Arsenal 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb (Rice 2′, Havertz 66′, Odegaard 90+1′)
EMIRATES STADIUM — For a team that has frequently made life difficult for themselves in the Premier League this season, Arsenal have made light work of the Champions League group stage.
A fifth win in their seventh European fixture of the campaign against Dinamo Zagreb all but assures the Gunners a place directly in the last-16 courtesy of having a three-point cushion on the teams scrapping for 8th and a healthy +12 goal difference to boot.
A potentially tricky test away at Girona next week is now virtually a dead rubber, meaning domestic matters can take full precedence for Arsenal until mid-March.
Floundering in the domestic cups – although they can still reach the Carabao Cup final with a successful salvage mission at St James’ Park – means that Operation Catch Liverpool is now in full swing.
“It’s a crucial month. We have nine games in this period, a tough period. We’re happy with today, but we have to go to Wolves and we know how difficult that will be,” Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports afterwards.
At least he had the luxury of peeling off Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz with plenty of time to spare to keep them fresh for that trip to Molineux on Saturday.
That was important given Myles Lewis-Skelly became the newest member of the injury squad on Wednesday, although Ethan Nwaneri’s return has at least replenished the numbers in attack.
Lewis-Skelly will undergo a scan after jarring his knee against Aston Villa and is expected to miss the Wolves game.
Arteta will still be eager to have a new forward in place before the transfer window quietly closes, with Wolves’ Matheus Cunha a target. But goals for Havertz and Martin Odegaard on Wednesday will give them a timely boost.
Besides an electric start in which they took an early lead, Arsenal played with the tempo of a side doing just enough to win without overextending themselves. A luxury afforded them by Uefa’s scheduling.
Part of Uefa’s rationale for expanding the Champions League group stage format from 32 teams to 36 (yes it was about the €€€ but let’s just pretend otherwise for a second) was that it would provide more opportunities to clubs from smaller leagues to compete on the big stage.
Extra fixtures mean an elongated first round and the folly of this stage of competition continuing beyond Christmas was laid bare in north London as Arsenal cruised against an opponent that hadn’t played a competitive fixture in a month.
Unsurprisingly Dinamo’s winter friendlies against Lech Poznan and Jagiellonia Bialystok proved insufficient preparation for facing a Premier League heavyweight.
The Croatians had even changed their manager since their last match, handing the legendary Fabio Cannavaro his eighth managerial job – in his fourth different country – in just nine years.
His first game didn’t get off to the best start, though, with Arsenal scoring less than two minutes after kick-off. It had a playground quality to it: cross into the box, first-time set, half-volley smash. Gabriel Martinelli to Kai Havertz to Declan Rice, who celebrated with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a schoolboy netting the winner in a county cup final.
Declan Rice fires in an early opening goal for Arsenal
Clinical forward play!
@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/c3xfSnQkSQ
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 22, 2025
Complacency was Arsenal’s biggest enemy on the night. Timber was especially languid, committing a comedy foul throw and earning a caution after allowing the ball to escape his control. The Dutchman look tired and was one of the first players given a breather.
Despite Arsenal’s dominance, the second goal was a long time coming. They registered 11 shots on goal in the first half, but only two on target with Gabriel Magalhaes guilty of the most glaring miss. Rice, who looks to be getting back to his best form, also spurned a gilt-edged opportunity after the restart with the scoreline 1-0.
A lack of cutting edge has been a tale of Arsenal’s season to date, but it never looked like costing them on this occasion. Eventually, the clinching goals came.
After setting up the first Havertz converted the second midway through the second half, nodding authoritatively in after being picked out by Martinelli’s booming cross to the back post.
Kai Havertz scores Arsenal's second of the night
A cracking ball from Gabriel Martinelli
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 22, 2025
That’s two in two for Havertz, who has already matched his goal tally from last season (14) in 21 fewer games. Form like that will keep him in the team and the trolls at bay. “Waka, Waka,” rang around the Emirates in appreciation.
“It shows the perspective against the reality sometimes, that’s what it shows. Good stat,” said Arteta.
Odegaard was also due a goal after going 13 games and two months without one. The Norwegian adjusted his feet neatly to knock Leandro Trossard’s deflected cross into an open net in added time, giving a final flourish to the scoreline.
The Arsenal skipper’s celebration was a giveaway that he has endured a barren run of late; he smashed the ball back into the net in relief, getting his studs temporarily caught in the netting.
“The goal from Martin was really good, he really needed that. You could by the way he celebrated he had that hunger and desire,” Arteta said.
With the last-16 in touching distance and Havertz and Odegaard rediscovering their penalty box instincts, it was a good night for Arteta and Arsenal, putting a spring in their step ahead of much tougher tests.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/LIntsjO
Post a Comment
EmoticonClick to see the code!
To insert emoticon you must added at least one space before the code.