Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video
Like many of you, I’m sure, I wondered ahead of this game where the goals were going to come from. I did not expect the answer to be … well … basically everyone. Some of Arsenal’s recent games have felt a bit boring, to be honest, this was anything but.
There was no real surprise with the team selection. Myles Lewis-Skelly came back into the side and Mikel Merino started up top. I thought we began brightly, Martin Odegaard could easily have had a penalty when he was clipped in the act of shooting, and Declan Rice had the ball in the back of the net but it was ruled out for offside.
Those felt like the kind of things that don’t go for you when things, generally, aren’t going your way, but a couple of minutes later we did get a break. David Raya pushed a low cross into the path of Ismael Saibari, his shot crashed off the bar, and the rebound was put wide with the Arsenal keeper semi-stranded. If not quite a turning point, a moment where the game could have taken a different path.
Almost immediately we went ahead. Good work down the left enabled Declan Rice to clip a cross to the back post where Jurrien Timber rose highest to plant home a firm header to make it 1-0. A goal the former Ajax man certainly enjoyed. Then, Lewis-Skelly turned provider with a pass for Ethan Nwaneri to fire home at the near post, and while we can give the left-back credit for being in that position, the unerring finish from his Hale End mate was breathtaking. With little room in a crowded penalty box, he slammed the ball home for his 8th goal of the season. The keeper barely had time to react he hit it so hard and with such accuracy.
Then, another moment of good fortune. If Lewis-Skelly’s first yellow was quite soft, he is very, very lucky to have avoided a second just minutes later when a lunging challenge on Richard Ledezma certainly merited that. I honestly have no idea why the ref didn’t give it. If that situation was flipped on its head, we’d be fuming an opposition player wasn’t sent off, and I do think this a moment for Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff to take stock along with the player himself.
This is his third red card ‘incident’ in a matter of weeks, and at 18 the manager has to think about that very carefully. I love Lewis-Skelly’s emergence this season, but making that challenge just minutes after a booking was not good enough at this level, especially with everything that’s happened in recent weeks around him, so Arteta and the senior players need to rally around and protect this young man a bit. If that means a game or two out of the starting XI, so be it, but it does feel like it just needs to be addressed before it becomes something that he finds hard to shake off. Short-term pain for some longer-term gain, perhaps.
By the time he was sensibly taken off and replaced by Riccardo Calafiori, we were 3-0 up. Mikel Merino looked offside in the build-up, but I guess it was about phases of play, and after quite a long VAR check, his tidy finish was confirmed. That put us in a great position, but we gave the home side a sliver of a chance when Thomas Partey conceded a penalty not long before half-time. Noa Lang smashed it home and we went into the break 3-1 up.
The message in the PSV dressing room at half-time must have been to try and get the next goal, get the crowd going, and see if Arsenal might crumble. Instead, we scored twice in the opening minutes. Nwaneri did well on the right, his low cross was palmed away by the keeper and Martin Odegaard was there to finish from close range. Then great work between Calafiori and Trossard presented the Belgian with a chance from close range, his finish was excellent and barely three minutes into the opening 45 it was 5-1 and game over.
Nwaneri continued to threaten, coming to life time and again in the opposition half. On another night, with a bit more accuracy, he might have had a hat-trick. PSV had a few half-moments here and there, but Arsenal were aided and abetted by their midfield which was basically non-existent and gave Odegaard in particular the kind of space he thrives in. I lost count of how many times he simply took a pass and drove towards their penalty box.
It was from one of those runs that the sixth goal, and the captain’s second, arrived. Yes, the keeper should have done better, but let’s not worry about that nonsense. Then he turned provider late on with an outstanding pass – look at the technique with which he hit the ball – and the run and finish from Calafiori were as good as any you’d see from a seasoned centre-forward. 7-1, could we get the 8th for my mate Tony who was there and who has been waiting years for it to happen? No, but it’s a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things. I’m sure his night wasn’t too spoiled!
Afterwards, Arteta said:
It obviously gives us a lot of joy, confidence and belief, and then in football, it’s not what we did three days ago, or today, it’s about what we’re going to do tomorrow, or at Old Trafford, how we behave and able to win again, and that’s it. Enjoy tonight because it was a very impressive performance, an unbelievable score, so we deserve that, and now take that, and keep improving as a team.
As I wrote last week, the inability to score goals seems like an insurmountable problem until you start scoring again. Then you can’t really understand why you ever had any problems. Arteta said:
That’s the beauty of football, if I gave everybody in the room an envelope to predict what was going to happen tomorrow and who is going to score, that’s the beauty of football!
Beauty or not, after two very difficult games + 80 minutes against Leicester which were a real chore, this was a very welcome performance. Obviously Nwaneri’s contribution at 17 caught the eye in a big way, and there’s every chance he’ll end his debut season in double figures when it comes to goalscoring.
For me though, the most important aspect of last night was the fact we got what we needed from senior players who have been a little below their best of late. Trossard was lively and more than deserved his goal; Rice was unlucky not to score, got an assist, delivered great corners, and strode around the pitch like he owned it at times; while two goals and an assist for Odegaard was far more like it from the skipper, and hopefully the kind of performance that can reignite his confidence and help him deliver with greater consistency between now and the end of the season.
I also enjoyed the way Timber and Rice, interviewed after, wouldn’t say we’re through to the quarter-finals despite how emphatic the win was. A small thing, and we’re basically assured of qualification to play one of the Madrid sides, but keeping feet on the ground on a night which must have felt like a huge relief to players was good to see. Now, we take this and all that it gives us, individually and collectively, and turn our attention to Old Trafford on Sunday.
Right, I’ll leave it there for now. We’ll have Arsecast Extra for you in a little while too. We’ve put out the call for questions on BlueSky @gunnerblog.bsky.social and @arseblog.com with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
Pod should be out mid-morning. For now, have a good one.
