match report – player ratings – arteta reaction – Video
Arsenal are through to the fourth round of the FA Cup, for a tie against Man City, after a 3-0 win over Oxford last night.
Mikel Arteta made changes to his side, but not up top. It was somewhat of a surprise to see the first-choice trio of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah start, but with Emile Smith Rowe not quite fit enough to start, it’s not like he had much of a choice. I don’t think it was a message to the front office that he needs additions, but rather a simple reality of the team as it is.
The less said about the first half, the better. It was pretty rudimentary material, played on a bumpy, iffy course that we found difficult. We created almost nothing, Oxford created less, and in many ways it was what you would have predicted. The lower league team were hard working and physical and I think our midfield in particular struggled to help us control the game.
The second period started in a similar fashion. Oxford had a decent chance but his lad passed the ball and Matt Turner came out well and was able to stifle the danger. We build a little bit of pressure. Good play by Vieira saw Saka clear a defender on the line after a shot past the keeper, and there was a succession of corners that made us play more in their half.
However, the changes helped. Oleksandr Zinchenko replaced Kieran Tierney and gave us more dynamism in the central areas, while Granit Xhaka replaced a disappointing Albert Sambi Lokonga who once again failed to take advantage of a punctual start. After that, two other players who had been silent in the first half came back to life. After Gabriel Martinelli was clearly fouled, Fabio Vieira took an excellent free kick and Mohamed Elneny headed in to open the scoring.
Vieira, who had looked small in the first half, literally grew into the game after that contribution. His pass for Eddie Nketiah’s opening goal was truly lovely, and the way the striker circled the keeper to get the ball home showed a confidence building in him. Eddie got the third after we broke well, Martinelli delayed his pass and his shot inside the goalie was really good. There are already five goals in his last five starts and four in four since he came into action after the injury to Gabriel Jesús.
There was time to give Emile Smith Rowe a few minutes for the first time since early September and, to be fair, he was looking a bit rusty. However, in the 15 minutes that he played, he was close to scoring a goal, so we hope that he will recover in the coming weeks and we can keep him fit.
Subsequently, Mikel Arteta said:
It is always difficult to win these types of matches. It was a physical game at many times, we have maintained it. It is a very direct team and we had to better control certain things. We changed in the second half and we had even more control of the game and found the openings to win the game.
Asked about more depth up front and the addition of another striker, even with Eddie’s decent return:
The problem is that we only have one. And going for so many months until Jesus returns is not easy. But we have to make the most of the players we have at the moment and if we can get some reinforcements, great.
That was all we got when it comes to transfers. The chase for Joao Félix seems to be over after Chelsea agreed to pay whatever Atlético Madrid wanted, because of course he did. See a player that other clubs are interested in. Consult. Pay over the odds. Check. It’s how they do it.
To be completely honest, the outlay for this player has always made me uncomfortable. What you could do in the medium-long term with more than 20 million euros compared to what he could give you for five months never made sense to me. However, it will be interesting to see how we deal with this. If we wanted both him and Mykhaylo Mudryk, do we have a secondary goal? Your guess is as good as mine at this point, but it’s clear to everyone that this is a side that needs additions. The sight of Bukayo Saka receiving treatment is almost like a nightmare, so let’s hope they can do something quickly.
So, that’s a tricky third-round draw out of the way. We have a North London derby to focus on now, and fingers crossed something to push the team ahead of that.
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Ok, let’s leave it there for now. James and I are recording the Arsecast Extra for you later this morning. Keep an eye out for calls for questions on Twitter @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra, or if you’re a member of Arseblog on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord. server.
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