Morning all.
The painful conclusion to that chaotic game in Birmingham last weekend opened up all those old nagging concerns we have as Arsenal supporters, brought about by three years of heartbreaking near misses. On top of that, of course, fanning the flames was the usual suspects on line laughing at our expense, but it is what it is and their laughter these days is borne more out of relief rather than the disrespect we used to suffer. I can deal with that and I’m sure most of us can after the fact.
Yesterday our fatigued and injury hit squad traveled to the Low Countries to visit a club that had just sacked its manager and was actually in a crisis. On paper Arsenal should steamroller Club Brugge but football isn’t played on paper and Arteta was not taking his Flemish opponents lightly.
Mikel left a few key players at home with an eye on the weekend and giving them a much much needed rest. He went against the ‘play the under 21’s’ narrative and sensibly went with as strong a line-up as possible respecting the competition and his opposition.
We didn’t want to follow up the defeat at Villa Park with a catastrophic result in Belgium as that would have really set the alarm bells ringing. No, it was time to get back to being parsimonious at the back, resolute in midfield and more efficient in attack. With that in mind Arteta freshened up the attack and tweaked the midfield.
So in came Norgaard, but into defence to replace Timber, who was not in the squad and Myles also came into the back-four. In midfield there weren’t any surprises, Merino dropped in alongside Zubi and Odegaard, up front the pace and pressing ability of Noni, Viktor and Gabby M. On the bench Arteta brought the academy into the squad, Nichols, Salmon, Setford, Ethan and Copley. The 5th cavalry of Jesus, Saka, Eze and Calafiori joined the kids on the subs bench, just in case.
Despite the form of Brugge recently and the dismissal of their manager, the home fans created a strong atmosphere but as early as the 3rd minute Odegaard got off a good shot on target which their keeper saved. Around the 12th minute Madueke went down just outside the Arsenal box and as the physio was treating him the thought of ‘not again’ crossed my mind, but some strapping on his left hand did the trick, phew!
After about 15 minutes there were some early sparrings and promising moves which broke down following misplaced passes and Arsenal came close to taking the lead but Brugge were a threat on the break. At the back Arsenal seemed slightly disjointed but Zubimendi and Norgaard often swapped places with Zubi dropping in to ping the passes and the Dane pushing up to cover his midfield spot. It was very fluid but unfamiliar so there was a certain amount of holding ones breath.
On 21 the ball pin-balled around the Brugge box with both sides trying to get the right connection. It ended with a Hincapie shot that looked as if it would sneak in but it unfortunately didn’t. Then a few minutes later it seemed that Noni Madueke just thought ‘sod this’ and burst forward on a penetrating run from the wing and just inside the Brugge half. He shrugged off a couple of challenges and then just let fly from the edge of the penalty area. His shot flew in like arrow into the top right hand corner of the net with the Brugge keeper grasping at thin air and we relaxed, well relaxed a bit. Sometimes you’ve just gotta go for it and Noni did just that.
Arsenal almost made it 2-0 from a corner a few moments later as the rest of the half became slightly disjointed, Brugge came on strong later and Raya had to make some important stops. Up front Arsenal still lacked a cutting edge but Noni almost doubled his personal tally in added time. Half-Time 0-1
Arteta must have got into Gabriel Martinelli at the break because he had a great second half roasting the Brugge right-back who had spent most of the 1st 45 giving him digs into his back and trying to rough him up. But on 47, with the game not really going anywhere, Arsenal had an innocuous throw-in on their left in the Brugge half. The ball went to Zubimendi who bent in a lovely cross and arriving on the far post was Noni with a beaming smile to head home. Brugge looked stunned.
At 2-0 it was job done but Brugge kept going although their intensity dropped away, meanwhile Arsenal threatened to inflict more pain on the men from Flanders. 10 minutes later Martinelli again turned his marker into an origami figure and left him floundering as he cut across the face of the Brugge penalty area before dispatching a blistering drive inside the far post. That was that.
Cue game management and the walking wounded of Arsenal just strangled the life out of Brugge, slowing the game down, keeping possession and breaking forward when the occasion presented itself.
On 63 Calafiori replaced Hincapie and Jesus replaced Gyokeres. 10 minutes later Saka replaced Madueke and Nwaneri replace Odegaard.
Calafiori looked very comfortable at centre-back, something Mikel might take note of and Jesus was a constant nuisance to the Belgians. On 79 Jesus hit the bar after good work by Nwaneri. On 83 Marli Salmon at 16 made his debut in place on Ben White, another teenager given his debut by a manager who doesn’t like youth. Ironic isn’t it? Salmon was sporting the 89 shirt, a nice number to have. On 85 Jesus went close again, so pleased to have him back and in added time Nwaneri blasted a shot in that had goal written all over it but the keeper made a good stop.
So, we can forget about Villa now can’t we and that’s 6 Champions League matches, 6 wins and top of the table. Crisis, what crisis?
We march on….
By Kev
Morning all, great write up Kev. Like you say, we can now move on from Villa, but I didn’t expect as good a performance with five changes. Noni has proved he can be a match winner on his own as did Eze a few weeks back. Whether they can do it week in week out like Saka is the aim, but both have massive talent.
As does Jesus, it would have been icing on the cake if that shot had been 6 inches lower. Felt sorry for Norgaard finally getting a chance and being played out of position, but we didn’t miss our big two at all and that’s a credit to him. Califiori? Well, he can just about do everything, anywhere on the pitch!
Good morning Kev, I enjoyed your write up almost as much as I enjoyed last night’s result. Both get ten out of ten from me.
I feel a bit sorry for Gyokeres, with both Madueke and Martinelli looking to score rather than providing him with crosses, his role is more about distracting defenders than snatching whatever chances come his way.
I’ve accused Arteta’s Arsenal of being predictable in the past, with goals coming from a variety of sources that doesn’t apply anymore. Thankfully.
Morning Kev, guys.
Nice one Kev, thank you as always.
Gyokeres looks a bit lost at the moment, I too feel sorry for him in many ways.
Morning Gooners, morning Rico, you’re welcome of course, glad to help.
Cicero, that’s praise indeed, cheers mate. Yes I too feel a bit sorry for Viktor, the harder he tries the less fortune he enjoys.
Thanks Andrew, yeah Jesus getting a goal would have been amazing but he looks to have a lot of goals in him not least with the World Cup coming up.
Don’t know why Saka and Calafiori came on so late in the game , ( 63 &70 minutes ) we were 3 nil up and surely if they were benched , to either save their legs or avoid a yellow , they should have stayed on the bench.
Other than that we can’t complain but the games with Inter and Kairat are now less important than our league and domestic cup matches and so should go on the back burner.
Still baffled by the Gyokeres / Arteta situation , was he just bought to appease the critics and fans demanding a striker or did he get bought to create a distraction , Should Jesus survive a few matches will he be out of the door come January.
Having Jesus fit is a huge boost, especially as Dowman is injured. He looks really up for it too which to be fair, he did before getting injured.
Califiori coming on made sense to give little rest to one major CB fit, Hincapie for Saturday, as Cali suspended.
I suppose with so many still out, Arteta was thinking about Saturday. Better to come on at 3-0 up for a little run around than when we’re chasing a game. I’d have rather seen Annous come on for Noni though.
Madueke had a support on his left, or maybe, right thigh. Carrying an injury?
Afternoon Rico and all, nice win yesterday, I like Gyokeres but just hope we are not getting to the point where some players are starting to get a bit selfish like Salah has at Liverpool
Noni has been out for a while, makes sense to wear a support I guess. Assuming it’s the leg he injured.
Hi Geoff, it’s not about being selfish I’m, it’s about taking opportunities which arise. We here often moan about players not taking shots, last night they did and hit the target.
Good afternoon Rico and all housers
I loved reading the match report Kev.
A bit of stat……David Raya since joining Arsenal in 2023, Appearance 110, Goals conceded 58, Cleansheet 50
That’s nearly 50% cleansheets. Martinelli has scored 5 goals in the CL now. Fingers crossed he continues to score all the way to the final. That would give him at least 15 goals.
As I said earlier this morning, the games against Kairat and Inter are not that important unless the club wants the €6M which come with winning those two games. Imo those players who need to rest should be rested whether its against Inter or Kairat. I am not saying that we should make oversale changes but why not Kepa instead of Raya? He is due to play a game or two imo.
Likewise other players as well.
What does anyone think of Norgaard at CB?? I felt that he is the present day Gilles Grimandi. We need a player like that throughout the season. He can fill multiple positions and will surely be needed. He was, according to Arteta, ‘Immaculate’ with his positional awareness and defending.
Great result,some fantastic goals,Norgaard was really good at centre back,I didn’t see that coming. I know people will say it’s only Bruges but job done. In hindsight their style suited us (possession nearly 50/50) We aren’t going to see that much in the league or domestic cups.
Gyokeres looks like he’s trying hard,too hard ?
Hopefully he will be lucky against Wolves,a few will be hoping that.