Match report – Participant rankings – Arteta’s response – Highlights
Two targets in a dominant first half had been sufficient for Arsenal to make it 5 wins in a row within the Premier League towards a Burnley aspect who, whereas dogged, couldn’t actually reside with us in that opening 45 minutes.
The crew was just about as anticipated, though William Saliba, a pre-game doubt, was match sufficient to begin. Immediately you possibly can see the sample, Burnley sat off, refused to press the centre-halves once we had been in possession, however reacted actually shortly every time we shifted the ball vast to shut down the area on the market.
With out the reside weblog (which serves as my means of recapping the sport afterwards), I used to be making notes on a bit of paper with a pen. Old style. Across the 11′ mark, I wrote ‘Gonna be powerful!’, after which a few minutes later we received a nook. Declan Rice’s supply was sensible, Gabriel knocked it again throughout objective, and Viktor Gyokeres was there to nod residence from shut vary.
It appears redundant to say it’s simply what we would have liked, however when the opposition are arrange like this, it may possibly get irritating in a short time. It didn’t actually change the Burnley strategy a lot, given how early it was, but it surely helped us loosen up a bit. And from there we must always have put the sport out of sight within the first half. There have been probabilities for Bukayo Saka, one tame effort he ought to have accomplished higher with, and one from which Martin Dubravka made a superb save. The observe up from Leandro Trossard, who together with Riccardo Calafiori was very vigorous down the left hand aspect, was cleared off the road.
The second objective got here from one other set-piece: a Burnley nook lengthy throw. We received it away, moved it down the correct hand aspect, and the cross-field move from Gyokeres to Trossard was sensational. A type of that will get higher with repeated viewing. The Belgian took it on, stood up a cross, and there was Rice to energy residence a header to make it 2-0. A superb counter-attacking objective, and a minimum of we deserved. The primary half stats inform the story very effectively.
There was a change on the break with Gyokeres changed by Mikel Merino after he reported a muscular challenge on the break, and with no disrespect to the Spaniard, that was a little bit of a disgrace. I believe that first half was the perfect we’ve seen from the summer time signing in an Arsenal shirt, so it will have been good if he’d been in a position to proceed. Hopefully it’s precautionary greater than the rest, and he’s not lacking for too lengthy.
I additionally suppose it had an impression on our recreation. We missed his direct working and his maintain up/hyperlink play yesterday was high class. Merino struggled to make the identical impression, and I believe that allied with the game-state itself, made the second half pretty uneventful. Burnley had a bit extra of the ball and a few of the territory as the sport wound down, searching for a objective that all the time appeared fairly unlikely due to Arsenal’s defensive energy.
It wasn’t simply the again 4 both, as a result of I believed the second half efficiency from Declan Rice was excellent. The objective, devoted to his aunt who handed away lately, was his most placing contribution, however every time there was even a touch of Burnley inflicting an issue in our half, he appeared be there to make a sort out, nick the ball, and snuff out the hazard. It was an entire midfield efficiency from a person whose consistency might be simply taken without any consideration just a little, so he deserves these props at this time.
In the long run, the sport completed with out the opposition having a shot on course, though the late free kick which got here off the submit got here near being that. In 4 video games now, Arsenal have allowed only one try on course, and that was mainly a non-attempt when Eddie Nketiah was adjudged to have had a go, however in actuality David Raya plucked the ball off his head. As I stated final week, that’s a statistical anomaly.
Afterwards, Mikel Arteta stated:
Very completely satisfied. It’s a very powerful place to come back. They’ve misplaced as soon as right here in 18 months, towards Liverpool, with the final kick of the sport from a penalty. I believe we began the sport exceptionally effectively. I believe the primary half was among the best that we’ve performed. Scored two targets, generated one other two or three huge probabilities and conceded nothing. That was a platform as a result of within the second half, we dropped the requirements, particularly with the ball and with our intentions to take extra dangers and play forwards. However once more, defensively, we had been distinctive till the purpose of the free-kick. We had been a bit fortunate that it hit the submit and we saved the clear sheet.
What’s clear is that that is an Arsenal aspect with some actual momentum proper now. 5 wins in a row within the Premier League (hurrah, this implies I can go and get a haircut 🤪), and 9 in a row in all competitions. A bit like Declan Rice, I don’t suppose we must always take this without any consideration. I all the time barely remorse that once we had been a terrific crew earlier than, I didn’t cease to understand how onerous it’s to be this constant, since you really feel like it would all the time be thus. And we all know that’s not the case.
The season is lengthy, with a number of ups and downs, and proper now we’re motoring alongside fantastically. Yesterday felt like a crew in cruise management, able to go up a gear or two if wanted, however fortunately that wasn’t the case. And that’s to not disrespect Burnley, by the best way, it’s only a measure of who we’re proper now and what we’re able to. I’ll by no means, ever get bored with writing ‘Had nothing a lot to do’ when doing David Raya’s participant score on Arseblog Information, however let’s not child ourselves there received’t be instances when issues are just a little totally different.
Which is to say, I’m having fun with this loads, and taking the time to understand it, but additionally conserving my ft on the bottom a bit. I’m certain Mikel Arteta’s message to his gamers can be comparable, however proper now it’s onerous to be something apart from actually impressed with what this crew can do in a vastly environment friendly means in every kind of various contexts.
Proper, I’ll depart it there for this morning. Have a terrific Sunday of us, again tomorrow with extra right here and an Arsecast Additional. Till then.
