North London: The Granit City
North London: The Granit City
Kick Off
Before any round up of the weekend's games I want to extend my thoughts to anyone affected by the tragedy at Kanjuruhan Stadium Indonesia. A truly horrible incident that no-one should have to experience.
~*~
What a weekend. Finally my oft stated but recently disproved maxim that there will be goals after an international break comes true. 157 so far across the five main leagues, with games in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A to be played tonight.
Let's start on Friday then, in Germany, for Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen. First off, Bayern's Oktoberfest kit is gorgeous. I really like it. A beautiful deep burgundy with gold details. Lovely stuff. (And that's before we mention how incredibly beautiful Leroy Sané is)
Bayern have been something of a 'crisis club' this season after a couple of disappointing results and, by their standards, a poor position in the table. However the international break seemed to have renergised them and they were simply clinical against Leverkusen.
The aforementioned Sané opened the scoring after just three minutes and there was no sense that Leverkusen were ever going to get back into it. Musiala joined the party after 17 minutes and then Sadio Mané silenced his critics with a goal just before half time.
Leverkusen did manage to hold on for most of the second half but they were never going to get anything back, Bayern were just too good. They sealed the victory with an 84th minute goal from the human Kirby (honestly, look at the size of his mouth), Thomas Muller, giving us all the treat of a fourth blast of the can-can music, presumably because Oktoberfest. (Sorry music nerds, I don't know its real name).
They now sit third on equal points with Dortmund who yet again threw it away, this time at Köln, but with far far superior goal difference. Union were beaten by Eintracht but hold on to the top spot also due to goal difference, after Freiburg beat Mainz but only by 2-1.
Ligue 1 Ligue 1ed with both a flurry of red cards and crowd trouble at Toulouse v Montpellier. The Lorient, Lens, Lille, Lyon dominance has also been broken by Monaco and Rennes sneaking into 5th and 6th respectively. Of course PSG are still top.
La Liga also provided five red cards across the weekend and a thriller from my new faves Girona who were 3-2 up against Real Sociedad only to end up losing 3-5.
Barcelona eked past Mallorca 0-1 with a wonderful goal from the unstoppable Lewandowski. His turn in the box to escape the defender so he could get his shot off was beautiful.
On Sunday Osasuna held Real Madrid to a draw with a shocking penalty miss from Karim Benzema denying them the full three points. This leaves them on equal points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga, with Barcelona pipping them with their superior goal difference.
Down in Italy the weekend started with league leaders Napoli beating Torino 3-1 and retaining their hold on the top spot. Elsewhere some big scorelines came from Sass beating Salernitana 5-0, Lazio beating Spezia 4-0 and even lowly Monza putting three past Samp.
Of course one of the notable results of the weekend was Roma beating Inter on their home turf, 1-2, with goals from Dybala and Chris Smalling. The big news story of the game though was Jose Mourinho's touchline ban, resulting in him rigging up his luxury van outside the stadium so he could watch the game. A showman and troll to the last.
Perhaps the two biggest stories of the weekend though were Juve's win over Bologna and Milan's win over Empoli.
Starting at the half empty Allianz where the so far woeful and dull Juve hosted Bologna. Juve really needed to prove themselves in this game, to give the fans something to cheer and to justify the ongoing employment of Max Allegri, over and above simply being unable to afford to pay him off. They kind of delivered. It wasn't an especially breathless or exciting game but they at least seemed in control and the three goals were great, particularly the third from Milik. They're currently 7th, still out of European contention, but perhaps if they also manage a result against Maccabi Haifa in the UCL this week, this could be the turnaround for their season.
The game of the weekend in Serie A however had to be Empoli v. Milan. I was out until part way through the second half and at 0-0 I was only half paying attention. Then, after 79 minutes and not long having come on as a sub, Ante Rebic opened the scoring for Milan. They just needed to hold on until the final whistle. Doable right?
Then this happened.
Empoli got a goal back. Fine. Let me down like Dortmund let me down. No worries.
However Ballo-Toure then scored immediately after the restart, his first senior goal, to the delight of Milan fans and players alike.
Rafa Leão then sealed the deal with a beautiful beautiful solo goal, culminating in a glorious chip over the keeper. He's so good, so so good. And when I hear rumours that Chelsea want him...
And so we make it back home (sorry to those outside of England reading this), to the dear old Premier League.
We started in North London, at the Emirates, for the first men's NLD of the season. The women trounced Spurs last week, as I wrote about, would the men be able to do the same?
The game started furiously and pretty much continued in that vein. Arsenal had the better of the play but I'm never not nervous and am only happy when we have the ball.
The deadlock was eventually broken after 20 mins via a stunning goal from a player I would rather not even be in the squad. So that's all I have to say about that (apart from briefly, later on).
A mere 11 minutes later, Gabriel made a clumsy tackle in the box and a penalty was awarded and inevitably scored by Harry Kane. I like Gabriel a lot but he can be a bit of an oaf and makes some bad decisions.
Half time was needed, time to take stock, regroup and come out fighting and boy, did we. After four minutes Jesus regained the lead with a scrappy goal after an error by Lloris. I like Lloris a lot and while I of course was delighted by the goal, I did cringe watching him try to leap onto a ball that had already rolled under him.
22 minutes later my love, my darling, the comeback kid, Red Gred Redemption, Granit Xhaka scored a beauty to seal it. He really is just IT this season. A baller, a leader, clearly happy in himself and his position. I just love him.
Look how happy he is to get MOTM too 🥹 (the only MOTM I'll be acknowledging). (The way he goes in for a cheek kiss that Gabi doesn't reciprocate makes me wince though!)
This of course breaks Spurs unbeaten run, leaving only Man City unbeaten (more of that in a second) but, Arsenal are still top of the table 😎
Quick shout out also to William Saliba who was incredible for us. A real beast of a player who's so quick and smart on the ball. Do do do do do do do do etc....
Elsewhere on Saturday West Ham, Chelsea, Everton and Newcastle all prevailed with the first result (West Ham 2 Wolves 0) losing Bruno Lage his job. It'll be interesting to see who comes in, Wolves have many good pieces and I want to like them but they're a consistently difficult watch. Hopefully the candidate will add some dynamism and cohesion to the squad.
The other game on Saturday was a thrilling 3-3 between Liverpool and Brighton. De Zerbi is already proving a good value Premier League manager, I think he's going to be a lot of fun, and stuck with many of the principles of organised play that Graham Potter left behind.
As for Liverpool, it's difficult to see where they go from here. They have the pieces, they have the manager but they're lacking confidence and of course their midfield is weaker than it's ever been with few players in their prime to hold it up and one who is wonderful (Thiago), proving to be an ongoing injury liability.
I see people still asking if they're the ones to challenge for the title and I think it's clear they're not. I have no doubt that at some point Arsenal will have a bad run and City will pip them to the top and then stay there but wouldn't it be wonderful and hilarious if this situation remains throughout the season? Just a point in it, with Arsenal winning while City have an outrageous, unbelievable, record smashing goalscorer at their disposal.
Speaking of whom... let's talk about the Manchester Derby.
Gary Neville set himself up beautifully for the fall that was about to come by laughing at the City team selection and the egg splatted firmly on his face after Foden gave City the lead after only eight minutes.
The most damning thing for me throughout the game is how many United players I forgot or didn't realise were playing. It took possibly until the second half before I heard Antony's name mentioned; Sancho may as well have stayed at home.
My poor baby Eriksen had an uncharacteristic off day, lacking vision or awareness and being at fault for a number of the City presses. I think I heard his name more than any other United player except, of course, Ronaldo, after the camera swung to him on the bench every couple of minutes to check he was still looking miserable.
Before halftime there was a Haaland and Foden brace, with Haaland's goals coming one after the other within three minutes. It was Brentford but worse for United.
In the second half, Antony scored and for a split second you might have almost thought it could be game on but no. Eight minutes after that Haaland sealed his third home hattrick in a row and nine minutes after that, Foden got his own hattrick. An Anthony Martial brace followed but it was scant consolation. The scoreline didn't reflect how woeful United were, on an occasion where I wanted them to win too.
It certainly burst the bubble that any kind of revival could be sustained indefinitely but we know now that they can play and they can dominate so hopefully this will be but a blip, albeit for the neutral, despite what I just said, a very very funny one.
The weekend was rounded off by a game I slept through 90% of (Leeds v Villa) and then we have the absolute opposite of a mouthwatering prospect, Leicester v Forest, this evening on MNF. Hopefully it'll either be a goalfest or a bloodbath. Or both.
So there we have it for this week. A quick mention of the UWCL which drew its groups today, they are below and frankly I would like to go to all of Arsenal's away matches: Sweden, France, Italy? Please! (Don't ask me to talk about the likelihood of Arsenal or anyone else for that matter, progressing from their group, there are many more qualified people than I who can do this (Jessy for example!), I'm working on a food/vibes basis here.)
Half Time
Still don't know what I really want to get out of this section, this is a long one as it is but we've got all the fun stuff at the end and I just don't want to write anything serious this week.
Oh wait I know. I got my copy of No Score Draws' book this week, The Unofficial World Cup Album. I know I've already tweeted about this and mentioned it before, but it really is great. I was in a conversation where someone said that it was really vibrant and that's so true, the colours are glorious and it's just a nice read and the perfect size. A treat to self, something for the Christmas list or a lovely any-time gift for a football loving pal. Buy a copy here or here.
I was also completely taken aback by my appearance in the acknowledgements. What a really delightful thing! I genuinely nearly cried. They've got me down too, can't argue with that description :)
Thirst Trap
I feel like I've been living under a rock. How could I have not had this person on my radar already? I've heard of him, I've probably seen him play, more than likely seen his pics online and yet it's only this week or so that I've really noticed what I've been missing.
I mean holy hell. Look at him. Look at those arms. Fuck me. He even pulls off the bleached blonde look (probably because he understands toner! No brassy tones here.) Goddammit.
Anyway, Rodrigo de Paul, I salute you, thanks for leaving me incoherent.
Merch Stand
Hummel officially released their Denmark World Cup shirts this week with a powerful message. Props to you Hummel.
The Arsenal Honor Oak shoe, inspired by Wrighty and Rocastle is really fuckin nice
Full Time
I’ve said most of what I want to say about the situation with players continuing with their careers after serious accusations of sexual and domestic violence. It’s an issue that is inescapable, depressing and can ruin the enjoyment of a game. On a personal level I don’t want to have to be confronted with this every time I want to celebrate my team, to feel like any happiness I have is an endorsement of the player and the way the club have acted or that I’m not doing or saying the right thing. On a wider societal level I don’t want anyone to suffer as women before them have. I want change for the better, it benefits everyone.
The work of Level Up to try and change the culture around football and VAW and to open up what is a horrible but necessary conversation is so important in this regard. You can read about it here, follow their work here and donate to them here. You may also want to donate to Rape Crisis England & Wales, Women’s Aid or Safeline to name but a few charities doing great work in this area.
This is an important discussion about taking the knee from Black writers at the Athletic. Read the article but do listen to the podcast too as it's much more impactful.
On to more lighthearted matters, the debate rages on this one, is Little Tom visible or...?
Belgium celebrated Michy Batshuayi's birthday in batshit fashion (flashing in the vid)
I got my Qatar Sticker Book last week, sadly I don't have a helper
That's that! Until next week, adieu!
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