Arsenal scored three goals in seven minutes midway through the second half to bury an over-matched Lille side. It’s two wins from two for the Gunners to open their Champions League League Phase campaign and two losses from two for Les Dogues (the Mastiffs). Other than being a bit wasteful with first half chances, there’s really nothing to criticize from an Arsenal perspective. A comfortable, multi-goal win is exactly what you want from your home matches in the League Phase.
The visitors made it tough
for the Gunners in the first half. They got numbers behind the ball quickly and were well-organized. When Arsenal did break through the lines, players repeatedly failed to get it right in the final third. Noni Madueke sailed his crosses. Jurrien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly hit the wrong balls. Mikel Merino headed right at the keeper. Bruno Guimaraes steered a one-touch redirection wide. It felt a bit too much like the Champions League opener against Napoli where the Gunners were also wasteful in front of goal.
Lille’s first half defensive resilience came at the cost of their ability to create much attacking threat, as if often the case with Arsenal’s opponents. They found the back of the net on their only attack of note in the first half, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Other than that, they did not manage a shot on target all match.
In another similar Arsenal script (albeit one we’d all like to see more frequently in the Premier League), the opposing side ran out of gas in the second half. Jurrien Timber opened the scoring in the 62nd minute with a brilliant individual goal. He received a pass from Noni Madueke in the box, turned into space, made as if he was going to shoot for power to the near post, and lifted it over the keeper to the far. Definitely not the type of skill you expect to see from a fullback in the attacking penalty area.
Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, and Kai Havertz replaced Noni Madueke, Mikel Merino, and Viktor Gyokeres (who was, once again worryingly anonymous) just after Arsenal took the lead. Imagine going behind on the road and seeing those players players come on fresh to run at your tired legs.
Arsenal doubled there lead shortly thereafter. Bukayo Saka found Eberechi Eze at the top of the box, whose first-touch shot wrong-footed the keeper. The Gunners combined for a fantastic team goal a few minutes later. Bukayo Saka applied the finishing touch. And that was all she wrote.
Despite finding the back of the net, Eze’s performance might fly under the radar a bit because he doesn’t touch the ball nearly as much as most of his teammates, but in addition to his goal, he fired five shots. That’s the kind of production Arsenal need from him. With Christos Tzolis on the shelf for a few more weeks, he’ll have plenty of opportunity to continue to be involved. Fortunately Eze looked none the worse for wear after catching the bottom of a boot to the foot / ankle. The Lille man only saw yellow but it easily could have been a straight red.
Noni Madueke put in a very Noni Madueke performance. He was the most involved attacker with the first-choice firepower starting on the bench. He got into good positions but hit poor crosses. He assisted the first goal. That’s kind of what you get with him. If the volume is there, he’s eventually going to be involved in a goal. It’s just that if the volume is limited, his end-product is too often lacking in the requisite quality to consistently capitalize from fewer opportunities. I think that makes sense, right?
Myles Lewis-Skelly had a strong performance at left back. He had one recovery run in the first half where he looked notably faster than usual. Pace is one of the biggest knocks against him, so him getting faster (if he’s getting faster) is excellent.
Bruno Guimaraes had a good game, too. He seemed to always be involved when Arsenal had the ball and made a couple nice tackles going the other way. A big night for my “he’s a bit Declan Rice, a bit Martin Ødegaard” description of him from the preseason. It’s a shame Martin Zubimendi picked up a knock after the Leeds match. He could use the reps and both Bruno and Declan Rice could have used the rest.
Next up for Arsenal in the CL, a trip to Munich to face a Michael Olise-less Bayern side. The French attacker was booked for a pullback then threw the ball at an opponent in frustration to earn an immediate second yellow. The German side was pegged back late for a 3-3 draw.
