The substitute Danny Welbeck gave Arsenal an underwhelming victory that was harsh on Norwich
7.25pm BST
Arsenal hold on to an important if slightly underwhelming victory. Norwich played admirably, deserved a draw, and certainly don’t look like a team who are resigned to relegation. Thanks for your company and intrigue, goodnight.
Related: Arsenal climb to third place as Danny Welbeck goal beats Norwich
7.23pm BST
Peep peep!
7.23pm BST
90+5 min It’s a poor free-kick and Ruddy ends up having to thwart an Arsenal breakaway, 70 yards from his goal.
7.22pm BST
90+4 min Last chance for Norwich, who have a free-kick on the halfway line. Ruddy is going forward...
7.21pm BST
90+2 min Arsenal are pinned in their own area. This is a rousing finish from Norwich. Pinto’s long throw is half cleared, then his cross is half cleared and then O’Neil lobs a lame header into the area that is easily claimed by Cech.
7.19pm BST
90+1 min Jerome jumps too early and heads Jarvis’s clipped cross high over the bar.
7.19pm BST
90 min There will be four minutes of added time, and at the moment it’s all Norwich.
7.18pm BST
2nd goal, thanks to @Pelts_86 and the hard work of @HOOP588 #SWFC pic.twitter.com/1ULQevPTyD
7.17pm BST
88 min Norwich make their final change, with Matt Jarvis replacing Sebastien Bassong. Jerome then breaks beyond the defence onto a long pass, but the ball takes an age to come down and that kills the chance.
7.15pm BST
87 min Norwich win a free-kick 30 yards from goal. Redmond cracks it into the wall; Arsenal break and make a Horlicks of it.
7.15pm BST
86 min “Your stance on Wenger makes you a bellend,” says Daniel Nelson, sounding as intrigued as ever. “Is that clearer?” Clear as a bell.
7.13pm BST
85 min A promising position for Arsenal is ruined when Ozil picks the wrong pass. Then he is booked for a high foot on O’Neil.
7.12pm BST
84 min Francis Coquelin replaces Alexis Sanchez.
7.12pm BST
83 min That Ozil pass was so good. It was reminiscent of David Silva at Old Trafford in 2011, and is worth watching Match of the Day for – and not only if you’re John Virgo.
7.10pm BST
82 min Elneny’s insouciant flick with the outside of the right foot is excellently saved by Ruddy, leaping to his right.
7.09pm BST
80 min “Just an observation for any Palace fans as slow as/slower than me: anything but a Norwich win will see the Eagles safe today providing we discount the possibility of Newcastle or Norwich overcoming the goal difference gap of 15,” says Michael Brooks. “And I will be the first to embrace that complacency. Time to start mentally spending that 80m.” After the horror of 1992-93, I’d be careful. Newcastle will probably beat Aston Villa 49-0.
7.08pm BST
79 min Mbokani makes space on the edge of the area for a vicious low shot that is blocked by an Arsenal defender. Part two of the most pathetic protest in the history of mankind has begun. One man is holding his ‘Time to Change’ banner upside down. It’s a transparent, A4 sheet.
7.06pm BST
79 min “I confess sympathy with the Emirates dissenters,” says Gary Naylor. “As is the case with Roberto Martinez, the lobby for change is only partially provoked by results: it’s also about managing. Both men are failing to use effectively the resources at their disposal, nor show much sign of doing so. Wenger’s issues are recruitment and a streak of stubbornness as wide as the A1; Martinez’s issues are organisational and related to credibility. Neither manager shows any inclination to change tack - so what should fans do?” Oh, Gary, they got to you too.
7.06pm BST
78 min Another Norwich substitution: Brady off, Steven Naismith on.
7.05pm BST
76 min “I’m intrigued,” says Daniel Nelson. “Are you a deluded Arsenal fan or just a wind-up merchant?” You do, in fairness, sound intrigued and not at all like a person who fancies a digital ruck to temporarily alleviate the essential futility of their existence.
7.03pm BST
75 min “As science recently proved that the dinosaurs’ long reign was finished by a period of terminal decline,” begins Andy Gordon, “I can see Arsene Wenger and Gunnersaurus on the touchline, staring at each other with an empathic look of hollow desperation.”
7.02pm BST
73 min Ozil again demonstrates his glorious technique with a swooshing long-range shot that is tipped over by Ruddy. It was a comfortable save, and the referee gave a goalkick anyway.
7.00pm BST
70 min Redmond slides a low cross towards Mbokani at the near post, six yards from goal, and Gabriel saves a goal with a brilliant sliding challenge. The corner ricochets around the box for a few seconds, and then Arsenal break.
As the ball bounces up to Ozil, 10 yards inside his own half, he contorts his body to crack an unbelievably good long pass to Sanchez. He runs to the edge of the area, moves to the ball to the side of the defender and then toebungs it straight at Ruddy.
6.56pm BST
67 min Norwich probably budgeted for losing this game, and their performance should give them some encouragement. They are still looking dangerous on the break, with Brady just overhitting a return pass to Hoolahan. That’s Hoolahan’s last contribution after a very good performance; he is replaced by Dieumerci Mbokani. He s a lovely player, Hoolahan.
6.53pm BST
65 min Sanchez curls well wide from 25 yards. This is Arsenal’s best spell of the match.
6.52pm BST
64 min “Crowd thoughts on the Welbeck subtitution will not be ‘brilliant tactical move by Wenger’,” says Mark Turner. “Will be ‘Should have played Welbeck from the start, we’d be three up by now’. Bless ‘em.”
6.52pm BST
63 min Howson is a bit lucky not to be booked for treating Elneny like a paper bag in the wind.
6.50pm BST
61 min Arsenal appeal for a penalty when Bassong’s penalty hits the chest of O’Neil and deflects onto his arm. They are wrong to do so.
6.49pm BST
60 min That was Arsenal’s first shot on target, statistical confirmation that it is very harsh on Norwich.
6.48pm BST
The substitute Danny Welbeck gives Arsenal the lead! Bellerin’s clipped cross from the right was headed down carefully by Giroud to Welbeck, whose 18-yard shot hit the heel of Bassong and deflected into the bottom corner.
6.47pm BST
58 min The game feels a bit more ragged now, with an increasing desperation in Arsenal’s attacking. A goal is coming, though I’m not sure at which end.
6.46pm BST
57 min “The Emirates has the worst atmosphere, some of the most spoilt, self-entitled ‘fans’ this country has ever seen,” says Kwame Ibegbuna. “Wenger has been treated disgracefully & history will not treat this period well. That isn’t to say I’m satisfied with this season...far from it - but the lack of perspective here is galling...”
6.45pm BST
56 min Welbeck replaces Alex Iwobi, whose departure is booed by those who know considerably more about football than a man who once coached a team who went unbeaten for 49 league games.
6.43pm BST
55 min Danny Welbeck has gone topless on the bench, which can only mean one thing.
6.43pm BST
54 min “The downside...” begins Rachel Clifton. “...well, the breakfast tacos are great but they are showing the NFL draft on many screens on silent. So even the Arsenal game would be better than that.”
‘Breakfast tacos’ is a great euphemism for brunchtime brandy.
6.42pm BST
53 min Norwich’s defensive organisation has been so good. It’s like they are computer programmed.
6.38pm BST
51 min Mertesacker limps off to be replaced by Gabriel. “Ha, yeah, you’re not wrong there, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “We’ve won a cup and a league at Dens, might as well complete the set on Monday.”
6.38pm BST
50 min I suspect Norwich would take a point, and this match does have the whiff of ‘cruel defeat to last-minute goal off Giroud’s backside’. But in cold, logical terms it looks more winnable by the minute: Redmond’s dangerous cross just evades the leaping Jerome, and then Olsson’s screamer from a very tight angle is well held by the plunging Cech.
6.37pm BST
49 min Mertesacker appears to have injured a hamstring, and you can insert your own ‘Bad news for Norwich’ joke here.
6.36pm BST
48 min A pitiful piece of play from Giroud, who miscontrols the ball, knocks it out for a goalkick and then falls over – not realising that his marker Bassong had stopped running and that there was a bus-sized gap between them.
6.35pm BST
6.35pm BST
47 min “Evening Rob,” says Christopher Faherty. “A loose sociological point about Arsenal fans’ expectations with Wenger and the age of the people who primarily want him out being a sort of footballing version of Thatcher’s Children and accustomed to ever-more growth and so on was germinating in my head, but the more this sentence runs on and the closer I get to hitting “send” the more it melts away. A task for a cleverer yet less-idle man methinks.”
6.34pm BST
46 min Norwich begin the second half, kicking from left to right.
6.32pm BST
“Have the Arsenal fans who want Wenger out noticed what’s been going on at Man United lately?” asks Matt Drake. “Or Liverpool? Or Chelsea? I don’t have a rooting interest in any of those teams, but still. Be careful what you wish for.”
Indeed. The biggest problem with modern football is that, if you compiled a league table based on where each group of supporters think their team should finish, you’d have eight champions every season and nobody would ever be relegated.
6.27pm BST
“Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “I think Andrew Hurley typed ‘flans’ when he meant ‘flaws’ earlier in his email about abuse at football. Is he a f *** ing tw * t or what? And what’s more, has his team ever been relegated at the home of their biggest rivals, the pr ** k. Cos that’s what happening in Dundee on Monday night. So he can f **k right off. C ** t.”
Ah, I’ve missed you.
6.21pm BST
Half-time chit-chat “Is calling a game ‘tactically fascinating’ a polite way of calling it ‘boring?’” asks Paul Connelly. “It has a nice ring to it, rather like when the press says a public personage is ‘tired and emotional.’ Maybe ‘tactically fascinating’ can enter the Big Guardian Book of Euphemisms.”
6.18pm BST
A largely dull half, though Norwich were terrific in defence and on the counter-attack. They could have scored three or four. There are a few boos at half-time, an unsuccessful attempt to save a bit of face about that laughable protest in the 12th minute.
6.17pm BST
45+2 min Giroud is down holding his face after walking onto Bassong’s elbow. It wasn’t deliberate and he gets away with it. Giroud is getting a bit cakey with the referee.
6.16pm BST
45+1 min Yet another chance for Norwich! Redmond wriggles away from Mertesacker in the D and clips a right-footed shot just wide of the left-hand post.
6.15pm BST
45 min “Tactically fascinating is all well and good but it’s three in the morning, I’m without hard hat or brandy and my eyes are stinging,” says Phil Withall. “Much as I would be happy with a Norwich draw, making it to full time is going to be a struggle.”
6.15pm BST
44 min Another chance for Norwich! O’Neil played a short one-two on the edge of the area with the excellent Redmond, but then leaned back and blasted a first-time shot high over the bar. Composure and technique were sadly conspicuous by their absence.
6.13pm BST
42 min Cech makes his second important save from Redmond. When Monreal dithered on the edge of the area, Redmond took the ball neatly on his chest and slammed a right-footed volley across goal. Cech leapt to his right to beat it away.
6.11pm BST
41 min Owobi’s toebung from the edge of the area is blocked by Martin. It’s easy to criticise Arsenal – and they have been a bit flat – but Norwich have defended excellently.
6.10pm BST
40 min “I don’t understand,” says Alix Sharkey. “If Rachel Clifton found the only bar not showing the Arsenal game — 35 minutes, 67 per cent possession, and still no shots on target — what’s the downside?”
6.09pm BST
39 min “Nice that Aaron Ramsey is approaching this friendly with the relaxed, non-competitive attitude that the sunshine calls for,” says James Syme. “Be poor form to be running around and throwing yourself into tackles or anything like that.”
6.08pm BST
37 min Ozil’s corner from the right is met by Koscielny, arriving late in front of the near post, but he can’t get a strong enough flick on his header and Ruddy’s hands remain unsullied.
6.07pm BST
36 min The soundtrack to this half.
6.05pm BST
35 min Another corner to Arsenal, who are starting to go down the sides a bit more. Norwich have been superbly organised. The corner is flicked on by Giroud and lumped clear by Martin.
6.03pm BST
33 min This is a tactically fascinating game.
6.02pm BST
32 min Elneny tries to place a curler from the edge of the area; it hits the outrushing Bassong and goes behind for a corner.
6.01pm BST
31 min See 23 min.
6.00pm BST
30 min In other news, because nothing is happening in the match, John Virgo has gone up in my estimation by confirming he’s a Match of the Day fan.
Related: John Virgo apologetic after being heard swearing on BBC during snooker
5.59pm BST
27 min Pinto is down after a firm challenge from Koscielny. He’ll be fine.
5.55pm BST
25 min Arsene Wenger coined the phrase sterile domination, and that sums up this match thus far - his team have had around 70 per cent possession but no shots on target. Norwich will be really pleased.
5.54pm BST
24 min “Managed to choose the only bar not showing the Arsenal game,” says Rachel Clifton. “On the plus side, three guys sitting down the bar appear to be drinking brandy. At midday. And have now put their hard hats on to go back to work...”
‘Hard hat’ is a great description for brunchtime brandy.
5.53pm BST
23 min Arsenal are having loads of the ball but their attacking has been a bit too narrow and ponderous.
5.50pm BST
20 min Arsenal quicken the tempo and almost score. After a good move, Sanchez scoots into the area in the inside-right channel and drills a shot that is deflected across the face of goal. It almost comes to Giroud but Norwich clear.
5.49pm BST
19 min “The TV coverage might have been designed expressly to illustrate a 6th-form Media Studies class on Selective Camera Angles,” says Charles Antaki. “The Use of Cropping to Exaggerate A Small Part of an Otherwise Vaguely Concerned But Not Hysterical Scene.”
5.49pm BST
18 min Arsenal have been a little too slow in possession in the final third, which is the thing Wenger warned against before the game. Arsene out!
5.45pm BST
16 min At the moment the game feels like a bit of a sideshow as the Arsenal fans loudly debate the merits of Arsene Wenger. Norwich look lively on the break and have had the only clear chance so far.
5.44pm BST
14 min Jerome’s long-range is comfortably saved by Cech.
5.43pm BST
12 min We’re in the 12th minute and, er, nothing’s happening. All you can hear is “Arsenal we love you.” A few losers are holding up a ‘Time for Change’ leaflet. That’s possibly the most pathetic protest in the history of mankind.
5.41pm BST
11 min Giroud almost compromises the protest by scoring his first Premier League goal since the year dot, but his shot is blocked by Martin.
5.40pm BST
11 min Apparently the first protest will be in the 12th minute. Can’t wait.
5.40pm BST
10 min Iwobi plays a nice one-two with Ozil, shimmies past a defender on the left of the box and drills a low cross-shot all the way to the other side of the area.
5.38pm BST
9 min “How do you see the relegation battle going?” says Shaun Wilkinson. “Norwich have gone from being the team most likely to go down, to the least after beating Newcastle, now back to the most likely again. Will it swing again?”
It’s hard to call as they all have winnable fixtures, but I think Sam Allardyce’s experience will tell in the end.
5.37pm BST
7 min A quarter-chance for Norwich, with Jerome slapping a snapshot on the turn high over the bar.
5.36pm BST
6 min Norwich almost take the lead. Olsson’s cross from the left bounces through to Redmond beyond the far post. He controls it nicely and hits a fierce low shot that Cech saves superbly with his left leg.
5.36pm BST
5 min It’s a beer-garden evening in north London, and Arsenal are moving the ball around in the sun. Monreal appears to be wearing different coloured boots.
5.34pm BST
4 min “Arsène is right: loyal fans of a club support the team on the pitch no matter what, and confine any protest to the other days of the week,” says Tony Walton. “Picket the stadium, if you must, but stay at home & shout at the telly if you can’t go and properly encourage your team.”
5.32pm BST
3 min The atmosphere is decent so far, with a few pro-Arsenal songs. At a football match! Jerome breaks into the box on the left but is wrongly flagged offside.
5.31pm BST
2 min “Dismayed to see Joel Campbell doesn’t even make the bench today,” says Keeley Moss. “Is there a player in the league more hard done by by their manager? Any time I’ve seen him he’s played a blinder - goals, assists, excellent movement, pace and trickery...Only for Wenger to haul him off, and then generally not start the next game. What is Wenger’s issue with him? Would be interested to get Arsenal fans take on this...or is it just me?”
5.31pm BST
1 min Peep peep! Arsenal kick off from left to right. They are in red and white; Norwich are wearing yellow and green.
5.24pm BST
Related: Golden Goal: Mark Robins for Norwich City v Chelsea (1992)
5.24pm BST
Look at, or rather listen to, the state of the this
"Au revoir Arsene Wenger" #afc pic.twitter.com/abOitnafFy
5.21pm BST
Summer reading
Ray Parlour’s autobiography is utterly hilarious, and it has one of the great sub-titles.
5.20pm BST
An email “What is it about the majority of football fans that make them come across as unappreciative, uneducated and utterly dislikeable human beings?” asks Andrew Hurley. “Whether that be abuse of referees, abuse of opposition players/managers and Arsenal fans utter failure to appreciate a fantastic (if slightly flawed) manager? If this was cricket or rugby, the same flans would be noticed, but without the abuse. Why?”
That’s one for a G2 essay by someone intelligent rather than an MBM entry, but it’s an interesting, complex and thoroughly depressing subject. It’s painfully clear that the 2016-17 season should be cancelled so that everyone can sit and think about what they’ve done. #STOPFOOTBALL
5.09pm BST
If this game is 0-0, I’ll etc and so forth
Norwich’s last 11 visits to Arsenal have produced 48 goals, some of them great, as well as an underrated brawl. More please!
4.52pm BST
Relegation latest Jermain Defoe has scored an injury-time penalty to give Sunderland a draw at Stoke, while Newcastle lead Crystal Palace 1-0. Get all the latest right here, the noo.
Related: Premier League and Football League: clockwatch – live
4.37pm BST
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Cech; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Elneny, Ramsey; Sanchez, Ozil, Iwobi; Giroud. Subs: Gabriel, Wilshere, Ospina, Walcott, Cazorla, Welbeck, Coquelin.
Norwich (4-2-3-1) Ruddy; Ivo Pinto, Martin, Bassong, Olsson; O’Neil, Howson; Redmond, Hoolahan, Brady; Jerome.
Subs: Whittaker, Naismith, Mbokani, Rudd, Jarvis, Dorrans, Mulumbu.
10.52am BST
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Disrespect campaign at the Emirates Stadium, where a minority of entitled, narcissistic brats will continue their egregious attempt to hound Arsenal’s greatest manager out of a job. The backdrop is a game of association football between Arsenal and Norwich.
Both teams need points for different reasons. Arsenal are attempting to become only the second team in English football history to finish in the top four in 20 consecutive seasons; Norwich just want to stay in the division.
Related: Arsène Wenger reveals he rejected Real, Barcelona and Manchester City
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