Liverpool lucky to leave the Emirates...alive!

The youngest squad in the Prem just went toe-to-toe with one of the world's best squads ever and had it on the ropes for the better part of 45 minutes. Not just on the ropes. That's too mild, too generous to our visitors. We were inches away from delivering sharp uppercuts, maybe even knockout punches, to a squad that has legitimate designs on an quadruple, all the more so thanks to Crystal Palace finding a draw against Man City at the weekend (throwing chum to the Scousian sharks). A more-experienced side might have finished off any of the four gilt-edged chances it created for itself in the first half; any one of those might have been enough to secure a vital three points when even one was probably more than any of us could have reasonably hoped for.

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool Vote for Player Ratings & MOTM!

Arsenal delivered a determined, energetic performance but couldn't finish any of the numerous chances we created, and it looked like all of that effort and verve would go to waste when Milner punished us on the hour after Leno dove to deflect a cross in. In previous years, we might have crumbled to dust and been swept away. This is a new Arsenal now, and, sure enough, we fought back and Lacazette delivered a stunning equaliser, beating Allison to Iwobi's pass, cutting back upfield, and curling his shot in. It's a result that yours truly would have glady taken ahead of the match but feels a touch disappointing given how we played. Then again, we more than answered any critics or doubters as our undefeated streak continutes. Let's get down to the poll!

Arsenal 5:0 Burnley—Vote for Player Ratings & MOTM!

Well, if you're going to bid adieu to a manager of 22 seasons, you could do worse than we did today—a clean sheet and five goals in a dominant, confident outing, never truly troubled by Burnley even if the visitors might have fancied a chance at getting level on points with us. About the only element missing from the otherwise-perfect performances might be a cameo from Santi Cazorla. As it was, the margin was comfortable enough to allow Per Mertesacker a chance to come in and earn an ovation or two. Anyway, it was an inspired, organized performance that should remind us that the squad has some quality in it. Arsène may not have gotten the send-off season he deserved, but this result should warm his heart all the same. Enough maudlin stuff, though; let's get to the poll!

Arsenal 0-3 Man City—Vote for Player-Ratings & MOTM!

You have to know that when your game-plan consists of hoping that the opposition will go easy on you after thrashing you just a few days ago, you're clutching at straws. Man Cit waltzed in and picked up right where they left on Sunday, scoring three goals in the first half to end this one before it had even begun. The only real question was whether they would relax enough to let us score. We did see Mkhitaryan earn a penalty, only for Aubameyang to squander it with a tame shot that Ederson had no trouble saving. While it's true that we came awfully close to opening the scoring, we again fell apart after we conceded. This was an ugly one. Well, hold your noses and get down to the poll to give 'em what they deserve...

Arsenal 1-3 Man U: Vote for Player Ratings & MOTM!

Arsenal conceded two sloppy goals in the first ten minutes, all but gifting the match to the visitors before it had even begun. Minutes into the second half, though, Lacazette found a goal to breathe some hope back into the squad. It was short-lived, however, as Lingard scored again. Even a straight red to Pogba for a studs-up "tackle" on Bellerin didn't invigorate us enough to find a way past de Gea although he was tested on several occasions. It's a disappointing result, obviously, as it suggests yet again that we're not quite cut from the kind of cloth that champions or even contenders wear. So it goes. We'll have to dust ourselves off quickly and get right back to work after this setback. More on that later. For now, let's rate the lads...

Ramsey's Resurrection, Arsenal's ascendance, Arsène's absolution?

At long last, Arsène has embarrassed Mourinho. At first gloss, it would be easy to shrug off the result as meaningless, what with Mourinho's injury-woes and Europa League priorities. A second glance suggests that these are exactly the factors that play to Mourinho's "big match" preferences: an away-match against a hated rival, with selection-dilemmas, and a vital point the preferred outcome. Indeed, this was one in which Mourinho's tactics and psychological edge should have won the day. That they didn't might just herald something special, if only in the realm of spite if not silverware...

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand at the Emirates...Near them, on the pitch,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
'My name is Arsèmandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. 'Round the decay
of that colossal Wreck, boundlesss and bare
the lone and level sands stretch far away."

Thus standeth Arsène's reign, crumbling to dust, slipping through his fingers just as he was on the cusp of seizing a destiny he had envisioned for so many years...

Arsenal 1-2 Watford—Vote in the Player Ratings/MotM Poll!

Well, I can barely bring myself to type anything, but here's the best I can do under the circumstances. After dominating proceedings for the first fifteen minutes, we settled into a rather grim torpor until Watford opened us up on their first shot on target in the match, adding a second from a screamer that seemed to go staight through Ospina. Welbeck pulled one back after being subbed on but missed a sitter that migth have earned us a replay—not that we'd've deserved one. Our mythic quest for a third straight FA Cup lies in ruins, and we have to pin all of our hopes on an epic finish to our Prem campaign to at least finish second. Well, let's get down to the poll and slate, er, rate our lads...

Arsenal now 10/11 favorites to win the Prem after manhandling Man City...

Man City's fans may complain that, once again, they faced Arsenal without a key player. Last January at the Etihad, they were without Yaya Touré as the visiting Gunners shocked them 0-2 to end a twelve-match unbeaten run; this time through, they were without Vincent Kompany. Whoever was on the pitch each time, though, City showed an arrogance and tactical naïveté that played right into Arsenal's hands. As with last January's clash, City dominated possession only to come away (almost) empty-handed as Arsenal were content so lure their visitors forward and hit hard on counterattacks. It worked 11 months ago; it worked again on Monday. It wasn't always pretty, but, dammit, it worked.

Arsenal 2-1 Man City: Vote for Player Ratings/MotM!

First-half goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud, both assisted by—who else?—Mesut Özil gave Arsenal an early lead they never looked like relinquishing. While it's true that most of the first half saw Man City pushing their hosts further and further back, they could never quite a find way past the back four or Petr Čech. It wasn't until the 81st minute that Yaya Touré, nonchalant to the end, chipped it past Čech to put the outcome in doubt. The goal brought to life a squad that had otherwise looked a bit sluggish and indifferent after the first twenty minutes. and the last ten saw some sphincter-clenching moments. However, Man City left themselves to little time to fight their way back, and Arsenal escape with an emphatic, important victory. Get down to the poll and give our lads what they deserve!

This one's for all the marbles; win on Monday, win the Prem...

This one's for all the marbles, folks, at least those left behind by Leicester. Without disrespecting Ranieri's side, Man City's to the Emirates represents the most-vital clash of the current campaign. In a season in which no one can quiet the skeptics, Arsenal and Man City have emerged as the putative front-runners for winning the Prem. Both sides have been ravaged by injuries, but takes none of the shine off of this clash.

Apparently, Flamini didn't get the memo...

Well, that didn't go according to plan. We were supposed to let Tottenham have this one, the better to let them squabble with lower-tier clubs Bournemouth, Middlesbrough, or Liverpool. Instead, we're through to the round of 16, no thanks to Flamini's antics. Leave it to him to go rogue on an evening when, despite the intensity of a North London Derby at White Hart Lane, letting the baby have its bottle could have been the order of the day. I should have known something was up when I started the XI Arsène named. Nary an Academy player to be seen, with only Iwobi and Macey on the bench. Was Arsène trying to win this one? That's when I noticed who'd be in the defensive midfield. That's when it started to make sense. Briefly.

Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal: Vote for Player Ratings/MotM

The first half was all Arsenal as Newcastle defended dogged and at times desperately. Referee Andre Marriner missed a soft but clear penalty call as Bellerín went down in the box but saw sit to send off new man Mitrovic in the fifteenth minute for a studs-up challenge on Coquelin. Ten-man Toon seemed to draw inspiration, though, launching ambitious counters even if they did fizzle out. Despite the man-advantage, Arsenal couldn't get past Krul, and it was scoreless at halftime. Oxlade-Chamberlain finally opened the scoring shortly after halftime, his shot sluicing through Coloccini's legs to beat Krul. Between our quest for a perfect goal and Krul's tenacity, that turned out to be all the scoring for the day. Head down to the poll to rate our lads' performance...

FA confuses Gibbs and Ox again, and fans fightin'...

All rights' in the world again, it seems. We're back to winning ways. We all agree that Wenger should stay infinitely, Sanogo is full of potential, and fourth place is once again our target. Elsewhere, flowers are blooming, birds and bees are attempting to mate (although I'm almost sure there's some kind of law, natural or otherwise, that agitates against this abomination. What would result? Birds that sting? Bees that sing? Birds with bees in their mouths and when they sing they shoot bees at you? The horror). Just when I thought that the chorus was warming up to sing a rousing rendition of kumbayah, however, the storm clouds gathered. Always with the storm clouds. Of course, it is raining in these parts, so that might be more about cold fronts and cumulonimubus clouds than symbolism...

After a drubbing like that, who deserves a hiding the most?

Well, I don't think any of us anticipated a loss like this one. Six goals? Six? After the first two, I thought, "we're still in this." Once Ox—er, Gibbs—got sent off, I thought, maybe Szcz will make the save to keep us in it. It didn't come to pass. At 3-0, I hoped for some face-saving rallies, but it wasn't in the cards. When the wheels come off like this, who takes the blame? Who should be taken out behind the woodshed and given a proper hiding? At the risk of sounding intemperate, I say everyone. Every one. Wenger. The players. Mourinho. Marriner. Even us.