Sevilla 1 Arsenal 2
Champions League Matchday 3
Tuesday 24th October 2023 8.45pm (local time)
Firstly to mention that I am on holiday in a time zone nine hours behind Spain, so as this game kicked off at 11.45am for me, I was out doing holiday stuff and watched the match in full the following day on the official website. So for the sake of completion, an entry for the game.
I am going to do this differently today and list some thoughts/reflections in a numbered fashion – I might continue doing this given I am not rushing to do the pieces and want to get away from reporting the facts of a match everyone’s watched.
1 – Gabriel Jesus’ ability to play a pass and take on players to create a chance was the difference in this game, with the two goals coming from his skill. There have been questions about his contribution in terms of goal tally, given he plays as the main striker, but if we can see more performances with this kind of brilliance, such doubts will stop. The player has the talent, but his consistency is the debate.
2 – David Raya got lucky. Two moments that could have gone very badly in this game. To start we had the keeper’s first half pass to the opposition giving them a relatively easy opportunity to score. Arsenal got away with it as a Sevilla player failed to control the ball in the area. Next up, the second half injury time punch that didn’t clear the ball but saw it go behind him, fortunately over the bar. It could have easily entered the goal instead. Raya’s stats are still good in terms of what he does with the ball, but mistakes of this magnitude are not really anything that can be identified with stats. Mikel Arteta has some thinking to do, because such errors may end up costing heavily.
3 – This win should make life comfortable regarding qualification. Sevilla and PSV both have two points, and Lens still have to play at the Emirates. If Arsenal can win one and draw one of their remaining three matches – two of which are at home, it’s difficult to imagine they won’t qualify for the knockout stages. In this respect a result of any kind in Seville felt important.
4 – A quirk about Sevilla. They quite often start the season in the Champions League, then finish third in their group and go on to win the Europa League instead. But they never seem to actually progress from the group stage in the main competition. This augurs well for Arsenal’s prospects.
5 – Familiar faces. It was surreal to see Sergio Ramos playing for the opposition, and even stranger that he was actually fit to appear, having become a serial crock. My big fear was that he would find a way of injuring one of Arsenal’s key men. Rakatic was another reminder of times past, from his Barcelona days. Jesus Navas we know from his Manchester City days, as did Mikel Arteta, given Navas was there during Arteta’s first season assisting Pep Guardiola. And of course, Erik Lamela came on and was booked for diving. Some things never change. Sevilla also had one of Argentina’s World Cup winners – left back Acuna. And they seemed to get most joy through he and Navas overlapping to get crosses in. On which note…
6 – Sevilla not clinical. This was the difference in this game. They did score a header for a corner. Their centre back got between White and Jesus, which will have been a disappointment for the coach and his set piece specialist. Normally the Gunners are strong at corners, and this was more Jesus’ man to mark – White simply couldn’t leap high enough to head the cross away. From 2-0 up after 52 minutes, there was only a goal in it for over half an hour as Sevilla responded quickly to Jesus’ goal. However, they only fashioned two attempts on target in the 90 minutes, against Arsenal’s five. No wonder they have won so few matches this season.
7 – Tomiyasu preferred to Zinchenko. Interesting decision on Arteta’s part, perhaps wary of Navas’ ability to get crosses in. Tomiyasu played the inverted full back role the manager wants from either of his right or left back, and certainly got forward plenty of times. He looks nowhere near as elegant as the Ukrainian, but is quietly effective, doesn’t hide and defensively is a safer bet. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out, but it is certainly good that there are options for the manager, as rotation will be a necessity if the club progress on more than one front.
8 – The three Gabbys. The opening goal in the dying seconds of first half injury time saw the ball cleared from defence by Gabriel Gabriel Magalhaes, collected by Gabriel Jesus, who did a classic Cruyff turn to get shot of his marker and played a perfect through ball to Gabriel Martinelli, taking the Sevilla defence completely out of the picture. He took it round keeper as the Sevilla defence were caught cold. Arsenal’s three Brazilians came good.
9 – Odegaard subbed again. Kai Havertz came on for Odegaard, who had not had his usual impact on the game. You have to wonder if the removal of the captain at some stage in the second half since the Manchester City game is an indication that perhaps since the Manchester City game and that tackle by Kovacic, the player is struggling a bit physically. Only the club know the extent of the damage done by that challenge, but let’s hope we see a top form Odegaard again soon. It never feels quite right when you have to bring your captain off.
10 – Whatever next? Jesus’ going down for an injury just before he was subbed looked like a clock eating tactical move – and I was frankly amazed Sevilla did the sportsman thing and allowed the ref to stop the game. Not the kind of thing I associate with Spanish away matches. It turns out that Jesus’ pain was very much real, as he is reportedly unavailable for the Sheffield United match. It won’t be good if he is out for long, given the form he displayed in this game.
11 – Arsenal’s green away kit. Good to see this get another outing. It’s evidently going to be used away in Europe, and feels destined to be one of those kits rarely worn but popular with the fans, going by the number of people I have seen wearing it.
12 – The rain in Spain. To think, fans would have booked this trip looking forward to some early autumn sunshine. Not during this game. It prompted memories of the deluge when Arsenal played Barcelona in the spring of 2016, in which Rakatic lined up for the opposition. Ah well, we’ll always have that glorious October Sunday afternoon v Manchester City.
13 – Memory Lane. The last time the Gunners played in Sevilla was in 2007. A certain Jesus Navas played in that game, then in midfield. Anyone in Arsenal shirt is long gone, but for your curiosity, the side from that Champions League group game 3-1 defeat was Almunia, Hoyte, Toure, Senderos, Traore, Eboue, Denilson, Fabregas, Gilberto, Eduardo and Bendtner. Subs were Rosicky, Sagna and Walcott. With hindsight, that might feel like a very mix and match side, although Arsene Wenger presumably felt he could get away with it. He certainly had faith in certain players that, at the very least, could be called misplaced. 16 years on and things seem to have improved.
13 – Conclusion. Good win, some excellent moments and some not so good ones. Felt like the fact that Arsenal had better players – especially in attack – made the difference here. There was an idea that Sevilla would prove difficult opposition, but they were nowhere as good as they looked in 2007. We’ll see them again in under a fortnight back in London.
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