Job done for Arsenal as Bodo’s shooting goes to pot

Bodo/Glimt 0 Arsenal 1 
Europa League Group A - Matchday Four 
Thursday 6th October 2022 6.45pm (Local Time)   

Football clubs play so many games these days that, unless there is a significance to them, they are often quickly forgotten, in terms of details. In years to come, there may be a memory that Arsenal got away with a win at Bodo/Glimt (although on the Norwegian side, the recall will be much stronger), but ultimately, this was a case of job done, by hook or by crook, get the plane home and prepare for Sunday.

In terms of the quality of chances, Bodo should have won this game, pure and simple. Furthermore, Arsenal’s winner was a bit of a fluke, albeit with credit due to Bukayo Saka for his desire to have a go at working a way through Bodo’s defence. In terms of Arsenal’s ambitions for the season, it felt like a huge result. One more win from their remaining three matches will surely see them top the group, and spare themselves a two legged play-off round in late February.

Arteta selected White, Saliba, Odegaard and Saka from Sunday’s win against Liverpool to ensure the team wasn’t too weak against a Bodo side with an impressive home record of 14 consecutive home wins in European competition. What’s that all about? Lots of qualifying rounds maybe? Their artificial pitch foxing visiting teams? Inclement weather? Not sure really, but their beating Jose Mourinho’s Roma 6-1 last season was something that meant nobody could take this game for granted. 

Reiss Nelson was given a start instead of Marquinhos, and aside from that, the second stringers were the same that were used against Bodo the previous week. It was interesting to see Vieira partnering Odegaard to form the attacking midfield pair, although they didn't really gel, in spite of Arsenal enjoying the majority of the possession. That shouldn’t suggest that they controlled the game. Bodo created many breaks, and the reality is that, shorn of the likes of Xhaka and Partey, the visitors were simply less resilient in the centre of the park. In the end Arteta was forced to introduce both of these players from the bench.

We were informed that the temperature was eight degrees, so Gooners who travelled hoping for a repeat of the snow in Tromso when Graham Potter’s Ostersunds were the opposition would have seen grey skies, but not white hills. Let’s face it, we’ve had far colder games at the Emirates.

Sambi Lokonga maintained the well-established tradition of deep Arsenal midfielders shooting the ball high wide and not very handsome from outside the box. In the 10th minute. Once in a while they go in (Partey v Spurs). But most of the time, spectators behind the goal need to be ready to get their hands up to protect their faces. Time for some shooting practice at London Colney perchance? Frank Lampard used to score a hatful of goals simply by striking the ball low, hard and on target, with deflections doing the rest. 

The game meandered on, with Odegaard a little lucky to escape injury from one challenge and Bodo finding their way as far as Arsenal’s penalty area without a clear opportunity resulting. Arsenal’s press felt like they were in economy (of effort) drive – doing enough without really busting a gut. I guess you have to choose your moments and be confident enough to believe superior fitness will tell in the closing stages. As it was, a deflected shot off a defender from Bukayo Saka provided the game’s turning point. The number 7’s initial effort was blocked but came back to hit him in the head and popped off nicely into the corner of the net, the keeper already going the other way. A fluke finish, for sure, but the incisive nature of Saka’s going for goal created it. 

After that, especially in the second half, it was a case of Bodo fashioning opportunities and missing the target or putting them too close to the keeper. They really should have scored from three of these. As it turned out, Matt Turner in the Arsenal goal was probably their best performer, with plenty of sweeper keeping. Saliba failed to track Pellegrino properly from a high ball that was knocked on before the interval, although the Bodo marksman put his glorious chance wide.

The Bodo fans had a chant to the tune of ‘Cum on feel the noize’ by Slade (and yes, they did spell it like that), which – if you remember it – will alarm you was topping the charts about 50 years ago. 

I’ve kind of given up on Reiss Nelson. He feels just a bit too unproductive generally. The kind of player who would look ordinary at a club like Watford, never mind Arsenal. In mitigation, he probably needs a run of games, and if he does what Mikel Arteta wants in training, he should get that in the cups. However, I’ve lost the faith. I think he is never going to make it at Arsenal. For a player in need of game time to be subbed in this kind of match says it all. Let’s see what happens next week, but you could see Marquinhos getting the nod ahead of Nelson.

The second half saw some rain fall and a series of good chances for the home side, from Pellegrino (again), Solbakken and a really bad miss from Espejord. Arteta started making subs. Ultimately finishing with Xhaka and Partey in place of Odegaard and Lokonga to ensure they held on in the final moments, when Bodo apparently have a habit of finding the net. 

I’d like to say that Arsenal managed this game out, but in spite of having more possession, when they didn’t, there was less resistance to the opposition bringing the ball forward. Sides with better finishers would have made them pay for their errors. Ultimately though, if you are going to play a mix and match side, this is going to happen sometimes, so credit to Arteta’s team for digging out what is an important win in terms of the benefits of topping this group. 

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