The Swedish team was trolling Arsenal on Twitter, showing them pictures of the snowy conditions in their hometown.
In the last 5 years, Arsenal have faced pyromaniacs in Athens, 2 different sets of lunatics in Istanbul, and actual war criminals in Belgrade. Did Östersund really think Arsenal were going to be intimidated by a little cold?
They weren't. Despite a makeshift lineup due to injuries, and to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being "cup-tied" because he'd already played for Borussia Dortmund in the competition this season, Arsenl won 3-0, starting with a goal by Spanish left back Ignacio "Nacho" Monreal, who has now scored 5 goals this season -- an astounding number for any defender. There was an own goal off an Östersund defender, and Mesut Özil added another.
Someone tweeted, "Lionel Messi career goals against Ostersund: 0."
Messi's okay, but can he do it on a cold Thursday night in Sweden? Özil did.
Let's not forget that Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dive, and Özil doesn't. And that they've never won the World Cup, while Özil not only did it, but beat Messi to do it.
Arsenal will play the 2nd leg of the Round next Thursday, at home, at the Emirates Stadium in North London.
In stoppage time, Östersund were awarded a penalty. This surprised no one. A consequential match? With Arsenal as the opponents? As the visitors? When goals will be at a premium in the 2nd leg? Never mind that it was almost pointless: Of course, the penalty was awarded.
David Ospina, Arsenal's 2nd-string goalkeeper, saved it, preserving the 3-0 lead as the final score.
Arsenal's starting goalie is the former Chelsea legend, Czech keeper Petr Čech. As James Goldman pointed out in the British tabloid Metro last month:
For a goalkeeper who famously played a starring role in a Champions League final shootout, the former Chelsea star has an appalling record when it comes to facing spot kicks. On Wednesday evening, Eden Hazard became the 15th player to face Petr Cech from 12 yards during his Arsenal career and the 15th player to score past him. Even more embarrassingly for the 35-year-old, he has contrived to dive the wrong way on 12 occasions and four times in succession.
Indeed, Ospina's stop was the 1st time Arsenal had stopped an in-game penalty -- not to be confused with penalty kicks ending a drawn cup tie -- since March 11, 2014. At home, in the 2nd leg of a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie, Polish keeper Łukasz Fabiański (now with Swansea City) stopped one of the best strikers in the world,Thomas Müller. It didn't matter, as the match ended 1-1, thus 3-1 to Bayern Munich on aggregate.
The reason Fabiański was in there in the first place is that Arsenal's starter, Wojciech Szczęsny, had been sent off in the Munich leg, forcing manager Arsène Wenger to put in Fabiański and take off an attacking player, Santi Cazorla, and losing 2-0. In Germany, where Bayern seem to win the Bundesliga every year, this is known as Der Bayern Dusel -- the Bavarian Luck.
Petr Čech, by all accounts, is a good man. But, a few weeks away from his 36th birthday, he is no longer a viable goalkeeper for a top-level European soccer team. Given his performances for Arsenal over the last 3 seasons, including Arsenal's tumble out of the Premier League's Champions League places, his purchase price from Chelsea of £10 million has gone from absolute bargain to absolute ripoff.
Arsenal hadn't saved a penalty since March 11, 2014. That's 3 years, 11 months and 4 days. How long has that been?
*
Since then, Arsenal have brought in Čech, Ospnia, Aubameyang, Alexis Sánchez, Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers, Danny Welbeck, Krystian Bielik, Gabriel Paulista, Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Rob Holding, Lucas Pérez, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolašinac, Alexandre Lacazette, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
And they've sold Fabiański, Szczęsny, Alexis, Debuchy, Gabriel, Tomáš Rosický, Bacary Sagna, Johan Djourou, Abou Diaby, Nicklas Bendtner, Kieran, Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thomas Vermaelen, Lukas Podolski, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini, Serge Gnabry, Ignasi Miquel, Benik Afobe, Park Chu-Young, Ryo Miyaichi, Thomas Eisfeld, Yaya Sanogo, Jon Toral, Francis Coquelin, Theo Walcott, and (this was painful) Olivier Giroud.
(If you can't pronounce some of that, don't worry about it.)
And, while Arsenal finished 2nd in 2016, they finished 5th last season, their 1st finish outside the top 4, and thus the Champions League qualification, since 1996. The team currently sits 6th in the Premier League table, 8 points out of 4th, and a whopping 27 points behind League-leading Manchester City.
However, since then, Arsenal have won the FA Cup in 2014, 2015 and 2017, and, this season, have reached the Final of the League Cup, have all but advanced to the Europa League's Round of 16, and qualifying for the 2018-19 Champions League is still possible -- though, thanks to a recent rule change, they would qualify automatically if we win the Europa League.
Soccer legends Dave Mackay, Ron Springett, Howard Kendall, Gerry Byrne, Jimmy Hill, Cyrille Regis, Jimmy Armfield, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Johan Cruyff, Cesare Maldini, Carlos Alberto, Raymond Kopa, Hilderaldo Bellini, Gyula Grosics, Fyodor Cherenkov, Udo Lattek, Zito, Josef Masopust, Alcides Ghiggia, Ignacio Zoco, Márton Fülöp, Pavel Srníček, Slobodan Santrač, Hannes Löhr, Viktor Tsaryov, Piet Keizer, Karl Stotz, Roberto Ferreiro, Todor Veselinović, Cheick Tioté, Waldir Peres, József Tóth, Manuel Sanchís Martínez, Feliciano Rivilla, Hans Schäfer, Henning Jensen, Liam Miller, Arsenal legends David Herd and Don Howe, and, a soccer legend in a way, Malcolm Glazer have since died.
So have these legends in other sports: Muhammad Ali, Gordie Howe, Yogi Berra, Jean Béliveau, Arnold Palmer, Jake LaMotta, Roy Halladay, Viktor Tikhonov, Moses Malone, Jonah Lomu, Mal Whitfield, Bob Foster, Dolph Schayes, Nate Thurmond, Věra Čáslavská, Sammy Lee, Miruts Yifter, Milt Schmidt, Darrall Imhoff, John Kundla, Bobby Doerr, Jana Novotná, Johnny Bower and Jo Jo White.
So have actors Mickey Rooney, James Garner, Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Lee, Dick Van Patten, Patrick Macnee, Omar Sharif, George Kennedy, Anton Yelchin, Kenny Baker, Gene Wilder, Robert Vaughn, Alan Thicke, Miguel Ferrer, John Hurt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Roger Moore, Adam West, Martin Landau, Robert Guillaume, Jim Nabors. So have actresses Lauren Bacall, Luise Rainer, Anita Ekberg, Maurren O'Hara, Patty Duke, Florence Henderson, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher, Mary Tyler Moore and Jeanne Moreau.
So have comedians Joan Rivers, Robin Williams, Don Rickles, Dick Gregory and Jerry Lewis. So have directors Wes Craven, George Romero, Michael Cimino and Jonathan Demme. So have TV show hosts Terry Wogan, Bruce Forsyth and Monty Hall.
So have music personalities Ian McLagan, Joe Cocker, Lesley Gore, Ben E. King, B.B. King, Ornette Coleman, Cilla Black, Scott Weiland, Lemmy Kilmister, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Paul Kantner, Maurice White, George Martin, Merle Haggard, Prince, Neville Marriner, Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell, George Michael, Chris Cornell, Gregg Allman, Glen Campbell, Tom Petty, Fats Domino, Della Reese, Mel Tillis, David Cassidy, Johnny Hallyday, Keely Smith, Dolores O'Riordan, Hugh Masekela, Dennis Edwards and Vic Damone.
So have writers Maya Angelou, Gabriel García Márquez, E.L. Doctorow, Oliver Sacks, Jackie Collins, Umberto Eco, Harper Lee, Elie Wiesel, Edward Albee, William Peter Blatty, Yevgeny Yetvushenko, Sam Shepard, Peter Mayle and Ursula K. Le Guin.
So have Playboy baron Hugh Hefner, fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, scientist Henry Heimlich, murder-cult leader Charles Manson; astronauts John Glenn, Edgar Mitchell, Gene Cernan and John Young; 1963 scandal-producer Christine Keeler; and 1983 nuclear war-preventer Stanislav Petrov.
So have American political figures Mario Cuomo, Antonin Scalia and Nancy Reagan; British political figures Tony Benn, Ian Paisley, Denis Healey, Geoffrey Howe, Antony Armstrong-Jones, and the sitting Dukes of Marlborough and Wellington. So have former Australian Prime Ministers Edward Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser. So have former German Chancellors Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl.
So have international leaders Wojciech Jaruszelski, Jean-Claude Duvalier, Lee Kuan Yew, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Shimon Peres, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Manuel Noriega. So have Kings Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Rama IX of Thailand, Kigeli V of Rwanda and Michael I of Romania, and Emir Khalifa of Qatar.
And so has my father.
The World Cup has since been held in Brazil. So has the Olympics. The Olympics are now being held again, in Korea.
The Mayor of London, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, the President of the United States, the Mayor of New York and the Governor of New Jersey have all been replaced.
The following shows have debuted on American TV: Fargo, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Last Ship, Tyrant, Girl Meets World, The Leftovers, Married at First Sight, Rush, You're the Worst, Skin Wars, Madam Secretary, Scorpion, NCIS: New Orleans, Black-ish, How to Get Away with Murder, Jane the Virgin, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, Empire, Fresh Off the Boat, Better Call Saul, Secrets and Lies, Younger, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Royals, Lip Sync Battle, Grace and Frankie, Sense8, Quantico, Dr. Ken, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Chicago Med, Making a Murderer, Shades of Blue, Billions, American Crime Story, The Real O'Neals, Queen of the South, Better Late Than Never, Bull, Designated Survivor, The Mick, Riverdale, Big Little Lies, The Good Fight, Chicago Justice, 13 Reasons Why, Dear White People, Claws, 911, Our Cartoon President; and the baseball show Pitch.
Also, the historical dramas Turn: Washington's Spies, Penny Dreadful, The Alienist and The Crown; the Full House update Fuller House; the completely unnecessary and absolutely fatuous Big Bang Theory prequel show Young Sheldon; the awful reboots of The Odd Couple, MacGyver and Dynasty; the somewhat better reboots of One Day at a Time and S.W.A.T.; and the Archie reboot Riverdale.
Also, the Star Trek tribute The Orville and the insult Star Trek: Discovery; the fantasy shows Forever, Outlander, Z Nation, Star Wars Rebels, The Librarians, The Man in the High Castle, 12 Monkeys, Fear the Walking Dead, Lucifer, American Gothic, Stranger Things, Westworld, Constantine, Ash vs. Evil Dead, Wynonna Earp, Preacher and American Gods; and the superhero shows Gotham, The Flash, Agent Carter, Daredevil, Blindspot, Supergirl, Jessica Jones, Legends of Tomorrow, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Superhuman, Inhumans, The Punisher, Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighers, Black Lightning, and the reboot of The Tick.
Airing their finales were How I Met Your Mother, Being Human, Warehouse 13, Dora the Explorer, Drop Dead Diva, True Blood, Chelsea Lately, the update of Dallas, Boardwalk Empire, Ben 10, Sons of Anarchy, The Newsroom, White Collar, The Colbert Report, The Mentalist, Two and a Half Men, Parks and Recreation, Glee, Cougar Town, Justified, Mad Men, Hot in Cleveland, Phineas and Ferb, Key & Peele, Hannibal, the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, America's Next Top Model, The Mysteries of Laura, The Good Wife, Castle, Mike & Molly, The McLaughlin Group, Rizzoli & Isles, The Vampire Diaries, Workaholics, Bones, Duck Dynasty, Grimm, Sleepy Hollow, Black Sails, Girls, 2 Broke Girls, Bates Motel, Reign, Pretty Little Liars, Orphan Black and The Mindy Project. Jay Leno handed The Tonight Show over to Jimmy Fallon.
The Number 1 song in America was "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. St. Vincent released her self-titled... 4th album. Shakira released her self-titled... 10th album. Lea Michele released Louder. Prices of pretty much everything have stayed relatively stable, although wages have also remained stagnant. For everybody, it seems, except athletes and CEOs. Sony PS3 and Wii were battling it out to be the leading home video game system.
In the late Winter and early Spring of 2014, there was a revolution in Ukraine, with a pro-Russian leader removed, before Russia started to intervene, including an annexation of the Crimea that Ukraine was powerless to prevent. President Barack Obama put new economic sanctions on Russia, proving that he could wreck a country's economy -- just not his own. In retaliation, Russian President Vladimir Putin hijacked America's next election.
Belgium became the 1st country in the world to legalized euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age. Malaysia Airlines Fight 370 disappeared over the Gulf of Thailand, and neither it nor any of the 239 people on board has ever been found. Boko Haram captured 276 girls from a school in Nigeria. The Korean ferry MV Sewol sank, killing 304 people. And the Catholic Church canonized Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.
Shirley Temple, and Sid Caesar, and Sir Tom Finney died. Bodhi Green (son of Megan Fox & Brian Austin Green), and Apollo Rossdale (son of Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale), and Tristan and Sasha Hemsworth (twins of Elsa Pataky & Chris Hemsworth) were born.
March 11, 2014. Łukasz Fabiański saved a penalty by Thomas Müller. An Arsenal goalkeeper saved a penalty.
It took nearly 4 years, but now, it has happened again.
As long as Petr Cech is Arsenal's 1st choice keeper, don't expect another anytime soon.
In the late Winter and early Spring of 2014, there was a revolution in Ukraine, with a pro-Russian leader removed, before Russia started to intervene, including an annexation of the Crimea that Ukraine was powerless to prevent. President Barack Obama put new economic sanctions on Russia, proving that he could wreck a country's economy -- just not his own. In retaliation, Russian President Vladimir Putin hijacked America's next election.
Belgium became the 1st country in the world to legalized euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age. Malaysia Airlines Fight 370 disappeared over the Gulf of Thailand, and neither it nor any of the 239 people on board has ever been found. Boko Haram captured 276 girls from a school in Nigeria. The Korean ferry MV Sewol sank, killing 304 people. And the Catholic Church canonized Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.
Shirley Temple, and Sid Caesar, and Sir Tom Finney died. Bodhi Green (son of Megan Fox & Brian Austin Green), and Apollo Rossdale (son of Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale), and Tristan and Sasha Hemsworth (twins of Elsa Pataky & Chris Hemsworth) were born.
March 11, 2014. Łukasz Fabiański saved a penalty by Thomas Müller. An Arsenal goalkeeper saved a penalty.
It took nearly 4 years, but now, it has happened again.
As long as Petr Cech is Arsenal's 1st choice keeper, don't expect another anytime soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment