Did Inter deserve more or were Arsenal just that good?

The final of the four away games in a row. Portsmouth, conquered. Chelsea, swept aside. Nottingham Forest, stalemate. Up next was Inter Milan in the Champions League. Arsenal have one foot in the knockout stages of the illustrious competition, but seek total control over their future. A win against Inter Milan guarantees Arsenal finishing in the top 8, it also guaranteed finishing in the top 2 which is quite important in its own right. Finishing top 2 means every 2nd leg will be played at home all the way to the final. This is a psychological advantage, even though the away goal rule doesn’t exist. The Gunners were up against the best Italian team this season and a side that finished runners up in the Champions League last campaign. It wasn’t going to be a stroll in the park, but Mikel Arteta had a 100% record to maintain.

First Half

Arsenal began the match on the front foot and had Inter pinned back in their own half. Chances almost fell at the feet of our attackers within the first couple of minutes. However, the Inter defence were alert to the dangers. Myles Lewis-Skelly and Mikel Merino both saw shots blocked within that two minute spell. Bukayo Saka then tested Yann Sommer for the first time with a fairly well struck effort. But, on the stroke of 10 minutes, Jurrien Timber fluffed a shot towards goal that Gabriel Jesus instinctively stuck a foot out for. With Timber’s effort likely going off target, Jesus guided it into the net. 1-0 Arsenal, a dream start. But, the dream ended eight minutes later. The Gunners failed to clear their lines and Petar Sucic hammered a shot past David Raya, from outside the box. In fairness, it was a peach of a goal. Arsenal immediately set about attempting to restore their lead, but Leandro Trossard saw a shot blocked and Eberechi Eze fired an effort off target. Marcus Thuram gave the Gunners a scare on the counter, but he couldn’t find the target, blazing his shot off well over the bar. The North London side breathed a sigh of relief. Moments later, Arteta’s men were back in front. Saka swung in a deep corner that evaded everyone except Trossard who managed to nod the ball back across the box. Jesus was quickest to react and drove a header beyond Sommer. 2-1 Arsenal. Both sides had their chances to change the score line, but couldn’t provide that final slice of quality. Saka curled an effort wide despite finding himself in a promising position. Luis Henrique went down the other end and found row z with one of his shots. But, the closest anyone came, before the end of the half, was Federico Dimarco. He stung the gloves of Raya with a powerful low driven shot that rebounded back to him, the rebound was also kept out by Raya.

Second Half

The second half was much the same flow as the first with both sides seeing possession and chances being created. Eze had the first chance of the half, but his tame effort was easily dealt with by Sommer. Trossard then had a close attempt, but his effort trickled wide of the post. Marcus Thuram decided to give Inter something going forward of their own, but his sweet strike found only the gloves of Raya. Saka then had two brilliant opportunities in the space of a few minutes. Both attempts were blocked when he really should’ve done a little better. Inter Milan improved as the half dragged on, but mainly after the introduction of Pio Esposito. His tenacity and strength afforded him a couple of good efforts, but nothing to trouble Raya. Saka had another attempt, after Espositio’s flurry of chances, this time he found the target. But, Sommer was equal to it. The Italian giants attempted to sustain pressure, but struggled to carve out clear opportunities. They began committing players further forward and this sparked Arsenal’s third of the night. Gabriel Martinelli picked up the ball deep within Arsenal’s half, he carried the ball for a few steps and noticed Viktor Gyokeres demanding the ball over the top. The Brazilian complied and sent a magical pass right into Gyokeres’ path. Our Swedish striker had the strength to hold off the defender and carried it towards the Inter Milan goal. Saka had made a run through the middle, but Gyokeres’ pass clipped the back of his heel. The counter attack looked like it was coming to an end, but Viktor pounced on the loose ball and curled a shot beyond the Milan keeper. An excellent goal from start to finish. 3-1 Arsenal. Thuram had a chance to reduce the deficit, but couldn’t soften his header. Davide Fratessi had the final chance of the match, but he showed zero composure with his finish.

Statistics

Arsenal certainly carried an attacking threat outside of the goals. 17 shots with 6 on target. This generated an xG of 2.14 with 3 big chances. Inter had more shots with 18, but only 4 found the target. This created an xG of 1.36 with just 1 big chance.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Raya – 7 – Couldn’t do anything about the goal, it was such a fierce strike. Didn’t have loads to do outside of that, but did make a great double save from Dimarco.

Timber – 6 – I wasn’t thrilled with his performance again. He looks very off the pace right now. Some of his actions were good and certainly linked well with Saka, but was caught in possession a couple of times.

Saliba – 8 – He was back to his adventurous self. He handled defensive transitions fairly well, but was caught out a couple of times. His work on the ball and his expertise in diffusing situations was top notch.

Mosquera – 8 – This guy hasn’t played for six weeks, but that performance didn’t show it. He was everything we needed to deal with a troublesome front two. He was strong, intelligent and played the sweeper role very effectively. Often the last line of defence ahead of Raya. He did struggle to deal with Esposito though, hence Gabriel’s introduction.

Lewis-Skelly – 7 – Very much a player that improved as the game went on. He didn’t really do much wrong, but some of his actions gave the impression that his confidence is still repairing. The worrying aspect of his play is that he’s seemingly lost a bit of acceleration.

Zubimendi – 7 – He helped contain the Inter press and handled the midfield trio quite nicely. However, he did find himself caught in transition a couple of times. It was an end-to-end game, largely due to Milan’s persistence on using the wing backs. Not much Zubimendi can do in that situation.

Merino – 8 – I liked it. I liked his performance again. There’s something in his play that’s sharper and more intelligent than even Declan Rice. His positioning between players is much braver and I think the reason why our midfield knitted together some good build up play, is because of Merino. Despite his intelligence and desire to make things happen, his body can fail him sometimes.

Eze – 7 – A performance that drew criticism, but I don’t understand why. The lack of minutes is effecting how sharp he is, but overall it was a solid display. He plays much higher up than Odegaard and it benefitted having an extra body in the middle to bounce off. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it’s better than what we’ve seen from our captain.

Saka – 8 – The thing is with Saka, right now, is that he’s doing a lot of good work that you’d want from your winger. He’s beating his man, causing chaos and creating chances. He had Dimarco chasing shadows all game and whipped in a number of good crosses. He found more time to have some attempts at goal too, but there’s something holding him back this season. I can’t think what it is, but when he has the goal at his mercy something is putting him off.

Jesus – 9 (MOTM) – That was a proper striker’s performance. Incredible from the first minute until he went off. He provided two instinctual finishes, nothing flashy, just right place and right time. His all round work was exceptional. His touches felt more controlled and he held the ball up far better, helping others join the attack.

Trossard – 7 – Most of our play went through the right wing, but Trossard still contributed. He’s excellent at creating a yard of space for himself, but was dealt with pretty well by Manuel Akanji and Henrique. Grabbed the assist for Jesus’ goal.

Substitutes

Rice – 6 – I wasn’t overly impressed with his performance. He helped sustain the defensive structure, enhanced it in truth. However, he contributed very little going forward.

White – 6 – Didn’t need to do a whole lot. He was quite comfortable handling the right side of the pitch and made a few decent tackles. He wasn’t given much freedom to go forward.

Gyokeres – 8 – He seemingly took Jesus’ performance personally and ensured Arteta doesn’t forget about him. Another top striker’s performance. He demanded that through ball from Martinelli and was determined to see it through, even when it seemed like it was faltering. He took his goal extremely well.

Gabriel – 7 – He came on and Esposito instantly became quiet. He locked down the defence and didn’t give Inter a sniff of a goal beyond Frattesi’s mistimed effort.

Martinelli – 7 – His task was simple, stretch the game as Inter would be searching for an equaliser. While he didn’t contribute loads with stretching the game, he did provide an astounding level of skill to send that through ball to Gyokeres. To hit is so perfectly and with the outside of his boot, sensational stuff.

Summary

As I mentioned after the draw against Nottingham Forest, there’s so many positives to take from the season to date. Yes we haven’t taken every opportunity that comes our way, but no one ever does. There’s so much football being played these days and the standard is increasing all the time. Arteta has found a system that works 90% of the time, even if it doesn’t always look pretty. Set pieces are of course a big factor, but everyone has access to that. We rocked up to the San Siro, with a fairly rotated side, and put three past them with only one in reply. We have a huge game against Manchester United on Sunday, but we’re finally back at the Emirates. Here’s how I’d lineup.

Arteta will likely name the strongest team he can. Piero Hincapie might well be back for this tie and if he is then I’d start him. I think we need our strongest defenders out there to nullify the threat of Matheus Cunha and Amad Diallo. Saliba and Gabriel should be able to handle Bryan Mbuemo. Further forward I have a feeling he might go with Merino due to his performances in recent weeks. However, Odegaard is the captain and Arteta always favours him to start. I can also see Gyokeres returning to the starting XI, but with the pretence that we’ll see him replaced by Kai Havertz at some point. Strong team that should see us over the line. Let’s get it!