On the Road Again!

After the "first elevens" had played out a 3-1 victory to Liverpool on Monday in the Premier league at Anfield, most Arsenal fans, like me, must have been thinking that the "second elevens" would face a similar fate. And for most of the game we would have been right. Last year the "seconds" played out a 5-5 draw and it was settled in Liverpool's favour in a penalty shoot-out. This year a slightly different collection of "seconds" managed a 0-0 draw after 93 minutes. This year there are no extra time add-ons, it's straight to penalties. Although  to be brutally honest with better finishing and Arsenal's Leno not making "world class saves" Liverpool would have been home and dry. That's not to say that Arsenal didn't have their chances.  They were as inept in front of goal. This year Arsenal came out on top. This year no players blasted wildly over the goal, and the goalkeepers made saves. The deciding factor was Leno s...

First proper non friendly game of the new season. Usually just a week before the Premier League starts but not this year. Arsenal as FA Cup holders play the League Champions, Liverpool. It's at Wembley and as usual under Covid-19 rules no fans allowed.  Let's see what happens.  Update 18:24 1-1. Aubameyang 12 Minimino 72 Penalties. Update 19:00 Arsenal win 5-4 on penalties. The 16th time the club has won the Charity/Community Shield.

After siesta we set off for the Plaza Mayor again. A sit in the sun to see what we would do. The restaurants were setting up the tv sets for the Champions League Final. We are about 140 miles from Madrid and most of the locals were supporting one team and it wasn't Liverpool. Over dinner we watched the first half. At Meson Hostal de Cadena. Superb food and the local red was easy to drink. I usually avoid red wine. I do like it but it seems to upset my stomach and so I don't have any. We paid the bill at half time before a last couple of pics. BTW. Real Madrid won 3-1. Tomorrow we head for Mèrida but have a few stops on the way. posted from Bloggeroid

Trussed up like a chicken, or rather a pork(er) joint, I waddled across to the garage to get the GS out for a short run up to London for the Arsenal home game with the Scousers, aka Liverpool FC. The weather forecast was for cold and blustery. So it was in bright sunshine that I set off complete with thermal undershirt, rugby shirt and thick jumper. I also decided to give my Nitro N700 helmet a day out. When I don’t need the GPS headset, it is quieter than the Caberg J1S, and more restful. I bought it a few years ago and it had an outing and promptly fell of the seat on a trip to Ypres and the paint got damaged on the chin, apart from that it shows no other damage, but there’s always a suspicion, isn’t there? Time seemed to be slipping away as I was stuck at 25mph on the lanes getting to the A20. A succession of pensioners wrapped up in their coats and hats despite, no doubt, having the heating on at full pelt in their 51-reg Protons or Daihatsus! I took the A20, as once again I needed...