Sports
Arteta must drop Arsenal flop
After the weekend defeat in the Premier League, what Arsenal really needed in the Champions League on Wednesday evening was a straightforward victory.
Thankfully for Mikel Arteta’s men, that’s exactly what they got, swatting aside Belgian side Club Brugge 3-0 with relative ease.
The Gunners were at their free-flowing best in the final third, notably scoring two outstanding goals courtesy of Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke.
It was a much-changed side as Arteta chose to rotate and many in red and white in midweek staked their claim for more regular opportunities.
Arsenal’s standout performers against Club Brugge
This was a fantastic night for Arsenal’s wingers. With Leandro Trossard injured and Bukayo Saka part of the rested crew on the bench, it meant that Martinelli and Madueke started on the left and right flanks respectively.
Both players have struggled with injuries this season but Martinelli, in particular, has made an impact nearly every time he’s played.
The Brazilian scored the away side’s third and final goal on Wednesday, a beauty from the edge of the area.
That happened to be his fifth goal in his last five Champions League ties, the first player in Arsenal history to record such a statistic.
That said, his colleague on the opposite wing was even better. This was his finest day in Arsenal colours yet.
Signed from Chelsea in the summer, every man and his dog seemed to question why on earth Andrea Berta and Co had brought Madueke to the Emirates Stadium. Well, safe to say he’s proved everyone wrong.
The Englishman bagged his first goal for the club against Bayern Munich a few weeks ago and added two more to his tally this week.
His first was a scorcher from distance. The Arsenal winger burst away from his marker, headed towards the box and then unleashed a fierce effort which crashed off the bar and found the net.
By contrast, his second goal was about as simple as they come. Martin Zubimendi’s cross from the left found Madueke who headed home from a matter of yards out.
There were a number of real positives for Arsenal. It was great to see Gabriel Jesus back on the pitch for the first time after suffering an ACL injury back in January.
Emergency centre-half, Christian Norgaard, also stood out at the back, part of a backline that kept a clean sheet.
With Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera and Jurrien Timber all missing through injury, it meant a rare opportunity for the Dane and he took it with aplomb, even if he was playing out of position.
That being said, it wasn’t the finest of nights for another of Arsenal’s summer signings.
Arsenal’s worst performer against Club Brugge
This was an evening for those on the fringes to stake their claim. Madueke, Martinelli and Norgaard all took their chances.
Viktor Gyokeres, on the other hand, did not. The question that was raised after this game was, when do we start to worry about the Swede?
When Berta first arrived in north London, his priority task was to find a new striker and one capable of scoring goals.
Well, it looked as though he’d acquired one of Europe’s finest. This is a player who bagged 54 times in 52 games last term for Sporting CP but he has so far failed to translate that form in English football.
To be fair to him, he has largely been starved of service. Arsenal struggle to create clear-cut opportunities for him to score from and that was the same story against Brugge this week.
The only chance of note that Gyokeres had came in the first half but it was a half-chance at best, heading the ball straight into the arms of the goalkeeper with a few bodies challenging for the same ball.
Gyokeres did leave the field with three shots to his name but none of them were that noteworthy, which seems to be a familiar trend from his time in north London to date.
That said, the Sweden international does need to be doing more. Even if he has just returned from injury, his 45-minute cameo against Aston Villa at the weekend, combined with his 60-odd minutes on Wednesday, were not good enough.
|
Gyokeres vs Club Brugge |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
62 |
|
Touches |
12 |
|
Accurate passes |
5/6 (83%) |
|
Key passes |
1 |
|
Crosses |
0 |
|
Shots |
3 |
|
Shots on target |
1 |
|
Successful dribbles |
0 |
|
Ground duels won |
0/3 |
|
Aerial duels won |
2/3 |
|
Stats via Sofascore. |
|
He had just 12 touches of the ball in Belgium, 25 fewer than goalkeeper David Raya. Furthermore, he also managed just five passes.
There is a sense that Gyokeres has vastly improved his hold-up play and ability to link things together at the top of this Arsenal team since signing from Sporting. However, he was brought to London to score goals and he’s simply not doing that with any regularity right now.
It is only December. We must not completely write off the big-money attacker before he’s had a full season. For now, however, it doesn’t look great.
Arsenal have looked a much better team with Mikel Merino as the number 9 and you’d expect him to start against Wolves in that role on Saturday night ahead of Gyokeres.
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