Annoyman

Almiron actually got booked for diving today

Not up to the same standard as the Newcastle game in the second half, but they showed good character to get the second goal after finally being put under a period of pressure. Luiz didn't have his best game but showed really good technique to get it over the wall and down McGinn was incredible today, a joy to watch when he turns into space and drives forward. Was worried about discipline after the early yellow but he maintained his intensity without ever walking the tightrope after that. Reiterating that this has been Mings' best season for us, he's adapted to playing the ball out from the back extremely well and while he's not error-free, the talking point that he has one major dropped bollock in every game has slowly receded out of existence afaik The challenge for the pen was a clear pen, but yeah it's just why the offside aspect of the check was announced as complete with no transparency after the single replay showed him looking off. Thankfully every other one of their attacks was visibly, hilariously two yards off. Match of the Day might clear it up if they can be arsed Hopefully goal difference doesn't come into it at the end of the season, still a lot to do.

To be fair, if you'd told me on Emery's first day in the job that Man United would be the first team to keep a clean sheet against him, I'd have believed you. If you'd told me it would be in the away game in April...maybe not

A narrow defeat in a tough game, where we could have scored before that but for a slip. United are better than us and they turned up and had a plan that worked, it is what it is. We're thin and have been showing signs of running on fumes for a bit, hopefully we'll get some of the absentees back in training and get a reaction to the defeat. The ref was letting a lot go for both sides but it wasn't some egregiously terrible refereeing performance, despite the hopeful penalty appeals from United. Not a good day for Buendia, who was frustrated and hassled out of it

United having that stupid slope at the edge of the pitch is such a liability

"Villa have 7 clean sheets in the last 10, Utd have 6 in the last 9" is a weird way to frame a stat United are at it today, doing well to stay in it, but we look like we've got a gear we can switch to on the occasions where we get space United have already mentally awarded themselves the first penalty

Blowing silly money to nick the seemingly completely useless Mudryk from under Arsenal's noses, only for Arsenal to just buy Trossard for a fraction of the cost and have him immediately fit in perfectly, too funny

Tragic to think what Lampard could have achieved if he'd only been appointed five or six games earlier

Feels like they've done enough to get over the line and Spurs and United aren't pulling up trees; Chelsea and presumably Liverpool just completely noping out of Champions League contention really left it open. I wouldn't expect them to go into a cataclysmic tailspin off the back of this result but who knows Their match thread is a hell of a journey, pre-match all about how Brummies have stupid accents and this forum's basing its perception of their form coming into the game on pathetic, remedial analysis, but the thread is called "Unai "Nee Baals" Emery's Beige Renaissance vs Eddie "Baals in a Wheelbarrow" Howe's UNSTOPPABLE Lunchtime Mags" and also largely hinges on one of their regulars' pathetic, remedial analysis of how our form is actually worse than it is because of xG; then as soon as the match starts it's just "****", "baals", "****", before settling on bitterly complaining about the ref correctly penalising the many fouls they committed I guess the mental load of constantly pretending that it's fine that your club's success is funded by murderous tyrants just breaks people's brains after a while

At this rate there'll be a VT ratings and reactions thread that doesn't mention [the previous manager] before a team keeps a clean sheet against Villa Slight wobble today at one point today notwithstanding, is this low-key the best season of Tyrone Mings' career? He might have had more clean sheets in Smith's second PL season, but the way he's adapted to the playing out from the back has been transformative Moreno setting a new level for his best performance for us, again, Watkins completely unplayable, Buendia and McGinn just rabidly making things happen for every minute of the 90, Ramsey back to being confident and making good decisions with the ball; I feel like wherever we finish it's nice to feel like it's basically guaranteed that the team is going to be enjoyable to follow for the forseeable future

[deranged cackling intensifies]

You have to think Eddie Howe will be giving Match of the Day a miss tonight, probably just an early night after a nice warm bath [in journalists' blood] with a nice glass of [journalists' blood]

Newcastle absolutely battering us in substitutions made. A real moral victory for them you have to say

The entire team just knows how to play with Watkins so well now, unreal

Newcastle have forced the ref to let things go with how aggressive they've been, and then they're mad when it goes against them

Pope sadly making a much better job of that headed clearance than he did against Liverpool

We were a bit flat and autopilot against Leicester and Forest but fair play he's got them up for this one unbelievably. I guess a full week of rest helps Just got to hope no injuries as we're so thin

One day a team will keep a clean sheet against Emery's Villa. But not today

Positive goal difference, Traore apparently committed to repeatedly scoring variants of the same goal, Watkins a machine Moreno not his best game for us but unlucky not to get an assist for Buendia, Ramsay not quite at it either but showed v good composure to switch it back to Watkins at the exact right time Emery just doing the tiiiiniest little smile as he storms off down the tunnel Voting Ashley Young for MOTM for not collapsing into dust and gently drifting away on the breeze (also he was very composed and had no problems at all) Think that's three games in a row now we've had at least one corner/goal kick decision go wrongly against us

dupe

We were briefly top 3 in Smith's winning run at the start of our second season back in PL but only very early on

Bert just gonna score increasingly scrappy versions of the Leicester goal until it's being deflected in off his foot on the goal line

We're hopefully not likely to concede five like the last time we played them at home. An early goal via a set piece or a bit of freakish luck/skill would certainly set the tone

I've got nothing against Leicester, was happy enough that they won the league and the FA cup, but it is deeply amusing to me how miserable that last 15 minutes was for their fans God, remember when they beat us 4-0 just before COVID hit and literally nobody would have said we had a chance of staying up

Was about to say I was worried that Bert with short hair isn't Bert, no air of carefree eccentricity radiating off him, and then he does what Bert does