nish Kumar: A funny commentator.

Stuart Laws: Decent in goal and unlucky with a few ‘offside’ decisions that didn’t go his way and led to goals. He told us afterwards that the linesman had warned him, he’d be booked if he carried on complaining about it. Harsh.

Follow this link for more match reports and theatre reviews.

Egg United warm-up in the Chesham sunshine
Me and my sister enjoying the match
Football, Match Report, Tom's Reviews

Havant and Waterlooville VS Tonbridge Angels – 9.3.24

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Setting the Scene

The Hawks are second from bottom and running out of games to turn it around. They won the last match and were looking to make it two in a row against Tonbridge Angels. Earlier in the season, however, against the same opponents, the match finished 4-1 to the Angels in the reverse fixture.

The Line-ups

Havant & Waterlooville: Worner (GK), Stanley, Innocent, McNerney, McCarthy (C), Carlyle, Seager, Jewitt-White, Kealy (Deacon 45’), Whittingham (Jebb 45’), Roberts

Tonbridge Angels: Henly (GK), Fielding, Lyons-Foster (C) (Gard, 45’), Higgs, Odokonyero (Popoola 86’), Hinds, Dabre, Sutcliffe, Shields, Vincent, Hanson

First Half

It was a bit of a scrappy start with lots of high balls and not many players able to control the ball on the ground, they mostly headed it instead. Tonbridge took an early lead with Tariq Hinds chipping helpless goalkeeper, Ross Worner, after just six minutes. Quarter of an hour in and it was 1-1 after the pressing paid off for the Hawks. Jake McCarthy was in the action with a shot firing to the back of the net.

On 25 minutes, Ryan Seager, The Hawks’ main man up front, turns in a well placed cross from the right wing. 2-1!

Moments later, James Roberts breaks free down the left and the header from his cross was glanced narrowly wide. Havant were on top and looking to extend their lead.

A few minutes later, Tonbridge had a good chance and when the ball got chipped towards the box, McNerney, the Hawks centre half, attempted to clear the ball and, by doing this, inadvertently cleared the ball with a shot on his own goal, with Hawks’ ‘keeper, Worner, saving the shot with a quick reaction leap.

Half Time: Havant and Waterlooville 2-1 Tonbridge Angels

At half-time, I got myself a 25th anniversary edition Havant and Waterlooville 3rd kit, which is a dark blue colour and really nice. We also got The Hawky Porky from the food van. It’s chips covered in pulled pork, BBQ sauce, crispy onions and cheese and you have to get one if you ever go to a match at Havant. So good.

Second Half

Havant brought on Roarie Deacon and Jack Jebb for Callum Kealy and Alfy Whittingham at half-time to take further control of the game, but I think that it’s safe to say that the plan quickly backfired.

Mohammed Dabre made it 2-2 with a fine finish from 30 yards out 5 minutes into the second half. This forced Havant to try and regain control of the game. The majority of the crowd were Havant supporters but there were a group of Tonbridge fans who’d brought a drum along with them, which they banged quite a lot, singing different songs and they got particularly excited when Dabre scored.

The 25 minutes that then followed were mainly controlled by Havant, with a couple of Tonbridge counter attacks, but still no goals for either side.

Jake McCarthy had a rasping shot tipped over by the Tonbridge ‘keeper on 75 minutes after lots of Hawks’ pressure and attempts on the Angels’ goal.

It was fairly even for much of the second half after the Tonbridge equaliser but there was some good link up play between Deacon and Stanley down the right hand side for the Hawks during that time.

Harry Jewitt-White was tidy in the middle of the park, throughout and looked composed on the ball. Surely a career at a higher level is ahead of this loanee from Portsmouth.

Full time: Havant and Waterlooville 2-2 Tonbridge Angels

The game ended as a draw which isn’t much good to Havant who are still 10 points from safety with 10 games to go.

Player Ratings

Worner (GK) 8, Stanley 8, Innocent 8, McNerney 7, McCarthy (C) 9, Carlyle 8, Seager 9, Jewitt-White 9, Kealy 7 (Deacon 45’), Whittingham 7 (Jebb 45’), Roberts 8

My Player of the Match was Jake McCarthy who scored Havant’s opener and made a couple of other good chances.

Thank you…

A big thank you to Ellie from the Commercial and Events team who made sure we were well looked after during the match.

Find all of my previous match reports here.

The Havant players celebrate their second goal.
Football, Match Report, Tom's Reviews

Chesham United VS Gosport Borough – 18.11.23

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Setting the scene

It was a top of the table clash between 2nd and 3rd in the league. Chesham were looking to bounce back from 3 defeats in a row, 2 in the league and 1 in the FA Cup. It was my 1st time at The Meadow, home of Chesham United, who are nicknamed The Generals, and they hosted Gosport Borough, who, like us, had travelled up from Hampshire.

The Line-Up

How the teams lined up…

First Half

The first five minutes were with lots of long balls in the air and it was fairly end-to-end and scrappy.

Chesham settled into the game well and had a few chances. Ogochukwu Obi and Ricardo German, who represents Grenada internationally, couldn’t quite find the space and time to convert the chances and the Gosport Borough defence were very well organised.

On around 40 minutes, the Gosport striker went through on goal and the goalkeeper (Algerian, Zaki Oualah) made an amazing save to keep the scores goalless just as the linesman raised the flag to signal offside anyway.

On the brink of half-time, Ricardo German scored a powerful header from a Harry Rush corner to make it 1-0 to Chesham United! The crowd erupted and went into half-time happy.

Second Half

Gosport started the second half quite strongly. Both teams had a couple of good chances in the first fifteen minutes of the half. I got a hotdog and it was good.

The game was then settled around the 80th minute when the Gosport goalkeeper, Toby Steward, took out Zak Joseph inside the box and he got a red card. Joseph showed pure tenacity to chase down the ball that seemed lost to give Steward no choice but to take him out. This meant that an outfield player (Harvey Rew) had to go in goal as Gosport didn’t have a ‘keeper on the bench.

The penalty was converted by Ricardo German to collect a brace and up his tally for the season to fifteen goals from fifteen games in the league, which includes 3 hattricks so far this season. He went hunting for his fourth, and the game was over for 10-man Gosport Borough.

When German got taken off for Jordan Edwards without his hattrick it was safe to say that he looked quite annoyed, and I don’t blame him.

Ricardo German scores a penalty to make it 2-0 to The Generals

Full Time!

Chesham 2-0 Gosport Borough.

Chesham stay 3rd but close the gap on Gosport to three points and Chesham have a game in hand over them and 1st placed Salisbury.

Player Ratings

My man of the match was Ricardo German due to his two goals and looking dangerous throughout the 2-0 win for the Generals. I also enjoyed watching No. 7, Zak Joseph, the winger who also looked dangerous over the 90 minutes.

The official Chesham United Man of the Match was Harry Rush because he tirelessly worked hard in the centre of midfield.

Oualah 8 , Jones 8 , Duru 8, Rolfe 8, Murphy 8, Brown 8, Rush 8, Upward 8, German 9, Obi 8, Joseph 9

The teams line up before kick off
Kick off at The Meadow

Football, Match Report, Tom's Reviews

Havant and Waterlooville vs Yeovil Town – 28.8.23

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It was my first time at Westleigh Park this season to watch Havant and Waterlooville who are yet to win in their 2023/24 campaign. I wasn’t expecting a win considering the Hawks start to the season. My pre-match prediction was a 2-2 draw even if they were at home.

The Line-Up

How The Hawks lined up…

  1. Worner 3. Innocent 5. McNerney 8. Mehew 9. Kealy 10. Faal 11. Busari 12. Willson 19. Blair 20. Deacon 21. Roberts (Captain)

First Half

The first chance came on six minutes for the home side with captain James Roberts crossing in for Muhammadu Faal, and after taking a touch he blazed the ball over the bar. Faal made up for his mistake two minutes later. From a second Roberts cross, Faal, from near the penalty spot, headed the ball home. 1-0 to the Hawks!

Just 4 minutes later, Kealy finishes off a move and it was 2-0 to Havant. The Hawks were flying.

Roberts looked lively down the left from the start and I could see why he was captain.

On 26 minutes, Yeovil pull one back through Olly Thomas. 2-1 to Havant!

Yeovil brought a good sized crowd with them and were well supported by 658 passionate fans.

Just on the brink of half-time, Jordan Maguire-Drew was bundled over in the box. Maguire-Drew took the penalty and scored. 2-2!

But the first half action wasn’t over there. Another penalty was awarded, this time to the Hawks after five minutes of added time. Faal stepped up and Buse, the Yeovil keeper saves the first attempt but the rebound fell to Faal and he began his hunt for his hattrick. 3-2 to the Hawks at half time!

Faal’s second goal makes it 3-2 to Havant at half time

Second Half

On 51 minutes, Jamie Collins, the Hawks manager, gets sent off after speaking to the linesman. Yeovil spent much of the early part of the second half on top, but it was Havant who had the better chances in the opening exchanges, hitting the bar and the post with two chances in rapid succession.

It was quite scrappy for most of the second half with loads of yellow cards – 8 in total. Eventually, Yeovil did create an opportunity when Rhys Murphy went through on goal and slid the ball across Worner into the far corner. 3-3! This was getting exciting!

But it wasn’t over yet. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Kealy finished off a smart move. 4-3 to the Hawks and the crowd went wild.

There was still time for a little bit more drama when Charlie Cooper got a second yellow for diving in the box and trying to win a penalty. Yeovil finish the game with ten men!

Speaking after the match, Jamie Collins said, ‘The quality of the goals we scored was superb but I think the grit, determination, desire not to lose, to concede a goal in the 90th minute and to come back and get a winner just shows what the team is about.’

Full Time!

Player Ratings

My man of the match was James Roberts, he was involved in everything good in the first half. He dropped off a bit in the second half though but was still probably the best Havant player. Two goal each for Muhammadu Faal and Callum Kealy was pretty good as well.

Worner 7, Innocent 7, McNerney 8, Mehew 8, Kealy 9, Faal 9, Busari 8, Willson 7, Blair 7, Deacon 7, Roberts 9

Match Report, Tom's Reviews

Plymouth Argyle vs Bolton – Tom’s Match Report

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This was my first time watching Argyle since December 2019 and I was really looking forward to it.

When we got to Home Park we took our seats and found that we were sat right at the front. Luckily for me, I got to wave a flag on the pitch with some other supporters as the teams came out. This is me having a great time by the pitch.

The Line-Up

Argyle lined up with 3 at the back and were led by captain Joe Edwards who played at wingback. I was looking forward to seeing Villa loanee, Finn Azaz after he’d scored 3 goals in his first 5 games for the Greens.

Cooper

Galloway Scarr Lonwijk

Edwards (C) Butcher Houghton Mumba

Mayor Azaz

Ennis

First Half

The first twenty minutes were pretty even, but Bolton had the better chances. We also found out that the Bolton forwards like to dive, I feel that they should have got yellow carded.

The opening goal came from a long ball from Lonwijk that the Bolton defender missed and Niall Ennis latched onto, he put the goalkeeper on his backside and slotted the ball into the left bottom corner.

At Half Time

At half time Neil Warnock came out and was introduced to the crowd. He used to manage Plymouth Argyle.

Second Half

Bolton got much better, taking more chances and pouncing on the Argyle mistakes. Michael Cooper was brilliant between the sticks for Argyle and made a particularly magical save to keep it at 1-0. Diving to his right, Cooper lurched back to his left to tip the ball on to the post.

Ryan Hardie came on to score a great goal and secure the three points and sent the fans wild. Argyle are now up to fifth and are well placed to have a good season in League One and maybe even push for promotion.

Player Ratings

My man of the Match was Michael Cooper because he made great saves to keep Argyle in the lead and was a brilliant player throughout the match. Danny Mayor was great on the ball and calm under pressure while Dan Scarr was solid at the back. Mumba and Ennis were good at creating exciting chances.

Cooper – 9

Galloway – 7 Scarr – 9 Lonwijk – 6

Edwards – 7 Butcher – 8 Houghton – 7 Mumba – 8

Mayor – 9 Azaz – 7

Ennis – 8

Me and my Dad celebrate Ryan Hardie’s goal
The team celebrate Argyle’s second goal right in front of us
Outside Home Park before the match
With my Dad before the game
Arsenal, Football, Match Report, Tom's Reviews

Arsenal vs leeds – tom’s match report

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We met Gunnersaurus before the match.

We got to meet Gunnersaurus before the game outside of the Armoury. We also said hello to, Arsenal legend, Bob Wilson in the car park before the match. Finally, before going in, we got to see the Rugby League World Cup trophy. The Emirates will be hosted some of the matches later in the year.

Me and my dad with the Rugby League World Cup trophies

The Line-Up

Today Partey and Tierney will probably miss the end of the season with the long term injuries and I will be glad to see them again next season. I did not expect Martinelli to start over Smith Rowe, I thought Marinelli would come on for Emile Smith Rowe in the second half. Also Ben White is out with an injury, but hopefully he is back next week.

Ramsdale

Soares Holding Gabriel Tomiyasu

Ødegaard Elneny Xhaka

Saka  Nketiah  Martinelli

First Half

Before kick-off the Arsenal fans got to sing our new anthem, ‘The Angel’ by Louis Dunford. It was really good and should happen at every match. This is what is sounded like from where we were.

Within the first two minutes, Arsenal got a free kick from Saka being fouled. Odegaard whipped the ball in across the penalty area slightly missing one or two diving heads. Three minutes later, Arsenal super striker Nketiah pounced on a heavy touch by Illian Meslier, the young Leeds goalkeeper from France, and Eddie knocked the ball into the back of the net.

Ten minutes gone and Nketiah could not wait for more as Martinelli crossed the ball in and Eddie scored, slotting the ball into the bottom right corner.

Half an hour in and Luke Ayling, the Leeds United right back, got sent off for a ferocious tackle on Gabriel Martinelli, who had been only just able to actually keep the ball in play. The ref gave a yellow to begin with, but VAR made him check it. It did take some time, including a yellow card for Raphinha for protesting about the initial foul being a yellow card instead, but eventually he gave the red.

Arsenal did have some other fabulous chances to score, including two corners. Just before half time, Arsenal had another free kick, Meslier got a hand to the ball as Marcos Llorente bicycle kicked off the line, towards the corner flag.

At Half Time

At half time, the Arsenal 1971 double winning team came out. Players like Charlie George, George Graham, Frank McLintock and Bob Wilson all came out to applause from the crowd. My Grandad was jealous.

The legends of ’71 came out at half time

Second Half

In the 2nd half, Arsenal still had most of the ball but the Leeds fans were really helping to support their team. Leeds could have been able to catch Arsenal on the counter attack. During the first ten to twenty minutes of the second half Arsenal had six corners, four consecutive, two afterwards.

Sixty-six minutes in, Leeds had their 1st corner, whipped into the back post. Llorente slides downward tucks the ball under Aaron Ramsdale to score. Completely against the run of play. Arsenal were a bit nervy at times after that with Leeds on the attack. Ramsdale had to make some amazing saves to keep Arsenal ahead. Arsenal did have some more attempts though.

Player Ratings

My Man of the Match was Eddie Nketiah because of his cheekiness to sneak up on Meslier to score his first goal and class to score his second.

Ramsdale – 7

Soares – 5 Holding – 7 Gabriel – 7 Tomiyasu – 8

Ødegaard – 8 Elneny – 8 Xhaka – 7

Saka – 8  Nketiah – 9  Martinelli – 8

Arsenal are now four points ahead of fifth placed Spurs, with the North London derby on Thursday. We’re also a point behind third place Chelsea, so Arsenal might snatch third place!

Read my other match reports and review here.

Match Report, Tom's Reviews

Arsenal v Brighton – Tom’s Match Report

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The Line-Up

Tomiyasu, Partey and Tierney are now all out with long term injuries so Arteta played Granit Xhaka at left-back and Sambi Lokonga in midfield with Martin Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe. Having Xhaka at left-back meant the midfield had neither Xhaka or Partey and everyone in the ground agreed that was a bad thing.

Ramsdale

Soares White Gabriel Xhaka

Ødegaard Lokonga Smith Rowe

Saka  Lacazette  Martinelli

First Half

Arsenal were basically rubbish for the first 20 minutes but had a couple good chances to go in front, including a header from Gabriel Magalhaes from a free kick, swung in by Bukayo Saka. In the 28th minute, Leandro Trossard scored, easily slotting the ball in the top corner past Aaron Ramsdale, after a cross whipped in by Enock Mwepu, who got the assist.

Just before halftime, Martinelli equalised from a corner, again swung in by Saka, scoring a header from another header knocked on by Gabriel. Unfortunately, it was finally ruled out for offside by VAR after what felt like a few hours. I’ve watched it back loads of times and still don’t know if it really was offside. The point is, VAR is rubbish.

Second Half

Midway through the 2nd half, Mwepu scored Brighton’s second. It was a bullet strike, firing into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box following a great team move with an assist from Caicedo.

Arsenal finally improved and started to play well for the last 10 minutes. Ødegaard hit the bar from a freekick, then Nketiah hit the bar again from the rebound. Eventually Arsenal scored, in the 89th minute, through a deflected wonder strike produced by Martin Ødegaard from about 35 yards out. But it was too little, too late and the match ended 2-1 to the away side.

Arsenal are in a frustrating place right now, fifth in the table and on a bad run of form. Hopefully they can turn it around against Southampton next week.

Player Ratings

My Man of the Match was Martin Ødegaard because he used great technique to score his goal. The only really good thing about the game.

Ramsdale – 6

Soares – 6 White – 6 Gabriel – 5 Xhaka – 6

Ødegaard – 7 Lokonga – 5 Smith Rowe – 6

Saka – 6  Lacazette – 5  Martinelli – 6

Arsenal, Football, Match Report

Arsenal v Leicester – Tom’s Match Report

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Before the game I was lucky to meet Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, two of Arsenal’s legendary ‘Invincibles’.

The Line-Up`

Smith Rowe had been out with Covid last week and was back on the bench, so Martinelli kept his place on the left. Tomiyasu still isn’t fit so Cedric Soares started at right back.

Ramsdale

Soares White Gabriel Tierney

Ødegaard Thomas Xhaka

Saka Lacazette Martinelli

First Half

Arsenal started very brightly, Martinelli looking lively down the left wing and Cedric Soares putting crosses in the box from the right hand side of the pitch. Arsenal had some penalty shouts turned down by the referee and some great chances to score a goal. After Arsenal won a corner from a deflected Tierney cross, Thomas Partey scored a bullet header from a brilliant Martinelli corner. Partey had another chance to score but the ball hit the post.

Leicester built pressure over the rest of the first half but Arsenal stayed on top helped by Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes and Thomas Partey all playing a part. Aaron Ramsdale also made incredible saves in the Arsenal goal.

Second Half

In the second half, Arsenal continued to be the better team having a few more chances to score a goal. Arsenal then had a brilliant chance to score from a swung in Ødegaard freekick with Ben White heading the ball onto the grass and Partey then using his head to direct the ball onto the goal line. During the freekick, the ball hit Söyüncü’s hand in the penalty area. After a five minute VAR check, referee Anthony Taylor was called to the monitor to check if it was a penalty. Eventually, he gave it and Alexandre Lacazette scored. Lacazette scores the penalty to make it 2 – 0. Arsenal controlled the rest of the match well and Arteta used all of the three substitutes bringing on Smith Rowe, Nketiah and Pepe.

Arsenal are now in fourth place in the Premier League table on fifty-one points with three games in hand over fifth placed Manchester United, on fifty points. Hopefully, Arsenal get to play in the Champions League next season!

Player Ratings

My Man of the Match was Thomas Partey because he was all over the pitch and scored a great goal. Odegaard, Saka and Martinelli were all really good as well.

Ramsdale – 7

Soares – 7 White – 7 Gabriel – 7 Tierney – 7

Ødegaard – 8 Thomas – 9 Xhaka – 8

Saka – 8 Lacazette – 7 Martinelli – 8

Right at the end I got to meet Alan Smith. He is a Sky Sports commentator and used to play for Arsenal.

Arsenal, Football, Match Report

Arsenal v Brentford – Tom’s Match Report

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My dad and me at our first Arsenal matches

My dad’s first Arsenal match was on the 27th October 1990 versus Sunderland and 31 and a half years later, it was my turn. I’ve supported Arsenal all of my life but on 19th February 2022 I got to see them live at the Emirates for the first time, versus Brentford.

The Line-Up

I was happy with formation but it would have been good to have Takehiro Tomiyasu at right back instead of Cedric Soares. Soares did well in the end though.

Ramsdale

Soares White Gabriel Tierney

Thomas Xhaka

Saka Odegaard Smith Rowe

Lacazette

First Half

Arsenal had some good chances and scored an early goal, but sadly VAR said it was offside. This was annoying. We also had a few penalty shouts turned down by the referee and we still don’t know why. 🤷‍♂️

Overall, Arsenal were definitely the better team in the first half and unlucky not to score at least two goals before half time.

Second Half

In the second half, Arsenal scored two goals and had chances to score more. The first goal was scored by Emile Smith Rowe as he cut in from the wing using incredible control. Despite David Raya getting his fingertips to the ball, it nestled into the bottom right hand corner.

The second goal was scored by Bukayo Saka, who started the move off in his own half, feeding the ball forward to Lacazette who then passed to Thomas Partey as Saka carried on his quick sprint down the pitch. After striding forward into the Brentford half, Partey released the ball forward towards Saka who finished off the move with gentle control and ended the run of passes with a fantastic finish in-off the far post.

Arsenal players and fans celebrate Bukayo Saka’s goal to make it 2-0

Another highlight of the exciting second half was Odegaard’s outrageous dummy. Soares played the ball to him on the right side of the field and he pretended to smash it. Instead, he let the ball go underneath his foot and let it roll through to Saka so he started another attack.

In extra time in the second half, Brentford scored within the final few seconds with Christian Norgaard basically passing into the net.

The final score was 2-1 to Arsenal and we’ll be back at the Emirates for the game against Leicester in a few weeks.

Player Ratings

My Man of the Match was Emile Smith Rowe because he was great on the wing and his goal was really good. Although, the ‘keeper should really have saved it.

Ramsdale – 6

Soares – 6 White – 6 Gabriel – 7 Tierney – 7

Thomas – 6 Xhaka – 6

Saka – 8 Odegaard – 8 Smith Rowe – 9

Lacazette – 6

Here is my TikTok of our trip to the Emirates.

And another of the amazing Saka and Emile Smith Rowe song.