Arsenal (1) 2 Sevilla (0) 0
Champions League Group B, Matchday 4 of 6
Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU
Wednesday, 8th November 2023. Kick-off time:8.00pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Takehiro Tomiyasu; Kai Havertz, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Jakob Kiwior, Cédric Soares, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Karl Hein, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Amario Cozier-Duberry, Charles Sagoe Jr.
Scorers: Leandro Trossard (29 mins), Bukayo Saka (64 mins)
Yellow Cards: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Declan Rice
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 62%
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania)
Assistant Referees: Vasile Marinescu (Romania), Ovidiu Artene (Romania)
Fourth Official: Horațiu Feșnic (Romania)
UEFA Referee Observer: Costas Kapitanis (Cyprus)
UEFA VAR Team in Geneva: VAR Bastian Dankert (Germany); AVAR Benoît Millot (France)
Attendance: c.60,000
We proudly sit on top of Group B on six points whilst our opponents tonight are in third position, four points behind us, and of course, they will be searching for their first victory in this season’s Champions League competition. Sadly, Gabriel Jesus will not be playing tonight due to the hamstring injury he suffered in our away win at Sevilla on 24th October; also our captain Martin Ødegaard is doubtful after missing Saturday’s defeat against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park, as is Eddie Nketiah with an ankle injury.
We kicked off proceedings tonight and within a minute, we had been awarded a corner, and Gabriel Martinelli’s corner was headed just wide by Kai Havertz. Arsenal are very competitive tonight, passing well and pressurising Sevilla, dominating possession in the early stages of the game. The visitors are having issues in not only winning the ball, but holding onto it, as there is an Arsenal man immediately in their scope of vision ready to relieve them of the ball. After Bukayo Saka was fouled by Nemanja Gudelj and a free kick was awarded, the subsequent ball into the penalty area was wasted, and slowly we started to look for the opening goal of the evening. Although we were doing well, with some good shots on goal, the match was starting to look a little flat, which can be dangerous, as we all know. Gabriel Martinelli is causing massive problems for the the Sevilla defenders on the left-hand side, as his cut-back pass fell beautifully for Jorginho on the edge of the penalty area and he set up Ben White to shoot; he tried to curl it into the far corner of the net but it was wide and high, unfortunately. We had a penalty appeal turned down when Bukayo Saka was brought down just inside the penalty area, and just a couple of minutes later, Bukayo Saka cut down the right wing, slotted the ball into the middle of the penalty area for Leandro Trossard who made no mistake in side footing the ball into the net. As soon as the match restarted, we continued to put the Sevilla defenders under pressure, with Gabriel Martinelli turning their defence inside and out, and on the other wing, Bukayo Saka was doing just as much damage in his own way to them too. Kike Salas fouled Bukayo Saka and the subsequent free-kick was punched away by the goalie and the visitors attempted to catch us on the break, but an excellent world-class tackle by William Saliba on Adriá Pedrosa in our penalty area neutralised the danger perfectly. As half-time approached, we still looked for more goals. Gabriel Martinelli cleverly chipped the ball past the defender on the by-line and although he managed to get the ball over into the penalty area, nobody was there to pick it up. Although there was a minute’s injury time, the score remained the same as the teams walked off the pitch for the half-time break.
The visitors kicked off the second half, and they must surely be wondering what on earth happened to them in the previous forty-five minutes and how they can possibly turn this around. For the second half, Takehiro Tomiyasu was replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko and immediately this highly experienced player found himself in the thick of the action. Bukayo Saka exploded into life, running the length of the pitch before crossing the ball for Kai Havertz, who blasted it over the bar. Just as in the first half, Gabriel Martinelli was turning the defenders inside out and seemingly with ease, flicking over the ball for our strikers to attempt to score. Kai Havertz ran with the ball on the edge of the penalty area, and his superb left-footed shot curled inches past the post. Sevilla were struggling to get out of their half now, and although the visitors were trying to make things difficult for us, we still looked the most likely team to score a goal in this half. After some clever play from Declan Rice, he flicked a ball into the path of Leandro Trossard, whose left-footed shot went wide of the post, and shortly afterwards, we finally got a well-deerved second goal when a quick throw-in sent Gabriel Martinelli on his way into the midfield area, and he spun away and slotted the ball through to Bukayo Saka, who had space to run into on the right wing; he cut inside, beat the full-back and simply slotted the ball past goalkeeper Marko Dmitrović after sixty-four minutes. We really had the bit between our teeth now, and Ben White’s cross was far too high for Kai Havertz, but fortunately it fell naturally to Oleksandr Zinchenko on the edge of the penalty area and his strong half-volley was somehow saved athletically by Marko Dmitrović in the Sevilla goal. Juanlu Sánchez received a well deserved yellow card for cynically chopping down Gabriel Martinelli, and shortly afterwards, after the visitors made some substitutions, we continued marching forward in order to try and score more goals, with Gabriel Martinelli leading the charge. With eleven minutes of the game remaining, Reiss Nelson and Fábio Vieira replaced Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, obviously to rest them for Saturday’s match against Burnley. Soon afterwards, Bukayo Saka hobbled off the pitch, to be replaced by Jakob Kiwior, and then, just minutes later, Jorginho was replaced by Mohamed Elneny just on the cusp of full-time, and as we entered the six minutes injury time, we looked extremely comfortable indeed. Declan Rice powered past a few Sevilla players in midfield and the ball was eventually chipped over the top for Kai Havertz, who could not bring it under control, and it was taken off him by a Sevilla defender. There was a VAR check when it was thought that the ball hit Fábio Vieira’s hand, but it was not pursued by the referee, and a minute or so later, he blew the final whistle to bring matters to a close.
A good evening’s work all round. The boys all played very well, and Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka along with Leandro Trossard were exceptional, and William Saliba was truly awesone at the back as well. The opposition just fell to bits in the end, and with one shot on our goal throughout the whole game, the gulf in class was evident. Anyway, we are top of Group B, and we will qualify for the last sixteen of the Champions League if we chalk up one victory from any one of our last two matches in the group. 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: Burnley at the Emirates on Saturday, 11th November at 3.00pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 