Arsenal Return To Winning Ways In Sheffield

 

Sheffield United 0 Arsenal 3
Premier League
Sunday 11th April 2021 7pm

Given Sheffield United anchored the bottom of the league table with 14 points from 30 matches, this was pretty much the ideal match for Mikel Arteta to get some confidence back in his team after a woeful run of four games in all competitions that failed to see any wins as Arsenal approach the business end of the season. They were in the bottom half of the table at kick off, although the resultant win saw them leapfrog Villa and Leeds to put them four points behind Spurs in seventh. 

Arteta will be trying to make up that gap and hoping neither of Southampton or Spurs win the domestic cups, as then at least Europa League football is on the table next season, albeit via qualifying rounds. Of course, the priority is winning said competition in the current campaign and at least Thursday’s match looks marginally less daunting after the Gunners found their shooting boots at Bramall Lane.

It was an interesting team selection ahead of the game. We do not know how badly Odegaard and Smith Rowe are injured, although you suspect at least the former will be risked on Thursday. Tierney we can assume is unlikely to appear again this season, unless the club do make the Europa League final itself and even then match fitness counts against him, so Arteta has some thinking to do at left back. As for Aubameyang suffering flu? Apparently stats show that hardly anyone has actually contracted flu this winter, never mind a fit football player in April. Hmmmm. 

The eleven names on the teamsheet suggested that Saka would play at left back, with Ceballos in the number 10 role, but in fact Granit Xhaka relieved Cedric on the left side of defence, with Saka himself playing behind Lacazette. We saw a welcome return for Gabriel Martinelli and the Brazilian injected some life into the side as they attacked with greater purpose and numbers. For sure, the Blades’ strikers are less of a worry than Liverpool’s last weekend, and there is no doubt a more cautious approach to that game was justified, although the result against Jurgen Klopp’s men suggested they might as well have been more adventurous.

Both full backs were changed, and Calum Chambers played well enough to suggest he might be worth a start in Prague, although you have to suspect Hector Bellerin was merely being rested. Hopefully Willian’s demotion to the bench isn’t because he is being saved for Thursday, although he did get a few minutes at the end. 

Arsenal created some danger early enough to give watching fans the belief that it was only a matter of time before the goal came and when it did, it was a moment of real quality, with some great one-touch play involving Lacazette, Saka and Ceballos before Lacazette finished it off coolly, something he has not done at key moments in recent games. 

The second half saw Saka removed with an injury that required an ice pack, and it must be hoped it was precautionary as the team will definitely need him if they are to enjoy a successful run over the weeks of the season remaining. When Arsenal doubled their lead in the 72nd minute, it was like watching a mirror image of the team as Sheffield United attempted to play the ball out from the back and lost possession. The Blades has been playing this tactic a fair bit during the game – and in honesty, they have nothing to lose as relegation is a matter of when rather than if now, so they might as well experiment with a view to seeing how to approach next season. Pepe intercepted the ball, waltzed through the defence and saw his shot parried to a grateful Martinelli to tap in. 

Lacazette, a player who once couldn’t buy a goal away from home, but has done well on that front this season, made it 3-0 in the 85th minute when a through ball from Thomas Partey afforded him the kind of one on one chance he missed on Thursday (and at other times this season). This time he found the target to kill the game completely. 

It was interesting that even though his team had delivered, Mikel Arteta did not do his normal post game on-field acknowledgement of his players, going straight down to the dressing room. Dare I suggest that the bond is not what it was, and that he isn’t going to pretend that it is anymore? Perhaps he understands that being ‘one of the boys’ is not really producing the response he wants from his players? Who knows?

Of course, we must put this win into context, welcome as it was. The opposition, doomed to relegation, were beaten on their own turf. Still, Arsenal have dropped plenty of cheap points to sides fighting relegation in recent seasons, so you cannot take anything for granted. All eyes are now on Thursday. The opposition will be far more pumped up than yesterday’s, no doubt about that. The Gunners have the quality to get the result they require amidst the ranks, even without key injured players such as Tierney. Whether or not they will deliver the required performance that reflects that is, of course, the great unknown. Arteta’s teams have been too Jekyll and Hyde since he took over. 

We don’t know if the manager’s future will depend on European qualification, but at least the three points at Bramall Lane, combined with Spurs’ defeat at home to Manchester United yesterday, means that the chances are still alive on two fronts, even if it feels like the patient is not in the best of health…

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