Does 3-0 flatter Arsenal, or is it justified?

Arsenal had the chance to recover form after their gutting loss against Aston Villa at the weekend. The Champions League has been fun for Arsenal this season as they top the prestigious competition, but Club Brugge presented an awkward encounter, in the midst of a full blown injury crisis. The Belgian side hadn’t yet lost at home, despite hosting Monaco and Barcelona. In fact the latter generated a 3-3 score line. Ivan Leko’s men were no strangers to an upset and certainly have goals flowing through the team. The Gunners rotated as much as possible, but it was mainly due to injuries anyway. William Saliba, Jurrien Timber, Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice all missed out, even Riccardo Calafiori was resigned to the bench after picking up a knock against Villa. But, there was still a job that needed to be done.

The game kicked off and Arsenal attempted to hold possession, they were successful for a while, but Brugge disrupted the rhythm. The Belgian’s seized upon a few opportunities to get forward and have some efforts on goal, but the Arsenal defence blocked all the early attempts. Arsenal then stole back control of the proceedings and began to have some good moments of their own. Piero Hincapie hit the post from close range before Viktor Gyokeres sent a header just wide of the post. This game was end-to-end and this next passage of play sums that up. Brugge had a good opportunity that required the services of David Raya, he made a solid save and Arsenal regained possession. Following that reclaim, the ball arrived at Noni Madueke’s feet just inside Brugge’s half. The opposing defender moved in to make a challenge, but Madueke was able to avoid it. He used his strength to hold off the player and began his venture towards the goal. However, he was presented with a sea of bodies and no real passing avenue, so he went for goal. He was stood 30 yards out and his effort smacked against the cross bar and, fortunately, bounced into the net. A sensational strike. Arsenal weren’t resting on their laurels and desperately tried to give themselves a two goal cushion. Hincapie and Gyokeres both came close, but made no progress. It almost proved fatal, that the chances were missed, as the home side were relentless for the remainder of the half. They peppered Raya in the goal and were quite unlucky not to get themselves an equaliser. Arsenal needed half time to regain some composure.

The game felt on the edge and Brugge could smell blood, there was a goal in this for them. But, almost as soon as the 2nd half started, they found themselves 2-0 down. Martin Zubimendi swung a deep cross into the box, which seemed to catch the opposing team out. They also didn’t expect Madueke to take a chance on that cross, so he was left with an empty net to head the ball in to. It was a hammer blow for the Belgian side, who looked very dangerous before the break. Arsenal continued to create chances with Gyokeres aiming another header wide, while White couldn’t adjust his feet properly for a close range finish. Brugge hadn’t really got going in the 2nd half and they were suddenly pegged back even further. Gabriel Martinelli was able to beat his man on the wing and found himself at the top corner of the box. He then unleashed a curling effort, that was guided way out of the keeper’s reach and into the goal. 3-0 and Arsenal were deserving of it. After the 3rd went in, it was very much a back and forth kind of game. Brugge had good chances and so did Arsenal. Both keepers were certainly kept busy, as was the woodwork at the home side’s end. That was it really, Brugge just couldn’t find their consolation goal.

To be fair to Club Brugge, they gave Arsenal a good game, but the away side certainly were deserving of their win. The Gunners had 20 attempts, 11 were on target and that created an xG of 2.99. This includes creating 5 big chances. Brugge had a similar amount of attempts with 18, but only 7 landed on target. Their xG was only 1.10 and within that, only 1 big chance was created.

Player Ratings –

Raya – 8 – He probably didn’t expect to have to work so hard, but he was on top of everything. He made a couple of crucial saves to prevent Brugge from getting anything out of the game. His distribution was almost perfect too, it’s a brilliant asset to have in order to alleviate pressure.

White – 7 – I think he had a pretty good game and he seems like he’s getting back to his best. Everything seems more natural and we’re beginning to see that overlapping style of full back that we were used. He defended well and kept Christos Tzolis quiet.

Norgaard – 8 – I think he was the more composed of the two centre backs and this is a relatively unfamiliar position for him. He did play centre back for Brentford a long time ago, though. Despite Brugge having plenty of opportunities, I think that was more down to the dynamic of the whole team. The Danish international played very well.

Hincapie – 7- He kept a clean sheet and that was the main thing, but it felt like most of what Brugge created came through his channels. It felt like he was a bit rash in his decision making. Overall he made some good challenges, but certainly some things to work on.

Lewis-Skelly – 6 – It feels like he’s not got the confidence he had last season. He’s still a wonderfully gifted player and he’s certainly allowed time to grow. However, he was up against Carlos Forbs and he was got the better of Lewis-Skelly a number of times. It got to the point that everything that Brugge created came through Forbs. Myles didn’t have much of answer. He was also a little quiet in terms of creative output.

Zubimendi – 8 – Overall he had a very effective game, but I genuinely think his best work came when he was sitting in that number 8 role. A few times him, Merino and Odegaard alternated midfield roles and this allowed the Spaniard to push up. Despite having less in the way of defensive security, he bagged himself two assists. Although one of the assists was for Madueke’s wonder goal, but an assist all the same.

Odegaard – 7 – He was industrious, but not the game controller we needed. Having Odegaard, Merino and Zubimendi on the pitch is quite limiting as none of them are known for their ball carrying capabilities. Our captain tried to get his team up the pitch, but was often ineffective. He did have some nice moments though.

Merino – 7 – The thing with Merino, and why I think Arteta likes him so much, is that his game intelligence is so high. He isn’t the quickest, quite slow to turn on the ball and won’t be carrying the ball far. However, he knows where to put himself, when to pass and when to buy a foul. That last part is more important than we think. If you can notice when your team needs a breather and can attract a foul then you do it. He’s a master of it and Arteta likes that. He’s also a relentless runner.

Madueke – 9 (MOTM) – There can’t really be any other winner than Noni. He was excellent, even without his goals. He was the threat in the first half. He constantly got beyond his marker and then had the opportunity to create a chance for someone else. He got himself two goals, the first of which will probably be the best he’ll score in his career. An electric performance.

Gyokeres – 6 – I don’t think all of the criticism he gets is justified, but some of it is. He is a traditional striker and I don’t think this team has adjusted to that yet. If you watch him, he’s constantly moving around the central defenders. This occupies the both of them to often leave our wingers with a one-on-one situation. However, if a central defender chooses to help his full back, then it leaves space for Gyokeres and he’ll take advantage of it. In this game the central defenders marshalled him out of the game, but I do think some of players need to be braver in their passing.

Martinelli – 8 – A game of two halves for our Brazilian. The first half was dismal. Brugge’s right back locked him up and threw away the key. Martinelli seemed to find that key at half time and unshackled himself. He was breezing past the full back and even bagged himself a wonderful goal. That 2nd half performance is more of what we need to see from him.

Substitutes –

Jesus – 8 – I really liked what I saw from Jesus. It took a little while to get going, but his link up play was awesome and he was a constant threat. He was unlucky not to bag himself a goal, but that’ll come if he continues in the same form.

Calafiori – 7 – He came on at a time when the game was just starting to open up. He was a much more calming presence, but Brugge found some success in his zones. He certainly wasn’t bad, but not quite as assured as we needed him to be.

Saka – 6 – I don’t think he quite got to grips with this game. Perhaps he didn’t get the right service, but it felt like he was just quiet. It seemed like most of the attacking work was being done by Jesus, Martinelli and Nwaneri.

Nwaneri – 7 – He had some really nice moments and should’ve had a goal, but not enough minutes to really dive into his performance. Some things worked, some things didn’t.

Salmon – N/A – Not on for long enough to get a rating, but just wanted to mention his achievement. We forget that 16 is still a very young age, due to Max Dowman, but it’s very impressive that he’s made his debut already. One for the future.

That’s it for this post. Arsenal looked dominant against Brugge, the score line backs that up, but there was some hearts-in-mouths situations for the Gunners. Wolves at the Emirates is up next. Here’s how I’d line up, based on current availability reports.

Raya is probably the most nailed on position in the squad. We still don’t know whether Saliba will make the game, so it’ll likely be White and Timber back into the roles from last weekend. Hincapie can’t be dropped for anyone, which goes for Lewis-Skelly too as Calafiori is suspended. When you’re facing a team like Wolves, at home, you don’t need to sit in with two central midfielders. Zubimendi needs a rest, while Rice had a rest against Brugge. Rice knows how to sit in the number 6 role, then let Odegaard and Eberechi Eze roam ahead of him. Saka will always retain his spot over Madueke, but I feel like Martinelli is better suited out left compared to Noni. Trossard is still a doubt. Gyokeres can lead the line again, I think Merino needs a breather and our Swedish international needs time to bed himself back into the squad again. It should hopefully be a game full of goals for us!