January 1, 2023 | Awake & Dreaming

So like I hinted in the previous day’s post, New Year’s eve was a very quiet night in for me and my parents. Apparently there was a bit of a plan for some of my cousins to meet up but as it was at the last minute, most already had plans of their own. Hence that did not take place, but I wasn’t sure if I would go for that anyways. I was thinking that if it happens, I would stay back and order in some dinner and have my sister take my parents to the event.

Since that didn’t happen my sister and a friend of hers went out with a cousin and a couple of others. Finally it was just me and my parents who would be at home together and that’s alright. We will find another day so I can enjoy with all my relatives again. Oh well, I woke up at 9 am and had my breakfast and coffee and then took my meds. I relaxed all day, hydrated as much as possible and watched a movie in the afternoon and even managed a 40 minute nap. Evening I had some biscuits with my tea, took a shower and then checked out to see what offers we would have dinner on Zomato & Swiggy.

I decided to get some chicken lollipops (6 in total, 2 for each of us), kuboos and Afghani tandoori chicken (one of my favourites) from Zaataar. I ordered early by 7:15 pm as I thought we would have trouble with the app later on. Still it took 50 mins (as mentioned on the app) for the food to arrive. We ate it while my parents watched tv. Oh and we had ice cream cake from Baskin n Robbins. Once that was done, I had my meds and relaxed at my system till 11pm when I started to watch the Brighton vs Arsenal match and we won and it became 2023 halfway though. I spent some time sending and replying to wishes and then went to bed by 1 am.

Arsenal moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League with an entertaining victory at Brighton. This result, allied to Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Everton, extends Arsenal’s advantage heading in to 2023. The visitors were cruising at 3-0 thanks goals by Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Eddie Nketiah before Kaoru Mitoma pulled one back. Gabriel Martinelli settled any nerves with Arsenal’s fourth before Evan Ferguson added Brighton’s second with his first league goal. Mitoma had a second goal chalked off to deny the home fans a grandstand finish as Arsenal held on for a deserved three points.

Brighton were a long way off the pace for the first hour, but after Martinelli had restored the three-goal advantage they showed great spirit to reduce the arrears again through Ferguson. They were then convinced they had made it 4-3 with two minutes remaining when Mitoma looked to have scored again, but after a VAR check the Japanese midfielder was revealed to be just offside. Arsenal are back in action against Newcastle United on Tuesday, buoyed by an increasingly formidable-looking lead over champions City with both sides having played 16 games. Although the Premier League season is still not at the halfway point due to the World Cup hiatus, this win could be a key moment in Arsenal’s bid for a first title since 2004.

Brighton had been the last side to beat Arsenal – a 3-1 Carabao Cup win in November – but the prospect of a repeat looked unlikely as soon as Saka had latched on to a rebound from Martinelli’s shot to tuck the ball home for his sixth league goal of the season. The absence of striker Gabriel Jesus through a knee injury collected while on World Cup duty may have worried Arsenal fans, but Saka and Odegaard are compensating for the Brazilian striker’s layoff. Arsenal captain Odegaard’s seventh goal of the season came when he capitalised on a poor header out by Billy Gilmour to put his side 2-0 ahead before half-time, the Norwegian’s shot going down into the ground and beyond Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

And they started the second half just as well as the first, Nketiah poking the ball in from close range after Sanchez fumbled Martinelli’s shot from a tight angle. But they wobbled when full-backs Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko were substituted after an hour. Rattled by Mitomo’s goal and then a good spell from the hosts, Martinelli finished off a length-of-the-pitch move with a shot that went in off Sanchez’s legs to seemingly put the game beyond Brighton’s reach. William Saliba was then too casual on the edge of his own area, allowing Ferguson his chance to pull another goal back, and when Mitoma seemed to have made the score 4-3, Mikel Arteta’s side looked worried until the decision by VAR.

Arsenal face a tough January before reaching the league campaign’s midpoint, with Tottenham and Manchester United to follow after Newcastle. Their two meetings with second-placed Manchester City are also yet to come, and Arteta will want to address the defensive frailties that surfaced on the south coast.