Match report – Participant scores – Arteta response – Video
Arsenal completed the Champions League group stage in third place after a 2-1 win over Girona final evening.
I don’t suppose it’s a sport that requires quite a lot of evaluation, as a result of we had been there to do a job forward of an enormous sport on Sunday, and we did simply that. The crew mirrored the schedule to some extent, with begins for Jorginho, Jakub Kiwior, Mikel Merino and Raheem Sterling. Worryingly, there was no place within the squad for David Raya, who Mikel Arteta declared ‘not match’ beforehand, and wouldn’t actually broaden on that afterwards.
It meant a primary Arsenal begin for summer season mortgage signing Neto, and he bought fortunate. A poor contact early on may have price us a objective, and when some defensive sloppiness supplied Danjuma the prospect with which he put Girona forward, the Brazilian was very lucky he didn’t make the save … as a result of he was about 5 yards exterior his space. I understand how we arrange requires our keeper to play fairly excessive up the pitch, and in case you’re being beneficiant he briefly misplaced his bearings, however he’s 35 years outdated with big expertise and that shouldn’t be the case.
He dived, and fortunately missed the ball, as a result of in any other case we’d have been right down to 10 males for the second sport in a row – this time fully justified. To be truthful, the defending wasn’t nice. Kiwior stepped up and left an enormous area, Partey misplaced observe of his man who merely ran off the again of him, whereas Riccardo Calafiori performed the goalscorer onside. All in all, a little bit of a large number.
We responded nicely although. Partey was fouled within the field for an apparent penalty which Jorginho stepped up and tucked away very properly, after which the spotlight of the evening got here when Ethan Nwaneri fired us 2-1 forward. I really like this objective – like lots of the finest objectives it appears to be like actually easy and makes you suppose ‘Why don’t we simply do a bit extra of that?!’, however the high quality of the motion and strike had been excellent from a 17 yr outdated.
This was his first Champions League objective on his first Champions League begin, and I don’t suppose it’s an excessive amount of of a stretch to say it gained’t be his final. It’s fairly one thing that at his age, and with simply 22 first crew appearances to his identify, he’s already developed one thing of a trademark. Not essentially the end itself – which was highly effective, managed and unerringly correct – however that capacity to shift from proper to left and open up a taking pictures place on his left foot.
It was a sensational objective, one which deserved to win any sport, and as we take care of the continued absence of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus, in addition to the complication of the switch market, the emergence of Nwaneri as a real objective risk may be very, very welcome certainly. You possibly can see there’s a lot extra to return, and that’s actually thrilling.
We had different moments, Trossard hitting the bar, some hazard from set-pieces that didn’t fairly present itself into clear-cut possibilities, but it surely felt clear to me this was a aspect enjoying considerably inside itself – for apparent and comprehensible causes. Girona had a objective disallowed for offside which appeared to interrupt the hearts of the TNT Sports activities commentary crew for some cause, however that was a view I didn’t share.
Late on we had been awarded one other penalty for an apparent handball, and with Odegaard and Kai Havertz on the pitch I absolutely anticipated one in every of them to take it. It was given to Sterling although, and whereas I perceive why, I don’t suppose I’ve ever seen a man who seemed extra like he was going to overlook a penalty than him. And so it transpired: the keeper bought down nicely to his left to push the ball round across the submit. As an alternative of being a slight increase in confidence for a participant who so badly wants it, it ended up being one thing which may have sapped him of any of that high quality. He seemed distraught on the finish, and though he had some brighter moments on this sport than in most others he’s performed, the miss mainly summed up his time at Arsenal since his arrival on the finish of the summer season window.
Ultimately although, we took the three factors, ended up third within the desk, pocketed some good prize cash, and we’ll discover out in the end which of AC Milan, Juventus, Feyenoord or PSV get after they make their method by the additional knock-out qualifier we’ve completed nicely to keep away from because of a really stable Champions League marketing campaign so far.
Afterwards, Mikel Arteta stated of Nwaneri:
That’s what we love about him, he’s prepared to take the initiative to make issues occur. He’s very aggressive when he’s bought the ball and so assured as a result of earlier than that he had one other motion, a really comparable one, he made the suitable selection, he went for it, he has the capability to complete from each angle mainly and it was a vital objective.
Whereas the 17 yr outdated himself advised the official web site:
To come back right here and win Man of the Match on my beginning debut, It’s a particular feeling. I’m blissful. That is the place I’ve at all times needed to be, so I’m grateful that I’m right here.
It was an awesome evening for him, and each efficiency like this will increase his probabilities of enjoying extra frequently. Even at such a younger age, you may see he has the flexibility to impression video games, so let’s hope we see loads extra of that between now and Could.
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In the meantime, the opposite massive story from yesterday was information of an official Arsenal bid for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins. From what I perceive, our curiosity is/was very actual, however hinged on what occurred with Jhon Duran who has attracted curiosity from Saudi Arabian membership Al-Nassr. There’s little probability of Villa letting each of their predominant strikers depart this month, even when they do need to make a sale to remain the suitable aspect of PSR laws, and with developments within the Duran case, it appears to be like as if any deal for Watkins is lifeless within the water as issues stand.
It definitely sparked a number of debate, and for good cause. I can absolutely perceive why Mikel Arteta would need him – an skilled Premier League goalscorer who can be a signing for NOW. He’d give depth, a special choice up entrance, and within the final season and a half has 60 objective contributions for Villa (38 objectives, 22 assists) – with nearly all of these coming within the league. For a supervisor who appears like his crew would possibly want that bit further within the remaining third, it’s not troublesome to see his perspective.
However, spending that a lot cash (a charge of £60m was talked about though Arsenal’s bid was a ways under that), on a 29 yr outdated would make folks a bit of uncomfortable. Shades of Aubameyang, for instance, though with all due respect to our former captain, I believe Watkins is a extra stable skilled and character in case you do make that funding. Spending that a lot now would clearly have an effect on the summer season too – even when financially we may handle the outlay for one more ahead, whenever you add a senior participant on an enormous contract, it means you not have the pathway to herald the ‘youthful mannequin’ that so many crave.
Maybe that dialogue is now moot. If Duran goes, Watkins stays at Villa, and that was definitely what Unai Emery was saying after their Champions League tie final evening. In basic vogue, his phrases weren’t precisely 100%, however the message was pretty clear: He’d be blissful to promote the Colombian (who’s a little bit of a ‘character’ behind the scenes), and maintain Watkins.
If that’s the way it performs out, Arsenal should look elsewhere. There may be curiosity in Bayern Munich’s France U21 worldwide Mathys Tel who needs to depart Germany, and who can play throughout the front-line. Bayern reportedly are open to mortgage however with an obligation, and there are different golf equipment sniffing round, so we’ll have to attend and see what occurs there. There’s not lengthy left within the window although, so we’ll need to be decisive.
What the Watkins bid does inform us although is that cash is there, the possession have clearly made these funds accessible, so maybe we are able to view that as optimistic if we focus our efforts elsewhere. 4 days, 23 hours, 01 minutes (on the time of writing) … the clock ticks on.
Proper, I’ll depart it there for this morning. We’ll have an Arsecast for you a bit later too, so stand by for that. Till then, have a superb one.
