Happy to get through or was the performance slightly concerning?

Arsenal have shown some steel in the last few games. Coming off the back of two very disappointing draws in the Premier League, the club needed some big wins to help restore some faith. Manchester City have been breathing ever closer, but three wins in a row have helped secure a seven point advantage. However, the Gunners are still competing in four competitions and this weekend saw the return of the FA Cup. With a spot in the quarter finals on offer, Mansfield Town stood in their path.

First Half

Arsenal began the game on the front foot. Max Dowman almost benefitted from a keeper’s mistake after his loose pass was picked up by the youngster. Max attacked the goal, but the keeper made amends for his error with a save. The Gunners came again. This time Riccardo Calafiori and Cristian Mosquera combined, the latter having a shot deflected over the bar. Despite early pressure, Mansfield responded very well. Tyler Roberts attempted an audacious chip over Kepa Arrizabalaga, but the Spaniard was equal to it. Following that, the home side had two chances in the same phase of play. Gabriel Martinelli failed to clear his lines so Louis Reed was able to test Kepa. Kepa’s save resulted in Rhys Oates curling an effort just wide of the post. Mansfield weren’t done as Roberts charged towards the goal once more. After buying some space, he struck an effort just wide of the post. The Nottinghamshire side had another decent opportunity pass them by as Oates crashed a volley well wide of the post, but in his position, he should’ve done better. Arsenal were getting pegged back without an escape route. Mikel Arteta’s men did eventually carve out a chance for themselves, but Leandro Trossard fired well over following a delicate pass from Dowman. Dowman was at the centre of Arsenal’s next chance, but Martinelli couldn’t profit from the 16 year old’s quick feet. Noni Madueke almost caught Mansfield out with a goal directly from a corner, but the woodwork saved them. The rhythm of the game had certainly swung back in Arsenal’s favour as this time Trossard was able to set Dowman up, but the latter saw his shot saved from close range. The next 10 minutes saw both sides probing, but not really creating anything substantial. That was until the 40th minute when Madueke broke the deadlock. Martinelli slipped the ball back to the Englishman who was able to arrow a strike straight into the top corner. It seemed like Arsenal would be able to head into the break 1-0 up, but Mansfield almost pulled back level. Lucas Akins skewed a header wide from just 8 yards out.

Second Half

The away side tried to start the half on the front foot, but couldn’t really create anything. With the first chance of the second half, Mansfield were level. Marli Salmon’s pass to Mosquera lacked pace and Will Evans was able to pounce on it. Evans still had work to do, but was able to beat Kepa with a goal that slotted nicely in the bottom corner. Dowman was clearly annoyed with Mansfield equalising, so he attempted to restore Arsenal’s advantage very soon after. His solo run resulted in the Mansfield keeper throwing out a strong arm to stop Max’s effort. Arsenal continued to push on to find the second goal. It almost arrived when Dowman teed up Gabriel Jesus, but his effort ended up getting cleared off the line by Kyle Knoyle. Arsenal’s second and eventual winner arrived moments later. Christian Norgaard turned on the ball close to the edge of Mansfield’s box. He spotted the run of Eberechi Eze who was ghosting into the box. Eze received the pass and unleashed a thunderbolt into the roof of the net. Following the goal it became a stop-start affair. Frequent substitutions, fouls and yellow cards dished out. It suited Arsenal, but they knew a one goal advantage wouldn’t be enough. Bukayo Saka tried to give Arsenal that more comfortable cushion. His drive into the box gave him some time to thump an effort towards the goal, however, Roberts managed to get something behind it and send the ball away from the danger zone. Mansfield had run out of energy and were ebbing towards the finishing line. But, they couldn’t leave the fixture without one last attempt. The Gunners couldn’t quite clear the ball, following a throw in, and it resulted in Oliver Irow knocking a headed chance towards the goal. Kepa got a solid pair of hands behind it, but Irow was in close proximity and any kind of proper contact would’ve given Mansfield an equaliser. 2-1, game done.

Statistics

Arsenal did deserve their win, but Mansfield gave them a hell of a game and the stats show that. Arsenal had 19 shots with 8 on target, creating 4 big chances and generating 2.46 xG. Mansfield notched 18 shots with 5 on target. This only created 1 big chance, but it did generate 1.99 xG.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Kepa – 7 – He had to work harder than he thought he would, but did well for the most part. Could’ve done better with their goal, but we deserved to punished after that mistake. Made a couple of other good saves and his distribution was excellent.

Salmon – 5 – He’s just 16 and we have to give him space to grow. That will include making mistakes. We can’t judge him on that as it’ll make him stronger. He did okay outside of the mistake, but almost gave a penalty away on top of it.

Mosquera – 5 – Still young and still has time to grow, but he needs to learn some lessons and fast. The pressure of the crowd and the onslaught from the Mansfield attack resulted in him looking quite shaky. He’s also partly to blame for the goal as he got caught in two minds whether to commit or not.

Calafiori – 6 – Slightly better than his partners in defence, but still didn’t look comfortable. He improved when he slipped in at left back.

Norgaard – 7 – Given how attacking Arsenal setup, he was kind of left in the midfield battle by himself. Mansfield’s early pressure was difficult for him to stop, but he improved as the game went on. Norgaard also provided a good assist for Eze.

Havertz – 5 – It’s great to see him get some minutes, but he couldn’t influence the game in the way he would’ve liked. Fitness will be holding him back, but that excuse won’t last forever.

Trossard – 5 – Just couldn’t quite make things work. He was on the cusp of having a brilliant game, but every action felt wayward. Passes, shots and touches. Fingers crossed his injury isn’t serious

Dowman – 8.5 (MOTM) – Having just come back from injury, he looked as good as ever. He forced Arsenal up the pitch and took the creative reins. So many chances either fell to him or because he created them. That’s not by accident, that was by design. Should’ve earned at least one assist and quite easily could’ve had a couple of goals. His shooting could do with some work, but everything up until that point is excellent.

Madueke – 8 – Very, very close to earning the MOTM award for himself. He was a constant thorn in Mansfield’s side. He repeatedly beat his marker, but his final ball was often lacking. However, he scored our opener with a fine strike.

Jesus – 4 – For opposition as low down as Mansfield, this would be the perfect opportunity for Jesus to get in and amongst the goals and have a solid outing. However, he produced next to nothing and felt like hindrance up top. Inter Milan away proved what he can still do, but we need to see it consistently.

Martinelli – 5 – He wasn’t much better than Jesus, but he did get an assist. For someone that will likely be at the World Cup this summer, Martinelli isn’t performing to those standards. It almost feels like a slice of arrogance has creeped into his game. I’m not here for it. Maybe the fact that he’s one of our highest contributors, across all competitions, is going to his head.

Substitutes

Hincapie – 6 – Pretty solid game again. He had nothing to do with the goal against us, so he’ll be disappointed he couldn’t add another clean sheet to his statistics.

Timber – 6 – Arrived not too long after Mansfield scored and that’s kind of when the home team stopped creating chances. He’s always solid defensively and that’s what we needed here.

Eze – 7 – Scored a cracking goal and helped Arteta’s men establish some authority later on. Despite his topsy turvy season, it’s another contribution for him. In 38 games, he’s got 14 goals/assists. It’s not sparkling, but it’s certainly not bad.

Dixon – 6 – A debut for our newest recruit, having signed at the end of the winter transfer window. He did okay. Some nice touches, but perhaps struggled to deal with some defensive requirements.

Saka – 6 – Should’ve scored, but had a decent game outside of that.

Summary

That’s 101 goals for Arsenal this season, with potentially another 19 games to play across all competitions. If we make the finals of the FA Cup and Champions League then we could have a truly ground breaking season in terms of goals scored. We march on further in another competition and remain unbeaten since January 25th. All things considered, this is a mammoth season and we’ve got the home stretch in sight. Mansfield pushed us all the way and that’s expected considering that was our 46th game of the season. We fielded two 16 year olds and rotated the squad heavily. The home side were up for it and had some brilliant moments, but the boys pulled through and that shows some mental strength. Forget the level of opponent, it’s the state of the game in front of you. On a dodgy pitch, loud home crowd and a heavily rotated side can be in the ingredients for an upset. But, onwards we march.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup

The squad was heavily rotated against Mansfield with a few key members left out of the squad entirely. Arteta has insisted most of the big names that missed out was purely down to them recovering from minor injuries, ensuring they get the proper rest before the next block of games hits them. Bayer Leverkusen won’t be pushovers, but they’re certainly a favourable selection from the options. We’ll be going away first and that means a big win here could help the side rest a few players when the home leg returns the following week. This would be huge considering our EFL Cup final will be played on the weekend after our second leg. But, we do have a huge game against Everton this Saturday. With this in mind I wouldn’t be disappointed if a couple of players received some extra rest. If Ben White is available then I’d start him over Jurrien Timber. The same goes for Martin Odegaard, I’d start him over Kai Havertz. We have to take every game as it comes, but if we can take a comfortable win back to the Emirates, I’d be quietly confident about our next few games before the international break. Let’s get it!