The all important three points, or a performance to be concerned about?

The Gunners had a week off, which came as an unexpected gift during a hectic schedule. After promising signs against Manchester City, the players had a chance to rest and reinvigorate themselves for the remainder of the campaign. Five league games remain and a maximum of three in the Champions League. 7 or 8 games to decide our fate, the boys need to bring everything they’ve got if they want any level of success. Newcastle were first up.

First Half

Unfortunately, Arsenal started the game very poorly. The away side had two shooting opportunities within the first few minutes. William Osula found himself through on goal, not even a minute into the game, but couldn’t apply the finish. Bruno Guimaraes then had a sighter, but his effort was always rising. The Gunners needed to compose themselves. They were able to gain a foothold in the match soon after, finding themselves with a series of corners to find a breakthrough with. Eberechi Eze had one effort that just slipped wide of the post, but his second chance produced a moment of real quality. He arrowed the ball out of Nick Pope’s reach and into the top corner. 1-0 Arsenal. Eddie Howe’s men didn’t let that goal deter them from assaulting the Arsenal goal. Joe Willock tested David Raya, but the keeper was equal to it. Noni Madueke responded with an effort of his own, but couldn’t generate enough power to trouble Pope. Newcastle continued with efforts from range, this time Sandro Tonali fizzed one at Raya. The ball swerved in flight which forced the Spaniard into making a reflex save. That was really it for chances in the first half.

Second Half

Arsenal started the second half better than the first. Piero Hincapie found space in the box after a deep cross, but his touchdown for Eze didn’t result in a shot and Newcastle cleared their lines. The game started to open up quite considerably, which rather suited the away side. However, Declan Rice should’ve benefitted from it. After winning the ball high up, suddenly acres of space opened up as he drove into the box. You would’ve expected him to smash the ball towards goal at the earliest convenience, but his extra few touches resulted in the defender making a tackle. Howe’s men then went up the other end to try and find an equaliser, but Tonali’s shot was blocked. Mikel Arteta’s men knew they needed to give more and that almost came when Madueke successfully beat Dan Burn. His cutback found Martin Zubimendi, but he couldn’t squeeze his shot past the defender. Just a minute later and Arsenal had shouts for a red card dismissed after Pope dragged down Viktor Gyokeres who would’ve had a great opportunity to score. However, it was only deemed a yellow card due to the close proximity of Malick Thiaw. As the clock struck the 80th minute, Newcastle produced the best chance of the game. Nick Woltemade dinked a ball through to Yoane Wissa, but the latter thundered his effort over the bar despite being clean through on goal. The North London side did respond with chances of their own. Bukayo Saka generated a yard of space to get a shot off, in the box, but Dan Burn was able to get enough of his leg on it to force it wide. The resulting corner saw Gabriel Martinelli produce a speculative effort, but Pope saw it all the way. As mentioned earlier, the second half had opened up into an end-to-end tie. Burn had a free header that landed safely in Raya’s gloves. Martin Odegaard then found some room for himself on the edge of the Newcastle box, but his powerful attempt was saved by Pope. The final real opportunity fell to the feet of Gyokeres who galloped away on a counter attack. Saka was the furthest forward with him, but the Swedish international couldn’t provide the right pass and the whole move broke down. That was it for this game. 1-0 Arsenal.

Statistics

In reality, Newcastle had the better of the chances. Arsenal had 11 shots with 4 on target, this generated an xG of 0.64 with 0 big chances created. Newcastle had 13 attempts with 3 on target. They created an xG of 0.91 with 2 big chances created.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Raya – 7 – I think he had a good game overall. A couple of important saves, but his ability to claim crosses came in handy here.

White – 4 – A below average performance from him. I don’t think he linked up very well with Madueke and struggled with the technical side of the game.

Saliba – 7 – Strong, commanding and decent on the ball. However, Osula did give him some problems on the occasion.

Gabriel – 6 – Decent defensive performance and was able to limit Newcastle, but didn’t bring the calm needed from someone in his senior position.

Hincapie – 9 (MOTM) – A monstrous performance with some ridiculous defensive numbers. Five tackles, five clearances, four interceptions and three recoveries. He also won 8 of his 11 ground duels. The effort he put in for Gyokeres’ counter attack was absurd. 90th minute and he’s charging around, tackling whoever he needs to. His work deserved a goal from that moment.

Zubimendi – 6 – A fairly decent performance, again adopting a higher role than Rice. He was caught out very early on for the Osula chance, but recovered from there.

Rice – 5 – Not at his influential best, sliding into the deeper role. His set pieces were good, but often not very well anticipated by his colleagues.

Odegaard – 6 – There’s things that he can do that no one else really can on the team, but he has such frustrating moments. He organises our buildup very well, but he’s shy in some tackles that need a bit of bite from him. There was also an opportunity to slide in Gyokeres for a chance, but opted to recycle possession. That encapsulates him as a creator.

Madueke – 3 – I’m very happy Saka’s back, but I’m struggling to work out why we don’t just give Max Dowman his minutes. He did well for our goal, spotting Havertz between the lines. However, his overall play after that was so disappointing.

Havertz – 7 – I can’t really give him too much of rating due to when he got injured, however, he grabbed the assist for Eze’s goal. We were more fluid when he was on the pitch.

Eze – 8 – Such a shame he had to come off with an injury as he was perhaps the only one who could provide that extra piece of quality. His goal was superb as well. Fingers crossed his injury is just a precaution.

Subs

Gyokeres – 2 – He can’t win his duels and can’t provide the necessary quality. Every ball pumped up to him was easily dealt with by Thiaw and Botman. He forced Pope into a yellow card, which was good, but that counter attack in injury time was an unforgivable moment. As a professional player, how are you not able to make that pass?

Martinelli – 3 – He just doesn’t seem to have any desire to cause his opponent any danger. He hardly picked the ball up out wide as it seemed like he was more on the pitch to provide extra defensive cover. He had a speculative effort, which was fun to watch, but nothing of substance.

Saka – 7 – Our standards instantly raised with him on the pitch. Chances became more frequent and we just looked more threatening. Burn stood off him more than he did for Madueke.

Lewis-Skelly – N/A

Summary

Three points are three points and that’s what we need above everything else. Three points in all of our last four league games will mean that the title will go down to goal difference, providing City don’t slip up. The performance was nowhere near good enough, but it was still enough and we have to accept that. We have other fixtures to boost our goal difference, but we always have to position ourselves for the three points first. Five 1-0 wins are miles better than two 5-0 wins and three draws. We have a huge semi final against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday and then Fulham next Saturday. Fingers crossed Eze, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber return to fitness for those fixtures.

Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid Predicted Lineup

Without knowing the fitness of Havertz, Timber, Eze and Martinelli, this is what I think we’ll go for. We need to be careful throwing Saka and Riccardo Calafiori back into the mix in such a high intensity game. We’ll need Hincapie’s defensive work to counter Atletico’s physical demands. Cristian Mosquera can also help with that, especially as he’s a product of the La Liga. Everyone else kind of picks themselves. It’s a Champions League semi final, no one can afford to be rested. As much as Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard need to be watched, they’re going to have to dig deep. We have the quality on the bench to rotate where we can. Gabriel Jesus, Saka, Calafiori, Dowman and Myles Lewis-Skelly can all influence a game. Then we potentially still have Eze, Martinelli, Timber and Havertz to come back in. Let’s get it!