Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka, Jesus
Subs: Ramsdale, Hein, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Cedric, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Elneny, Havertz, Trossard, Nelson, Nketiah
A strong away performance ensured Arsenal re-took control of Group B after beating Sevilla 2-1 at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, thanks to goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus.
Mikel Arteta made one change to the side that drew against Chelsea on Saturday with Takehiro Tomiyasu coming in to replace Oleksandr Zinchenko, while Thomas Partey was absent from the matchday squad with a muscle issue.
It took just seven minutes for Arsenal to create their first opportunity when Martinelli found himself through on goal after being played through by Jesus, only for goalkeeper Orjan Nyland to smother his low effort well.
Shortly after, there was another nervy moment for David Raya when he passed the ball straight out to Ivan Rakitic, who then found Dode Lukebakio totally unmarked in the six yard box – only for his touch to desert him with just Raya to beat.
Lucas Ocampos registered the first moment of danger for Sevilla but fired wide at the near post after meeting Jesus Navas’ cross, with Jesus responding by curling over from 18 yards after struggling to sort out his feet.
The first half felt like both teams were refusing to get caught out – with neither side committing many players forward – but Sevilla threatened again through Youssef En-Nesyri who shot beyond the post under pressure from Tomiyasu.
But the opening goal arrived in injury time and a moment of magic from Jesus inspired it.
The Brazilian controlled with his back to goal and left Nemanja Gudelj for dead with a stunning Cruyff turn, before freeing Martinelli who ran half the length of the pitch, rounded Nyland and slotted into an empty net. 0-1.
Arsenal began the second half with confidence and were close to doubling their lead after Jesus forced Nyland into a save, with Martin Odegaard blazing the rebound over when he should have done better.
Although that frustration didn’t last long when Jesus stood Navas up, cut inside and curled an unstoppable strike into the top corner to double the Gunners’ lead on 53 minutes. 0-2.
But despite being pushed back for most of the second half, the hosts were able to get a goal back through Gudelj who lost Jesus from a corner and headed home from close range. 1-2.
Naturally, that goal re-energised Sevilla who began to play more direct with Ocampos, En-Nesyri and Mariano Diaz up front and Arsenal were forced to weather a storm with headed clearances, blocked shots and several unsuccessful bicycle kick attempts.
Arteta’s men did eventually settle and Declan Rice put his strong running power on display after charging through midfield – taking four players out in the process – although Saka saw his eventual shot blocked after being found by his countryman.
Sevilla made changes and Arsenal responded with changes of their own, introducing Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah as Odegaard, Saka and Jesus (holding his hamstring) began to tire.
Having managed the final stages so well, Raya escaped another heart-in-mouth moment after punching a cross back towards his own goal which just cleared the crossbar as Sevilla players fell to their knees in disbelief.
Two moments of brilliance ended up deciding this game for Arsenal although their maturity and defensive spirit ensured an important three points will travel back to London.
Nice
Rice
Rice
Baby.
3 points is always nice I guess… there’s a lot not working in the team at the moment though….we missed the control zinchenko brings and I’m sure the Jorginho and rice experiment should stop….I’m certain we miss xhaka in that midfield…..our pressing has been better and Odegaard seems off at the moment….on to the next one..
We missed the control an on form Zinchenko brings…..but we missed that on Saturday too, when he was playing.
I thought Tommy played brilliantly.
I feel that had to do with the absence of legs on Jorginho…not sure why Arteta persists with him when we’re not controlling games and being overrun in the middle… zinchenko thrives when there’s more cover…xhaka and TP5 knew their roles…we miss them, we’ve rarely looked better this season than when they played….PSV at home…
Zinny’s form has been iffy for ages now though, and Jorginho hasn’t been on the pitch for plenty of his poor performances.
And as someone else said, Tomi was excellent tonight.
I am not a big Jorginho fan. That said, I thought he played well today until his legs gave out from under him.
He gave the ball away a lot (Jorginho) leading to a few chances for Sevilla. Didn’t play well at all.
I mean I’m not Jorgis biggest fan but that’s just a massive lie. He gave the ball away ONCE. That’s insane considering his legs go at about the hour mark
Maybe it was ALBangbang’s “emotional truth”
Yeah, the stats don’t back that up at all. He never gave the ball away. Made every pass but one.
Tomiyasu was excellent today in Zinchenko’s place. Not sure which game you were watching.
We needed to keep Xhaka one more year. Xhaka Rice Odegard in the middle would have been great. Partey is always injured and Gorgonio is light weight.
Xhaka wanted to leave. Players tend not to perform well when they want to leave and you don’t let them go. Let go, move on.
Great win, Rice immense but how dodgy does Raya have to be before Ramsdale gets a start.
Change his nationality, unlearn Spanish, and shave his beard
Dave Ray
Davide Rayonelli
Molto bravo!
As we feared, it’s a little bit of a lose-lose situation. Raya needs confidence from Arteta. But if he keeps underperforming and Ramsdale doesn’t play, he is gonna feel like it’s not a fair competition and be legitimately upset.
I think Arteta, like Guardiola, is the anti Ancelotti. Always tries to do a lot and outsmart everyone. When it works it’s brilliant, when it’s doesn’t it’s so frustrating because everyone could see it coming.
It’s a hill Arteta is dying on.
Tbf Arteta has looked like he’d decided to die on weird hills before – Willian, Mustafi, Havertz recently, before climbing back down. Although I’d rather see Ramsdale back, I can recognise there isn’t much difference between their usual levels (F the contextless stats). It’s just the overly pressurised situation, and the way that Arteta wants his keepers to play. Raya will do what Arteta says unquestioningly, despite being made to look incompetent frequently. Whereas Ramsdale will push back a bit and take into account what he thinks is best for the result, whilst still pushing himself to be more pro… Read more »
Yes I kinda agree. And whenever this point is made I think back to that clip of Aubameyang saying MA just wanted young “yes men”. Now I understand Auba had an ego and attitude problems but I do think there is a little truth there. Do as I say or you’re out. Pepe also comes to mind with his lack of pressing.
I have wanted to say it but didn’t. I think there is a cultural issue. In American terms, Ramsdale is the good ole boy from Alabama and Raya is the wheat farmer from North Dakota.
Arteta prefers wheat farmers.
or something like that.
What? Wheat? Alabama?
Talking about Pep parallels, Pep-allels, if you will, didn’t Zlatan say almost the same thing about Pep.
“Listen, don’t listen”
Ramsdale is also a much better goalkeeper, in the apparently old fashioned keeping-the-ball-out-of-the-net sense.
Very underrated skill for GK’s these days.
I do think he has a point about how often Ramsdale goes long under pressure, though. He doesn’t even consider going short after he has committed to going long.
Completely disagree. Managers live and die on performance. Arteta well within his right to dictate how we play. Ramsdale disagreed and hoofed it long against instruction. Manager got another goalie who has said he has to play the way the manager wants or he will be benched. This is not a difficult situation to understand. I prefer players to follow the managers instructions and tend not to get attached to individual players. It’s about the club for me.
He’s earned the right to die on whatever hill he chooses. Remember where we were 4 years ago. Arteta IS the project and we are undefeated in the PL and sitting pretty in the group stage. We aren’t perfect, Arteta still has a lot to learn but we are winning while he and the squad are learning. To be an Arteta player you have to follow instructions, be brave and move the ball in the manner he wants. Ramsdale didn’t do that at the end of last season and is now paying the price. Manager did it with Pepe and… Read more »
Gabi to Gabi to Gabi… what a goal. Love our Brazillians 💜
A Gabigol indeed
Think those 2 Sevilla players are still wondering where Gabby J went
Doing Sevilla a favour: now they can go and win the Europa.
Cap’n Dec, btw.
I love Odegaard, but Rice runs the pitch. I think he gets the armband sooner rather than later.
You don’t take the armband off a player like Odegaard unless you’re selling him.
We took it off Granit…and kept him…
Yeah, not too sure Odegaard will do that Palace thing.
Big 3 points. Tomi was magnificent tonight and can really see how he’s been learning the inverted role. What a player
Tomi was excellent.
Everything we didn’t see at Chelsea was in this performance. Raya certainly knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat with that punch!
Boring then stressful with a few glimpses of magic. Good 3 points.
Saka can be so selfish.
At times. That shot from an impossible angle was not necessary: three gunners were baying for blood in the middle.
he’s earned the right to be selfish
Damn right!
So did Henry but he rarely was. At least that’s my memory…
Saka is still young. Hopefully he will learn in time to make better choices in certain situations. Mostly his decision making is already great.
All that said, Salah is pretty handy and is often greedy. Maybe it’s often part of the mindset of a great striker
I disagree. No player earns that right, no matter how good; not even Messi, talk less of a 22 year old whose football is still developing. Football is a team game and all players must put the team above self. That is why assist is a valuable stat in the game.
he has scored a few from that range (including united) – hence he’s earned the right to take a shot from that range that doesn’t he doesn’t put the team above himself. he has the most assists this season.
Yes, Saka can be, but so are most elite forwards, which clearly is what he is evolving to be, but dont let’s foget he is also up there among the best in the league in assists, which would intuitively suggest he can’t be That selfish a player
Good 3 points. Very important result. Defence excellent, rice great game, Jorginho did well, odegarrd poor, saka, poor, Jesus top stuff, martinelli top stuff, Raya worrying, trossard did well, nketia just not good enough, havertz did well.
player ratings are on the other page sir
The drop off between Jesus and Nketiah was stark! Sentiments aside, we should do better than Nketiah if we hope to nick one or more of the trophies this season.
we should’ve held on to balogun – i already knew nketiah was ass
why does everyone downvote you on here if you don’t say things in a roundabout way lol
Could be the user name to be fair.
unfortunately my handle before he became judas
Most parents changed their children’s names after Judas did that Judasy thing. Go ahead.
there you go new handle
Balogun is hardly an upgrade on Nketiah if you ask me. His season with Monaco so far is making his last season seem like Mudryk’s goal on Saturday (how that guy can claim he meant such a glaring fluke – a miscued cross – is beyond me. Pocettinho even shockingly claimed he practises it in training 😀😃).
nketiah has 2 goals in his last 28 appearances. 2 goals – 1280 minutes – 28 appearances.
balogun has 3 goals in 6 games this season for monaco and he missed 2 pens so he could easily have 5 goals in 6. doesn’t look like a fluke to me. he also has 2 goals in his last 4 intl. games.
Balogun looked good… in a farmers league where he was outscored by Lacazette who couldn’t hit a cows arse with a banjo by the time he left us. Nketiah isn’t good enough but Flo ain’t the answer.
balogun scored 22 goals playing for a bottom half team last season, scored vs teams like psg and lens (the team we lost to this season in the CL).
balogun has 3 goals in 4 starts this season.
balogun is 10 years younger than laca and is getting better every season.
100%. The drop off is too great. Havertz would be a better option. Time to sell Eddie in the summer, I’ve seen enough to know we can improve in that position, regardless of how hard he trains.
Dirty cheating Sevilla cunts with a shit ref on too. Rakitic, what a cunt!
We need to really turn the screw on this lot when they come to the Emirates.
Rakitic and Ramos together christ, when you combine the worst scum Real Madrid and Barcelona have to give. It’s like when the ugly alien and the other monster make a child together at the end of Prometheus
Add Lamela to that!
After the Gabigols, his yellow was the highlight of the match for me. BIG smile.
Lmao…an evil brew for sure, I am in stitches here
Not defending Rakitic in any way but fucking hell, if you’re going to single out a Sevilla player for being a cunt, Ramos is your first port of call surely !!
followed very closely by navas
Basically a very cunt heavy team.
They’ve also got Lamela. They are trying really hard to remain top of the Cunt League
They sure are. Lets make sure we obliterate them once and for all when they come to ours. It needs to happen.
The clip of the first with the camera going to the fans, marvellous, thanks
Should have been 3-1 because that was a blatant penalty for the push on Saka and did not even seem to be reviewed.
Quite a few cunts in the Sevilla team. Notably Lamela and Ramos.
I once worked with a girl from Seville, and I don’t think my hearing as been the same since. No wonder it’s an atmosphere like that when they’re all in there together.
Jesus, Rice and Tomiyasu were all superb. Overall a much improved performance than against Chelsea despite the nervy finish.
That is what Gabriel Jesus is about. Top quality display tonight. Declan Rice: what more can we say? He was immense tonight. Ødegaard was still muted though.
I think they worked really hard to shut down Odegaard and Saka in this match. That, as we can see, opened up some space at times for Tomi, Rice, and Martinelli down the left.
Great effort by the lads! Is it just me or we just played against a bunch of cheating cun*s?
A team which houses two of the most certified c*nts in Ramos and Lamela – what did you expect?
Job done
Not to pile in on Eddie or anything, but it always frustrated me how pundits pushing the “Arsenal need a number nine” narrative would always lump Jesus and Nketiah into the same bracket. Tonight was the perfect reminder that a fit and firing Jesus is quite clearly a class above. Let’s at least see him actually get a run of games at centre forward before we have that conversation around a new signing. Keeping everything crossed that the moment he came off was just a little time wasting.
It would be nice to have a 9 that could compete with Jesus, Eddie clearly is not that player. Time to sell next summer IMO.
Hard fought victory. Raya almost made me faint. He tried to punch the ball but the ball almost went to his own goal post.
Rice is a very good buy. Love his work rate and drive. Shout out to Tomi, Jesus and Martinelli. Thought they were the stand out player.
Dec making his price tag look like we got him at a bargain price. What a player! Never stops running & not afraid to put in the hard graft
Great stuff blogs, disappointed with Raya , thought he be better but just hasn’t the real temperament needed .
Tomi nailed on LB , Rice a leader , brazilia boys class, saka blown out dirty diesel , all good , but changes for weekend and big one is return of Rambo v his old club
Great result. Can we have a new goalkeeper?
I’d be good with the old one!
Seriously, that errant punch aside… for their goal, Ramsdale might have not stopped it either but I like to think he’d at least have managed to move an arm in the right direction and get near it, don’t think I’ve ever seen him as frozen as Raya was there, his reflexes are really fast.
It’s becoming a joke now: it looks like Arteta just doesn’t want to admit that he was wrong. He’s hurting the team to protect his ego.
Ramsdale MUST start at the weekend.
Not sure if it’s his ego or he’s just hoping and believing Raya will settle and come good if shown confidence. Sometimes that approach works, in this case I just don’t see it, whatever their abilities and stats I really think GK is a position where character and natural charisma are massive and for me Ramsdale just has so much more of those things
is it possible that Ramsadale makes something like behind-the-door mistake that is unforgivable?
Caught smoking in the shower?
Yes. He admitted he kicked the ball long towards the end of last season when the manager wanted him to play short. Arteta has little patience for players who do not follow instruction, see Pepe, Auba, Ozil, etc.
Fats must be delighted with the respective struggles of Raya and Havertz this season. They’ve given him some relevance again after a quiet year or two.
Harsh. Havertz should by any measure be a great option, one who never found his right role at Chelsea and has time to find his feet and prove the hype around him that made him one of the most promising global talents a few short years ago. He has scored the winning goal in a European final, and we can use him selectively. Whereas, at this stage I think I can say without fear of contradiction that Aaron has done little to justify his sidelining at this stage. Hope he gets his chance back, though it’s hard to see how… Read more »
65 mil for a bench warming flop that gets indulged every game…no thanks.
Fats is consistently Arteta out. He just uses different sticks to beat the manager now than the straight ahead attack. Hard to beat the manager last year but he still had his go. Tired analysis.
I’m not, actually. I think that Arteta is still on the learning curve and this season is make or break for him.
We had a great season last year but needed to build on it. Instead, we’ve gone backwards. Buying Havertz and Raya made no sense and now we’re paying the price.
Arteta still has time to turn things around, but he needs to get on with it.
Boy, does Declan Rice ever have a off day! What an immense asset.
Everyone talked about the finish at Chelsea but the way he intercepted that ball in the first place is so underrated, this is his genius – he’s like the Albert Einstein of anticipating the exact right place to be or changing direction just in time
Odegaard needs to go on the beach for 2 days…. Needs to reset. I don’t know what he’s going through at the moment
he played like fabio viera from last season – maybe odegaard doesn’t do as well with jorginho behind him
Maybe nobody does (maybe it is playing without Partey, rather than with Jorginho), hence why Vieira wasn’t that great last season?
That isn’t a rhetorical question, by the way. I don’t have the answer.
Please can we play a goalkeeper who can keep goal first and foremost? Or was that cross at the end a “fluke”? If Raya is so good at passing, play him in midfield.
Raya ain’t it. I’m afraid he’s going to cost us either the League or the CL. I generally trust Arteta, but not on Raya anymore. He’s a big liability.
Hope Jesus injury is not serious. Odegaard again poor.
We always seem to lose our best players to monstrous contracts from us. Cue Ôzil and Aubameyang.
The sign on the dotted line and down their tools like they’ve just recieved their retirement package. Wonder if the same is happening to Ødegaard and to some extent Saka.
I’ve seen some utter garbage written on here, but congratulations, that is down with the worst.
You kiss your mother with that mouth?!
In the house of blogs too? *clutches pearls*
beautiful. also, can we have all commentary in French from now on please. It’s so much better (not that I can understand a word of it)
Great win, with some moments of magic! Raya seem determined to give me a cardiac though