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FA Cup Third Round Matches - 4-6th January, 2020


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Poor first half. Very good second half. Should've put a couple more away though. Great stuff from Xhaka and Guendouzi in midfield. Closed down well, fouled when they needed to, knitted the play together and kept control of midfield. Something they didn't do in the first half. Sokratis is a tank. On to the next round.

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I actually thought that was Xhaka's worst game since Arteta came in. He's always a player that's struck me in 2 ways: 1.) holy shit, what a range of passing he has - incredible range of passing, 2.) holy shit, why the fuck is his positioning so poor. Today that poor positioning and the resultant late challenges were on display... and I think he's really lucky to have avoided getting 2 yellows from 4 very bookable offenses.

Still, deserved win from Arsenal there. Withstood Leeds playing really really well in the first half, then turned up for the second half and were obviously the better side in the first half.

Leeds were really impressive though, I think they'll be annoyed they didn't put away one of those many chances.

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Impressed by Bielsa's Leeds, hope they go up. Always good to get top clubs with great fans and history back in the top flight. 

Thought we was atrocious first half but fair play to Arteta getting them up for the second. Thought it was Guendouzi's best half in months. Just nice to be in the next round without much fuss and no replay to be played. 

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Disappointed. Missed the boat there didn't we...

Ok, so we've won a lot of fans and positive comments from our performance last night, especially first half which was great in showing what a breath of fresh air we'd be to the Premier League next year if we went up.

But our achilles heel this season was evident yet again. Not killing teams when on top. This was no different to games in the league. If we take a 2-0 lead in at HT, it's a long way back for Arsenal. 

And that was the ultimate lesson. Lack of quality finishing. Exactly why we are a league below. Frustrating as well because we created some glaring opportunities against an Arsenal defence begging to concede. 

I was actually impressed how easy it was for us at first. Did Arsenal underestimate us? Surely not, yet they seemed so shell shocked at how relentless our pace and energy was. The high press caught them out a number of times.

Second half they tweaked things, matched us for intensity and had us back on the ropes. Credit to them for showing fight and giving as good as they got. 

Will not dwell on it but Xhaka had a free pass to foul all night and as for Lacazette's petulant kick, lucky boy. If only there was some kind of video assisted replay system the officials could use to help with decisions.

Positives were we had an understrength side and yet we showed it didn't matter who came in, we are simply a well coached team. Bielsa is a god for getting this team of misfits and youth's to play the way they do and hopefully we will be back next year in a league fixture. The division needs a bit of Piri Piri sauce to spice it up.

Sounded like we created a great atmosphere too, very loud from where I was.

Good luck to Arsenal next round. I like Arteta, he seems a really good bloke. It won't be instant but I hope he's the one for you.

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Replays (all 7.45pm unless stated)

Tuesday 14th January
Blackpool vs Reading
Coventry vs Bristol Rovers
Newcastle vs Rochdale
Shrewsbury vs Bristol City
Tottenham vs Middlesbrough (20.05)
Tranmere vs Watford

Wednesday 15th January
Carlisle vs Cardiff
Man Utd vs Wolves

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On 03/01/2020 at 19:25, Bluebird Hewitt said:

We're gonna get slapped. Think we'll rotate a little and go out. 

 

On 04/01/2020 at 04:11, Dan said:

By Carlisle? xD

 

On 04/01/2020 at 14:17, Bluebird Hewitt said:

We've been utter wank all season. The team we have out should win easily but I also wouldn't be surprised if we go out today. 

 

On 04/01/2020 at 15:31, Dan said:

Yep. By Carlisle.

 

On 04/01/2020 at 15:49, Dan said:

Cardiff 0-2 xD bloody hell you were right.

 

9 minutes ago, Stan said:

Carlisle 1-0 Cardiff!

xDxDxD

And as I type this, we've just equalised. 

Random point. We have not lead at all in this tie yet. 

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