Maybe, just maybe, Arsenal will be comfortable for a full 90 minute football match and keep a clean sheet... After a cruising first half that saw us play some wonderfully entertaining football, Arsenal managed to make lives difficult for themselves as Bournemouth battled to stay in the FA cup. Thankfully though, the damage had been done during the first half and Arsenal can look forward to an FA cup 5th round tie away to League 1 Portsmouth.
Pre-match there were some questions surrounding the future of Dani Ceballos and whether he would feature in some capacity, in an FA cup tie away to a side who would likely rotate to focus on their relegation battle in the league, but alas he was left on the bench once again alongside Holding who might have started. The likes of Willock, Guendouzi, Eddie and Martinez did come into the starting 11 though, while Pepe and Martinelli somewhat surprisingly kept their places too. It was a strong line up overall with a very strong looking bench too.
The first half saw some sumptuous Arsenal football and it only took us 5 minutes to see it in full flow. Pepe dropped deep to receive the ball on our right wing, skipped past one player and moved the ball onto Willock in a more central area. His exquisite turn shielded the ball from Gosling's attempted interception and suddenly he found himself driving at Bournemouth's back 4. As he moved further in field, he fed the ball to Martinell who took one touch to draw in the defender before playing a perfectly weighted pass to Saka who was making an excellent overlap. Saka himself took one touch to set himself, before leathering the ball beyond Travers in the Bournemouth goal to round off Arsenal's 22 pass move and make it 1-0 to the Arsenal!
20 minutes later and Arsenal were two to the good, and it was thanks to yet more stunning football. Saka and Willock were again heavily involved but it started at the back with Mustafi. He strode into midfield and passed through the lines into Eddie's feet. He held off the challenge well to lay the ball back off to Willock behind him. He opened his body and played an excellent ball wide to Saka bursting forward. As Saka made it to the edge of the box he made an accurate low cross behind Martinelli's run and into the path of the onrushing Nketiah for a tap in. Despite VAR's best efforts, it was 2-0 to Arsenal with the fans in full voice at the Vitality!
Arsenal seemed content being 2 goals up and cruised through the rest of the first half. Bournemouth came out in the second though with a more battling spirit but they still lacked any kind of threat going forward. It's the sort of game that would normally have just petered out and been a non-contest if it weren't for the sheer number of injuries that lead to 8 minutes of injury time.
It was half way through those 8 minutes that Bournemouth made things nervier than they really should have been. Francis had the ball in the right half space and curled a very tame cross into Arsenal's box. Gosling held off Sokratis and let the ball bounce beyond him, Holding wasn't close enough to the danger and the ball squirmed into the space between him and Sokratis, where Surridge was on hand to pick up the ball, round Martinez rather too easily and tap home.
Thankfully there were to be no further goals and Arsenal are through to the 5th round of the FA cup. The draw prior to kick off pitted us against a Portsmouth side just further along the coast from Bournemouth. Here's hoping for a normal kick off time and a win that would put us into the quarters!
Ratings:
Martinez - 5
Didn't have a lot to do but was disappointing for the goal. Perhaps caught off guard as the ball shouldn't have found its way through in the first place but having his arse on the floor before Surridge rounded him still doesn't leave him covered in much glory. Flapped at a few crosses too which was a little concerning but thankfully didn't land us in any trouble.
Bellerin - 6.5
A performance from the captain for the day that won't earn any rave reviews but was certainly solid, it was also an important 90-100 minutes under his belt as he continues his recovery from injury.
Sokratis - 6
Didn't have an awful lot to do but was good when called upon. Did his job as required and there's really little else to say.
Mustafi - 7
Like Sokratis, he wasn't called upon defensively too often. But on the ball he was better than he has been recently. Struck the right balance between progressive passes through the line, and safety first to his centre back partner. Very unfortunate to get injured.
Saka - 9
In my recent reports I've been critical of Saka at left back in an attacking capacity, but today he was much improved. A well taken goal and clever assist capped off another impressive performance that saw him get up and down the pitch superbly.
Xhaka - 7.5
Silently very very impressive. Makes a real difference having him starting play from deep as he has been doing from a left back position that frees up Saka and it shone today. He mopped up very well behind Saka when required and seemed to always be very well placed, a quality that often goes unnoticed.
Guendouzi - 9 (MOTM)
It's been so difficult picking a MOTM from last night, Saka makes a very strong case with the goal and assist but I didn't feel like I couldn't not give it to Guendouzi. I lost count of the number of times he skipped past challenges comfortably and bring the ball out of danger. His passing was accurate and sensible, and he screened the back 4 so well and offered them the protection they needed, often a downside to his game. The shithousery to top everything off was the icing on the cake.
Pepe - 6.5
Whilst not as instrumental as an end product threat like the youngsters were, he carried the ball despite Bournemouth's concerted efforts to double up on him at every opportunity.
Willock - 8.5
Under Emery, nobody could underestand the logic of him playing as a number 10 in a position he seemed rather ineffective. It was therefore understandable to question the thinking behind his role today, but boy did he keep those doubters (including myself!) quiet. He was utterly superb, linking up expertly with Nketiah, instrumental for both goals, and carried the ball out of danger well on more than one occasion. Caused Bournemouth all sorts of problems all night.
Martinelli - 6.5
Another solid performance, a bit like Bellerin in the sense that it won't win any awards but did a lot of good work that went unnoticed. He and Saka link up to good effect frequently and consistently works hard for the team.
Nketiah - 7
Made a good run to find himself on the scoresheet and was a nuisance for the Bournemouth centre halves all night. Didn't get much go for him in the second half but he kept plugging away and kept them on their toes.
Holding - 6
A bit disappointing to be caught slightly out of position for Bournemouth's goal but was otherwise an improved performance than that of recent weeks when he's played. Looks like it's gonna take him some time to get back up to full match fitness.
Ceballos - 6.5
Tidy when he came on and can see what he might bring to the team if he plays. Two excellent slide rule passes to release Saka down the left wing when he was slowly being pegged back further little by little. Arsenal took control of the game a bit better when he came on which was no coincidence as he's a bit more technically secure than Willock. Hopefully he'll still have a part to play for us this season still.
AMN - N/A
Pre-match there were some questions surrounding the future of Dani Ceballos and whether he would feature in some capacity, in an FA cup tie away to a side who would likely rotate to focus on their relegation battle in the league, but alas he was left on the bench once again alongside Holding who might have started. The likes of Willock, Guendouzi, Eddie and Martinez did come into the starting 11 though, while Pepe and Martinelli somewhat surprisingly kept their places too. It was a strong line up overall with a very strong looking bench too.
The first half saw some sumptuous Arsenal football and it only took us 5 minutes to see it in full flow. Pepe dropped deep to receive the ball on our right wing, skipped past one player and moved the ball onto Willock in a more central area. His exquisite turn shielded the ball from Gosling's attempted interception and suddenly he found himself driving at Bournemouth's back 4. As he moved further in field, he fed the ball to Martinell who took one touch to draw in the defender before playing a perfectly weighted pass to Saka who was making an excellent overlap. Saka himself took one touch to set himself, before leathering the ball beyond Travers in the Bournemouth goal to round off Arsenal's 22 pass move and make it 1-0 to the Arsenal!
20 minutes later and Arsenal were two to the good, and it was thanks to yet more stunning football. Saka and Willock were again heavily involved but it started at the back with Mustafi. He strode into midfield and passed through the lines into Eddie's feet. He held off the challenge well to lay the ball back off to Willock behind him. He opened his body and played an excellent ball wide to Saka bursting forward. As Saka made it to the edge of the box he made an accurate low cross behind Martinelli's run and into the path of the onrushing Nketiah for a tap in. Despite VAR's best efforts, it was 2-0 to Arsenal with the fans in full voice at the Vitality!
Arsenal seemed content being 2 goals up and cruised through the rest of the first half. Bournemouth came out in the second though with a more battling spirit but they still lacked any kind of threat going forward. It's the sort of game that would normally have just petered out and been a non-contest if it weren't for the sheer number of injuries that lead to 8 minutes of injury time.
It was half way through those 8 minutes that Bournemouth made things nervier than they really should have been. Francis had the ball in the right half space and curled a very tame cross into Arsenal's box. Gosling held off Sokratis and let the ball bounce beyond him, Holding wasn't close enough to the danger and the ball squirmed into the space between him and Sokratis, where Surridge was on hand to pick up the ball, round Martinez rather too easily and tap home.
Thankfully there were to be no further goals and Arsenal are through to the 5th round of the FA cup. The draw prior to kick off pitted us against a Portsmouth side just further along the coast from Bournemouth. Here's hoping for a normal kick off time and a win that would put us into the quarters!
Ratings:
Martinez - 5
Didn't have a lot to do but was disappointing for the goal. Perhaps caught off guard as the ball shouldn't have found its way through in the first place but having his arse on the floor before Surridge rounded him still doesn't leave him covered in much glory. Flapped at a few crosses too which was a little concerning but thankfully didn't land us in any trouble.
Bellerin - 6.5
A performance from the captain for the day that won't earn any rave reviews but was certainly solid, it was also an important 90-100 minutes under his belt as he continues his recovery from injury.
Sokratis - 6
Didn't have an awful lot to do but was good when called upon. Did his job as required and there's really little else to say.
Mustafi - 7
Like Sokratis, he wasn't called upon defensively too often. But on the ball he was better than he has been recently. Struck the right balance between progressive passes through the line, and safety first to his centre back partner. Very unfortunate to get injured.
Saka - 9
In my recent reports I've been critical of Saka at left back in an attacking capacity, but today he was much improved. A well taken goal and clever assist capped off another impressive performance that saw him get up and down the pitch superbly.
Xhaka - 7.5
Silently very very impressive. Makes a real difference having him starting play from deep as he has been doing from a left back position that frees up Saka and it shone today. He mopped up very well behind Saka when required and seemed to always be very well placed, a quality that often goes unnoticed.
Guendouzi - 9 (MOTM)
It's been so difficult picking a MOTM from last night, Saka makes a very strong case with the goal and assist but I didn't feel like I couldn't not give it to Guendouzi. I lost count of the number of times he skipped past challenges comfortably and bring the ball out of danger. His passing was accurate and sensible, and he screened the back 4 so well and offered them the protection they needed, often a downside to his game. The shithousery to top everything off was the icing on the cake.
Pepe - 6.5
Whilst not as instrumental as an end product threat like the youngsters were, he carried the ball despite Bournemouth's concerted efforts to double up on him at every opportunity.
Willock - 8.5
Under Emery, nobody could underestand the logic of him playing as a number 10 in a position he seemed rather ineffective. It was therefore understandable to question the thinking behind his role today, but boy did he keep those doubters (including myself!) quiet. He was utterly superb, linking up expertly with Nketiah, instrumental for both goals, and carried the ball out of danger well on more than one occasion. Caused Bournemouth all sorts of problems all night.
Martinelli - 6.5
Another solid performance, a bit like Bellerin in the sense that it won't win any awards but did a lot of good work that went unnoticed. He and Saka link up to good effect frequently and consistently works hard for the team.
Nketiah - 7
Made a good run to find himself on the scoresheet and was a nuisance for the Bournemouth centre halves all night. Didn't get much go for him in the second half but he kept plugging away and kept them on their toes.
Holding - 6
A bit disappointing to be caught slightly out of position for Bournemouth's goal but was otherwise an improved performance than that of recent weeks when he's played. Looks like it's gonna take him some time to get back up to full match fitness.
Ceballos - 6.5
Tidy when he came on and can see what he might bring to the team if he plays. Two excellent slide rule passes to release Saka down the left wing when he was slowly being pegged back further little by little. Arsenal took control of the game a bit better when he came on which was no coincidence as he's a bit more technically secure than Willock. Hopefully he'll still have a part to play for us this season still.
AMN - N/A
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