match report – player ratings – arteta reaction
The 3-0 win over Bodo/Glimt last night felt as much like the Europa League group stage as it does the Europa League group stage. Mikel Arteta made eight changes to the side that won the North London derby, with only Gabriel, Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli keeping their places in the starting eleven. The rest, as we had predicted, were rotated.
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal started the game with a lot of the ball and had early chances. A good run from Eddie Nketiah saw him double one just wide with the keeper stretched out, before Fabio Vieira closed in: his shot from the spin hit the top of the bar. The Norwegian team looked quite orderly and confident in possession, but that composure disappeared every time Arsenal coordinated a pressure.
Martinelli started out as a man who had a tough 90 minutes on Saturday, but when he came to life midway through the first half, he made the difference. His run through the middle created a chance for Kieran Tierney, the left-back’s shot hitting the post, but for all the improvements he’s made to his all-around game, Nketiah’s key strength is as a box poacher. penalty. He anticipated a rebound, and while he made the ending look easy, I don’t think it was as simple as it seemed. However, it was a classic Eddie goal and made it 1-0.
Four minutes later it was 2-0. A corner was cleared, it went back to Vieira, who did very well to make room for a cross, and Rob Holding’s header was perfect, just inside the post, giving the keeper no chance. Their keeper had to make a good save from Xhaka’s free kick from outside the box, Tierney had a chance to shoot but deflected it wide, and when Bodo/Glimt regained possession as Arsenal pressed, Nketiah’s last ball for Martinelli. the faucet was cut.
At the break, we more than deserved the two goal lead and it could have been more. Whether that led us to be a little complacent in the second half I’m not too sure, but the opposition might as well have had a half-time rocket that prompted a little more effort from them. More than once they took him from the depths to the edge of our box. Usually it didn’t come to anything as we defended pretty well, but once Matt Turner had to duck and make a good save when a shot went through a sea of legs.
He motivated Mikel Arteta to make changes: Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard replaced Martinelli, Xhaka and Marquinhos. He made us better, but scoring chances were still a bit rare. Later, Odegaard’s fantastic pass to Nketiah created a chance for the striker, but he overflowed before Jesus and Vieira combined to put some sparkle on the scoreboard. The Brazilian’s dribbling inside the area to create the chance was simply sensational, and Vieira’s finishing was brilliant and emphatic.
The Portuguese was probably our standout player of the night, even if he was in and out of the game a bit. You can see the quality, and he finished the night with some pretty solid stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots, 5 crosses, 3 key passes, and 100% completion, albeit from a surprisingly small number of passes (16). When Arteta later spoke about the ‘lack of connection’ in certain areas, it could well apply here. It’s early days for the 22-year-old, but so far he seems more than capable of producing for this team.
He received praise from the manager afterwards, who said:
Wear the quality. Every time he’s around the box he’s a real threat, a really smart and brave player. In defense he still needs to do more and understand more because organization is key when you play against good teams in possession of the ball.
I think the last sentence could also apply to Albert Sambi Lokonga, who is always tidy on the ball, but to me he looks like someone who still has a bit to learn in terms of his positioning off of it. When Bodo/Glimt had their decent moment in the second half, the space in front of our central midfielders felt a bit empty, but I hope games like last night will be useful in that regard when he and the coaching staff assess them afterwards.
Beyond that, there’s not much to say. I really don’t understand the frustration of using ‘first team’ players on nights like this. Yes, someone could get injured, but that could happen in training just as easily. If, and I know it’s a great if, this was a Champions League game, we would have to get used to the idea of our great players doing it on weekends and midweek. I also think the way coaches and players view situations like this is very different than the fans.
Yes, we are concerned that the worst could happen, but for them that cannot be the mentality. The coach wants to win the game, the players want to play, and after a break in September, I don’t think these are minutes that are going to tire them out at all or anything. You can also note that those who are more susceptible to injury (Thomas Partey, Oleksandr Zinchenko) did not feature, and someone like Kieran Tierney was ‘protected’ by a substitution.
So victory puts us top of the Europa League group with PSV for next week, but for now all eyes will be on Liverpool at the weekend. There will be much to say about that in the coming days.
In terms of a podcast today, various scheduling issues mean it will be after lunch before we can deliver it to you, but we’ll have it for you later today.
Until then, have a good time.
