It’s job done, but is the performance still concerning?

The last few weeks have given us a real insight into the mentality of this club. From battling in four competitions to competing in two and chucking away the chance of extending the gap at the top of the Premier League. The defeat to Bournemouth felt poignant. The players haven’t been playing well, but the Premier League is where they were still winning. The disappointment was felt to the core of every fan. Much of our season now rests with our game against Manchester City on Sunday. However, prior to that, we had a Champions League semi final to reach. 1-0 heading into the second leg, now Arsenal just had to get the job done against Sporting Lisbon.

First Half

Arsenal began the game pretty well. They chased Sporting down and forced them into mistakes. The ball was zipped around, but chances weren’t falling for the Gunners. In fact it would take almost 20 minutes for the first real chance for either side. It was actually Sporting who had the first opportunity. William Saliba attempted a line-breaking pass, but it was picked off. Trincao ended up with the ball at his feet, but couldn’t direct his effort on target. The Gunners did get a sighter of goal not long after, but Viktor Gyokeres’ strike was always rising. Although, the North London didn’t deter from their attacking momentum and had a free kick in close proximity to the goal. The opportunity was wasted and it actually created a counter attacking opportunity for the away side. If it wasn’t for Gabriel Martinelli acting as the last man, the opponent wasn’t going to get caught. Mikel Arteta’s men tried to work another opening, this time Martin Zubimendi slalomed his way through. His pull back found Gyokeres, but his effort was blocked instantly. Arsenal probed for a further 10 minutes, but without much conviction. It seemed like the half would come to an unceremonious close, but David Raya had other ideas. The Spaniard released a poor pass that went straight to an opponent on the edge of the box. Due to the positioning of Raya and any defender, the attacker had a clear sight of an open goal. Luckily, Pedro Goncalves couldn’t really adjust his feet in time and his pass was cut out. However, this sparked a late flurry of chances for Rui Borges’ side. Geny Catamo clipped the post moments later after he was found unmarked at the back post. It was a huge scare for Arsenal and they ended up quite lucky to head into the break at 0-0.

Second Half

Sporting began the second half with more purpose and were pretty quickly on the front foot. Maxi Araujo flashed a shot wide after a well worked move. Arteta’s side did regain control pretty soon after that attempt as Eberechi Eze thumped an effort wide himself. Martinelli then found himself with a chance to break the deadlock, but he couldn’t keep his volley down. The Gunners came once again and this was the first time it felt like Sporting were getting put under pressure. Noni Madueke danced his way inside from the right and just kept going, dinking his way beyond challenges. The ball seemingly strayed into Martinelli’s path, but Madueke stretched to retain control and then finally struck an effort towards goal. All he could find was the side netting, in hindsight the ball should’ve been left for the Brazilian. In spite of the pressure from the home team, the Portuguese side could’ve had a penalty. Cristian Mosquera does place two hands in the back of Araujo, but it was deemed light enough to get away with it. Outside of Eze firing one from range, the following 20 minutes of the game was quiet. Changes from both teams created stop-start match and it ruined the flow. One of the changes, Leandro Trossard, came to closest to putting Arsenal in front. He was left with a free header beyond the back post, but could only hit that post with his header. Gabriel Jesus then worked some space for himself in the box. He could see the keeper looking to cut out the cross, so Jesus opted to go for goal. However, the angle was always too tight and it flashed into the side netting. The away side couldn’t really come up with much else as the game slowly ticked by. However, the last kick of the game almost resulted in a Sporting Lisbon goal. Joao Simoes lined up an attempt from the edge of the box and was actually not closed down very quickly, luckily his shot ended up whiskers wide of the post. 0-0, job done.

Statistics

The headline statistics do favour Arsenal, but it shows more the kind of game that unfolded. The Gunners had 15 shots with just 1 on target. This generated 0.64 xG with 2 big chances created. Sporting had 8 shots with also just 1 on target. Only 0.29 xG was generated with 1 big chance created.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Raya – 4 – He done well to claim some crosses, but wasn’t really tested beyond that. However, some of his distribution was poor. One incident put us under immediate pressure that should’ve resulted in a goal. With City next, he needs to take no risks like that.

Mosquera – 6 – I felt more relaxed from a defensive standpoint. White had been struggling in that regard. However, Mosquera couldn’t quite make it work in attack. Although, I liked his desire to constantly make himself an option.

Saliba – 7 – Solid again. Kept Luis Suarez quiet, even if he was a little rough with it. One wayward pass presented the opposition with a chance, but I liked the idea behind the initial pass.

Gabriel – 6 – Solid, but I think he had moments that felt a little rushed. A few minor mistakes.

Hincapie – 7 – I thought he was solid. He consistently won the second ball and that was very important. It actually kick started a few attacks, but we couldn’t capitalise on it.

Zubimendi – 8 (MOTM) – He’s had an extremely tough few months. The decline in his performances has been alarming. It’s easy to criticise him, but you have to praise him when he deserves it. He was excellent. He was deployed a little further up the pitch and it allowed him to roam. He won duels all over the pitch and tried to force the issue in attack. A very polished performance.

Rice – 6 – A quiet game, but he has been feeling the effects of an illness. He was clearly careful with his approach and often found himself deeper than Zubimendi. His deliveries weren’t hitting their target though.

Eze – 7 – Tried to make things work in attack, but was let down by what was in front of him. I feel sorry for him in that regard. He had a number of shots at goal, but most were massively off target.

Madueke – 6 – Much like Eze, he tries to make something happen. However, his execution is just off. His shooting feels out of control and we need better from our winger. Having said that, I hope his injury isn’t serious as we do need him.

Gyokeres – 3 – If you can’t do it against a team you know inside-out, then what hope have you got. His link up play was off and many attacks died after a misplaced pass from him. I feel like sometimes his actions are more what he thinks the team wants and that doesn’t align with what he wants. As soon as he has a sight of goal he should be shooting and I’d want him to be selfish. Instead he’s adding in an extra pass that isn’t coming off.

Martinelli – 6 – If we’re talking about his offensive game, he’d be rated closer to 3/4. However, that recovery he made to stop a guaranteed one-on-one was so crucial. Hardly anyone else in the squad would be able to make that kind of recovery.

Subs

Havertz – 6 – I think we improved when he came on. I don’t think we necessarily played amazing, but our best chances occurred after his arrival.

Dowman – 6 – A professional performance from him. He wanted to make a difference, but understood that this wasn’t a team that was going to allow him to take them on. He opted to pass more than he normally does.

Jesus – 6 – I’m not sure where he ended up playing, but a lot of his actions came from the left and he looked good there. I will make the argument that he can play that LW role and I won’t stop until he leaves the club.

Trossard – 4 – We saw a little more of his tricky feet, but couldn’t really trouble the Sporting defence too much. That counter attack in the 93rd minute kind of sums him up right now. He was tackled under the first sign of resistance and possession immediately deferred back to the away side. Run to the corner flag if needs be, just keep it down that end if you can’t get a shot off.

Summary

This team looks bereft of ideas and a lot of that stems from our extremely blunt attack. We’ve scored just three goals since we returned from the international break. Just three goals despite facing Southampton, Sporting x2 and Bournemouth. That isn’t good enough and it shows where we’re at right now. If we can 1-0 our way to glory then so be it. However, it doesn’t even feel like we can do that. It’s job done here and another Champions League semi final to enjoy, so I suppose that’s all that matters. The performances are concerning and I think that’s fair to suggest. Manchester City next and that has me worried, big time.

Arsenal vs Manchester City Predicted Lineup

As we find out more injury news my prediction will likely change, but this is based on current availability. In my opinion, no factual evidence, I think that Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber will make it back in the squad. I don’t think we’ll see Madueke or Bukayo Saka back just yet. This team is as good as we can field. Martinelli will have to start over Max Dowman as he won’t be able to physically compete just yet. I would opt for Havertz up top over Gyokeres due to the German’s ability to drop in and link up. Gyokeres plays on the shoulder, but Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi are too quick for him. It’ll be interesting to see how we play with Eze and Raya in the team. Whoever we go with, all we need to do is avoid defeat. If we have to grind out a draw then so be it. Let’s get it!