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Arsenal 2 - 2 Sunderland
Montella's first league game in charge wasn't convincing. We dropped a 2-0 lead at home to struggling Sunderland. Not what I had wished for to improve our form.
West Brom 0 - 4 Arsenal
Now that's more like it. A brace from Lukaku, as well as goals from central midfielders Ramsey and Martinez gave us a perfect away win.
Arsenal 5 - 2 Cardiff
Well, Montella sure has the fans buzzing. 11 goals scored in his first 3 games in charge. A brace as well as 2 assists for Sterling, who was the star of the show with a perfect 10.0 rating.
West Ham 2 - 1 Arsenal
Montella's first defeat. We were not good enough at the Olympic stadium, and lost deservedly to an impressive Hammers side.
Swansea 0 - 2 Arsenal
But we were not down for long. We bounce back with an impressive win away in Wales. 2 goals in 2 minutes from Sanchez and Martinez gave us a solid 3 points.
Arsenal 1 - 1 Man Utd
What a frustrating result this was. We completely dominated the league leaders and should have won, but in the end, we might well have lost the game. Januzaj gave United the lead in the second half with what ended up being their only shot on target. It took a late equalizer from the unlikely source of Sakho to give us a draw.
Arsenal 3 - 1 Hull
Another win, and another good performance. Noone can accuse Montella of not being entertaining. Goals from Sterling, Sanchez and Oxlade-Chamberlain gave us the win, as former player Wanyama got on the scoresheet for Hull.
Middlesbrough 2 - 3 Arsenal
We took the win from Riverside, but not in any way comfortably. Sanchez and Sterling continued their impressive spring form with Sanchez netting a brace. Our defending under Montella leaves some to be desired, but outscoring the opposition is always popular with the fans!
Arsenal 4 - 1 Man City
What a game by the Gunners. We finally get a solid result against one of the title candidates. Sterling was fantastic once again and netted a brace. Lukaku and Özil also got on the scoresheet as City simply could not cope with our fluent attacking style.
Chelsea 1 - 1 Arsenal
A good result at the Bridge, but after going 1-0 up and playing against 10 men after Costa's sending off, I had hoped for all 3 points. Sterling scored for the 4th game in a row, as he is really thriving in the striker position favoured by Montella.
Arsenal 2 - 4 Newcastle
And in typical Arsenal fashion, just as we have gotten the results we want from the big games, and are starting to mount a challenge, we throw it all away at home. Newcastle have made a huge turnaround after their horrible start to the season, and look to be fighting for European spots, but we really should do better at home. We were made to pay by their efficient counter attacks, and despite Sterling scoring again, we lost deservedly.
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1st knockout stage:
Arsenal 2 - 1 Sampdoria
A good win at home, but we concede a dangerous away goal, and have to get a result in Italy. Sterling and Martinez with the goals as Marquinhos had a terrific game at right back.
Sampdoria 1 - 4 Arsenal
The conclusion was never in doubt here. Martinez gave us an early lead with another goal, and we never looked back. A brace from Sanchez and a late Aboubakar goal gave us a very solid win.
Quarter Finals
Man Utd 3 - 2 Arsenal
We got a decent result in the end, thanks to 2 away goals. But we really should have done even more. 2 goals in 3 minutes from Sanchez gave us a 2-1 lead within 20 minutes. But after that, we stopped playing, and we're 3-2 down by half time. Thankfully, Pogba got himself sent off, and will miss the second leg.
Arsenal 2 - 1 Man Utd
We finally got the better of United! Once again, it all happened in the first half. The usual suspects, Sterling and Sanchez gave us a 2-0 lead within 11 minutes. But the lead only lasted a minute, as Müller pulled one back early in the first half. In the end, we deserved the win and make it through to the semi-finals where we face Italian giants Juventus in a juicy tie. Being the only English team left, a lot of responsibility rests on our shoulders to prevent the Premier League from being bypassed by the Serie A and losing a CL spot.
Montella has got the fans behind him, and plays extremely entertaining football. We have scored in all games except one (our 0-2 loss to Spurs in the cup) after he took charge. He has really gotten the best out of Raheem Sterling and Alexis Sanchez, and it's nice to see our new signing Niklas Süle, performing brilliantly when given the chance. However, if this season should be considered successful, we have to overcome Juventus in the CL. Losing out in the semi-finals, and ending the season in 3rd will not be good enough.
