Here’s Stuart James’ match report, so thanks for joining us here.
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Alexandre Lacazette speaks.
For me it was important to start well. I wanted to prove I could be in the first eleven. We did a good match and I am happy. I knew that if I shoot hard, I will score. [On him and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang] If we know each other well off the pitch, it is easier on the pitch.
Aaron Ramsey speaks.
Of course, it’s massive. We wanted to take full advantage. We have bounced back well and we have six points. It’s always emotional. I love coming back here. This is where I was brought up. We know it’s going to be a process and hopefully every game we get stronger and stronger.
Chris Lambert tweets in and makes a salient point: “Emery continuing to play Cech, he kind of has to until he decides to move him permanently to no. 2 doesn’t he? Can’t drop a keeper of that age and/or status just for a game or two. A striker maybe, but a keeper is either in or out.”
Full-time score: Cardiff 2-3 Arsenal
Play closes, fittingly, with Lacazette on the attack. The whistle goes and Arsenal have their first away win of the season. Cardiff scored their first goals and fought devilishly, but the class of Lacazette was the difference between the teams.
Arsenal’s players applaud supporters after their victory over Cardiff. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images
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90 mins+4: Granit Xhaka concedes a free-kick but this time Ralls’ delivery is faulty. Morrison, the usual target, cannot reach the ball.
90 mins+2: Harry Arter collects his requisite booking, his third in three matches, with a hacking foul on Torreira.
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90 mins+1: Close for Cardiff! Was that the chance? Morrison’s header finds Madine, and Cech scampers out on safari, and is way out of position when Madine’s cross is launched in. Zohore heads over, he couldn’t keep it down.
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89 mins: Manga wins a free-kick after a foul from Monreal. There will be four minutes of added time.
88 mins: Final change for both teams. Aubameyang comes off and Mkhitaryan comes on. Mkhki comes on to add defensive ballast, no doubt. Meanwhile, Gary Madine replaces Camarasa for Cardiff.
86 mins: Taking into consideration Arsenal’s defending, Cardiff will probably get one more chance. How soon can they find it? Arsenal are content to try and see this out by passing their opponent to death.
85 mins: Dogged play by Ralls and Hoilett means Cardiff eventually get the ball into the area when Bennett swings one in. Cech collects and Arsenal play a little bit of keep ball.
84 mins: Both teams make changes. Danny Welbeck comes on for Ozil, who leaves the field very slowly indeed. And Danny Ward comes off for Kenneth Zohore.
82 mins: Lacazette has been excellent today, in linking play and hunting down chances for himself. He has worked very hard, which is in contrast for some of his team-mates.
Goal! Cardiff 2-3 Arsenal (Lacazette, 81)
What a goal! A short pass from Torreira and Lacazette spins and drills a shot into the roof of the net.
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80 mins: Sam Glover addresses the Xhaka question: “I don’t have any special football knowledge but I do find it interesting that I can’t remember seeing a positive comment about Xhaka from either the professional media or the commenting public, yet two different managers have picked him in almost every game they’ve managed.”
78 mins: An opening for Cardiff. Bobby Reid finds space as Ward and Arter set him away. The shot, though, is a little tired, not enough to test Cech.
76 mins: Nasty foul from Camarasa on Sokratis. He gets a yellow when it was more an orange. The studs were not quite up.
On the subject of which, Umer Falooda emails in: “For all the moaning of Arsenal players exaggerating Cardiff’s violent plays in the first half, Cardiff have done exactly the same to get half the Arsenal team for some awfully soft yellows. The foul that led to the second goal was not a foul at all. Forget “gentle contact”, there was no contact whatsoever. Any comments on that?”
The yellows all looked decent enough decisions to me. The referee has had a good game.
75 mins: Another Arsenal corner is cleared, though hurriedly by Cardiff, who themselves don’t look too easy under the set piece.
73 mins: Arsenal have resumed their dominance of possession, and Lacazette goes close from a corner. Mustafi charges in, and hurts Etheridge in the process which means a delay in play. That allows a chance to watch the statuesque defending from Arsenal.
72 mins: Anyway, the secret is out: Arsenal are weak at set pieces. Oh, you knew that already? Well, it’s yet to change under the new boss.
71 mins: That goal celebrated in finest dad-dancing style by Neil Warnock. Arsenal make a sub, bringing off Guendouzi and putting on Torreira. Was that a decision made with the goal in mind?
Goal! Cardiff 2-2 Arsenal (Ward, 70)
Arter wins a free-kick. Joe Ralls dinks out to Sean Morrison, who nods it back across goal, and Danny Ward’s header is superb.
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67 mins: A snap shot from Harry Arter wins a corner. Another one comes after Xhaka heads behind. A handball shout as Camarasa’s pass is deflected away.
66 mins: Özil concedes a cheap free-kick for a lazy foul on Bennett. The ball is boomed in and Sokratis is very lucky not to be penalised for being all over Danny Ward.
64 mins: Arsenal’s pressure told there, and it was a sublime piece of skill and finishing that took them into the lead. In attacking terms, they are streets ahead of Cardiff. Can the rest of the team hold firm? Granit Xhaka reminds of his continuing presence by becoming the fourth Arsenal player to be booked.
Goal! Cardiff 1-2 Arsenal (Aubameyang, 62)
Great link-up play by the outstanding Lacazette, whose flick is into his partner’s path and the finish, with Özil making a run into what looked a good position, is superb. It arrowed in.
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61 mins: Graham from Reigate emails in: “Four games in now and “Emery” insists on playing Xhaxa despite his suicidal passing and lack of tracking back, and Cech despite him not fitting Arsenal’s new style of play. Meanwhile, the two new signings in which he was involved (and which Wenger would never have sanctioned) - Torreira and Leno - sit on the bench. When the opposition fans sing “are you Wenger in disguise” I think they may be in to something and the real Emery is hostage somewhere.”
60 mins: Charles Antaka emails in: “Yes, Xhaka’s pass was woeful. But there is a contributing factor, which has been true all match so far: he and Guendouzi too often find themselves disconnected from those in front *and* those behind them; quite a feat on a normal-sized football pitch.”
59 mins: Hoilett tries a long shot that comes to naught. Cardiff able to concert a little more pressure.
57 mins: Ward makes a fine run down the right flank, cutting in and shooting. It goes wide. The referee turns back to book Guendouzi for a foul on Camarasa. A third Arsenal booking and Sokratis is lucky not to be added after he pulls a shirt.
56 mins: Arsenal are now dominating possession as Cardiff sit back. The home team having to resort to last-ditch stuff. Another corner is taken by Xhaka and is cleared by Hoilett but Bobby Reid is outnumbered.
54 mins: Oddly, Arsenal look more dangerous at set pieces, though are now beginning to find spaces to attack.
52 mins: Özil, at last, gets involved. Lovely pass to Monreal, who has been prominent, and Cardiff can only clear desperately. Xhaka takes the corner. And Mustafi got it again, but this time Neil Etheridge makes a save after it bounces up.
50 mins: Bellerin is booked for what was a completely blatant handball; essentially he stopped it rolling on as he fell to the ground. Both Arsenal full-back have now been booked.
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48 mins: Monreal gets down the left, and as Lacazette lurks with intent, Morrison clears. From the resultant corner, Lacazette almost gets a chance to score but the bounce of the ball just evades his wingspan.
47 mins: Cardiff have again begun the brighter, as if their manager has put a flea in their ear, which was almost certainly the case.
46 mins: The beginning of this half is a carbon copy of the first. Cech dithers over a back pass and that forces a chance. Hoilett slashes wide.
Second half starts
With no substitutions from either team. Which goes against recent practice from Unai Emery.
That Xhaka pass across the pitch to set up the Cardiff goal really has to be seen to be believed. Isn’t he supposed to be so good at passing that his failings as a tackler are compensated for?
Bad news for Wee Stevie in the Old Firm match.
“Looking at the new Arsenal kit makes it look like every player is wearing the Captains armband when, in reality, no one is,” says Kevin in Kingston. Actually, who is captaining Arsenal today?
Half-time
That’s a fair scoreline. Arsenal pay the price for slacking off, and some loose play for the usual suspects. If Cardiff had a little more quality, then Arsenal might actually be in big trouble. Both sides giving up chances and that makes for a decent contest.
Goal! Cardiff 1-1 Arsenal (Camarasa, 45 plus 2)
The wait is over for a Cardiff goal! Xhaka plays an utterly hopeless crossfield ball. Cardiff collect it, Joe Bennett crosses in, and Camarasa shows coolness and precision in cutting in to lash home.
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45 mins: Another chance for Arter. Morrison’s strength gets the ball flicked down and Arter’s shot is wild. Like that earlier chance, he got a little too excited.
43 mins: Harry Arter has recovered; he hares around, chasing Arsenal players as they attempt to build from the back. Meanwhile, Neil Warnock shares a joke with the fourth official. He can be nice like that.
42 mins: But Cardiff step it up. Hoilett whips in a ball from the left-hand side, and Danny Ward cannot get to it. He looked to have been blocked.
41 mins: Cardiff’s energy of the opening moments has calmed a little, much to Cech’s relief. The home crowd also a little quiet.
40 mins: Harry Arter, the reluctant Irishman according to reports, has taken a bang to his knee after a clash with Aaron Ramsey. A bit of ice and spray and he seems OK for now.
38 mins: Xhaka fell over, to jeers, but recovered well and plays his part in an extended passage of possession. Özil gets into the box, but there are too many bodies for even him to find a pass.
37 mins: Cardiff carve out a decent move in which Ralls is prominent, but his long “diag” is claimed by Cech, who looks far happier now he is not being asked to play like Matthias Sammer.
35 mins: Both teams here have definite problems in defence. Cardiff’s problem is quality, while Arsenal suffer from a lack of protection and a litany of mistakes.
34 mins: Arsenal on the break again, but Lacazette cannot link up with Özil thanks to supreme covering work from Bennett.
32 mins: Lacazette hits the post! Another free-kick for Arsenal after Ramsey is fouled. As Arsenal claim the second ball, the Frenchman bursts to the right of the area, and Bellerin’s dummy run to his flank buys him time. A decent, low shot had Etheridge beaten.
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30 mins: Sokratis squeals in pain. He took a whack from Harry Arter. But not that much of a whack. Arsenal again looking to accentuate the rough stuff.
28 mins: Two good chances for Cardiff. Özil lets Joe Bennett go, and the cross into the middle is just beyond Reid. Then Hoilett aims in a shot. Cardiff lack a clinical touch, it has to be said.
27 mins: Xhaka has his chance to take a trademark long shot. It goes wide. Unsurprisingly.
25 mins: Guendouzi is dropping back very deep, playing almost as a third centre-back as Arsenal try to calm things down with some careful passing. The crowd does seem a little tenderised, too.
23 mins: Neil Warnock is not happy. “There’s two sides involved, Anthony,” he can be heard to say, as a decision goes against his team. It has to be said that Arsenal are making perhaps a little bit more than is necessary after some heavy challenges. Nacho Monreal is then booked for a high kick on Reid; maybe Warnock’s stuff works.
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22 mins: One pattern of play worth mentioning is that Arsenal are not quite dominating possession as before. That’s a result of Cardiff’s hustle and what looks a more direct style of play.
20 mins: Arsenal have another corner, from the same left-hand side as before but Cardiff clear it this time. Reid attempts to escape on the counter before a rather cynical foul from Bellerin.
18 mins: Cardiff go close! Mustafi gets caught out. Ward almost gets on the end of a Bobby Reid cross and then Junior Hoilett’s shot pings wide. Mustafi had let Reid go; a reminder of his shortcomings as a defender.
17 mins: John Nekrasov emails in: “Arsenal may lead, but I’m baffled at Unai Emery’s persistence in continuing to play an underwhelming Petr Cech who looks to be a greater risk to his own goal than Cardiff’s offense.”
15 mins: The corner for the goal, by the way, was delivered by Xhaka. He and Mustafi are two late-period Wenger signings who rather define the decline of the former boss.
14 mins: Cardiff rueing that Harry Arter failed to make more of that chance. He could have passed to Reid. Meanwhile, their defence is faulty. Manga makes a mess in the box and Monreal would have scored had Etheridge not bailed out his defender.
13 mins: Cardiff really need that first goal of the season now. Arsenal fans, in full voice, sing a jokey song about winning away, unlike last season. Again, Monsieur Wenger’s ears must be burning.
Goal! Cardiff 0-1 Arsenal (Mustafi, 12)
Arsenal win a corner, and Mustafi surging on to the ball, beats Sol Bamba and nods in. A fierce header, though Neil Warnock will be raging about conceding from a set piece.
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10 mins: This is more end to end stuf than expected. Cardiff have been conservative but they are pressing from the front. Cech looks their best chance of success.
9 mins: A great chance for Arsenal! Ramsey’s shot is saved by Etheridge and the follow-up is fired wide by Lacazette.
7 mins: A golden chance! And it came from more Cech discomfort. Monreal plays it to Cech whose kick out is horrendous. For a brief moment, Harry Arter had an open net but Xhaka, rather uncharacteristically, tackled back well.
5 mins: Lacazette is holding his face, and suggests that Sean Morrison dealt the blow in the penalty area. He receives little sympathy from ref Anthony Taylor.
4 mins: The Leno question has to be asked when Cech looks as uncomfortable on the ball as he has so far. At the other end, Neil Etheridge suffers similarly, and concedes a corner that Cardiff get away.
3 mins: Free-kick chance for Cardiff. Joe Rawls smashes it in but an infringement means a free-kick goes Arsenal’s way.
2 mins: The pattern of play is set as Arsenal play a passing game and the home team sit back. As soon as Cardiff get the ball, it is punted long for Ward to chase.
Away we go!
1 min: The kickoff is taken to a chorus of boos. And then Petr Cech almost does an Allison Becker as Bobby Reid presses him. No Cruyff turn, though, but as Danny Ward charges in for the goalkeeper’s next touch it is made clear that the Warnock dossier includes putting Cech’s footballing skills to the test.
The players are in the tunnel now, with Petr Cech’s skullcap to the fore. How long will he remain in the starting line-up? Arsenal didn’t spend £19m on Bernd Leno for him to be a glorified Rhys Wilmot.
Celtic have just taken the lead against Wee Stevie’s Rangers. Olivier Ntcham with the strike.
Aaron Ramsey is facing the club he began his career at. During a preview interview, he has just described Emery as a “lot more detailed on the opposition.” Arsène Wenger’s ears are burning.
Charles Antaki emails in: “Guendouzi and Xhaka in the Arsenal midfield - just the sort of settled, mature, resilient and unflappable pairing you need when confronted by a Neil Warnock team.”
Well, quite.
Unai Emery speaks.
On the benched Henrikh Mkhitaryan:
“For us he is a very important player.”
On Lacazette and AAubameyang:
“In the position, we will work the two players, the combination, today they are going to start. We want to keep our strikers on the pitch, they have the individual skills to make the difference.”
On Alex Iwobi, missing from the squad
“He has illness for today.”
On Cardiff
“The opposition, they want to go against us and we hope we can do this attacking moment, our capacity to impose this style to win this match.”
The whispers last week were that Özil and Emery had fallen out, something strenuously denied by club and manager but there does appear to be some kind of friction. Emery spoke on Friday to suggest he is still not decided on what role he wants Özil to fulfil.
Stuart James spoke this week to Sol Bamba, whose job today is stopping Lacazette and Aubameyang.
Unai Emery is a bit of a card, as shown by this video, though maybe not as funny as the forced laughter of attendant hacks might suggest.
A reminder that Cardiff are the only team of the 92 professional clubs not to have scored this season. And still they are two points clear of West Ham.
Emery’s going for it. Lacazette and Aubameyang and Özil for Arsenal. Mhki drops to the bench, and still not start for Torreira as that partnership of Guendouzi and Xhaka is persisted with. For Cardiff, there are three changes as Danny Ward, Junior Hoilett and Bobby Reid start in place of Kenneth Zohore, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Josh Murphy.
Here are the teams
Cardiff: Etheridge, Ecuele Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Bennett, Arter, Victor Camarasa, Ralls, Hoilett, Reid, Ward.
Subs: Harris, Peltier, Zohore, Paterson, Cunningham, Madine, Brian Murphy.
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Papastathopoulos, Monreal, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ramsey, Ozil, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
Subs: Elneny, Mkhitaryan, Torreira, Lichtsteiner, Holding, Leno, Welbeck.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Preamble
Last week Unai Emery got off the board, but lads, it was West Ham. This week, a trip to Cardiff to face one of English football’s prime wreckers of the high and mighty in Neil Warnock. Cardiff have begun the season looking what they are: a club promoted last season above all expectations, and with not much money shelled out on new players by owner Vincent Tan. The stage is set for a campaign of Warnock shrugging his shoulders, saying he couldn’t ask any more of his lads. Well, that and blaming the referee and who knows what else.
As for Emery, his team look exactly like what they are, a work in progress when the work is a momentous task of rebuilding. It will be instructive to see what role both Mesut Özil and Alexandre Lacazette play. The former’s absence last weekend with illness was the subject of few nods and winks and his manager has not hidden his reluctance to indulge the prince of passing, while the latter was linked with a loan move back to France that did not come off. Moussa Dembélé’s move from Celtic to Lyon probably closed that off. Emery is reaching for a formula, especially in midfield, the correct combination of Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey, Lucas Torreira and Mattéo Guendouzi plus dear old Mohamed Elneny is yet to be struck. And playing Özil and Henrikh Mhkitaryan together also looks a risk.
A fair few questions, then, for Arsenal, and Neil Warnock will want his team to make sure there are more to answer. Expect some long balls and crunching tackles.
Venue Cardiff City Stadium
Last season n/a
Referee Anthony Taylor
This season G3 Y9 R0 3 cards/game
Odds H 9-2 A 4-7 D 3-1
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