Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard
Subs: Neto, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Tierney, Calafiori, Jorginho, Partey, Merino, Nwaneri
Arsenal jumped to second in the Premier League after beating Ipswich 1-0 at Emirates Stadium on Friday, thanks to a first half strike from Kai Havertz.
Mikel Arteta made two changes from the team that beat Crystal Palace last Saturday, with Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard coming into the side for Thomas Partey and Bukayo Saka.
Ethan Nwaneri was the only attack-minded player on the substitutes bench, with four left backs and two defensive midfielders also included due to a shortage of forward options.
Within the first 20 seconds, there was a chance for Ipswich when Leif Davis’ deflected cross caught Arsenal unaware and Sammie Szmodics found himself in front of goal, but couldn’t divert his effort towards goal.
But the game settled into a familiar pattern after that early scare with Arsenal dominating possession, pressing and probing against a sea of blue shirts doing their best to stand firm.
Despite their superiority on the ball – the Gunners had 90% possession after 20 minutes – they struggled to create any clear cut opportunities until Havertz broke the deadlock with a strike for the box crashing folder.
The goal was created by Leandro Trossard who did well to isolate himself against and beat defender Ben Johnson, before crossing perfectly into Havertz who tapped home from close range. 1-0.
Arsenal had found their rhythm by that point and looked smooth in possession, but did a great job of denying Ipswich any chance to escape with great physicality and ball winning across the pitch.
Gabriel Jesus had the ball in the net shortly after, finishing brilliantly from a tight angle after being found by Trossard but he was offside in the build up.
Heading into half time, the visitors continued to make things difficult and managed to settle after conceding, with Arsenal maybe lacking some incision and speed in the final third despite their obvious strength.
On paper, it was everything you wanted from a half of football although Arteta might have asked for more urgency from his team during the break.
Into the second half, the Gunners started brightly with two or three early attempts at goal but lost that early momentum with Ipswich working their way back into the game once more. Frustration was starting to seep into the crowd after some wayward passes which looked to impact the team at times.
Just after the hour mark, Arsenal should have doubled their lead when Gabriel found himself free after escaping his marker from a corner, but somehow headed wide from three yards out with the goal gaping.
It was a sitter for the Brazilian who is usually so reliable from set piece situations, but he got his bearings all wrong.
With 20 minutes remaining, Mikel Merino was introduced for Gabriel Jesus to try and spark some energy into the team, and it did just that with a flurry of Arsenal chances which put the visitors under pressure again.
Odegaard stung the fingertips of goalkeeper Aro Muric after a mazy run from deep, before Havertz went through but couldn’t find a clean connection on the ball after being pulled back by the Ipswich defender.
There was also a strong penalty shout when Liam Delap hauled Gabriel down from a corner but referee Darren England was (unsurprisingly) unmoved.
The game eventually fizzled out and all of us watching were rewarded with the referees’ final whistle, ensuring Arsenal jumped into second place – six points behind Liverpool – although the league leaders have a game in hand.
Arteta’s men rounded off 2024 with a win and despite the flat performance, will quickly shift their eyes to Brentford on New Year’s Day.
Boring boring Arsenal
That was a hard watch.
Only outperformed in the boredom stakes by Ipswich.
We are not scoring the xG for our matches once again. This time was almost 2 xG. We are creating chances but not putting them away. If we can start doing that we will have a far better chance of success. Best defence in the PL, least goals conceded but need to up the attacking.
.. For me this game encapsulated the debate regarding Arteta’s obsession with control. In my opinion this was nearly what he strives for. Absolute suffocation of the opposition to the extent that they hardly have a touch in our box, let alone a shot. But this comes at the expense of attacking fluidity and spontaneity on our part. In my opinion having this much control, ironically gives us less control of the overall result of the game, as football is such a game of margins, it only takes a lucky opposition goal to fuck everything. I’d much rather cede a… Read more »
Spot on. If we can’t take risks against the team that’s 19th in the league at our ground, when then can we take risks?
We’re six behind Liverpool and they have a game in hand. At kick off, we were in danger last night of possibly finishing the game nine behind them with them still having a game in hand. And you wanted Arsenal to take risks? Think how you’d be moaning now if that’s what we did and threw the points away, instead of doing what we did – controlling the game (for the most part) and being professional with one eye on the season as a whole. Unless we are chasing a game, we can’t take afford to take ANY risks at… Read more »
City won an awful lot doing just this.
Ah I don’t think so Jimbob, while their style of play was boring and relied on cutbacks to Sterling/Sane. They often found the breakthrough early and put 2 or 3 goals past the opposition.
The major difference between us now and City then is that they stacked unicorns like Aguro and Silva and KdB and Mahrez and did so in an era where the league, overall, was worse. Imagine Arsenal with 4 attackers of that level. This is primarily a talent level problem. After Saka, we have no unstoppable offensive threat. Top teams need 2, even 3 of those.
100% agree man
so then, if you agree with the Doctor here you basically agree that our issue is a lack of creative talent rather than Mikel obsessing too much over “control” and not going for it enough. innit ™️
Lack of creative quality is an issue but what we do have is being somewhat stifled.
But you have to adapt your tactics to the talent that you have available ebo, that’s why Russel Martin lost his job..
…and don’t forget: what they’ve won, they ‘ve won almost exclusively on British soil. In the CL where their money-backed/squad-debth dominance was far less overwhelming they ‘ve reached the top only once.
But we do that too? Check out our GD? Only Liverpool are better.
Arsenal’s breakthrough was fairly early as well. Part of the reason ManC went on to score 2 and 3 in those games was because their opponents opened up after conceding the first goal, trying to equalise. Town defended the 1-0 as if they were ahead. Had they opened up we could easily have had 3.
They had an incredible offense to back it up.
Again you with *that* old criticism? 🙂 we had 13 shots, 5 on target, a few really good chances, on another day it could’ve easily been 2 or 3-0. There was plenty of attacking fluidity but you have to look at the other team as well, super low block for most of the game, defended spectacularly, blocked plenty of our shots and still we managed to get a fair few in. Give credit where it’s due! (to both sides)
Hmmm plenty of attacking fluidity???! Really??
considering the low block and super organised defending from Ipswich, yes, you can’t do much better than we did today unless you have wingers who can beat their man in a 1 on 1, which unfortunately we currently don’t.
I agree with this. The issue is that those types of wingers tend to have less defensive work rate and lose the ball often. I doubt our current risk averse approach would welcome having one of those.
we already have one, and he’s one of the best in the world, he’s just injured currently. We could really do with another one.
I was going to say??? Just taking the p*ss?
Ah Ebo, we meet again!
*insert GIF of light sabers being drawn*
My concern is that there a few too many of these ‘on another day’ days. Underlying metrics are nice but goals are nicer and 3 points are nicest.
We got the 3 today but pointing to the metrics did us no good vs Everton and Fulham.
the point of pointing to the metrics isn’t that it does you good on that day, it’s to say that if we keep playing that way we’ll win much more than we lose or draw, which turned out to be the case today even despite being relatively unlucky.
That’s kind of what I’m getting at, we can say that the data shows we deserve to win and if we keep playing this way will but in practice we seem to underperform these measurements fairly often. Hence the ‘on another day’ being trotted out so often.
I don’t think we were unlucky. I think we were lucky. Remember the last shot by Ipswitch at the and?
I don’t think their game-plan was not to give chances to us (or even give a lot of chances). I think their plan was to defend like hell until it is only 0-0 or 1-0.
Until the result is not worst than that they still have a very good chance to overachieve. (and that could serve them very well when their relegation-fight rivals come here to the Emirates later in the season).
The underlying metric is 2nd place
Does this group also watch other games than Arsenal? Ipswich have been very decent – and also usually not for a full 90. A Chel$ friend was surprised Fulham could give them a game – now they know.
Ipswich almost scored within a minute of play. On another day, they might have snatched an equaliser. On balance, we deserved to win but it was not a secure, convincing victory.
15 thumbs down for a perfectly reasonable comment. Truth hurts.
Watch the last minutes of the game with fear that they might get a late equaliser. Don’t know what dominance you are talking about.
Exactly my point!
Dominance in every sense of the football world except the goals.
https://x.com/dataanalyticepl/status/1872767423713329467?s=46
If opposition refuse to press in any meaningful way and stick with a low/mid block (even after conceding), all you have is control. The question is, can you score. We did. We need more creative players. Personally I think jorgi or Partey ahead of Rice would have offered more penetration in a game like this.
I’m glad you said it. Not TP but Jorginho would have offered more creativity from deeper areas. But a Jorginho-Havertz-Odegaard midfield is a bit lightweight and I think Mikel went with Rice because he wanted to play with two strikers today. Havertz pushed high and was in the 9 spaces as much as if not more than Jesus.
this is a great, informative comment, and one i can respectf disagree with.
3 points.
How can a win feel so dissatisfying
Because the same problems we had vs. Everton and Fulham were on display again.
Because expectation levels these days are borderline Spoiled Bastard level.
Mate, be content that we won and got the points.
At this stage of the season, with Liverpool six ahead and a game in hand, that is all that matters.
Results elsewhere yesterday made Arteta approach the game with a caution but 3 points and a cleansheet are welcome
it’s tempting to slam us for a lack of creativity and/or finishing winning just 1-0 at home vs Ipswich, but sometimes we get a little bit too self centred with these things. That was a brilliant defensive performance by Ipswich and they should be given credit for it, I don’t think our attacking was that bad at all and we could’ve easily lost points here if not for a super committed performance across the board.
Yeah and if you look at Ipswich’s results, they tend not to have high scoring games, they drew Man U, beat Sp*rs, drew Villa, Brighton, Fulham. This was never a gimme.
There are no gimme in the EPL
300,000 passes….
Pre-match thought- I get what the stadium team are going for by having the fans sing north london forever in the opening seconds of the game… but fucking hell, can we not?! With the bizarre early goals we’ve conceded at The Emirates in recent years it feels like asking for trouble with that timing! The anthem was just fine where it was thanks very much
Wings are dead, no dribblers or ball carriers in midfield. If we can keep this up, fine, otherwise, it’s going to be a challenge.
Trossard crossed from the left for the goal so not quite dead.
to say we don’t have dribblers or ball carriers in midfield when we have Odegaard and Rice (and Timber who carried the ball plenty in midfield today) is strange, but I do agree with you about the wings. Saka being out was the big problem today, Martinelli on the right seems to have only worked when the opposition wasn’t expecting it, today he was almost a non factor in attack and that really made us much easier to defend. Mikel has to solve this somehow for the next few weeks.
Rice doesn’t carry when playing DM. Ode can run with the ball against deep settled defenses but can’t do it under pressure. Timber carried desperately from defense when we couldn’t even create a shot. You don’t want to be relying on your defenders for that.
Odegaard doesn’t dribble a lot for someone who’s a specialist in pockets, 1 a game at most. His awareness is his key strength when he needs to get out of pressure.
Creating some distance is not the same as going past someone. Lack of pace means opponents catch up fairly quickly.
Teams tend to crowd the middle against us, there’s not much dribbling you can do against that even with the best ball carrying midfielders, who do you have in mind that can do that and also do all the other things a midfielder does at Arsenal? Timber’s carrying is anything but desperate, it’s a crucial part of his role in this team, inverting and dribbling into space when it’s there to draw the extra defender, then finding the pass into the space that defender leaves behind. And the opposition even knew that so well that they were afraid to close… Read more »
Skelly was the one inverting during the build up and Timber dropping in defense.Saliba and Gabriel were also decent carriers from deep, but not sure it’s something Arteta encourages a lot.
My worry is more the wings. We are seriously going to miss Saka. He has both attributes to kill deep blocks, 1-1 in or out, and killer half-space crosses and final balls. Jesus would be my first choice on the right. He plays on the same wavelength as Odegaard, and understands the position well. Martinelli can alternate with Trossard on left and cover on the right.
Agree completely. As for whether Mikel encourages his defenders to dribble forwards to attract pressure when the opponents stay back and close down passing options, he 100% does. Same with the goalkeeper (except not as much forward, more just waiting for the opposition to press before passing). That’s his whole philosophy.
Exactly. That’s the difference between the current arsenal team and Liverpool team. They have more or better runners in Salah, Gakpo, Diaz and Jones. Their wing backs in Trent and Robertson delivers decent ball in the box as well. We are a good side too but lack some of these things mentioned in the team. Saka is ahead of others players in the attacking department so other players in that department needs to up their games.. we don’t have many runners who can beat their man (saka does this). Martinelli used to beat his man but right now he isn’t… Read more »
Salah:Saka Diaz:Martinelli Jota:Trossard Nunes:Havertz Gakpo:Jesus Chiesa:Sterling The depth chart is not that dissimilar. What’s setting them apart creatively right now, in large part, is TAA. People don’t appreciate what this guy can do. He’s the most creative FB in the world, bar none, and the most creative in that position since Dani Alves. Specifically his creativity comes from zones on the pitch where he has no business being creative: zones so deep it’s not feasible or practical to close him down. He’s a unicorn with a superpower that Slot has harnessed superbly. Combine that with an all timer season from… Read more »
I agree on ball carriers/dribbles, I have only seen Timbers with bravery to dribble the ball through a couple players otherwise everyone is safe passes and so slow in build.
“..flat performance..” indeed. This was holiday beach football, possibly with the exception of a quite lively Ødegaard.
i thought odegaard was uncharacteristically poor. detriment to our attack; definitely why we didn’t score more than one
Well we got 3 points, not much else to say.
Honestly, there are no easy games in this league. Football is too unpredictable. Or is it Arsenal that is not predictable? Ipswich didn’t give me a scare. It was Arsenal that did…😄
Merino/Rice/Havertz midfield has very very little creativity
Didn’t see that one, did Odegaard go off?
Happy that we won but deep down unhappy with the overall performance. Before the match one would have thought we would use such a match to sharpen our shooting boot ahead of more difficult fixtures to come. We really missed our starboy bukayo. Get well soon!
We could’ve scored more but the control on the game was absolute. Ipswich created 0.17 xG, had 3 SHOTS, not shots on target, just SHOTS, and most of that xG was on that 94th minute blocked effort. This was a lot like Everton. We did everything right as we did then, but this time the ball did go in the back of the net at least once. Not memorable, but it doesn’t have to be.
The record book will show that Arsenal won, kept a clean sheet, moved up to second in the league. The game itself will not live on in memory.
That was hard watching. Slow and too many touches. Glad with the 3 points though.
We won with a clean sheet. And yet 90% of the comments are how it wasn’t good enough. Who cares if it wasn’t pretty? Do we have to win every match 10-0 for some people to smile? Get a grip.
who realistically could we beat 10 nil if not ipswich at home?
Mate, they (Ipswich) more or less slung eleven defenders behind the ball for the entirety of the game and kicked anything that moved up in the air.
A swift glance at the table will tell you they are already staring down the barrel of relegation; they were always going to park the bus and hang on for dear life.
Just be thankful that we were able to do a smash and grab on them and get the three points. That’s all that will matter come the season’s end.
When aggregate isn’t involved, 1-0 to The Arsenal is fine.
Spot on. Couldn’t agree more. It’s the turn of the year, half way through the season and we’re still in the title race, going nicely in the Champions League, have a great chance of landing the League Cup and still have the FA Cup to come. Yes, we need to sign cover for Saka in the January window, but it’s hardly an excuse for a lot of the doom and gloom being stirred up at the moment. The entitlement being displayed by many so-called ‘fans’ is truly embarrassing. The trouble is, thanks to these clueless FIFA25 Neanderthals, all Arsenal fans… Read more »
Would have been nice to have got a second. All that game needed was a silly mistake to concede a penalty or a hand ball away from the body in that last play by Ipswich and it’s dropped points. Would hope to kill off teams a bit earlier and a bit more often.
Also MLS is a bit of a wind up merchant. Squaring up to several players during the game made me chuckle. Someone is going to bite one day.
Good win against all the odds. Ipswich came to stifle us, defend deep and either draw or snatch a goal. They failed, but because we only broke them down once, the attitude is negative as a 1-0 win doesn’t seem to be good enough.
Need to play players like Nwaneri against bottom table teams. Experience for him wasted and rest for Odegaard wasted.
I’d had around 4 pints and gone for a family meal pre match. Went to the pub next door to watch the match and had probably 5 more pints. We won 1-0 and we went to another pub, had a couple more pints and grabbed a bag of chips on the way home. Only a 5 min walk. Tbh, don’t remember much of the match but we won and got 3 points; so I’m happy. Onto Brentford away.
Tonight was all about getting the three points and keeping within reach of Liverpool.
We did that. End of.
I’ve never seen a team time waste at 1-0 down before. Crazy.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I was embarrassed by MO feigning a head injury during an Ipswich counter. I admire him greatly and this Kyle Walker/Rodri crap is beneath him. Did anybody see the incident differently? I wish I’m wrong and hope it doesn’t become our Caprain’s habit.
He got a forearm to the face, sore one. Don’t think the game should be stopped for that stuff myself, but he wasn’t feigning.
My eyesight is not the best, so we’ll go with your version. Ta.
Here comes my thoroughly unqualified two cents. Our defence is uncomparable, out midfield is highly talented. But our attack is filled with either great players with too much inhibition (bar Saka), or too short a leash from the gaffer. If i had to vote between the two, I’d go for short leash. They’re are playing to a strategy that comes from an historical midfielder. Intelligent yes but too inhibited by probabilistic outcomes beyond the current action phase. We need our forwards allowed to express themselves through a longer leash or at least one or two of them completely unleashed. We… Read more »