Arsenal outclassed Ipswich Town 4-2 to coast into the Carabao Cup 4th round. Both managers heavily rotated their sides and wouldn’t you know the Gunners’ depth, built to challenge for multiple trophies in a season and thought among the best in Europe, were more than the second-choice players from a newly promoted club. I’d even go so far as to suggest the difference between the reserves from the two clubs is bigger than the difference between the first XIs.
You couldn’t have scripted a better start
for the Gunners. Max Dowman gracefully slashed through the Ipswich defense to give Arsenal the lead on seven minutes. That kid is something else. It was his effort tracking back to knock the ball off an opponent that helped create the turnover for his goal. Genuinely curious which part — the tracking back or scoring the goal — makes Mikel Arteta happier? Dowman’s attacking contributions stand out and today he avoided taking too many touches / dribbling into bad spots like he did a few times in preseason. More importantly, he had a handful of other instances of defensive application that may do even more towards earning him additional playing time.
Noni Madueke doubled the lead less than 10 minutes later with a tidy volley after Bruno Guimaraes had created a high turnover. Madueke had an excellent game. He was energetic, direct, and dangerous. Getting him going would be a massive boost to the Arsenal attack. Bruno is tremendous.
The Gunners eased off the gas after taking the early two-goal lead, perhaps a bit more than they should. Ipswich didn’t really threaten the Arsenal goal, but they came into the match and showed a tiny bit of life. Marli Salmon, who plays with a composure well-beyond his years, did an excellent job helping to keep the Tractor Boys in check.
Max Dowman extended the Arsenal lead just after halftime, slotting the ball low into the far corner. Martin Zubimendi poked the ball through for the goal. Well, he poked it off a defender’s arm and it probably would have been a penalty if Dowman hadn’t scored. Both Zubimendi and Mikel Merino had solid outings as they work back into the groove after returning late from winning the World Cup with Spain. Merino calmly picked out the top corner from the top of the box with a precision finish to make it 4-0 in the 58th minute. Both Merino and Dowman’s goals seemed far too easy.
Ipswich brought on a couple first choice players at 4-0 down, presumably for fitness / sharpness reasons. The changes sparked a bit of life, and they quickly found the back of the net with a nicely worked, flowing attacking move. Myles Lewis-Skelly was visibly disgusted at something after the goal, perhaps just that Arsenal conceded.
Hale End Graduate Chuba Akpom (now 30), who joined Arsenal when he was 6 and made 4 Premier League appearances for the Gunners before heading elsewhere, scored a late goal to make it 4-2. I doubt it would have counted if VAR was in use, though. He looked to have fouled Myles Lewis-Skelly to break free through the middle. An unfortunate 30 minutes or so for Myles. He had a solid, bounce-back game playing ostensibly as a left back but really as another central midfielder after being hooked at halftime against Sunderland.
Both Viktor Gyokeres and Ebere Eze were disappointing. Gyokeres looked as if he really couldn’t be bothered. Several times it seemed like he didn’t try to battle through his defender to get into scoring position. If he’s not mixing it up physically, I’m really not sure that he’s good for much of anything. Eze was anonymous. Some of that might have been the typical Arsenal right-sided bias, especially with Dowman and Madueke putting on a show. But with how good we know (think?) Eze can be, you really want to see more from him on a consistent basis.
Arsenal finished the match with a 16-year old (Max Dowman), a 17-year old (Marli Salmon), two 18-year olds (Theo Julienne and Ife Ibrahim), and a 19-year old (Myles Lewis-Skelly, who turns 20 next week, but he’s 19 until he’s 20). Arsene Wenger made bringing young players through the academy and into the first team part of the club DNA. It’s excellent to see that continue. Matches like today provide valuable developmental experience for these youngsters.
Not to pick on Marli Salmon — he really was excellent — but he also had two moments that stood out as case in point examples of the value these matches can have for young players. On one play, he stepped up in midfield, slipped, and had to track back. He did but it was more his teammates who covered and bailed him out. As soon as the ball went out of play, Gabriel went over to him and high-fived him in a “don’t worry about it, we’ve got you, keep it up” sort of way. On another, he sold out to block a cross a couple steps early and the attacker turned the corner. His teammates covered. Those are the types of learning experiences you cannot get on the training ground. You need competitive match situations.
The Carabao Cup 4th round draw will take place tomorrow, September 16th.
