Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video
There’s always a buzz ahead of the first home game of the new season, and yesterday was no exception. This time though, it wasn’t just about the game itself, it was about a new addition to the squad. Eberechi Eze’s transfer from Crystal Palace was announced half an hour before kick-off, and the player’s arrival on the pitch at 5.20 was met with rapturous applause.
What a moment for the 27 year old whose career has come full circle. Released by Arsenal at 13 years of age, back once again, like some kind of renegade master, 14 years later. The smile on his face told you everything you needed to know, and it set the scene for what was to come.
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Mikel Arteta handed a first start to Noni Madueke on the left, and the rest of the team was more or less as you’d expect. I think we started quite brightly, but the game fell into a familiar pattern where our domination of possession for Leeds to sit deep, and we lacked penetration in the final third. Sometimes you need craft to make the breakthrough, sometimes a sledgehammer, and sometimes all you need is a corner. Especially if you’re Arsenal.
Jurrien Timber’s smart header from Declan Rice’s superb delivery broke the deadlock, and eased some of the pressure. Just before the break, Rice’s industry won back possession, Martin Zubimendi found Timber, his pass set Bukayo Saka free and his right-footed shot whizzed beyond the keeper for 2-0. It really felt like a goal we needed, and a goal that Saka himself needed.
Unfortunately though, he picked up an injury early in the second half. It looks like a hamstring strain, this time on the other leg, and he was clearly in some discomfort when he came off. That injury was obviously compounded by the loss of Martin Odegaard in the first half, the captain forced off with a shoulder problem after landing awkwardly when he was fouled in midfield. It was mostly a very good day yesterday, but losing those two players cast a bit of a shadow – not least because we go to Anfield next week. Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:
That’s why the squad has to be well-equipped. It’s going to be a long, long season. And we’re going to need a lot of players in order to achieve what we want.
People have asked where is Eze going to play. I don’t think we need to worry about that too much, to be honest. In one week we’ve picked up injuries to Saka, Odegaard and Havertz – key men in Arteta’s set-up – so we’re going to need to use the full extent of our squad. It is a big concern to have these injuries in clusters like this, but you would have to say the squad looks in decent shape to be able to cope.
Let’s get back to the good stuff though. With the spotlight on Viktor Gyokeres – and Gary Neville’s relentless chirping on Sky Sports adding to the external noise around the summer signing – he really needed a goal yesterday. There was a first half chance that he snatched at, but early in the second a ball over the top from Riccardo Calafiori gave the Swedish striker a chance to run into space and then at the Leeds defence. He drove into the box and finished well at the near post to make it 3-0 and get himself off the mark in red and white.
I don’t know if it’s quite the trademark goal they were trying to make out on TV afterwards, but there’s no question that he is really effective in those moments, and in those spaces. The fact he got another from the spot late on will have added some gloss to his day, and it’s probably important to note that he got a full 90 minutes under his belt. By his own admission his pre-season hasn’t been ideal, so that will have been really useful too. All in all, a solid day for Gyokeres who unveiled his usual celebration, but also showed off a new one in response to online chatter about his Old Trafford performance last week.
Timber added the fourth 10 minutes into the second half, poking home from close range when Leeds failed to deal with another excellent Rice corner delivery. What a day for the Dutchman, by the way. It’s a bit mad to say a player who got two goals and an assist was probably overshadowed by a couple of others – one of whom didn’t even play – but he can be very pleased with his performance and contribution.
So, with half an hour to go and the game essentially won, Arteta made a triple change, in the process handing debuts to Cristhian Mosquera, who came on at right-back and did well, and also 15 year old Max Dowman who is now our second youngest player ever after Ethan Nwaneri. I suspect there might be a couple of senior players on that bench smarting that they didn’t get on, but the context was just right for bringing on such a young player, and I’m glad that’s what the manager did. It raised the excitement levels in a game which everyone knew was done and dusted, and the will for him to produce something was palpable.
There were a couple of shots, one excellent run down the right which saw the Leeds full-back booked (a bit harshly, to be fair) as he took Dowman down. And then in injury time, Dowman’s trickery inside the box saw him fouled, and the ref pointed to the spot. I don’t really understand any criticism of the player here, and I think any grown-up pundit going in on a 15 year old really needs to give their head a wobble this morning. You’re targetting a literal child when you could focus on all the positives in his performance which, by the way, includes the skill he showed that led to the penalty being awarded.
Gyokeres slammed it home, 5-0, a clean sheet, and loads to like about our first home game of the season. You can see we’re still a work in progress, not helped by the fact we keep losing important players to injury too, but you can’t argue with what we produced on the pitch yesterday. Afterwards, Arteta said:
It’s exactly how we wanted to start the first game, we won in a really convincing way. You could sense something, especially in the atmosphere before the match. I think we have to be very proud of the way we played, the way we dominated the game, not conceding any shots almost, and the clean sheet.
On top of that, a lot of good moments. Viktor scoring his first two goals for the club, I’m thrilled and delighted for Jurrien after that long time after injuring his ankle and the hours that he’s put in with all the physios and the medical department to score two goals at Emirates Stadium, very special. Mosquera making his debut as well for the club, and then one of the highlights, without any question of a doubt, Max coming in at 15 and making his debut and winning a penalty. So, very proud.
As I said, the injuries cast a shadow, but that’s why we did what we did in the transfer market this summer. If Saka is out for a while, then we have Madueke to play on his preferred side – and I think he was more effective there. I think it flew under the radar a bit yesterday with everything else that was going on, but I really liked Nwaneri’s performance when he replaced Odegaard. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was incredibly tidy and efficient in terms of how we played. In the 60 minutes or so he was on the pitch, he didn’t misplace a single pass, and in what is a relatively new role for him in this team (having played primarily on the right last season), he looked very assured.
All in all though, a good way to kick off the home season. I think we can play better, but if you’re saying that after you’ve won 5-0, then you’re probably in pretty decent shape overall. Let’s see how the week plays out with injuries, but we’ve got the points on the board before we face Liverpool next weekend, and they have what is going to be an intense game at Newcastle tomorrow night to contend with.
Right, I’ll leave it there for now. You can join myself and James tomorrow for an Arsecast Extra, have a great Sunday – and watch out for some more Eze stuff on the official site at some point today!
