Match report – Player ratings – Arteta’s reaction
Arsenal’s first home game in the Champions League this season ended with a 3-0 victory over Lille.
Mikel Arteta made changes with starts for Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino, Bruno Guimaraes, Eberechi Eze and Victor Gyokeres, while Myles Lewis-Skelly moved to left-back in the absence of Piero Hincapie. It wasn’t a sparkling first half by any means, we felt a bit sluggish going forward and the plan seemed quite limited: give it to Noni Madueke on the right and see if he can deliver a decent cross. Which he almost did a few times, but not quite.
Still, there were chances. The Merinos headed straight at the keeper after some good work from Timber, the Spaniard also shot over the bar and after good work with Eze on the left he was in a position to tap in from Lewis-Skelley’s cross but unfortunately could only hit it at the keeper. Guimaraes struck a shot at the near post and Eze also had a good chance, but his finish left the keeper a little disheartened.
It’s not brilliant and there’s plenty of room for improvement, but the way the commentary team at TNT Sports are going about Lille, you’d swear they tore us in half. They were disciplined in defence, fair enough, but offered no real threat beyond a ‘goal’ which was rightfully disallowed for offside.
The pattern and Arsenal’s dominance continued after the break. We had 75% possession and increased the intensity. Lille’s pass success rate dropped from 85% in the first half to 61% between the start of the second half and our breakthrough through Jurrien Timber. Although by then the manager was already preparing for changes as we went past the hour mark without scoring. What a beautiful goal it was. His first touch from Madueke’s cross was excellent, taking the ball away from the defender to put him in position to shoot and he cut the ball beautifully over the advancing keeper to make it 1-0.
We got the triple bottom with Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard for Madueke, Gyokeres and Merino and talked about making an immediate impact. After Odegaard and Timber made a mistake on the defender, Guimaraes played an early pass to Saka, who delivered an early ball across the box for Eze to apply the finish and make it 2-0 with his first goal of the season. Sometimes I think Arsenal tend to make mistakes in possession rather than risk more difficult passes, but we saw the benefit of using the ball quicker here as it opened up space for goals.
The third came soon after. We saw a sharp move from Havertz, Odegaard’s pass in behind the defense epitomized the German’s precision and he made no mistake to completely settle the game from close range when he pulled it back for Saka to make it 3-0. Later, Arteta talked about the tactical adjustment that gives the team more control, while also talking about increasing the technical level. That’s exactly what you do when you turn the bench and have Havertz, Odegaard and Saka on the bench, and it pays dividends in a big way.
I think we could have scored more goals. Eze really got into the game – which was nice to see – and ended up with 5 tackles, his determination to make things happen in the final three isn’t always met with perfect execution, but he’s the type of player who will look for a harder pass if he thinks it’s going to lead to something dangerous. I have to assume that’s a big part of why we brought him in and that’s the quality in his game that I hope we’ll try to maintain because that’s something we really, really need.
Game done and dusted for Max Dowman, Olivier Giroud came on for Lille and got a nice enough reception and got a big hug from Arteta afterwards and overall I think it was a game we completely dominated and deserved to win. I was particularly pleased to see Saka score and assist after a poor performance against Leeds at the weekend. I saw the basis of a discussion around him that, while understandable on the one hand, felt a bit over the top on the other. We know he can do better, he knows he can do better, but I really didn’t like some of the comments surrounding him and hopefully this impressive cameo will remind some people that he’s still a player with a lot to offer. More consistency from him is essential, of course, so let’s hope he can produce.
So a solid win overall, decent minutes for most of the players coming into the side and solid preparation for the trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday – a game we’ll talk about a bit more later in the week.
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But despite the win, it was a sad day off the pitch for Arsenal with the news of Ken Friar’s death. Mikel Arteta then said:
It’s a really sad day for anyone who loves Arsenal Football Club, anyone who loves football and anyone who comes across it. I had the honor of meeting him, spending time with him, and learning from him. Football clubs have people who have a role and fulfill it, who create the identity, the values and the vision to create this future for the football club.
Ken’s legacy to all of us, our football club and everyone close to him will live on forever. I want to convey all our love to his relatives and family so that they know that our feelings for him are not unusual.
The word ‘legend’ is a word that gets thrown around a little too easily, but there’s no doubt that Mr. Friar is one of them. He spent almost his entire life at Arsenal, literally from boy to man, and that kind of service is extraordinary. Football is an industry where almost everyone is a target in one way or another, players, managers, board members, owners, but there are countless stories of his decency and goodness from everyone who encountered him and it would be fair to say that this football club will never see his like again. How wonderful to witness us win the title after such a long wait.
For more on why he left such a legacy, we’ve republished an excerpt from Nick Ams written for our 2012 book.So Paddy stood up‘, he describes his association with Arsenal from such an early age and how he has endured so many years in the ever-changing landscape of football. You can read it here.
RIP Mr Friar, and thank you for representing the club in a way that every fan can understand and relate to.
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All right, I’ll leave it for the morning. More here tomorrow, including Arsecast. Until then, good luck folks.