A first half strike from Martin Odegaard, and an own goal just before half-time from Daiki Hashioka were enough to put Arsenal back on top of the Premier League.
It was far from a classic encounter, and Arsenal looked a combination of disjointed after five changes, and fatigued from Sunday’s game against Man City, but the most important thing was taking three points and we did that.
Next.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
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Read the Arsenal 2-0 Luton match report here
Smith Rowe ain’t going nowhere this summer!
I’ve heard he has booked two weeks half board in Benidorm!
Overly harsh on Zinchenko in my opinion. He had their midfield chasing ghosts and progressed us well.
I think Zinchenko has regressed hugely in a year. Maybe a confidence issue? I genuinely wouldn’t feel great seeing him in the starting line up these days.
I do think it’s a confidence issue entwined with not having had a good run of health and consistently playing in the team like he had last year. I still think when he’s in form it’s really difficult to find players who can do what he does, the question is rather, can he stay fit and in form.
I think its the comparative improvement of others this year. To the point where while he has been injured; others have passed him by.
Great win with excellent rotation. Great to see zinny back, very harsh rating (but who really cares, they’re just ratings). He’s a vital part of this team and adds an extra dynamic to our play. I guess the hope is timber can take over the time long term with stronger defense. I hope zinny becomes an arsenal coach one day. One of the most cerebral footballers in the league…
You have a frankly, bizarre love for Zinchenko. That dude’s days are numbered. A defensive liability in big games and always injured. And when he’s not, he only lasts 60 mins. Sell him in the Summer for an easy upgrade.
Ideal, solid and top of the league .
Happy for ESR and Leo both showed they will have roles to play yet .
Partey looks good and will be major asset back fit even in a 8 role be great punch to his play going forward .
Zinky was iffy but takes him few games to hit top form will be needed in the upcoming games
He’s been ‘iffy’ too often… and for too long.
Fit partey definitely make a difference…you can see in flashes what he brings to the team
Totally. Fit Partey is HUGE for the run-in with Jorginho not being up to multiple big games in close succession but probably a CL necessity.
You made me think about the 2nd half again, Blogs.
I dunno. I thought that second half was bliss. Yeah, we’d all love a 7 nil drubbing but what better way to save energy than a totally controlled second 45.
Arteta knows exactly what he’s doing. We’ve got a really busy calendar in April.
He rested a bunch of players and gave the ones that did play a 45 minute holiday.
Trust the process.
Trust the domination.
Trust the desgracia.
In a title race where goal difference might have a say like 2011/12, it was an opportunity to give Liverpool something to think about. They’ll be chomping at the chance to cut into that +8 as much as they can. We should have pushed to make the gap double figures with two more goals.
And risk loosing a goal in the process? Nah, this was a mature performance. Thought it was expertly dealt with.
9.5/10 for super Mik. Thought he got it spot on tonight
I get your point but I think what’s more important is resting the studs meaning we secure three points on the weekend.
Honestly fell a sleep in the 2nd half, woke up confused and mistook one of their players for R Sterling, my brother was in stiches.
A performance that secured the points with a clean sheet and a rotated team. Would have absolutely taken that if offered it before the whistle.
So Havertz has a two game suspension now? Is that correct?
Don’t think so he’s only on 8 bookings
He has 11 yellows all around, but 7-8 in EPL, so no
Ok. I know he’s close and the cut off is 32 games when the suspension window ends.
Irritating that most of his cards have been for silly fouls or diving. Have a word Mikel!
Solid performance if a bit sloppy at times. ESR making his case for more minutes, always looks lively when he plays. Also, what was up with the bizarre camera angles being used by TNT? Almost made me nauseous!
I really liked the camera following play tbf. But judging by your likes im the only one!
I guess it will take some getting used to… But I expect it was expensive to install so it will be here to stay for a while at least. Kinda felt to me like they took inspiration from FIFA videogames.
I quite like it, but it did seem to take my brain a bit longer to figure out the trajectory on the ball a few times.
It felt like they were showing replays, but then I realized it was live and broke my brain kinda like those optical illusions of a rabbit and duck 😆
The switching between static camera and the moving camera gave me motion sickness. Not for me
Sky are offering same view but using a different channel so you get the choice. It’s another idea that may catch on or disappear quickly – like fanzine commentators.
Me too! But I guess it’s some sort of innovation
Well we did just enough but that was a horrible game to watch.
Zinchenko playing his way out the club.
Of the fringe only ESR did themselves any favour.
The gulf between first choice and back ups is just far too big
First choice play all the time, second choice don’t, if we rotated more during the season there wouldn’t be so much of a gap.
“…Just enough”? I don’t think we got out of 3rd gear for 90% of the game & completely dominated proceedings.
0 out of 10 for the terrible atmosphere. Me and my son were looked at like we were aliens when we dared to sing to try to get the team going. I had bigged up what a great atmosphere it was going to be at his first night game and it was like a funeral. We are potentially 8 games from winning our first title in 21 years and it felt like a meaningless mid table end of season game judging by the atmosphere. COME ON GOONERS, GET BEHIND THE TEAM!
I noticed that on tv also, a bit flat tonight. Fair play for trying to get something going!
I think the most expensive tickets and the ticketing system makes it that way.
It’s not the price of the tickets, it’s the fact that since we’ve been doing well you can’t get hold of one. The ballot is a joke and the ticket exchange has nothing.
People above the away fans were barely joining in the singing at all. Practically nobody even joined in the “North BankClock End Highbury” song.
It was ALWAYS like that, even at Highbury! Just both those ends having a banter and the posh-tofs in East & West stands just listening 🫤
Did I imagine it or did the East stand/west stand ever join in with that song in Highbury?
Maybe it’s wishful thinking 🤔
But aren’t the people in the corners part of the Clock End/North Bank?
I swear everyone got involved the last time I was in that corner.
I used to get to about six or seven matches a season, the last game I managed to get a ticket was the dreadful Bodo Glimt game which had the most disgusting atmosphere I’ve ever encountered at the Emirates. All the season ticket holders had given away their tickets to people who didn’t care about being there and mostly couldn’t even be arsed to watch the match let alone sing. I came out of the stadium really upset, and prefer to remember my match before that, the amazing Wolves double come back instead. “Fans” are quick to demand from the… Read more »
I have to say, Martin Odegaard’s rather conventional handsomeness doesn’t do it for me. But that inner beauty… 😍
I must have watched a different game, so feel free to vote me down. I thought ESR looked off the pace (understandably) despite the tackle and the assist, Nelson was negative, and Trossard was his usual ‘if I start, I tend to somehow lose the ability to play football properly’ self. I’m not critical. I love where we are. But these fringe players are still not good enough. Just my opinion.
What do you expect when ESR hasn’t played for so long?? He did well and needs more minutes.
Jeez you’re a barrell of laughs, we won you know, after Sunday’s effort this game could have gone tits up…and we get to rest a few. Just my opinion ⚽
Man spends 20 minutes being critical and then says “I’m
Not being critical”.
I think that might be recency bias. He looked knackered in the 2nd half, to me. He had a great 1st half, though. Even defensively he was good – I thought to myself watching him that Mikel would be pleased with the way he played because of it.
I do. And so, I did.
About time you spelt Takehiro’s name correctly Andrew!
Thanks, hadn’t noticed that!
The super computer now give us a 6.7% chance of winning the league (hint – it’s Chris Sutton in a cardboard box)
We actually went up a few % apparently. To be fair our fixtures list looks pretty daunting still compared to those other two, so pretty sure that’s the justification behind this calculation. If we get out of Brighton and vs Villa with wins these next two weekends it will start looking up probably, but even then we’ll still have Tottenham and Man U left (and Chelsea, who yes are piss poor, but on their day… ok, even on their day they’re probably piss poor)
Fair point – seriously though we should fear absolutely no one – we could pull 8/8 wins out no problem.
100%, not saying we should fear anyone. I think we’ll be the favourites to win every single game we have left in the league, but football is a funny game and it’s almost inevitable you’ll get one or two out of 8 games where the ball doesn’t bounce your way, a defender gets caught once or ref makes some bad calls and suddenly you’re1-0 down against a very difficult to break Villa or something of the sort. If we win that one or two matches we’ll probably end up lifting the trophy, but that’s a big if.
Very un-tetarish levels of rotation in a must win game. He is upping his level all the time. Amazing to watch the collective trajectory unfold.
Am I right in thinking that Harvertz will miss the next 2 games?
No, bad maths
😅🤣😂
2nd half was so boring I switched to city and AV. I was roasted for saying this before, I like foden as a player a great deal. Had a great game today. He was healthy and is part of the rotation. He just dos the right things.
I think of esr the same way, if he can stay healthy he is a very impactful player
course that is a big if.
Didn’t look to special on Sunday did he mate?
He got benji whited
No he didn’t.
“2nd half was so boring I switched to city and AV.” I’m here to inform you that you’re no longer eligble to be an Arsenal supporter, please find the nearest exit and take your leave.
Hear hear… another ‘Insta-grat Brat’, it would seem.
Was he on the field, Saturday?
How can an Arsenal “fan” ever want to watch City instead of his own team?
You will find that people are weird. It was only a couple of days back I saw a cheaty “fan” on Twitter ask this question:
“Be honest, what club did you support first?” Crazy question in itself, the replies were even wilder. Again, people are weird.
Saw a pic of Sammy Nelson in the Shoot March issue of 1969 – crouching side-on in that particular retro way that was all the rage then.
Plain cotton red shirt… white hoop neck… little white cannon over the heart…
that was me, all in.
It still is.
COYG.
Foden scoring a hattrick tonight against a good Villa team tells its own story about the Arsenal performance on Sunday. He was completely nullified by unarguably the best defence in the league.
Emile Smith Rowe has a future in Arsenal…but no so Reiss Nelson. I’ve never seen a player fall over as easily as he does all the time. I mean, that slalom early in the second half looked promising until he lost footing sat his arse on the grass!
He lost footing looking for that pass back to a senior teammate. Needed to get his ego going and back himself. Thought he was building it as the game went on. ESR in contrast very forward looking making runs etc
Nelson forced the second goal, he had some good moments, especially defensively.
American Gunner since ’04, first time poster – just loving the combination of Panache and Steel that Mikel (and Edu TBH) have assembled in the past few years – solid backline and tactics, yet growing more offensively ruthless and canny with each new game – looking forward to the next 8, and hopefully a title!
Welcome RH!
Smith-Rowe certainly deserves more opportunities. Nelson really didn’t do much with his opportunity. Wish we would have played with more pace and intensity in the second half trying to add some goals to our total especially against a weakened opponent like they were at home, but we seemed content to play out the 2-0 lead.
Computer game camera gets 0/10 from me. Horrible.
Felt good about a safe win against Luton (even though they’re my dad’s team), a lot less scary than at their place.
A dominant mature win but think we should have been more aggressive early second half for more goals and killed any thoughts of our 2-0 past horrors. Not for nothing but Havertz should not be fed the ball in the middle of the field upfront he’s clunky lacks ball handling skills he is only effective as a big striker in the box in front of goal.Onward.