A professional performance or a creativity concern?

Two defeats on the bounce is never good for a team in Arsenal’s position. Unfortunately those two defeats left them without the EFL Cup and out of the FA Cup. Admittedly there’s two competitions I’d rather us not lose in and we’re still active in both. There’s no denying that the Premier League and Champions League are of priority compared to the EFL and FA Cup, but it was still disappointing to lose both. Following those two defeats, it suddenly became quite important to win the first leg of the Champions League. Not just because it’s helpful to win, but to stop the rut before it derails our season. Sporting Lisbon had the chance to throw more misery on the Gunners.

First Half

Despite the pressure weighing on this game, it was Sporting who came out of the blocks with more vigour. Ousmane Diomande spotted the run of Maxi Araujo behind Ben White, he then executed an incredible through ball. With the outside of his boot, from his own half, he provided precision of the highest order. Araujo picked up the ball in his stride and struck a fierce effort towards goal. David Raya managed to get his finger tips to the shot and it crashed off the crossbar. The Portuguese side then earned a free kick on the edge of the box moments later, but couldn’t capitalise on it. The rebound fell kindly to the home side, but Araujo sent it just over the bar. The Gunners did end up responding, but not to the same degree. Martin Odegaard whipped in a vicious free kick, but it was just about cleared by Diomande. Noni Madueke then stood over a corner, his delivery almost caught out Rui Silva in the Sporting goal. However, the ball struck the crossbar and the rebound was cleared. Within the opening 20 minutes, the chances are done for the first half. Nothing outside of pot shots, one from Odegaard that forced a save.

Second Half

The home side did come out stronger in the second half too, grabbing a corner within the first minute. It was eventually cleared. Arsenal did get going and Leandro Trossard attempted to break the deadlock, but his effort lacked any power and drifted wide of the post. The half was chugging away in much the same fashion as the first, but it was Rui Borges’ side that created the next chance. Trincao just knocked it past the far post with Raya scrambling to cover. Despite Sporting’s better chances, it was Arsenal that had the ball in the net. Martin Zubimendi knocked it an excellent strike from distance, but it was ruled out due to a Viktor Gyokeres offside in the build up. Gyokeres then tried to make amends for his offside, but he couldn’t generate enough power on his effort. Even though Arsenal were probing, they couldn’t really create any goalscoring opportunities. It was again the home side that came the closest to breaking the deadlock. Geny Catamo twisted and turned in the box and flashed a shot just wide of Raya’s near post. Sporting then had an even better chance a few minutes later. Luis Suarez squeezed a cross into Catamo, at the near post, but Raya reacted very quickly to deny his headed attempt. Mikel Arteta’s men needed to respond and did through Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian cut inside and smashed a shot towards goal, but Rui Silva dealt with the awkward bounce in front of him. The final 10 minutes of regulation time turned into an end-to-end affair and it was Sporting’s turn next. Catamo had come alive in the last 15 minutes of the game and once again forced a save from Raya. The Spaniard spilled the ball and Suarez pounced on it to try and knock it in. However, Raya swarmed the space and saved the follow up. The Gunners were fortunate to still be level and would absolutely take a draw back to the Emirates. But, Martinelli was not content with that. The winger burst inside and spotted the run of Kai Havertz. The German was left one-on-one and he coolly slotted home the winner. Sporting Lisbon threw everything they could at Arsenal’s goal, but Arteta’s men remained strong and repelled everything. 1-0 Arsenal, game over.

Statistics

On the balance of things, Sporting likely deserved the win or at very least didn’t deserve to lose. Arsenal had 8 shots with 4 on target. This generated an xG of 1.33 with 2 big chances created. Sporting had 11 shots with 5 on target. This generated them an xG of 0.71 with 2 big chances created.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Raya – 9 – Kepa had been preferred to him for two games in a row, due to merit, and we lost those two games. Raya pulled off numerous saves that helped us win this one, the first was spectacular.

White – 5 – Grew into the game, but just couldn’t create the impact going forward. Initially he struggled to deal with Araujo’s blindside runs, but he became wise to it.

Saliba – 6 – A couple of fouls on Suarez, but largely dealt with the Colombian. He felt a little tentative in possession, but nothing alarming.

Gabriel – 6 – Much the same as Saliba. He helped earn us the clean sheet, but not much else.

Calafiori – 5 – Ended up getting restricted by the Sporting defence, but still popped up all over the pitch to try and create problems. However, he was given the run around in defence a couple of times that almost resulted in a goal.

Zubimendi – 5 – He certainly improved as the game move forward, but it still felt like a static performance. When you wanted him to create an angle, he just seemed to hide. But, when the space opened up in the second half, he did drive into it.

Rice – 9 (MOTM) – Only just pipping Raya to the award. Rice was incredible and he single-handedly cleaned up mess after mess from our team mates. He tried to get things going in attack, but was met with a lack of movement. If Rice wasn’t on the pitch, I don’t think we walk away with a draw.

Odegaard – 5 – A lot of passing and moving, but not much penetration. He’s likely still suffering from fatigue and it showed in the second half.

Madueke – 7 – He can sometimes overdo it or complicate things, but his desire to get beyond an opponent is admirable. He did get the better of Araujo a number of times and also drew about five fouls from him. It didn’t quite work out with his final ball.

Gyokeres – 4 – It felt like he just needed one good ball into him and he’d score, but it never came. He had one shot from near enough the edge of the box with about three players surrounding him. But, there wasn’t much else from him outside of that.

Trossard – 3 – He seems to have lost his ability to create separation. Before Christmas he seemed to be excellent at affording himself a yard of space, but he can’t do it anymore. Where he also doesn’t have the pace to beat a man he’s kind of left to struggle holding it up.

Subs

Havertz – 8 – His impact at the moment is not noticing him until he’s suddenly in on goal. He did it against Southampton, which generated Gyokeres’ goal. He done it again here and it got him the winner. If that’s his impact from now until the end of the season then that’s fine by me.

Dowman – 5 – A quiet game for Dowman. I don’t think he could quite keep up with the intensity. Champions League knockout football is probably the most intense football you can play in Europe.

Martinelli – 8 – There’s something about a cameo from Martinelli that is just so good, especially in the Champions League. He was confident and was happy to try things. The assist was superb and it doesn’t happen without his bravery to try something different and not just recycle possession.

Summary

These are the kind of games that you just have to get through. We’ve come off the back of two defeats and needed to steady the ship. Arteta trusts his side to do the business at the Emirates, so he likely set his team up so they didn’t lose this one. Losing this game and playing well would not have been acceptable compared to playing poorly and grabbing a draw. But, we grabbed a win against a side that haven’t even lost at home in the Champions League this season. They’ve won all five games and even beat PSG. They’re a monstrous team at home and we turned up and grabbed the win. As much as the performance was underwhelming, it was good enough to get a win and that’s everything we needed.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup

It’s that time of the season where the team won’t change that much now. Every game is important and unfortunately players like Declan Rice, William Saliba, Gabriel, Martin Zubimendi and Viktor Gyokeres will get run into the ground. However, if we can kill games off early then we can look at rotation. I do think Jurrien Timber will be fit and could possibly start, if not then I actually think Cristian Mosquera could get the nod. Ben White has been underwhelming, so I can see Arteta switching it up if Timber isn’t fully fit. I also think Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze will be back in the squad, but won’t start. Madueke will likely start, as well as Havertz, but we’ll definitely see Saka and Eze if they do make the squad. The only other player I’m worried about is Riccardo Calafiori. A full international break, a full 90 against Sporting and about half hour against Southampton. We have to be careful with him, especially with Piero Hincapie’s injury. I’d like to think Arteta will start Myles Lewis-Skelly, but I don’t think he trusts him. Bournemouth will be tough, no doubt, but we have the talent to get the job done. A win will see us go 12 clear before Manchester City even kick a ball. Let’s get it!