Did Arsenal deserve to win or was it a case of smash and grab?

With Manchester City breathing down our necks, Arsenal need to keep winning. No matter the opponent, no matter the occasion. The Gunners picked up a win against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, which ended a two game streak of draws. The team have a tendency to throw away leads and that’s become prevalent over the last few weeks. With Chelsea arriving on our doorstep, it was time to show more of what we’re made of.

First Half

The opening exchanges were quite cagey. Neither side could really stamp their authority. Arsenal were almost gifted a goal in the first five minutes after Robert Sanchez took a heavy touch while assessing his options. Viktor Gyokeres pounced, but the keeper was able to get the ball clear. The first real chance fell to Chelsea. A hopeful free kick landed at the feet of Mamadou Sarr, on his Premier League debut, but he couldn’t compose himself and sent his effort wide. He was afforded plenty of space and probably didn’t expect to be. Eberechi Eze then went for a speculative effort from around the half way line. It was always going wide, but Sanchez had to make sure of it. The opening 20 minutes wasn’t exactly inspiring, but the deadlock was broken a minute later. A deep corner from Bukayo Saka was met by Gabriel at the back post. He was able to direct the ball back across the box where William Saliba was waiting. He simply nudged the ball towards the goal and it bounced off a Chelsea defender, Saliba will be happy that he was awarded the goal. Arsenal were the side that looked the most likely to score next, but Declan Rice couldn’t keep his effort down. It seemed like the close of the first half was heading towards an Arsenal advantage, but two consecutive corners showed how fragile Arsenal can be. The first forced an excellent save from David Raya who had to prevent Rice scoring an own goal. However, the resulting corner saw Piero Hincapie actually score an own goal. Reece James’ corner was flicked on by Hincapie, but it evaded everyone and sailed into the back of the net. Half time. 1-1. Perfectly poised.

Second Half

Chelsea certainly came out of the blocks in the second half and penned Arsenal into their own half. The Gunners struggled to get a foot on the ball. The Blues had the first chance of the half as Enzo Fernandez sent a low driven shot towards Raya. The Spaniard dove down to his right and managed to get his fingers on it. Corner to Chelsea and another chance fell their way. Joao Pedro was able to send a reasonably powerful header towards the goal, but Raya was equal to it. Arsenal did try and respond, but Leandro Trossard was crowded out. However, Chelsea came knocking again. James sent a wicked cross into the box. Joao Pedro got a flick on it, but Cole Palmer couldn’t benefit as he came crashing in at the far post. Despite Chelsea’s pressure, Arsenal were the ones that stole the advantage back. Another corner routine. It was Rice this time who delivered the corner and Jurrien Timber was on hand to nod in the goal. 2-1 Arsenal. Things got even better for Arsenal as Pedro Neto was sent off five minutes later. He was booked for dissent a few minutes before he took down Gabriel Martinelli with a cynical foul. The Gunners tried to take advantage of having the extra man. Eze forced Sanchez into a very good save after some good work from Saka. What will disappoint Mikel Arteta is how his side handled the last 10 minutes of the match. They invited Chelsea on, despite them having 10 men, and were very nearly punished. Moises Caicedo lined up a howitzer of strike, but it troubled the fans behind the goal more than Raya. Alejandro Garnacho then almost caught out the entire Arsenal defence after his cross evaded everyone. Raya was on hand to prevent the ball bouncing all the way into the goal. As if things couldn’t get any worse for Arsenal, Chelsea had the ball in the back of the net. 80% of the stadium breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the linesman’s flag up for offside. Replay’s show that Joao Pedro was miles off. That was it, job done.

Statistics

The difference between the two sides was minimal. Most of what anyone created came through set pieces. Arsenal had 12 shots with 5 on target, creating an xG of 1.09. 2 big chances were created within that. Chelsea had 9 shots with 3 on target. This generated 1.07 xG with 3 big chances created.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Raya – 9 (MOTM) – It’s never normally a good sign when your keeper is the best player on the pitch, but in this case he was and by far. The amount of important stops he had to make was insane. I can count five in my head right now. He’s had criticism in recent weeks, but he’s proven his worth in the last couple of games.

Timber – 7 – Certainly better than he has been recently. The week off probably done him some good. He grabbed the goal that won us the match. I also liked his link up play with Saka, it was very effective in the first half.

Saliba – 7 – He was the other goalscorer and I’m delighted that he’s finally scored. He did okay outside of the that. Him and Gabriel alternated between marking Palmer out of the game which was effective when the tactic was implemented. He was almost caught out in the second half, but thankfully it was well defended in the end.

Gabriel – 6 – He won the MOTM in the actual game, but I have to disagree with the choice. If it wasn’t Raya or Reece James, then it shouldn’t have been anyone else. He was decent, but Joao Pedro did get the better of him a few times.

Hincapie – 6 – He was good up until the own goal. He linked up very well with Trossard. He defended pretty well in the second half, but that own goal will linger. If you’re not heading the ball to clear it at the front post, then don’t touch it at all.

Zubimendi – 3 – I’ve been his biggest supporter for a while now, but he’s seriously letting me down. He looks too nervous to do anything that will help the team. He can receive the ball and knock it to another player, but he’s not doing anything progressive. When we do need someone to just sit on the ball and knock it around, he’s not there. When you’ve got two of the best centre backs on the planet sitting behind you, you can afford to take a few risks.

Rice – 6 – A lot of running, but not much quality. I think a passage of play that summed him up was when he made a lung busting run to stop a counter attack, but then sliced his pass out of play for a corner. Hard work undone by tired legs. I’ve said for a while that Rice needs to be the one sitting in Zubimendi’s role. There he can break up play, knock it around and not do so much running.

Eze – 4 – Stick two midfielders of quality around him and he buckles. He was immense against Spurs, but a shadow of himself in this one. I liked some of the positions he took up, but his first touch was loose or he was holding on to the ball for too long. He created more problems than solved. But, he did almost score, he was denied by a good save though.

Saka – 7 – The most creative player we had up top. Everything good went through him, but couldn’t quite take the game by the scruff of the neck. He had flashes of excellence, but the majority was average. He did link up well with Timber, as mentioned earlier.

Gyokeres – 5 – He’s an enigma. We’re better with him on the pitch, but we also need better than him on the pitch. He’s constantly moving around the top end of the pitch, but his technical quality lets him down. However, the opposition know they won’t get as much time on the ball if he’s there. He showed against Spurs what he can do if he’s fed the ball around/in the opponents box.

Trossard – 4 – Same as Gyokeres, we’re better with him on the pitch. He had an off day, that’s for sure. Not much was working for him and it was frustrating to watch. That counter attack, that was effectively a four against three, and he couldn’t get his pass beyond the midfielder. It was infuriating. But, his desire to push inside to receive the ball was so important for our progression up the pitch. So often Gabriel or Hincapie or Rice were standing on the ball waiting for an option and no one apart from Trossard showed for it. Trossard isn’t our best player, but he’s key to our approach. The same with Erling Haaland for Manchester City or what Mohamed Salah used to be for Liverpool. Even if they’re having an awful game, you keep them on because they make the system work.

Substitutes

Martinelli – 6 – Despite what I’ve just said about Trossard, Martinelli was better. But, our system suffered because Trossard wasn’t there anymore. The Brazilian forced a red card out of Pedro Neto, which is a big contribution in my eyes. He took the game to Chelsea a bit more and gave James more to think about.

Havertz – 5 – Hopefully his injuries are behind him now, but we’ll have to wait and see. I suppose it was under instruction, but he didn’t press Chelsea nearly as hard as Gyokeres. His technical level was superior to the Swede, but we missed his physical qualities. Kai had some nice moments and some nice touches, but ultimately he wasn’t that effective.

Norgaard – 5 – It’s great to see him get some minutes, but I can only remember one thing that he did. I remember he moved behind two Chelsea players to receive a pass and then he slipped it to Timber to progress the ball up the pitch. It was subtle, but the fact that he moved into a space to help beat a press was satisfying.

Summary

There are games that you win that showcase how good you are. The attacking ideas are oozing, defensively sound and everything works harmoniously. There might be a couple of moments that the opposition get a chance, but overall it’s professional and dominant. Those games come around less often than the ones you have to grind out a result in. Chelsea have given us consistent problems whenever we’ve faced them. They’re tough to break down and have attacking quality in abundance. It’s no surprise that our main source of goals have come from set pieces. But, what Arsenal fans have been told for a couple of decades, is that you have to win ugly to win the league. This was an ugly performance, but we found a way through it. I don’t think Chelsea were better than us at all. The first half they showed very little, they just had two spells in the second half where they showed a bit more. The statistics support the fact they weren’t any better. What rival fans are focusing on now is the penalty shouts. On another day Rice gets pulled up for a penalty. But, I’m terms of the holding and the grappling, every team does it. Three points are what matters here and we got them, let’s move on.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup

As much as I would like Cristian Mosquera or Ben White to feature in place of Timber, knowing Arteta, he won’t do that. Our next two games, after Brighton, is Mansfield and Bayer Leverkusen, two games that can feature rotation. I do think Riccardo Calafiori needs some minutes back in the squad as his qualities are missed. We’re not yet entirely sure on Rice’s injury, so I’ll assume he won’t be fit. This will mean that Christian Norgaard should start and he’ll go into the ‘6’ role, pushing Zubimendi higher. I would like to see Noni Madueke back in the team as he was in a bit of form prior to the Spurs match. I also want to see what Saka can do in the role behind Gyokeres again. As mentioned above, Trossard is important to how we attack, so he has to go in. If not then I’d like to see Eze out there. Gyokeres to lead the line again, saving Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz for Mansfield away. Let’s get it!