Ethan Nwaneri scored his first European goal as Arsenal beat Girona 2-1 to secure third place in the Champions League group phase. Once again this month, the Gunners had to come from behind, but they did so with ease – Jorginho’s penalty cancelling out Arnaut Danjuma’s opener before Nwaneri’s fine strike put them ahead before half-time.
Arsenal held onto their lead with a little help from VAR, who ruled out Christian Stuani’s strike for offside, while Raheem Sterling had a late chance to extend the margin from the penalty spot, only to be denied in stoppage time.
With a top-eight finish already secured after the win over Dinamo Zagreb, it was no surprise to see Mikel Arteta rotate his lineup for Arsenal’s ninth game of the month.
David Raya was deemed “not fit,” so Neto made his Arsenal debut in goal. At 35 years and 194 days old, he became the club’s oldest debutant since 1915. Thomas Partey slotted in at right-back, with Jakub Kiwior, Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori completing the backline. In midfield, Martin Ødegaard and Mikel Merino returned alongside Jorginho, while Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling formed a diminutive front three.
The game began at a frantic pace. Arsenal immediately appealed for a penalty when a free-kick – won for a foul on Sterling and delivered by Odegaard – struck a Girona defender’s arm. While the visitors protested, Neto almost endured a nightmare start, mis-controlling the ball miles from his goal. Fortunately, the home side couldn’t capitalise.
Sterling looked lively in the opening exchanges. He curled one effort just past the post before a darting run to the byline caused havoc. When Nwaneri switched to the left flank, he was equally dangerous, whipping in a cross that Trossard somehow put wide with the goal at his mercy.
At the other end, Ivan Martin’s long-range strike forced Gabriel to divert the ball over for a corner, while former Spurs forward Arnaut Danjuma weaved his way into the box before his shot was blocked and gathered by Neto.
Arsenal dominated possession and nearly broke the deadlock through Calafiori, who converted a smart Sterling pass but was correctly flagged offside. Odegaard then tried his luck from the edge of the box, only to fire over.
Girona sat deep in numbers, showing little attacking intent, yet it was typical of Arsenal’s season that the hosts took the lead out of nothing. A ball inside Partey and Kiwior freed Danjuma, who spotted Neto inexplicably far off his line and lifted a first-time finish past him. The loanee goalkeeper’s decision-making was baffling and his desperate attempt to save the shot with his hands only underlined his error. (GOAL 1-0)
Having looked composed, Arsenal suddenly appeared rattled. Girona carved out two more chances in quick succession before the Gunners restored parity from the penalty spot. Partey, bursting into the box, was clattered by Arnau Martínez, and Jorginho converted with his trademark hop. (GOAL 1-1)
The game remained open. Romeu stung Neto’s palms before Nwaneri took matters into his own hands. After seeing one close-range effort blocked, he shifted onto his left foot and bent a stunning strike inside the post. His sixth of the season was worthy of peak Arjen Robben or Ryad Mahrez or anyone else with a wand of a left foot. What a player he is. (GOAL 2-1)
Trossard had a golden chance to extend the lead moments later but, as the angle tightened, his fierce strike cannoned off the crossbar – the last meaningful action of the half.
Nwaneri pass nearly looped into the Girona net, and from the resulting corner, Gabriel fired over. Moments later, another corner – this time from Nwaneri – caused chaos, with Timber inadvertently getting in the way and taking a blow to the face for his troubles.
Nwaneri continued to impress on the right, showcasing quick footwork to burst to the byline and dink a teasing cross into the six-yard box, but no one was there to capitalise. He came close to a second goal on 55 minutes, flashing an instinctive first-time effort just wide. Calafiori then tried his luck from distance, but his shot also failed to hit the target.
With 20 minutes to go, and possibly with one eye on Sunday’s clash with Manchester City, Arteta made changes. Kai Havertz replaced Trossard, while Myles Lewis-Skelly came on for Calafiori. Soon after, Sterling went down in the box under a challenge and thought he’d won a penalty, but the Italian referee deemed it a dive and booked him—a decision that left the winger visibly frustrated.
The game appeared to be petering out when Girona thought they had snatched an equaliser. Cristhian Stuani tapped in Portu’s cross, sending the home fans into raptures, only for VAR to rule it out for offside in the build-up. Portu’s frustration soon boiled over—after being brought down by Odegaard, his protests earned him a booking of his own.
Declan Rice replaced Jorginho late on, helping Arsenal stay solid as Girona pressed. The Gunners were then awarded a second penalty when Sterling forced Alejandro Frances into a blatant handball. Eager to get on the scoresheet, Sterling stepped up but saw his spot-kick saved by Pau Lopez, who got down well to his left. The England international looked disconsolate as the final whistle neared.
So it’s job done for the Gunners after an impressive run across eight very different opponents. The reward, once next week’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg with Newcastle is out of the way, is a much-needed and well-deserved 10-day break. First, we’ve got to turn our attention to Manchester City who visit the Emirates on Sunday.
Looking further ahead, it’s been confirmed that Arsenal’s next opponents in the Champions League will be one of AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord or Juventus.
I have to say I feel sorry for Sterling. He’s trying and he’s been bright in spots but key moments in front of goal seem to keep going against him. He isn’t having much luck.
Our most dominant champions League match ever away against Spanish opposition…a far cry from the days Villarreal kept us on the edge of our seats.. testament to how far we’ve come under Arteta.. especially with fielding an under strength team. Best Mikel merino performance in an arsenal shirt. He works with 2 more creative midfielders in jorginho and Oodegard. Nwaneri is a candidate at centre forward.. looks a generational talent. A few lapses down the left back when Lewis skelly came on. overall a focused performance but for the brain farts. Neto is good with his feet.
Can we stop with the hyperbole? We were a few inches away from Girona equalizing and Merino was mostly anonymous. Ethan looks like a generational player though.
Merino was good, battled the whole night. Couldn’t have won without him
You’re correct… different prisms I guess and not everyone was privileged to see Riquelme run rings around us about 2decades ago… pinning down Spanish opposition in their own half just doesn’t happen..kudos to the team.. would be labelled contenders if we didn’t massively underperform Xg
He’s making Sanogo look like Pele.
Let’s help him by sending him to spurs he would make a good addition to them.
He actually might improve them- only werner is worse
I feel sorry for him, after this loan spell he’d be lucky to get a game for Dagenham and Redbridge
Not hating on him but he’s just a bit crap
you can see he kind of wants it too much… I disagree with those who are saying he doesn’t have “it” anymore, for me what he’s clearly lacking is confidence and calmness to make the right decisions. Whether there’s still time for him to get it this season, dunno, maybe not.
What are you talking about? He’s the very definition of a liability.
It’s not confidence that’s lacking. It’s his ability to contribute to the score sheet.
He gives the ball away. He falls over. He can’t beat the player in front of him. He can’t even win corners. And now he can’t score a penalty.
He’s been given every chance.
Great hair. Fabulous inkwork. But he’s a has-been and for now he’s ours.
Do I wish him well? Of course. Just not with us.
Guess you’ve no clue how confidence works smartypants.
He has been beating his man at least a couple of times almost every match he’s played for us. His dribbling is still superb, he gets into dangerous positions and then… fluffs it. I don’t care to continue arguing about this because like I said, I don’t think he will have the chances anymore to get his form back with us, so it’s a moot point. But how little people are able to separate the mental and physical components of a player’s game always surprises me.
Fair enough. We see the same thing and form different opinions.
That said , I don’t quite see what ‘little people’ have to do with this. Which kind of makes my point.
😆 touché
Tbf at least he did a better pen than Watkins
Until the last few sentences regarding personal appearance you could have been talking about Martinelli for the last year. Artetas system asks a lot of the wide players, giving them very little support but asking them to produce a lot of the threat. And he was one lucky bounce in the box, or the keeper guessing wrong, from being on the score sheet
Agree- he gives the ball away cheaply, doesn’t track back enough, and is bereft of confidence. He’s also looked more than out of shape since arriving. Whatever the non negotiables were- they’re out the window for sterling and that has a knock on effect in the dressing room
If his curler had gone in in we’d say it was overdue because he had been working so hard. It’s fine margins, we all know it. Stay calm. We were saying the same damn things about Martinelli, Jesus, Raya and even Henry back then. Yes, Henry was younger, but still. Give that man a break. Football fans are the worst when it comes to patience.
Even if it doesn’t work out, Arteta is seeing something in Sterling. He is the one who watches him in training day in day out. And I am glad he is the one in charge.
I feel bad for him too. But at this stage I feel I’d rather see one of our academy players. Butler-Oyedeji maybe. Or even KT or Zinchenko in a left midfield slot.
Fair, but it’s also pretty obvious that he’s way past his prime. He doesn’t have the explosive pace that he used to rely on, he doesn’t have any awareness of where his teammates are which results in his holding on to the ball too long and eventually losing it, and his finishing is … well, finished.
I want to add he isn’t very big and doesn’t appear very strong or fast.
TBH, you can see why Chelsea don’t think he has a future with them. He was worth a punt, especially as Chelsea are paying over two thirds of his wages. But it didn’t pay off; his level is Leicester or Ipswich or Spurs these days.
Spurs? that is harsh
Sterling is trying at least. At best a squad player at the moment for games we’re already winning. Suffering in confidence and really looks very lost and confused when he’s finished his dribbling and then just gives it away or does a tame shot.
Good campaign in the Champions League and a great finish in the league stage.
Just shows how efficient Arsenal’s game is when hellbent corrupt referees are not trying to fix the game.
Romeu’s haircunt is one of the worst I’ve ever seen
Totally agree. I’ve always thought that with the Premier League having the best players from around the world and the best managers from around the world, it really should try to bring in the best referees from around the world. The refereeing we see in the Champions League is so far and away better than our regular fare that there’s no comparison.
Except for the Barca game, where a certain Michael Oliver just wouldn’t blow for time until Barca took two corners and a free kick. It’s almost like he had been instructed to make them win.
Oliver also waited until City equalised against us in the eighth minute of seven additional minutes before blowing his whistle for full time. Even down to ten men for an entire half, if he had called time when he should have we would have won that game.
Saying that- there was that Milan game of two penalty calls…
Milan/PSV vs Feyernoord/Juve and that’s our path. City get Real or Bayern first
Did we just finish 2nd out of 32 teams in the Champions League, without even always fielding our best 11? (which in itself would only be a dodgy facsimile of our true best 11 if everyone’s fit)
Pretty, pretty good.
3rd ….but still a low key excellent job done
ok but tied with Barca in points for 2nd, 3rd only by GD. I would say considering the injury crisis we’ve been dealing with all season that’s an absolutely sterling job (pun not intended because it would completely rob that sentence of its meaning in his current form).
Not quite. We finished 3rd out of 36. But your point remains valid. I don’t think we started our ideal best XI in a single one of the eight matches.
2 unfair pen decisions against Inter, let’s not forget that
If we finished had 2nd our choice was psg , Monaco, brest or benfica !!
See what happens when we don’t have those corrupts refereeing us. No drama no fuss, just football as it should be.
I thought the ref was brilliant. Was a bit frustrated with some of the decisions against us but he gave it straight back to them. No problem at all with that 👍
had the exact same thought towards the end when a bunch of dives Girona took didn’t get rewarded and they were shown a bunch of yellow cards… “how refreshing to be fairly officiated!”
Sterling shouldn’t have had a yellow though, for diving. Wasn’t a pen either. Was just a meh event.
Thought he got that one on reputation.
Good effort from Sterling
Gutted for him
A few more games , he will be in full rhythm.
Good touch from the team to hand him the penalty even though he missed it.
In your dream?
Few more game when the season is entering the business end?
Time to send him home to Chelsea.
Also, how did he end up taking the penalty?
Kai should have taken the pen
I’m all for positivity but come on now, we’ve been saying that all season. I think that sadly Sterling is finished. He’s a warm body in a shirt when we need someone but not much beyond that.
I fancy our chances against any of those four teams we could play against in the last 16, especially if Saka is back up/running and we make some purchases in this transfer window – doesn’t look like Watkins will be coming though!!
Interesting to get those pens by the ref….when did we ladt get two in the pl?
Also, thought Sterling had a good game
Are you serious? He was a total liability and please send him back to Chelsea.
Or surprise would be a better word, especially the first one…it was a foul but he never would of got to the ball…we ain’t never getting that in the pl- but the opposition are
Nwaneri = A Winner
(Anagram)
I like this I like Eboue-boue. Comment of the day for you buddy.
Declain Rice = Craned Lice
Bukayo Saka = A Saucy Koba
and the best one
Emile Smith Rowe = I Will Smother Me
(fine I didn’t come up with those it was ChatGPT, who I guess still hasn’t learned about Emile leaving to Fulham)
“A Saucy Koba”? Where did you find a “C” in Bukayo Saka?
oh dear I didn’t even proof check. And there’s no second L in ESR’s name either. Can’t even do a basic anagram properly and we’re about to give these machines the steering wheel, god help us all.
..or recognizes that 2/3 are completely wrong.
And our other scorer, Rhino Jog
Maybe also = Raw Nine.
We might hope that could be the case as an internal solution to the clinical finisher that is currently missing from the forward line (or at least in Saka’s absence).
Sweet! A well deserved break before we take on one of Milan, Juve, PSV or Feyenoord in the round of 16. A decent draw after a really good CL campaign so far.
Sterling!!!!
I give up
He’s one game away from being on top form, again, apparently…
Fantastic win!
I’m happy City won because I want them to play more games and continue to struggle in the league.
They’re not beating Real or Bayern.
How can VAR not give a penalty for sterling after he is booked for diving? its disgusting
Was neither a booking nor a penalty
Sterling… cmon man, get it together- if not for us, then at least for yourself. It’s getting embarrassing.
A strange game for a CL one, it felt like a 3rd round FA cup tie, we got it done so at least the players can have a deserved 10 day break, obviously we want one of Dutch teams in the draw, not sure how this new format works if we get through to the following round, or where we would be, quarter finals ? seeded clubs ? random balls picked out of a hat ? I have no idea..