Arteta’s inspired subs secure long awaited victory against Manchester City

Arsenal 1 Manchester City 0    
Premier League   
Sunday 8th September 2023 4.30pm     

Firstly, for those who did not see my Tweet yesterday (Monday), from here on I will be posting my take on Arsenal games two days after they have been played (rather than one). This is because work commitments sometimes mean I have to rush to complete blog entries, and I’d prefer them to be a little more reflective. So having explained that, it’s back to a delightfully sunny and warm Sunday afternoon at the Emirates. 
 
I was informed before kick-off that Arsenal would gain an unwanted record if Manchester City beat them again, that of the most consecutive defeats against one team in the top flight. It’s certainly been a long time since Arsenal took as much as a point from this fixture, and their last actual Premier League win was way back in 2015, when the Gunners beat City twice in the calendar year. Of course, the FA Cup has provided a little salvation, with the two semi-final wins leading to winning the trophy in subsequent finals, but a mixture of bad fortune and at times simple bad play has meant meagre returns in the league.
 
If Arsenal are serious about ensuring last season’s title challenge was not a flash in the pan, it was hugely significant for them to triumph in this match. They’d gone toe to toe in the Community Shield, which augured well. Both sides were missing key players, with Saka not recovered from his injury against Lens, although there was good news with both Martinelli and Partey announced amongst the substitutes. Despite his error that led to Lens’ opening goal in midweek, David Raya kept his place. 
 
He didn’t start the game particularly well. He flapped at a City corner and was nowhere when Gvardiol subsequent shot was cleared off the line by Declan Rice. Fortunately, Nathan Ake blazed over when the ball came to him in the aftermath. Things were not about to improve for Raya as he almost conceded when a pass out was blocked at close range by Julian Alvarez. It could as easily gone into the goal as the side netting, but the keeper got away with it. It’s significant that Arteta applauded his keeper for playing on the edge with his passing. 
 
My thought is that he believes his players have to take risks to get an advantage. It's Russian Roulette football at times, and it looks ugly when you get the bullet. Right or wrong, this is the way his team will be going forward because that is the nature of Artetaball. And much as Raya may look a liability, it's because Arteta instructs him to play this way. Evidently Ramsdale can't back himself as much with the ball at his feet... in the manager's eyes. In terms of normal goalkeeping stuff there was hardly anything to do for Raya on Sunday after the Gvardiol/Ake chance, so we can’t make any conclusions about his keeping after a game in which City had four efforts at goal, and only one on target. 
 
A big part of the reason Raya had so little to do, aside from take part in the passing triangles as his team-mates attempted to pass their way up the field, was that the defence (including Zinchenko) were excellent to a man. They worked hard to deny City – and succeeded. This for me was the most encouraging aspect of Sunday’s performance. The solidity of the defence laid the foundation for the late winner by playing with huge spirit and focus. They were ably supported by Declan Rice – who was immense for his side throughout the 90 odd minutes and had a massive influence in halting City's attacking moves. Arsenal were worthy of their win and had far more attempts, even if most of them went high or wide of the goal. Nketiah and Trossard had limited impact, and the latter was replaced by Martinelli at half time. 
 
The young Brazilian added far more spark to Arsenal’s play, and he had his side’s first shot on target to evidence this. For the most part, it was like watching a game of chess, with defences on top and chances rare. It may not have been that entertaining for neutrals, but the fans at the stadium were on the edge of their seats – the tension overcoming any concerns about entertainment. Arteta made three further subs during the game, with Partey, Tomiyasu and Havertz replacing Jorginho, Zinchenko and Nketiah. It proved a masterstroke, as these were the four players directly involved in the winning goal. 
 
Partey offers something neither Rice nor Jorginho do from deep midfield, which is the vision and accuracy to play long passes into attack. Incredibly, Tomiyasu – nominally the left back - was in the area to meet Partey’s ball and headed it to Havertz who teed up Martinelli. Some fortune for the home side here as his shot smacked bang into Ake’s face and deflected past Ederson to send the home crowd into ecstasy. No hint of a VAR check on this one, and everyone could celebrate with abandon.
A word about the officiating of Michael Oliver. How Kovacic remained on the field is an example of a referee either bottling a big decision (and the head of the PGMOL has form for this when you go back to the 2010 World Cup Final) or showing favouritism. I received a message with the following the day after the game -
“Just a couple notes on referee Michael Oliver. He is a Newcastle supporter (attending last season’s League Cup final as one of the fans) and is not allowed to referee Newcastle matches or even any matches of clubs that are around them in the table during the last few months of the season. He has refereed Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, and Man City the most times and he has given Liverpool and City just one red card each (both were double-yellow) and Arsenal and Everton five red cards. He’s also given Liverpool 15 pens, Everton 16 pens, and Man City 11. He’s given Arsenal five penalties and he’s given their opponents 12. He was also the ref who gave Martinelli two yellow cards in six seconds in the same passage of play v Wolves.”
Make of that what you will, but the sheer northern bias in the referees that serve under the PGMOL needs addressing.
 
Arsenal won a match in which, with great intensity, both sides focused on not allowing their opposition to play and attempting (largely successfully) to throttle the game. Defences were generally untroubled and pressing effective at the other end of the pitch. Saliba dealt comfortably with the threat of Haaland, with one shoulder barge between the two ending with the City marksman on the floor. It felt like a symbolic moment. No question the holders missed Rodri and De Bruyne, but they have a deep enough squad to compensate. Nonetheless, it cannot be forgotten that Rodri’s colleagues have now lost two of the three matches he missed through suspension. Jesus played in Saka’s position for the Gunners and was certainly busy, if largely frustrated. It’s a positive that Saka will now get a couple of weeks without a competitive game to recover from the injury that forced him out of this match. 
 
Arteta’s side are level on points at the summit of the table with Spurs, who have benefited from a large dollop of fortune this season, which makes you think that although they certainly look capable of finishing in a Champions League qualifying place (especially as there are likely five of those this season), their good fortune cannot continue long enough for them to actually challenge for the title. At present, it feels like that’s between City, Arsenal and Liverpool. Certainly, the Gunners have shot themselves in the foot with the home draws against Fulham and Spurs, but yesterday’s win also featured errors that could have led to goals, although the defence seemed more switched on to recover. 
 
After the international break Arsenal face two games a week until deep into December (aside from the November international break) and were they to beat West Ham in the League Cup, they’d be facing two games a week until the beginning of 2024. Plenty of midweeks without fixtures for the likes of Spurs and Chelsea to prepare for weekend games. But that’s the price of success and Arteta has to manage his squad well if his team are to remain in contention. It’s been an encouraging start to the campaign, with a feeling that in spite of changes, there has been no drop off from the previous season. The Gunners are growing as a team and beginning to create fear in the opposition before matches begin. Manchester City may not have felt intimidated yesterday, but they certainly gave their hosts plenty of respect in how hard they worked to try and negate them. We had to wait, but their efforts didn’t work out in the end, and this match may be looked back upon as a turning point in time to come, like for example Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford back in the spring of 1998. Psychologically, it showed that the Gunners were in business and could match, and beat, the best. Long may it continue, as it’s been a long enough wait.
 
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