Just one Cornetto…

Most of the pre-match debate centred around how much rotation from manager Mikel Arteta we would see, if any. Decisions on starting XI’s are as much a tactical issue as anything but as we are on the outside we as fans tend to focus on fitness and fatigue and our players getting plenty of rest in between marches, especially with a difficult assignment in Wearside coming up this weekend. Fortunately Arteta went full mix and match making four changes from the team which beat Chelsea as in came Hincapie, Eze, Gyokeres and Merino. All four were a bit rusty and in need of minutes. Gyokeres had two technically sound players either side of him.

Arsenal were resplendent in their smart red shorts and red shirts and pretty much dominated the opening exchanges, but you could see that Napoli were focused on staying disciplined and tight in defence. After a couple of Arsenal corners, Napoli broke away and looked dangerous, although their final ball was quite poor. The low low block of the Neapolitans was a feature of the match and almost earned them a positive result on the night. Arsenal‘s finishing was not at its sharpest which left most of us feeling frustrated because at this level you have to take some of the chances we created but fluffed.

On the 13th minute, good work by Viktor saw him cross invitingly for Saka who had his back to goal but he smartly swivelled and shot, over the top of his head but unfortunately it went straight to the goalkeeper.

With 20 minutes gone, you could see the influence of Max Allegri, their defending was disciplined and typically Italian. Around 22 minutes a cross to the far post was headed back into the middle by Eze straight to Merino in front of goal and you would’ve put your weeks wages on him putting it into the net but he headed it straight at the goalkeeper who palmed it over the bar. Now if Merino of all people can’t score from there then you know it isn’t going to be one of those nights when the goals flow.

6 minutes later Odegaard found Merino who threaded the ball to Eze, he cut inside and fired wide. A minute later Saka fired wide after some good approach work then six minutes after that Rice found Saka, he returned the ball to Rice and Declan blasted the ball over the bar. It was becoming habitual. Following the effort by Rice, the Napoli goalkeeper went down for treatment and although he continued for the rest of the half he was substituted at halftime, but this allowed Arteta the opportunity to get into his players whilst the goalkeeper was receiving the attention of his physios.

On 38 Napoli broke free of their Arsenal shackles but the shot from Politano was comfortably held by Raya. There was just enough time for more great work from Odegaard but his pass to Saka was again blasted over the bar. Bakayo looked a little forlorn as it wasn’t happening for him.

Arsenal in truth should’ve been leading comfortably 2-0 by the halftime whistle, but it remained 0-0 at the break.

The second half pretty much carried on from where the first half finished with Arsenal dominating possession and pressing Napoli into their own half but squandering the hard won chances which they created and as long as it remained 0-0 then Napoli had the chance of causing an upset.

Following some great approach play and a whole host of intricate passing moves a cross to the far post fell invitingly to Hincapie but from almost under the bar he put it over the bar, unbelievable…

After 12 minutes of incessant Arsenal pressure I was getting a bit edgy. I’ve seen these types of games in Europe too often to be blasé about things, I mean this is Arsenal in Europe, this is what we’ve been since 1994. With only one effort on target and despite half a dozen which had gone begging Arteta finally made a move. Off came Eze and Merino and on came Tzolis and Bruno on 66 minutes. Tzolis immediately added some urgency to the left flank and Bruno drove us forward from the midfield, less tiki taka and more directness. Still we couldn’t get the breakthrough so again Mikel turned to his bench as the clock hit 73 minutes, off came Saka and Gyokeres for Madueke and Havertz and both had an immediate effect, in fact all the ‘finishers’ did.

As we hit 75 minutes a dazzling build up saw Odegaard fire home after Bruno to White to Odegaard to Tzolis and back to Odegaard saw my son text me ‘boom’… That was all we needed as Napoli’s confidence was shot, in fact we should have got a couple more after Martin’s goal. More intricate passing saw Bruno firing over the bar, which made me wonder if we had done our final training session at Twickenham before flying out to Italy…

Zubimendi came on for Ben White on 82 mins, Ben had put in another sterling performance and well earned his breather. On 85 came the worst miss of the lot, with Napoli committed forward Tzolis suddenly broke clear, supported by Madueke. Christos waited and at just the optimum time slipped Noni in, but this, my friends is Noni, not Martinelli our top scorer from last seasons CL, and with the whole goal to aim at Noni fired straight at the goalkeeper. Of course he did…

During the melee which followed, Tzolis had a shot blocked and Napoli somehow cleared the ball to safety and we almost paid the price for our wastefulness as De Bruyne got free and laid on a great chance, on a plate as full time approached but none of the Napoli players, luckily for us, reacted in time.

So in a game we should have been leading by 4 or even 5 goals it could have been 1-1.

The Gunners played out the final four minutes of added time before the referee blew his whistle, a very good referee by the way I don’t say that very often. Arsenal had the three points and a clean sheet in the bag and off we go for another European jamboree.

We March On.

By Kev.