Arsenal coasted to a 2-0 victory against League One side Port Vale in the Carabao Cup 3rd round. The Gunners scored early, seemed content to control the match without over-exerting themselves, and got a late goal to wrap things up. It was a dull match but that’s all that was needed. No reason to over-complicate […]
Arsenal coasted to a 2-0 victory against League One side Port Vale in the Carabao Cup 3rd round. The Gunners scored early, seemed content to control the match without over-exerting themselves, and got a late goal to wrap things up. It was a dull match but that’s all that was needed. No reason to over-complicate things or spend too much energy between games against Manchester City and Newcastle United in the Premier League.
Ebere Eze’s opening goal in the 8th minute was a lovely one. Gabriel Martinelli played it into the box towards Myles Lewis-Skelly, who may or may not have gotten a touch on in, and Eze calmly found the bottom corner of the net. Whether the young left back actually flicked the ball on is inconsequential — his presence in the box and movement towards the ball caused the defense to stutter and that was all that was needed.
It looked as if Arsenal were going to run away with the match, but they couldn’t find that killer pass to create more scoring chances. Two or three sweeping moves ended without a shot. Eze had a great chance for a second. He forced a strong save but probably should have scored. It didn’t really matter because Port Vale weren’t threatening the Arsenal goal at all. When they did, it was off the back of a mistake and the Gunners quickly mopped up.
Leandro Trossard scored in the 86th minute, cutting across the top of the box and finishing into the low corner from the way he came to put the game away. William Saliba created the chance with an excellent long ball. Max Dowman put Viktor Gyokeres in with a gorgeous diagonal but his shot was blocked by a sliding defender.
If you wanted to pick nits, you could complain about Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge and them not putting several past Port Vale. From where I sit, I don’t have any issue with advancing in the cup with minimal effort. If Arsenal had wanted to use the match to get their attack flowing and firing, they could have. I don’t have any problem with the manager deciding against that. The lads got some minutes in the legs and should be set for the weekend.
Job done. The draw for the next round is later this evening.
Category: General Sports
