Arsenal beat Sevilla 2-0 on Wednesday night to move closer to qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Leandro Trossard gave the hosts the lead before half-time, fending off a lovely low cross from Bukayo Saka before firing the ball past Marko Dmitrovic into the Sevilla goal.
Arsenal then doubled their lead in the second half when Saka was set up by Gabriel Martinelli. That was the end of the game, but Arsenal suffered a slight setback in the final 10 minutes after Saka had to leave the pitch following injury treatment.
Here, The Athletic’s James McNicholas addresses three talking points from the game…
Trossard impresses as a center forward
In theory, Arsenal went into this game without a recognized centre-forward. They lost Gabriel Jesus to a hamstring injury in the second leg two weeks ago, while Eddie Nketiah was forced to retire late after sustaining an injury at Newcastle. That meant Arteta had to choose between Kai Havertz and Trossard, both of whom prefer to start in deeper positions.
Trossard impressed as a false nine at both Brighton and Arsenal last season and this was another encouraging display for the Belgium international. He scored the goal by confidently finishing Saka’s cross, but more impressive was the way he tied the game together. Trossard shows that you don’t have to be a 1.80 meter tall player to hold up the ball. At one point he received a long throw on the halfway line, took control of the ball and used his low center of gravity to turn away from his man.
Trossard may not be a conventional centre-forward, but he is quite an effective one.
Arsenal’s wingers are back on their game
In the Premier League, wingers Saka and Martinelli often face two defenders. In Europe, for whatever reason, they seem to be given more space.
Martinelli tormented Juanlu by regularly allowing the full-back to come towards him before throwing him over him and racing into the ambush. On the other hand, Kike Salas could only slow down Saka through fouls. The 22-year-old is used to this treatment and wasn’t put off by it.
Martinelli and Saka combined to score Arsenal’s second goal, with the Brazilian releasing the England international, who dove back inside and finished confidently. However, Saka had to leave the field due to injury towards the end of the second half.
Arsenal’s attack has struggled to become more fluid of late. The return to form of their two wingers could mean a significant improvement on that front.
Saka scores Arsenal’s second goal (Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Signs of life from Havertz?
Since losing Martin Odegaard just before the Newcastle game, Mikel Arteta has changed Havertz’s starting position to use him as a ‘real eight’. Although he is still far from the performances that would justify his £65 million ($80 million) price tag, the last two games have produced some signs of life from the Germany international.
He will be disappointed that he didn’t end the evening with a goal: he missed a good header chance in the game’s first exchanges and curled a shot from the edge of the box just wide of the far post. Still, he made a good contribution to Arsenal’s team play, hustling alongside Trossard “out of possession” in Arsenal’s 4-4-2 shape.
The problem is that the spot on the right of Arsenal’s midfield rightly belongs to Odegaard. Could Arteta be persuaded to shift Odegaard to the left so Havertz can continue his improved form on the right?
What did Arteta say?
On Arsenal’s assessment: “I’m really happy with the team’s performance. They showed aggressiveness and commitment. Even though we lost the ball, we were incredibly good at getting it back. It is difficult in Europe to control it the way we did. That’s why we won it. If you let them play in their own half, they are a dangerous team. We only allowed one shot, and that was in the 97th minute.”
On Saka and Tomiyasu’s injuries: “It was just a kick (for Saka) and the physiotherapists told me over the radio that he wasn’t happy to continue.” that he is fine. (Tomiyasu) was a little uncomfortable in the first half and we didn’t want to take any risks because he played a lot of minutes. With Alex (Zinchenko) sitting on the bench and ready to come on, I obviously think it was the right decision.”
What’s next for Arsenal?
Saturday November 11th: Burnley (H), Premier League, 3pm GMT, 10am ET
In Arsenal’s final game before the international break in November, Arsenal host Burnley. Vincent Kompany’s side had a difficult start to the season, winning only one of their first eleven games. They have also lost four of their last five.
It will be a tough test for Burnley as their only win came against fellow strugglers Luton Town.
However, Burnley have not lost in their last two visits to the Emirates Stadium, with a 0-0 draw in January 2022 being their last game there. They have also won the meeting before – a 1-0 victory in the 2020-21 season.
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(Top photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)