Writing match reports on Arsenal games would be an awful lot more fun if I didn't almost feel as though I could copy and paste almost any one of the previous ones I had written because they've nearly all been that drab and dreary. But here we go again!
Pre-game there were plenty of questions surrounding the squad that travelled, let alone the first 11. For a group we all are aware we should and likely will top without much trouble, it seemed unnecessarily strong with only Auba, Ozil, and Xhaka left home. Was this not an opportune time to re-introduce Xhaka to the fold when rotation was probably necessary considering the weekend ahead. Perhaps now was a good time to give the likes of Robbie Burton and Tyreece John-Jules some first team action?
Even more questions were then asked of the starting 11. Why yet another new system with 3 at the back making an appearance. Tierney is unlikely to be fit enough for 3 games in a week, so does this mean he's out of the trip to Leicester? Ceballos has played an awful lot of football this season already, surely he deserves some rest? Without trying too hard I had 11 different questions surrounding the line up.
Unfortunately once we kicked-off, answers were far from forthcoming. One off-target header was all we had to show for whatever attacking endeavours there were. Going the other way, we were indebted to the woodwork, Emi Martinez, and a lack of final quality from Vitoria for not just falling behind, but finding ourselves 3/4-0 down at best. Edwards smacked the post early on from distance, Martinez made 2 very fine saves, one effort went curling just outside the post, and they worked themselves into plenty more dangerous areas that many a PL and top side would have made a lot more of. Not a good start.
Thankfully, the second half was somewhat improved, not hugely but any positive will do at this point right?? And by improved, I simply mean they created and had fewer opportunities, while we ourselves made more. Even if the vast majority of them were off target.
In fact our solitary successful pass into the box, lead to our solitary effort on target and was one Mustafi could hardly miss thanks to the time and space he was afforded in the box. Nevertheless he still needed to direct it into the bottom corner and he did so well to ratefully take the gift on offer. A goal that came from our first effort on target in almost 2 and a half hours of football will see a lot of fans pleased for Mustafi who has improved recently, but simultaneously bemused at how we were even ahead.
This was a match Vitoria needed to win to have much hope of still qualifying from the group, and even a draw did them very few favours with a Frankfurt win tonight seeing them drop out of the competition. It was to no surprise therefore that they looked to reply. 10 minutes later and they got their well deserved goal. A cross into the box was hit too hard and bounced back high off Rochinha's head. Despite 6 arsenal defenders, plus Martinez in goal, Duarte acrobatically bounced the ball past everyone and into the goal.
Vitoria pushed for the winner and went very close to doing so twice in the space of 90 seconds. 1-1 it finished, just as Vitoria did with Portugal's 13th placed side, and they'll likely be bemoaning the fact they should have put us to bed a lot earlier. There's something I never thought I'd say.
Ratings:
Emery - 2
For the umpteenth match of his tenure, I'm left with several questions. Why did he feel the need to bring such a strong squad? Why switch systems, AGAIN. Why has Pepe seemingly been 'relegated' to the Europa league squad. Does Lacazette really need those 20 or so minutes? Nothing seems to be adding up at the moment and he is running out of excuses. A team this young, talented, and spirited should be enjoying and expressing themselves a lot more (See Frankfurt, Forest, and Liege matches). It gives me no pleasure to say this, but whatever side he seems to pick it doesn't work and there now only seems to be one common denominator...
Martinez - 9 (MOTM)
Comfortably head and shoulders the best performer on the day. His handling and distributing is strong but one thing I always argued in favour of Leno was his ability to make the saves that wins you points and games. Well credit where it's due: Martinez made two very good saves that were harder than they looked in the first half that kept Vitoria at bay.
AMN - 5
This is probably the best position for AMN but he seemed to struggle with it today. For a team that avoids the central areas like the plague he struggled to impose himself on the game. There were a couple of runs beyond the back line in the second half to his credit but they unfortunately didn't amount to anything.
Mustafi - 6.5
Early on in the season he went back to basics to find his game again and play sensibly. Thankfully he seems to have kept this up and just done his job as best he can when the midfield in front of him allows play to reach him all too easily. Without seeing the stats, it felt as though he won his fair share of the areal battles and scored our only goal of the game. However routine the goal might have been, you can't take it away from him.
Sokratis - 6.5
I may not be his biggest fan but when lined up between the usually cup team pairing you could see why he was in the premier league frame. Appeared the more commanding of the three centre halves and was well positioned on a couple of occasions to see out danger.
Holding - 6
Seems surprisingly passive compared to how he once used to be. Picked up a rather needless booking but hasn't excelled as well as he did pre-injury. I don't doubt the guy's talents but I do now fear his injury may be holding him back somewhat, fingers crossed if so that it is only temporary.
Tierney - 6
Gave an ok account for himself but it's rather obvious he's much better as a full back than a wing back. Thankfully his crossing ability is still there for everyone to see and Pepe was just caught behind one that could so well have been the opener.
Ceballos - 6.5
His use of the ball has been much improved in the last couple of weeks and was having a decent game up to his injury. Hopefully it's not serious but why he couldn't have been afforded the rest in the first place is a concern.
Willock - 6
Not his worst game, but not his best either. Wasn't able to stamp any authority on the game and nor could he connect defence to attack. Shame he seems to be tasked as the distributor when his main asset is being the one that arrives late in the box to get on the end of a pass.
Saka - 5
Wasn't able to find his range but was always likely to be a difficult night for a player forming his craft as a natural wide winger, then being asked to play as an inside forward. A lot of what he tried just didn't quite come off.
Martinelli - 5
Found it very difficult to get into the game and I struggle to remember any meaningful touch of the ball or moment altogether. Probably doesn't help that he's a predominantly 'end product' type of player and there was only one successful pass into the box (Pepe's free kick that lead to Mustafi's goal).
Pepe - 5
Also didn't have much a particularly shining game, again though largely not helped by the system he was being asked to play and mis-management on Emery's part in my opinion. Does he love to cut inside? Yes. Does he like to start inside? Definitely not. I was interested to see how it would pan out pre-game but it simply didn't work. Especially thankful however that he can still take a set piece as it seems to be our only route to goal right now.
Lacazette - 4
Had the same problems Martinelli did not being able to get himself into the game and cut a very frustrated figure throughout.
Guendouzi - 5
Didn't impact the game when he came on and Ceballos looked as though he was the one that would make something happen if it would be anyone. With Guendouzi coming on to replace him due to injury, that seemed to kill what open play attacking impetus we had.
Torreira - N/A
Pre-game there were plenty of questions surrounding the squad that travelled, let alone the first 11. For a group we all are aware we should and likely will top without much trouble, it seemed unnecessarily strong with only Auba, Ozil, and Xhaka left home. Was this not an opportune time to re-introduce Xhaka to the fold when rotation was probably necessary considering the weekend ahead. Perhaps now was a good time to give the likes of Robbie Burton and Tyreece John-Jules some first team action?
Even more questions were then asked of the starting 11. Why yet another new system with 3 at the back making an appearance. Tierney is unlikely to be fit enough for 3 games in a week, so does this mean he's out of the trip to Leicester? Ceballos has played an awful lot of football this season already, surely he deserves some rest? Without trying too hard I had 11 different questions surrounding the line up.
Unfortunately once we kicked-off, answers were far from forthcoming. One off-target header was all we had to show for whatever attacking endeavours there were. Going the other way, we were indebted to the woodwork, Emi Martinez, and a lack of final quality from Vitoria for not just falling behind, but finding ourselves 3/4-0 down at best. Edwards smacked the post early on from distance, Martinez made 2 very fine saves, one effort went curling just outside the post, and they worked themselves into plenty more dangerous areas that many a PL and top side would have made a lot more of. Not a good start.
Thankfully, the second half was somewhat improved, not hugely but any positive will do at this point right?? And by improved, I simply mean they created and had fewer opportunities, while we ourselves made more. Even if the vast majority of them were off target.
In fact our solitary successful pass into the box, lead to our solitary effort on target and was one Mustafi could hardly miss thanks to the time and space he was afforded in the box. Nevertheless he still needed to direct it into the bottom corner and he did so well to ratefully take the gift on offer. A goal that came from our first effort on target in almost 2 and a half hours of football will see a lot of fans pleased for Mustafi who has improved recently, but simultaneously bemused at how we were even ahead.
This was a match Vitoria needed to win to have much hope of still qualifying from the group, and even a draw did them very few favours with a Frankfurt win tonight seeing them drop out of the competition. It was to no surprise therefore that they looked to reply. 10 minutes later and they got their well deserved goal. A cross into the box was hit too hard and bounced back high off Rochinha's head. Despite 6 arsenal defenders, plus Martinez in goal, Duarte acrobatically bounced the ball past everyone and into the goal.
Vitoria pushed for the winner and went very close to doing so twice in the space of 90 seconds. 1-1 it finished, just as Vitoria did with Portugal's 13th placed side, and they'll likely be bemoaning the fact they should have put us to bed a lot earlier. There's something I never thought I'd say.
Ratings:
Emery - 2
For the umpteenth match of his tenure, I'm left with several questions. Why did he feel the need to bring such a strong squad? Why switch systems, AGAIN. Why has Pepe seemingly been 'relegated' to the Europa league squad. Does Lacazette really need those 20 or so minutes? Nothing seems to be adding up at the moment and he is running out of excuses. A team this young, talented, and spirited should be enjoying and expressing themselves a lot more (See Frankfurt, Forest, and Liege matches). It gives me no pleasure to say this, but whatever side he seems to pick it doesn't work and there now only seems to be one common denominator...
Martinez - 9 (MOTM)
Comfortably head and shoulders the best performer on the day. His handling and distributing is strong but one thing I always argued in favour of Leno was his ability to make the saves that wins you points and games. Well credit where it's due: Martinez made two very good saves that were harder than they looked in the first half that kept Vitoria at bay.
AMN - 5
This is probably the best position for AMN but he seemed to struggle with it today. For a team that avoids the central areas like the plague he struggled to impose himself on the game. There were a couple of runs beyond the back line in the second half to his credit but they unfortunately didn't amount to anything.
Mustafi - 6.5
Early on in the season he went back to basics to find his game again and play sensibly. Thankfully he seems to have kept this up and just done his job as best he can when the midfield in front of him allows play to reach him all too easily. Without seeing the stats, it felt as though he won his fair share of the areal battles and scored our only goal of the game. However routine the goal might have been, you can't take it away from him.
Sokratis - 6.5
I may not be his biggest fan but when lined up between the usually cup team pairing you could see why he was in the premier league frame. Appeared the more commanding of the three centre halves and was well positioned on a couple of occasions to see out danger.
Holding - 6
Seems surprisingly passive compared to how he once used to be. Picked up a rather needless booking but hasn't excelled as well as he did pre-injury. I don't doubt the guy's talents but I do now fear his injury may be holding him back somewhat, fingers crossed if so that it is only temporary.
Tierney - 6
Gave an ok account for himself but it's rather obvious he's much better as a full back than a wing back. Thankfully his crossing ability is still there for everyone to see and Pepe was just caught behind one that could so well have been the opener.
Ceballos - 6.5
His use of the ball has been much improved in the last couple of weeks and was having a decent game up to his injury. Hopefully it's not serious but why he couldn't have been afforded the rest in the first place is a concern.
Willock - 6
Not his worst game, but not his best either. Wasn't able to stamp any authority on the game and nor could he connect defence to attack. Shame he seems to be tasked as the distributor when his main asset is being the one that arrives late in the box to get on the end of a pass.
Saka - 5
Wasn't able to find his range but was always likely to be a difficult night for a player forming his craft as a natural wide winger, then being asked to play as an inside forward. A lot of what he tried just didn't quite come off.
Martinelli - 5
Found it very difficult to get into the game and I struggle to remember any meaningful touch of the ball or moment altogether. Probably doesn't help that he's a predominantly 'end product' type of player and there was only one successful pass into the box (Pepe's free kick that lead to Mustafi's goal).
Pepe - 5
Also didn't have much a particularly shining game, again though largely not helped by the system he was being asked to play and mis-management on Emery's part in my opinion. Does he love to cut inside? Yes. Does he like to start inside? Definitely not. I was interested to see how it would pan out pre-game but it simply didn't work. Especially thankful however that he can still take a set piece as it seems to be our only route to goal right now.
Lacazette - 4
Had the same problems Martinelli did not being able to get himself into the game and cut a very frustrated figure throughout.
Guendouzi - 5
Didn't impact the game when he came on and Ceballos looked as though he was the one that would make something happen if it would be anyone. With Guendouzi coming on to replace him due to injury, that seemed to kill what open play attacking impetus we had.
Torreira - N/A
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