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September
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Going up against Stoke is never easy for Arsenal and I was prepared for a tough match. Ozil gave us the lead in the first minute as we scored before Stoke had even touched the ball! It was an even game until Welbeck put us two up but Stoke hit right back with a goal through Assaidi. An uneventful second half meant the game ended 2-1.
Our first Champions League match came against Hungarian side Ferencvaros and I fielded a fully rotated side as I expected an easy win. I wasn’t wrong either as Barkley gave us an early lead with his first goal for the club. Walcott scored shortly after and Chamberlain added a third before halftime. Annoyingly they managed to score in the second half but they had a player sent off shortly after. Giroud wrapped things up late on to give us a 4-1 win.
Next up was probably our biggest match of the month as we travelled to Anfield to face Liverpool. I anticipated a tough match, as they had won all their games at this point. It was a quiet start but we gave away a penalty in the 22nd minute after Balotelli was brought down. Luckily had to leave the field temporarily and Glen Jonson was left to take the penalty, which Szczesny saved. Shortly after we had been let off the hook Giroud put us in the lead with a fine finish. It wasn’t long until Liverpool pulled one back through Lallana but Koscielny restored our lead almost immediately. We were 2-1 up at halftime and held that lead for most of the second half. Liverpool’s new signing, Carlos Bacca, entered the fray late on and started to cause our defence problems. He got onto the end of a Balotelli cross a fired the ball into the net to equalise. I couldn’t believe that we had lost our lead again but a draw was a fair result.
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Our first tie in the Capital One Cup came against Nottingham Forest and I fielded a few youngsters, which included Gnabry, Laycock and Cleiton. Wilshere opened the scoring from the penalty spot. Laycock became Arsenal’s youngest ever player and goalscorer as he made it 2-0. Yarmolenko and Sanchez scored the third and fourth to give us an easy win.
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We strolled past Newcastle as the English lads ran the show. Welbeck scored the first after a bit of fine play by the team. Sterling scored after Krul parried Welbeck’s shot. Chamberlain curled his shot into the far corner (Henry would have been proud) to give us a comfortable win.
The month wrapped up against my old team, Valencia. Benitez set his team up to defend and I expected that it would be tougher to break them down but Barkley proved that wouldn’t be the case as he scored inside the first ten minutes. Giroud soon followed up with another goal shortly after and it wasn’t looking good for Valencia. Soon Koscielny was joining in too as he struck one in. Giroud went on to score a hattrick as we thrashed them 5-0. I gave Benitez a few tips after the match (In all seriousness this just highlighted my need to move on from Valencia to a bigger club if I want to challenge in the Champions League).
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Player of the Month
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Koscielny was my player of the month for some decent defensive performances and two goals this month.
Champions League Table
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Top of the group on goal difference. Surprised that Valencia have been so poor.
League Table
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We're third on goal difference but it's still early days yet.