Arsenal started December off with a difficult match against Manchester United. The team needed to start fast and they did just the opposite, giving away two embarrassing goals early on. After that the team improved significantly, and battered the away side for much of the remainder of the match.

For the third big game in a row, Lacazette stepped up, getting Arsenal back in it with a goal. The team really should have been level by that point, but David De Gea played the game of his life, setting records for saves made in a game. After that United punished Arsenal’s failure to get a second, scoring their third.

Even a late red card for Paul Pogba couldn’t save the Gunners, and it ended 3-1.

Arsenal then returned to the Europa League for their final group game, with top spot already assured. There was nothing really to play for against BATE Borisov, but individuals like Debuchy, Walcott and Giroud all wanted to make a point to the manager about their reduced game time.

All three ended up scoring, along with Wilshere, Elneny and Polyakov (in his own net) as Arsenal ran riot 6-0.

Inconsistent form continues

With the Europa League campaign going well, Arsenal needed to focus on getting their league form back on track. Instead, they continued to slip up away from home. First they started embarrassingly slowly against Southampton, going behind early on. They got lucky to even finish at 1-1 thanks to a late Giroud equaliser.

That goal from the Frenchman won him a start in the next match against West Ham, which he completely wasted. He missed chance after chance and again Arsenal were lucky not to lose when Javier Hernandez hit the woodwork late on. That one ended 0-0.

Back at home, Arsenal still struggled to make chances against Newcastle United. However, Mesut Özil stepped up with a fantastic goal in a 1-0 win, which actually briefly took the team back up into the top four.

Next, in the League Cup, Arsenal faced up against West Ham again. Joe Willock got his first start in the competition in midfield, and there were changes throughout the team again as Wenger continued to keep his cup and league sides separate.

Danny Welbeck scored the winning goal in a tightly contested 1-0 win, but significantly Olivier Giroud and Francis Coquelin both picked up injuries. Suddenly Arsenal’s back up options started to wear thin in certain areas of the pitch.

The Festive Period

Unfortunately the big games just kept coming for Wenger’s side, and next up it was Klopp’s Liverpool, who had already battered Arsenal 4-0 at Anfield. It looked like this game could go the same way, as Philippe Coutinho and Mohamed Salah gave the away side a 2-0 lead.

Then, in a whirlwind six minutes of football, Arsenal rallied. Alexis Sanchez, Granit Xhaka and Mesut Özil all scored to give the Gunners the lead. The atmosphere in the ground was electric, and I personally ended up with someone from a different row hugging me when the third goal went in.

It’s Arsenal though, so that high lasted around 12 minutes before a poor save by Cech ended up in his own net, and the match ended 3-3.

The goal ended up killing the holiday vibe a bit, and Wenger later answered a question on what he got for Christmas by saying “thinking about the three goals we conceded against Liverpool”.

Fortunately the team did manage to battle their way to an away win against Crystal Place the following Thursday. Mustafi and Sanchez got the goals in a 3-2 victory. It would be the last away win in the league for a long time.

It shouldn’t have been though. If it weren’t for Mike Dean, the Gunners would’ve won 1-0 against West Bromwich Albion just a few days later. After dominating the match, Arsenal eventually made a late breakthrough with a deflected free-kick.

The team breathed a sigh of relief, only for Dean to award a penalty for a completely unintentional ball-to-hand, where the hand in question was in a very natural position. Nobody reviewing the decision could explain it, and even the referee himself later admitted he got it wrong.

Nonetheless, the match ended 1-1, and the year ended with Arsenal in sixth.