Sheffield United (0) 0 Arsenal (5) 6

Premier League

Bramall Lane, Highfield, Sheffield S2 4SU

Monday, 4th March 2024. Kick-off time: 8.00pm

(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Jakob Kiwior; Martin Ødegaard (c), (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli.

Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Cédric Soares, Leandro Trossard, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson

Scorers: Martin Ødegaard (5 mins), Jayden Bogle (o.g. 13 mins), Gabriel Martinelli (15 mins), Kai Havertz (25 mins), Declan Rice (39 mins), Ben White (58 mins)

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 81%

Referee: Sam Barrott

Assistant Referees: Simon Bennett, Dan Robathan

Fourth Official: Anthony Taylor

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR John Brooks; AVAR Marc Perry

Attendance: c.32,000

For this important match here in Sheffield tonight, Thomas Partey could make his first appearance since October after coming through a training session unscathed. However, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu will also be assessed and Gabriel Jesus could still feature in this match this evening at some point in the procedures as well.

We got things up and running here tonight and within a minute or so of the start, Bukayo Saka hit the crossbar from close range, and Gabriel Martinelli’s follow-up was kicked off the line by Jack Robinson, and on the fifth minute we opened the scoring when Jorginho passed the ball to Declan Rice, who got to the left byline and slotted it across for our captain to simply stroke the ball into the net fron about six yards. A great start! Martin Ødegaard almost scored a second goal a minute or so later, when a left-footed shot went high and wide of the mark. Our second goal of the night was scored when Bukayo Saka ran with the ball to the byeline, he crossed the ball low, and Jayden Bogle got his feet mixed up, and the ball went into the net courtesy of his legs. Three minutes later, we grabbed a third goal in a quarter of an hour when we advanced towards the Blades’ goal down the left channel, and a beautiful shot by Gabriel Martinelli reflected off Declan Rice, past Ivo Grbic and into the back of the net. VAR were consulted just in case of an offside infringement, but there was no such issue, and the goal stood. We certainly did not rest on our laurels as both Declan Rice and Kai Havertz came close to scoring our fourth goal with two great shots on their goal which was saved by the goalie, and on the twenty-fifth minute, Kai Havertz finally grabbed our fourth goal when he collected a ball from Gabriel Martinelli and simply slotted the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the net past an outstretched Ivo Grbic. Jayden Bogle received the first yellow card of the evening when his clumsy tackle up-ended our captain, but the resulting free-kick went nowhere, unfortunately. It was becoming obvious that Sheffield United are looking at damage limitation now, but they were finding it difficult holding us back. Martin Ødegaard was left completely unmarked on the edge of the penalty area from a corner, but his shot was blocked by a Blades defender. Six minutes before the break, Declan Rice scored our sixth goal of the evening when Bukayo Saka ran the ball to the byeline (again) and slotted it back for our midfielder to whack the ball past Ivo Grbic very confidently. And still we kept coming forward on the hunt for yet more goals, but despite five minutes injury time, we did not add to our five goal tally by the time referee Sam Barrott blew his whistle for the first half to end.

For the second half, Mikel Arteta made a change as he appeared to be looking to protect Bukayo Saka, so he was replaced by Fábio Vieira. A visibly shell-shocked home side kicked off proceedings here, and almost immediately we were pressing for another goal. Kai Havertz was tripped on the edge of the penalty area by Vinicius Souza and we were awarded a free-kick in a decent position, but Declan Rice tried to bend the free-kick in at the near post but goalie Ivo Grbic had it covered. After more intense pressure, Ben White scored an absolute cracker (our sixth of the evening) from just inside the Blades penalty area after receiving a neat pass from Kai Havertz, who brought the ball down and controlled it cleverly. Hungry for more goals, our players were hunting for more, and after Gabriel Martinelli went down with a knock (and was carried off by two members of our medical team), he was replaced, along with Ben White and Jorginho by Cédric Soares, Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey; good to see him back! The substitutes were getting into the match very quickly, and with most of the Blades’ players behind the ball, we were trying hard to find a way through their defence somehow. Leandro Trossard replaced Declan Rice with seventeen minutes of the match remaining, and although the game was slowing down now, the intent of our players to get more goals was there for all to see. William Saliba slotted the ball through for Gabriel Jesus down the right channel, but his cross was blocked by Jack Robinson for an Arsenal corner, and although we did not score on this occasion, Jakob Kiwior came mighty close. After we broke out following a Sheffield United attempt on our goal, some clever interplay between our players saw Gabriel Jesus coming close with a superb right-footed shot that Ivo Grbic tipped away for a corner. Gabriel Jesus was back with a vengeance, using his quick feet to good advantage as he twisted and turned through the haphazard Sheffield United defence. Just like at the end of the first half, there was five minutes of injury time to be played, and our desire to add more goals to this score was endless, but it was not to be. 

A superb victory away from home that more than confirms our title-winning credentials. Six different goals, six different goalscorers (including an own goal), our boys are on fire these days. With eighty one per cent possession, twenty-two shots on goal (ten shots on target), we looked confident, dominant, ruthless and hungry for victory. Every man played their part tonight, and the substitutes looked sharp and clever too. We are the “in-form” team in the Premiership now, and this team is certainly going to take some beating. All eyes on the Brentford match on Saturday evening 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: Brentford at the Emirates on Saturday, 9th March at 5.30pm (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