Morning all.
No GabrielJesus, no Martin Odegaard and no Gabriel. Instead, in came Jakub Kiwior, Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah. 28, 50 & 58 minutes, the times of Eddie Nketiah’s goals. Added to them, a penalty from Fabio Vieira and lastly, Arsenal’s 5th came from Takehiro Tomiyasu.
In the absence of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka captained the team. Was he proud? You bet he was…
I don’t really know how to describe it. You know me and you know where I’ve come from: the academy. To be at the front, leading the boys out today was just unbelievable. I’m lost for words – it’s hard to describe this feeling. It’s just amazing. I enjoyed it. It was a different experience. Obviously I was learning on the job. Sometimes I didn’t know where I was supposed to be! But in the end we played well, which was the most important thing. We got the three points.
In the week we saw a lovely piece of footwork from Gabriel Jesus, yesterday, it was Eddie Nketiah’s turn as he collected Declan Rice’s pass, flicked the ball past his man and then opened the scoring with a tidy finish. His second had ‘poacher’ written all over it. A spillage by the Sheffield Utd keeper and Nketiah pounced. 2-0. Arsenal’s 3rd and Nketiah’s 3rd was a thing of beauty. Wow, what a strike. Not many keepers would have stopped that one. Then came the penalty which surprisingly, VAR awarded us and Fabio Vieira converted calmly. Lastly, Takehiro Tomiyasu rounded off what was an emphatic victory with his first goal for the club.
Mikel Arteta:
I’m really happy for him. Three very different goals that required a lot of quality and composure. He had a few weeks where he hasn’t scored a goal and today he had an opportunity, with a great performance and three beautiful goals. He’s always there, he’s always available, always willing to improve and give his best for the team, he’s playing a lot, he’s started eight games in the Premier League this season, that’s a lot, that tells you the level of trust that we have towards him.
Lots of stuff went on in between the goals I’m sure but having only seen the highlights, I’ve only seen Gabriel Martinelli and Ben White stinging the hands of Utd keeper. What’s important though was the win and with it, five really good goals and more game time for Emile Smith Rowe as well as a league start for Jakub Kiwior. Mo Elneny had minutes on the pitch too which bearing in mind Partey is out for a while, is good news. Especially as we have another fixture on Wednesday night.
It’s easy to think that when a club sitting in the relegation places come to The Emirates, or to any of the so called ‘bigger clubs’ in the Premier League, the home team should go ahead early in the game before going on to win easily. Yet seldom does that happen because invariably, these teams come to defend. I’d go as far to suggest that they deploy a similar tactic for their home games too because trying to play open and attacking football against the ‘better’ teams in the division could end in disaster. As said before the game yesterday, both Totts and City needed very late goals to beat Sheffield Utd yet Arsenal got the ball rolling on 28 minutes. Before then, were Sheffield Utd controlling the game or causing us problems in defence? No, Arsenal were in control but needed to be patient.
Then Eddie Nketiah sprung into life…
To do it at Emirates Stadium, in the Premier League, in front of my family and friends is an amazing feeling. I lost my aunt not too long ago and I just want to dedicate that to her and her family. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dreamt of this moment – to get three goals in a Premier League [match]. I’m a childhood supporter of the club, so to do it in front of the fans, my friends, my family and my team-mates is an amazing feeling. It’s a day I’ll remember forever.”
We finished the game with no bookings, no injuries, five goals scored and a clean sheet.
A pretty good Saturday I’d say..
Catch up in the comments.
G’day Rico, an easy post to write about a five nil Arsenal win. Having watched the game I saw nothing negative and much to be positive about. Eddie’s hat trick and his generosity in handing the ball to Vieria for the penalty, team spirit personified. Also a landmark first Premiership goal for Tomiyasu.
Seldom has a goalkeeper been so under employed, not a single shot on target and no more than a cross or two to deal with. A couple of good long balls out towards the wings and no “moments” playing out from the back.
I’m looking forward to this afternoon’s Manchester derby, a draw would be nice from a neutral’s viewpoint.
Afternoon Cicero, I feel robbed as I’ve not seen the whole game. Hats off to Eddie indeed, he could have joined Arshavin and Henry in the 4 goals in a game club had he converted the penalty.
ESR grew into the game I thought and Tomi is back to his old form. No, he’s better.
Afternoon Rico and all.
I would give Eddie man of the match for his 3 goals and doing the team thing by giving the penalty to another player.
Just like to repeat part of my comment from yesterday, it was a great team performance across the board and the more ESR gets to play the better the players around him will know what to expect from him,
Hi Geoff, I’m sure he did get man of the match and rightly so. With Jesus out, he’s likely to get more minutes although I’ve a feeling Arteta will rest him on Wednesday as we need him for the weekend.
G’day Rico.
If you ask Eddie about a rest, I think you would get a straight forward and resounding NO!
Hi Cicero, I’m sure but with Jesus out, surely the league cup isn’t worth the risk.
I know the away fixture at Newcastle is on the horizon Rico, but Eddie’s confidence must be sky high at the moment and to leave him out of the match against West Ham may just knock that down a bit. He wasn’t happy about being subbed on Saturday. Let him play, I say.
My stream froze just before the penalty so I missed the last two goals until MOTD which showed a very condensed version missing out the initial half hour.
In all it was a great performance against a team that is on the road to relegation and as such we should not read too much to it albeit 5 goals to nothing has improved the goal difference no end . ,Next up West ham away Wednesday , ESR will play as Odegaard is out again and I can’t see Eddie being left out as we have no-one else to put there unless we play jack of all trades Trossard or should that be Jack O’Lantern .
The faux cockney boys will be up for it , so we can’t afford to weaken too much but with the knocks and injuries many players pick themselves although along with Smith Rowe I hope that Nelson gets a decent run too.
No doubt it will come clear as time goes on but we will just have to wait until an hour before kick off.
You win Cicero. 😂 makes sense.
But will it make sense to Arteta Rico?
What I like most about the score line was that, at 2 nil we didn’t stop looking for goals like in the past, this time we went in for the kill and that’s what I have been calling for the last couple of years.
If Arteta does drop Eddie at least tell him that, he was dropped only to save him for the main matches.
That’s the million dollar question Cicero.
Potter, agreed, SU weren’t and aren’t the best to judge us against but as said before, both City and Totts struggled to break them down.
New post up