From Arsenal's refusal to fold and Man United’s chaotic, rainy win against Chelsea, here are three takeaways from Matchweek 5 of the Premier League.
On Sunday, Arsenal — with the help of substitute Gabriel Martinelli, who had also scored from the bench earlier in the week in the Champions League — salvaged a stoppage-time draw against Manchester City. The goal, thanks to a magnificent assist from Eberechi Eze, gave the Gunners an important point and maintained an unbeaten record against their opponents in the last five league matches. More importantly, however, it was a result that at least sent Arsenal’s fanbase home with a sense of relief because for the majority of the game, it seemed as if they would finish with nothing.
City relied on a game plan that made an art out of frustration and aimed to come out of Emirates Stadium with a disciplined, defensively strong performance. But Pep Guardiola played it extremely safe in the last 15 minutes of action. With the 1-0 lead until the 93rd minute, he had no natural strikers. The visitors frustrated Arsenal with no avenues for most of the game. They delayed the action when they wanted to, placed their team behind the ball and upon calling and in the ninth minute, scored a goal of tremendous counter-attacking brilliance, finished by its king of punishers, Erling Haaland. But as iMan City chose to protect as opposed to score a second goal, Guardiola probably leaves the capital with a sense of discontent.
Arsenal's starting lineup was the opposite of what I had hoped for from Mikel Arteta. Mikel Merino’s partnership with Declan Rice in the midfield is usually one that’s done in order to protect as opposed to take creative charge. As a result, Eze was on the bench. Would it have been better to make a statement from the start and unleash more of an offensive mindset?
Well, the answer presented itself early in the game because it was City which took the lead, notably from a play that started in the midfield. Haaland’s opener was a result of all his wonderful characteristics on display as the Norwegian striker eventually fed the ball inside a congested battle inside Man City’s own half after a clearance, finding Tijjani Reijnders. Once that ball was given, Haaland — like an NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver — sprinted toward goal knowing that his Dutch teammate will give it right back to him. Gabriel, who was tracking him, could not keep up and Haaland picked up the ball and placed it past David Raya. It would be his sixth goal in five league matches and yet one more reason why he remains as one of the best players in the game.
The first half was a storyline of application as opposed to possession. Arsenal had nearly 70% of the ball and some attempts but none of it spoke of control. There was a flatness to it until the final minutes when finally Noni Madueke caused havoc on the right wing but City remained disciplined and resilient, notably from Gianluigi Donnarumma, the Italian giant of a goalkeeper who arrived from PSG this summer for an excellent price of £26 million, which for someone of his stature is quite a coup.
Arsenal kicked the second half with more panache and intent but City continued to hold its defensive discipline. Also, a word on Viktor Gyökeres, who was extremely quiet. In fact, by the 80th minute, the Gunners had made 10 shots but none of them were by their Swedish striker. A testament to City’s defending or a lack of creative outlooks from the home side? Either way, the visitors felt very confident on where they stood that by the end of the game, as mentioned, they had no natural strikers on the pitch as Haaland was replaced by Nico Gonzalez.
Arsenal kept fighting and thanks to their bench, it kept a belief that something could still be salvaged. Enter Martinelli, who did the same thing Tuesday against Athletic Club de Bilbao. The Brazilian entered the game as a substitute and made his mark, this time it was a timed run and finish due to a beautiful assist from Eze.
Why couldn’t Arteta have started Martinelli? Would it have been a different outcome? Who knows. The important thing for Arsenal was that it earned a valuable point and an undefeated record at home this season.
Earlier this week, club legend Thierry Henry — speaking for CBS Sports as part of their Champions League coverage — said if Arsenal want this Premier League it has to “go and get it.” It’s a statement that serves both as encouragement but also as criticism because for so long, Arsenal has been enriched with talent but lacking guile. It’s a great contender for second place but that’s about it. So this was a great opportunity for the Gunners to make a case, especially in a season with such a deep squad. It didn’t get the win but at the very least, it earned a point at a time when the loss seemed like the most likely outcome.
As Liverpool continues with its perfect record, even though it’s only September, Arsenal leaves Emirates stadium feeling relieved as opposed to satisfied knowing full well that every single point counts. Yes, it’s still early but every game against a strong team matters.
Gutless Aston Villa continues to struggle
Earlier on Sunday, newly promoted Sunderland, reinforced and supported by the loud chants of its home crowd at the Stadium of Light, fought for a well earned point against Aston Villa, which once again demonstrated a toothless display. Let me set the narrative: after a contentious first half hour, the Black Cats had a man sent off in the 33rd minute as Reinildo Mandava retaliated to a foul with violent conduct toward Villa’s right back, Matty Cash. So the thinking was, at least from Villa’s perspective, that this game was now for the taking thanks to the extra player and finally, the away side would have a glorious opportunity to a) earn its first win of the season and b) score its first league goal of the season. Well, one out of two will suffice, I guess.
In the 67th minute, Villa was still looking for an opener when Cash scored a wonderful attempt from outside of the box, which swerved with such mischief that Sunderland’s goalkeeper Robin Roefs couldn’t deal with. After five matches, Villa finally had scored in the Premier League. Now here’s where I want to highlight the main theme of the game and most importantly, everything you need to know about Aston Villa right now. With the 1-0 lead and more than 20 minutes remaining, the consensus and conventional wisdom would have told us that Villa, the more experienced club with higher pedigree, should have gone for a second goal and therefore seal the result as well as restore the confidence that had been sorely lacking since the beginning of the campaign. But the opposite happened as Régis Le Bris’ Sunderland became stronger as a team, found unity through the objective and due to its undeterred state of mind, it even showed signs that it was enjoying the challenge. It was everything Villa wasn’t and in the 75th minute, Wilson Isidor scored a well earned goal, making it his third in the last three home matches for Sunderland. The day ended 1-1 and to be perfectly honest, it was Villa that had escaped with a point as opposed to the other way around.
This team is not even a shadow of its former self, it is a sprinkle of dust, a child hiding under covers, scared that there’s a monster under the bed. Nothing about it represents what it once stood for and even though the optimist in me believes that it can indeed change and reclaim its identity, that possibility seems so far, far away.
Here's the thing, Unai Emery’s system is not the problem. At least it’s not the main issue. Sure, it needs adjustments (and indeed, we saw it Sunday in segments) and more flexibility as well as creativity in the final third. For example, there was only one shot on target in the second half, which was Cash’s goal and at the time of writing, no team in the league has recorded fewer attempts at goal. So clearly, strategy needs an evolution.
But to me, the players also have to take responsibility. The mentality is just not there right now as there is a lackadaisical approach that is worrisome. The football is not fast enough, the intent is not aggressive and when your team is the one with the extra player — as was the case Sunday — you should take this as an opportunity to dominate and not flounder. But that’s not what happened.
“We are not playing like I want,” Emery said after the draw. “We have to adapt some new players in the structure, and we will need time with them. Others know we want to control the game with the ball…we didn’t control the game doing passes, and passes, and passes. We did not take the right moment to attack them.”
Whatever the case, Villa, like the cylinders of a car engine, need a spark plug to ignite its season. But it needs to happen sooner rather than later and most importantly, it needs the help of every single member of the club to start it up again.
If Man United are to succeed, Bruno Fernandes needs to shine
On Saturday, Manchester United delivered an important, chaotic 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Old Trafford. It was the type of game that was a must-win in the sense that the narrative needed to be changed in Manchester but also, for the sake of Ruben Amorim, it was a result that gave his current job more stability. A loss would have added even more on the Portuguese manager. It’s important to note that the red card to Chelsea’s goalkeeper Robert Sánchez in the fifth minute helped as it allowed the home side to play the role of protagonist with Enzo Maresca’s side needing to readjust and defend with extra caution. Having played Bayern Munich on Wednesday in the Champions League, it was also not the best scenario for the Blues as they now had to commit with 10 men for the majority of the fixture.
This extra man finally allowed Bruno Fernandes to push forward as Amorim had been asking him to play a deeper role in order to cover much of the responsibilities that were needed in the midfield. But since that’s not Fernandes’ best assets, there was frustration amongst the fanbase that he is at his best when going forward. So the red card, therefore, gave him the opportunity to be … free. Nine minutes after Sánchez’s sending off, the move paid off as Man United’s captain scored the opener and his 100th goal for the club, making him the 23rd player in United history to achieve this accomplishment. But it wasn’t just about his goal. When Fernandes has freedom to go forward, he helps the entire lineup as his creativity and vision allow others to threaten the opposition, and that’s because of how dangerous Fernandes can be with the ball in the final third.
United did suffer their own red card as Casemiro was sent off just before the break, 13 minutes after the Brazilian had scored himself. So there they were, 10 against 10 and with everything to play for but in the end, it was the home side that earned the victory as Fernandes led the way. He corrected mistakes, and when there were no options on either side of him, he drove forward with solo runs. He's the definition of a leader and Man United needs that now more than ever.
The Amorim system, however, doesn't allow much room for Fernandes to truly threaten. Amorim has to find a way to make him more central and cherish the role. Because Man United will not always have the luxury of facing 10 men. Regardless, Fernandes is the ultimate architect of this side and in order to climb up the table and earn European football — and perhaps a domestic trophy — Bruno Fernandes has to play the role of conductor.
Category: General Sports
