Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Havertz
Subs: Neto, Tierney, Heaven, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Merino, Sterling, Trossard, Jesus
Arsenal closed the gap on Liverpool to seven points after beating Manchester United 2-0 at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, thanks to goals from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba.
Mikel Arteta made four changes to the team that beat West Ham on Saturday, with Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Thomas Partey and Gabriel Martinelli all coming into the side.
Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori missed out on the matchday squad altogether after failing to pass late fitness tests.
It was an even start with both teams looking sloppy in possession, although Arsenal only needed four minutes to open the scoring when Martinelli fired home after a mistake from Andre Onana – but Kai Havertz was clearly offside in the build up – and the goal was rightly ruled out.
The Gunners should have been ahead just minutes later when another Declan Rice corner found Thomas Partey unmarked in the middle, who somehow headed wide from a yard out.
After that lucky escape, United settled into the game and were finding Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho in advanced areas too easily, with Arsenal seemingly unsure about who to press and when.
However, with 25 minutes on the clock, Arteta’s men passed up another golden opportunity when Martinelli skewed wide from close range after Zinchenko’s deflected effort fell his way in the penalty area.
Heading towards half time, things became increasingly frustrating for the hosts who were struggling to break United down, but their movement and certainty of pass were just not quick enough.
It could have been worse for Arsenal before the break after a freak mishit from Mason Mount fell to Harry Maguire, whose cross deflected back to Diogo Dalot who hit a rasping effort inches wide.
United defended well throughout the first period, but Arteta’s men were below their usual level and struggled to get key players in the game with the visitors forcing play central.
But Arsenal came out quickly after the break and had two quick-fire opportunities, first through Martinelli who broke down the left but saw his tame shot blocked by Maguire, before Rice saw another shot deflected over after good work from Partey and Timber.
And that early pressure eventually told when Timber broke the deadlock – you guessed it – from another set piece, rising highest to head home another pinpoint Rice delivery. 1-0.
United were rocking by that point and Bukayo Saka missed a huge chance to double the lead after an unbelievable Martin Odegaard pass split the defence, but his shot was well saved by Onana.
Second half substitute Joshua Zirkzee almost had an own goal to his name (from another corner) but his blushes were spared by Manuel Ugarte, who cleared his teammates’ header off the line when it looked destined for the far corner.
Up the other end, it took 65 minutes but David Raya was finally called into action, stretching brilliantly across his goal to claw out Matthijs De Ligt’s goalbound header after Zinchenko conceded a needless free kick after dallying on the ball.
Arteta reacted by taking the Ukrainian off for Mikel Merino – with Timber moving to left back and Partey going to right back – with Leandro Trossard also replacing Martinelli.
And minutes later, it finally came – breathing room. The Gunners doubled their lead when another corner (this time from Saka) found Partey unmarked at the back post, whose header back across goal deflected off Saliba’s backside and in. 2-0.
There was a slice of fortune in the finish but the quality and consistency of Arsenal’s set piece delivery was unbelievable all night.
The floodgates opened by that point and Havertz was denied at the near post after being played through by Odegaard, before Merino headed just wide after he was left unmarked from another set piece.
Arteta’s men controlled the closing stages and could have scored more when chances fell to Trossard and Odegaard, although neither player found the target with United bodies flinging themselves in front of every shot.
That’s now three wins in three league games since the last international break, and Arteta will be hoping that run can continue against Fulham at Craven Cottage this weekend.
What a performance from Big Willy. He had to be the protagonist of the two CB’s and he more than stepped up.
Calm. Composed. Silky at times. So relaxed in tight spaces. Just an absolute joy to watch.
I think he lets Gabriel be the hero. I think he’s happy with his role. But we needed someone dependant, mature and secure tonight to look after Kiwior. And he was absolute perfection.
Kiwior looked really good too. That’s depth baby.
Mind the gap scousers!
COYG!!!
3 points, very happy with that!
Now United know how we felt when Rory Delap was towelling off the ball…
The secret sauce is the delivery. We can hit our men reliably with corners from both sides, cue growing terror in the Utd defensive ranks. Broke their spirits; heads-down Utd are same old, same old
Did Salina scored using his arse?
Yes. The “Cheek of God”.
Kiwi impresses pretty much every time he plays as an actual centre back, especially at LCB. Some of his passing was genuinely impressive today.
So impressed with Partey and Timber too lately, and of course our captain who is literally one of those rare players who can make you fall in love with football all over again, just when you thought you’ve had enough of all the cheating cunts and dimwitted refs.
Saliba’s defending was like Mike Tyson’s tonight, impregnable!
Kiwior was impressive too.
Somebody said earlier that our injured back 4 is stronger than the 4 that started. Depth!
I’ve said all along, Liverpool don’t worry me, they’ve been lucky with injuries, the time they’ve played the big teams, the performances haven’t been great, and they’ve struggled against every team that’s played to match them. They’ll get caught but the question is by who.
Final thing. I never want to see Zinchenko play for Arsenal, unless we’re like 3 goals up, or 2 goals if he comes on in stoppage time
I thought Zinny did okay. Could only remember him having one lapse that was a bit scary in the second half from that throw -in. After that I can recall him put a foot wrong all night. He even won a nice sliding tackle.
Agree that he was okay throughout most of the game. But, Arteta is always talking about the margins and exposing other teams weaknesses and he can’t trust Zinny to play the full 90 because he generally has at least one screw up that puts us under immediate pressure. Not if it’s going to happen but when. Can’t spend hours on the training grounds working on corners and have one player expose our goal at critical game moments. Good player but no longer at our level.
Saliba was outstanding tonight! What an atmosphere. Worth the 400 mile round trip!!
Really hope the fans at the ground start chanting the Jaws theme when the shark is coming like the Spanish commentators did as we are setting up whine them. Imagine as a defender you can’t see where our players are coming from as we are all behind them and then the crowd starts chanting, “Dum…….Dum, Dum…….Dum, Dum….Dum, Dum, dum, dum dum…….
dum dudum dudum… Salibarse!
I was nearly an off(back)side though.
Luckily VAR-T didn’t follow through.
I swear, i’ve seen an arse😅
No Gabriel, no problem. I can’t believe my eyes. Next time someone calls us Stoke, I can’t even get mad. 3 points is all that matters especially after Newcastle did us a huge favour. COYG!
Always good to be at United. Always VERY good!
We have now gone 16 straight games against the traditional big 6 teams without a loss — winning the majority of those games H and A. Mental.
It’s never good to be at United, but it’s always great to beat them!!! 😉
It’s actually RIDICULOUS what we’re doing with corners. I love it. Didn’t even need Gabriel! Great result.
It’s just beyond ridiculous now. A team that can play any team off the park and still have the advantage of being UNMATCHABLE at set pieces is almost unheard of!
I see Arsenal fans getting mad on SM when people call us “Set Piece FC.” I personally don’t mind it at all. I know these people are butthurt (especially when their teams are directly on the receiving end.) And as long as we keep piling on the points, that is all that matter!
I’m now calling us set piece fc
really is a badge of honor at this point
The relentless shelling of enemy lines from the corners broke their spirits and won us the game tonight. Heads went down and but for a few last-ditch blocks we could have had a couple more goals. If anything, doing it without Gabby M just increases our set-piece aura.
Tim’s column from this week was excellent as it focused on the performative aspects of our set pieces and how they are set up to sow doubt into the opposition players heads because they can’t see where we are going because we are coming from behind. Imagine you are standing there watching the corner knowing full well Saliba and Gabriel are steaming in from behind you. Psychological torture that wears down a team mentally with each corner. Chapeau.
5 Star performance from the Team… as a Team!
COYG!
HIS BUM’S NOT OFFSIDE, HIS BUM’S NOT OFFSIIIIIIIDE, WILLIAM SALIBA: HIS BUM’S NOT OFFSIDE
With 72pts left to play for, it’s never been clearer how over this title race is.
We’re so good at football, guys.
Well we scored from two set pieces but we were mighty unlucky not to get at least one from open play. Our ball movement in the 2nd half was so crisp and a delight to watch, as it mostly has been since Odegaard came back. But it’s not just down to him – add a sharp-looking Zinchenko to the mix, a zippy Timber who is slowly turning out to be one of my favourite defenders to watch ever, and a Partey who looks like he’s graduating from the Jorginho school of deep-lying playmaking (so much so that he’s getting assists… Read more »
But for those pesky shoulders he’d have had a headed goal of his own. Couple of sloppy passes but otherwise a good game for him, he’s been important so far this season.
What a peach of a finish from Saliba!
kinda half-arsed it if you ask me…
a bit cheeky
certainly bummed out some of those Utd players
Even with an imperious performance like that, Saliba stills ends up the butt of the jokes.
Saved us from squeaky bum time
for a defender he sure can get in behind…
The headline should be “Willie gets Rear Action”
He surely buttressed that attack with his all-action performance
That was massive from Willo.
He coordinated the defence in Gabriel’s absence.
Nice game boys.
Onto the next!
In Gabis absence he went full captain mode. He’s always so good but never seen him that animated. He really wanted to beat them and what a joy to see his celebration, he enjoyed that one.
He was impeccable, but I do get nervous when our one-man brick wall drifts into the attacking third. Happened twice tonight, and not that it was wrong of him to do so, but I was terrified we’d lose possession and be exposed. I guess he would have caught back up to the ball, won it, turned their attacker, and split the lines with a ball to Odegaard, but still.
First half we were good but a bit tentative, second half we were sensational and they couldn’t handle us from open play or set pieces. Maybe won’t get a lot of credit, but Raya on the ball has been fantastic this season, it’s been like having an extra midfielder at times.
He’s actual playmaker. What an incredibly talented player.
Respect to Raya. Precision passing and massive frigging hands.
If you know a bit of Spanish, I’d suggest watching his interview with La Media Inglesa back in his Brentford days. He states that he feels like having the technical skills to be a midfielder, and he ain’t lying!
Saliba scoring with his arse and celebrating like a muskateer who just defeated an old foe in a duel.
Top man!
The storm is coming
The storm is here. Welcome to the PL Amorim.
Before one of our corners, the camera zoomed in on him, and his hands were shaking, unwilling to see what was going on
Sexy Burnley and I’m here for it
Yeah! Sexy Burnley. I love it.
Lads it’s back on!
Just look at the match stats. Possession about even but United way second best in everything else. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/cx2l21kvdlpt#MatchStats
Hon the Arsenal, as max verstapeen says “simply lovely “
Average performance but we got the job done.
United were very awkward and made it difficult but we were always going to win. They’re rubbish.
MOTM: Raya for that fantastic save at 1-0. It could have been a different game if that United header had gone in.
Let’s move on now. Only 7 points off Liverpool now.
I’m a massive Caoimhin Kelleher man but that mistake will be the down turn of the pool . They won’t know who to play in goal next then start Allison , he will make mistakes and leave them divided and fucked up
The rest of the PL teams have only themselves to blame. When the packed defences started against us, we had to find another way to score. Corners have became another way around a packed defence. Then once we are in the lead, hey have to open up a bit, and we can flow more.
Wow, first time I can remember watching a ref and thinking, that guys professional..he’s doing his job as a ref to his best ability being unbiased as possible. It’s not about one or two fouls that might be wrong, it’s the vibe he’s giving off.
In the pl that is…it was more like watching a foreign ref.
The refs have backed off for the time being. It’s tactical. They’ll be back. Mark my words.
Set piece again, ole ole ole!!!
A comment about the corners, Years ago when I was forced to coach my daughter and other girls, I had to learn the game from ground up. I never had played and like most of the USA when I was young, the game didnt exist Coming from a basketball background where one of the defensive fundamentals is, “see man, see ball” I always looked at corners differently. I always wanted at least one girl well beyond the far post. So she would move to the ball as it was played. Why? Because no defender could, “see man, see ball”. It… Read more »
Ask my Arse 2 nil
Odegard = Rocicky + Cesc ❤️
we’re absolute beast from corners, that’s for sure. but in open play i thought we were almost even with them, which is not a good thing. they were quick to escape our high press and luckily their players can’t control a ball properly, but against a better team we would have struggled. at the end we played well amidst a tight schedule, chose to play safe knowing we could win it from set pieces, but a little worrisome that we couldnt create better chances from open play.
Raya has significantly raised our level. Remember when we were hounding Arteta for buying him? One year later, look at what Raya is doing.