Sevilla (0) 1 Arsenal (1) 2
UEFA Champions League Group B, Matchday 3 of 6
Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, C. Sevilla Fútbol Club, s/n, 41005 Sevilla, Spain
Tuesday, 24th October 2023. Kick-off time: 8.00pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Takehiro Tomiyasu; Martin Ødegaard (c), (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, Cédric Soares, Leandro Trossard, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Kai Havertz, Karl Hein, Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Scorers: Gabriel Martinelli (45+4 mins), Gabriel Jesus (53 mins)
Yellow Cards: Jorginho
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 44%
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Assistant Referees: Mahbod Beigi (Sweden), Andreas Söderqvist (Sweden)
Fourth Official: Adam Ladebäck (Sweden)
UEFA Referee Observer: Domenico Messina (Italy)
UEFA VAR Team in Geneva: VAR Marco Fritz (Germany); AVAR Nejc Kajtazović (Slovenia)
Attendance: c.42,000
After the disappointing defeat against RC Lens on 3rd October, it is vitally important that we pick up maximum points here this evening in Seville, as there are no margins for error in this cut-throat competition, as we have found out to our cost in previous seasons. We are currently in second position in the table behind RC Lens, and a victory tonight (along with a defeat or a draw against PSV Eindhoven for RC Lens) would mean that we will sit proudly at the top of the Group B table.
In this incredible atmosphere, we kicked off tonight’s Champions League match with a strong desire to win. The early exchanges took place in Sevilla’s half, which was a good sign. Both teams are fiercely competitive, and that shows with the challenges that were taking place. We should have scored the opening goal of the night when Gabriel Martinelli ran onto a long ball and with only the goalkeeper to beat, he shot straight at his legs, which was extremely disappointing to say the least. At the other end, Lucas Ocampos nipped in front of Gabriel to flick a Jesus Navas ball into the side netting, which was an escape for us. We showed good discipline on the ball, and as such, our passing was crisp and our possession strong. Gabriel Martinelli was the recipient of some very strong tackling by the Sevilla players, and he needs some protection by the match officials if this continues throughout the game. David Raya managed to quickly recover from a silly mistake which could have proved costly, and a couple of minutes later, a Gabriel Jesus shot which looked like a good chance to score went flying over the bar. As the first half continued, we were moving the ball around, looking for gaps in the home side’s defence, trying to wear Sevilla down, but the Sergio Ramos led defence was holding firm. Bukayo Saka went down heavily after getting an absolute clattering from Lucas Ocampos in midfield and he looked in a bad way as the coaching staff went onto the field to treat him; a few minutes later, he was back on his feet and continuing playing. As the first half started to ebb away, we continued to press the home side relentlessly, but suddenly we were caught on the break, and as the ball came into our six-yard box, Ben White was on hand to clear the problem, thankfully. Both medical teams were called onto the pitch after Gabriel Martinelli and Djibril Sow collided just outside the our penalty area, but after some attention, both players carried on with the game. In the four minutes injury time, a dangerous move by Sevilla pulled our defence out of shape, and we were fortunate when Youssef En-Nesyri fired across the face of goal and although his shot had David Raya beaten, the ball flew just wide of his left hand post. Just before the whistle went for half time, we grabbed the opening goal when a brilliant counter-attack came from us as Dodi Lukebakio’s cross was cleared by our defence and then a direct ball through the middle of the pitch was collected by Gabriel Martinelli whose sheer speed lost the Sevilla defenders, then rounded goalie Orjan Nyland and simply slotted the ball home in a cool and calm manner, which was an exciting end to an erstwhile dull first half.
The home side kicked off the second half, still smarting from the events late in the first, and buoyed by our late goal, we started to press the Sevilla goal, with Ben White firing a twenty-yard shot over the bar; and a couple of minutes later, after a bit of a mix-up in their penalty area, our captain took a quick shot at the open goal, but it flew over the bar. The goal has certainly livened things up, and we look to be the most confident and quicker of the two teams out there tonight. Seven minutes after the restart, Gabriel Jesus cut in from the left, lost the defender, and fired a most beautiful shot into the top left hand corner of the net for our second goal of the evening. On our next attack, Bukayo Saka was bundled to the ground, and despite a penalty appeal, the referee was having none of it. The home side, heavily influenced by their two substitutes came back at us, and they subsequently scored a goal from a corner, courtesy of a header from Nemanja Gudelj. Their goal woke us up somewhat, and we started to press the home side, winning corners and free-kicks in their half. The pace of the game was electric and moving quickly; and then Mariano Diaz hit a volley off the crossbar, but as he had controlled the ball with his arm, it would not have counted, but it is to be remembered that David Raya somehow got his fingertips to it, and it was a superb save regardless. A minute or so later, Declan Rice tried to grab the game by the scruff of the neck with a driving run from midfield, and as he got to their penalty area, he passed the ball to Bukayo Saka, whose shot was blocked. Kai Havertz replaced Martin Ødegaard (who handed the captain’s armband to Gabriel Jesus) with eighteen minutes of the game remaining, and after pressurising the Sevilla goal, Gabriel Jesus (who handed the captain’s armband again on to Jorginho) looked like he picked up an injury, and so Mikel Arteta made a double substitution with Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka being replaced by Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah. The home side are still pressing us, looking for an equaliser, and time and time again they tested our defence, but we held firm. In the six minutes injury time, Gabriel Martinelli was replaced by Jakob Kiwior in order to shore up a tiring defence. Our hearts were in our mouths when David Raya punched a cross that ended up on the roof of the net, and although Sevilla were constantly knocking on the door, it did not open and we held out for the three points and a well deserved return to the top of the Group B table tonifght.
An excellent performance by the boys tonight in Seville. A game of two halves really, with a workmanlike first half that was nicely finished off with a terrific goal from Gabriel Martineli, whilst the end-to-end nature of the second half meant that we truly had to concentrate and impose our will on the game, which we did time and time again. Our second goal, courtesy of Gabriel Jesus, was truly a world class finish and despite one or two dodgy moments, we held out for a memorable victory. Declan Rice was truly immense, as was Gabriel Martinelli, Ben White and William Saliba. With such a performance under our belts, who would want to play us now? Well done, chaps.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Sheffield United at the Emirates on Saturday, 28th October at 3.00pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
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She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 