Match report – Player ratings – Video
“I thought it was a fair result,” said Mikel Arteta after the 0-0 draw with Man Utd, and it’s hard to argue with that this morning.
Arsenal had chances to score, but then so too did Man Utd. Bernd Leno had to make a superb save to deny Fred (thankfully, because I don’t want to live a timeline where Fred scores a goal – especially a winner –against us); and in the second half Edinson Cavani put the ball inches wide of the either post.
At the other end Alexandre Lacazette hit the bar with a snap free kick; Pepe curled a shot just wide; Willian didn’t make the most of an excellent opportunity at the back post; and Emile Smith Rowe forced David de Gea into a smart save during a really good second half spell from our perspective.
Sometimes a 0-0 can be boring and uneventful, and while this wasn’t an end to end slug-fest, it wasn’t as staid as the scoreline suggests. We had 17 attempts on goal, United 14, and although there was an element of caginess to the game, there were moments when it could have gone for either side.
From an Arsenal perspective, given our recent run of form, it’s disappointing not to have scored a goal, but when you’re missing three players of the quality and importance of Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, that becomes more challenging. Had all three been fit and available last night, I think it’s reasonable to suggest we’d have given United more to contend with. It’s not that their replacements were bad, by the way, it’s just that without three of your best players, winning games against teams in this league is more difficult.
So, when we look for positivity and things to be encouraged about, we have to acknowledge another clean sheet. That’s five in our last six Premier League games, and the only goal we conceded was in the 3-1 win over Southampton. If you include Chelsea, we’ve let in just two in 630 minutes (plus injury time etc). That really looks like something to build on, and the defensive effort was not just the sole preserve of the back four either. I thought they were good, David Luiz led the defence well while Rob Holding seems to win everything in the air these days (10 clearances in total).
But look at someone like Nicolas Pepe, whose performance will have pleased Mikel Arteta, I’m sure. Not only did he take the most shots of any Arsenal player, and produce three key passes, he added some solid defensive work to that too. Gabriel Martinelli might have had a quiet enough 45 minutes from an attacking perspective (one almost perfect pass for Lacazette aside), but we don’t go into the break on level terms without his outstanding defensive contribution to deny Marcus Rashford a clear sight of goal. Even Willian, far from anyone’s favourite, added a couple of tackles and interceptions when he came on – as well as creating a decent chance for Pepe which Harry Maguire blocked.
I’m always slightly wary about players post-match reactions, but I do think there’s something to what Luiz said afterwards:
I think the young boys are progressing a lot, they are fantastic. I think we start to create a real team, a real atmosphere. I’m very, very happy because we’ve turned around a very difficult moment in our season into a positive moment. We have to keep trying and keep going.
Remarkably, in spite of our recent terrible run, we have the joint second best defensive record in the league (in terms of goals conceded). Only leaders Man City have conceded fewer, 13 to our 20. The fact that we’ve scored more goals in the seven games since December 26th (15) than we did from the start of the season to that date (11) tells you the issue was much more about what we did at the attacking end of the pitch. It’s not to say that everything is fixed now, but it’s better since the introduction of Emile Smith Rowe, and the arrival of Martin Odegaard should help there too. It’s still only 26 goals though, and that’s an area we have to improve on in the second half of the season (there are still 17 games to play because of the late start).
Taking four points from six against United this season is not to be sniffed at either, and what’s crucial is that we maintain this upswing in performance and confidence. The 1-0 win at Old Trafford was a very temporary morale boost because of what followed, and the schedule is so demanding now. We have to go to Wolves on Tuesday, and we know how dangerous they can be.
Finally, and fully acknowledging the officials weren’t anything we can hide behind or blame for anything in particular yesterday, I thought Bruno Fernandes was lucky to get away with raking his studs down the back of Xhaka’s calf/Achilles. I know VAR can’t issue yellow cards, but a challenge like that is borderline red for me. It is 100% in the ‘If Xhaka does that it’s a red card’ zone. It’s nowhere near the ball, and you can’t tell me that a professional footballer doesn’t know what he’s up to there.
Between that, a dive in our box, pretending Cedric whacked him in the face, and the histrionics which gave them a free kick just outside the area before half-time for no foul at all by Thomas Partey, Fernandes is well and truly in Teddy Sheringham territory for me. He’s a good player too, which makes it easier to dislike him, and while I might be a little long in the tooth for this kind of stuff, I quite like that there’s a pantomime villain at United again. I’m longing for the weird protection he seems to get from referees to wear off too because his unhappy face feeds my soul.
All in all though, even if this was one we didn’t win, I feel like this is a game we’d have found a way to lose not too long ago. The absence of the players I already mentioned was certainly a factor (Auba is quarantining following his travels for the family matter), but again I’m encouraged by the fact there’s some common sense being applied to injuries. The temptation to risk the likes of Saka/Tierney for a match like this has to be enormous, but the decision making appears to been focused on what they can do for us in the weeks/months to come rather than the very short-term. The Thomas Partey decision earlier in the season was a big mistake, but it looks like that very important lesson has been learned. There are likely going to be some physical issues before Tuesday, so plenty for Arteta and his coaching staff to consider before that game.
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Right, I’ll leave it there for now. James and I will be recording an Arsecast Extra for you at some point later today. As ever if you have questions or topics for discussion, send to @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re on Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
I’ll update on the podcast release time when we nail down a recording time, keep an eye on Twitter for that.
Until then, enjoy your Sunday.
