With a battle for European places taking place in the form of a West London derby, it felt a little bit of a strange choice for Sky to instead elect to show one of Arsenal’s pointless warm-up games for their Champions League semi-final.
We guess the rationale was that this could be the day Arsenal mathematically lost the title race to Liverpool, but that’s been such a foregone conclusion for months now – as has Ipswich’s relegation – that this game was never likely to teach us much.
Leif Davis’ awful late tackle on the back of Saka’s ankle quite rightly reduced doomed Ipswich to ten men just after the half-hour mark. It was the only moment of the game that reminded us this was not in fact a weird mid-season friendly to prepare Arsenal for the only games that now really matter to them: their two European legs against Paris Saint-Germain.
Arteta’s successes at Arsenal have been built on doing all the basics exceptionally well, almost to a fault at times. They know all their lines inside out, but have fallen down when asked to improvise.
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It’s trite at this point to talk about Arsenal’s difficulties in front of goal. Going into this game, and excluding own goals, they had scored just two more from open play than Wolverhampton Wanderers. Their patterns of play are, naturally, reminiscent of the Manchester City threshing machine of the past few seasons, only somebody forgets to put in any of the metal teeth half the time.
Against the Tractor Boys, though, the blades were out for as long as they needed to be. Martin Odegaard teed up Leandro Trossard to poke home what was ultimately a slightly scrappy finish at the end of an otherwise flowing passing move that started in Arsenal’s half, but the second goal was a beautiful bit of play from start to finish. Bukayo Saka raced towards the byline and cut it back for Mikel Merino, whose perfectly-executed back heel gave Gabriel Martinelli a tap-in.
Trossard then struck again off a well-worked set piece routine for the third in the second half, before Ethan Nwaneri added a heavily deflected fourth late on.
As he prepares for that big semi-final, Arteta will be keenly aware that his men are going to need all of those well-drilled non-negotiables and all of that set-piece acumen, as well as that too-patchy ability to turn up the flair. Saka’s return to fitness and excellent form has helped that final part considerably, and they will be counting their blessings that Davis’ horrible challenge did not seem to leave the England international seriously hurt.
PSG’s battles with Liverpool and Aston Villa have set an expectation that they will look to dominate and outclass Arsenal – but also revealed that they can also be exposed, particularly later on in games as their full-throttle approach begins to weigh heavy in their legs. They have conceded over twice as many Ligue Un goals in the second half this season (19) as they have in the first.
Along the way, the Gunners have shed their early-season tendency to let their frustrations get the better of them and turned into the model of composure.
Arsenal are yet to concede in the final 15 minutes of a Champions League game this season, while in the Premier League they have been nearly twice as strong in the last quarter of an hour (just four conceded) than the next-best side (a clutch of clubs have shipped seven).
A 3-0 win against an all-but-relegated side who played two-thirds of the game with ten men is not going to send shivers down Parisian spines, but just like a friendly, Arteta will have been much more interested in seeing certain boxes ticked than anything else. Arsenal were able to conserve a bit of energy at Portman Road, showed some creativity for their goals, and did not really allow themselves to be troubled.
In the circumstances, Arteta will be pleased. His side have one more warm-up to get through, against Crystal Palace on Wednesday, before that actually-important first leg at the Emirates the following Tuesday.
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