Bukayo Saka still had plenty to do. But this was another night when you knew that he would do it. The Arsenal winger was gliding up the right, his team 1-0 up, 64 minutes on the clock and, when he sliced inside, the sudden shift was so explosive that he appeared to slip.
Yet almost in the same movement, he caught himself and simply eased away from the Sevilla defender, Adrià Pedrosa. The shot was steered home with the minimum of fuss and Arsenal planted one foot in the last 16 of the Champions League. With the minimum of fuss.
Arsenal’s superiority over a desperately poor Sevilla was pronounced. It was clear from a pretty early juncture as to why the Spanish club had won only three matches all season. And the only frustration for Mikel Arteta was that Saka’s half-lap of appreciation came after he was forced off with an injury towards the end.
Saka, who had laid on the opening goal for Leandro Trossard, felt something twang and, having tried to play on, he admitted defeat, making his way sadly around the perimeter of the pitch.
Up in the stands, the England manager, Gareth Southgate, wore a familiar furrowed brow. Arteta will await the medical report with similar concern. Still, it was the only blot. Arsenal had entered on the back of losses at West Ham and Newcastle. This was much more like it.
The Sevilla manager, Diego Alonso, who has been in the job for one month and is still searching for his first La Liga win, had described Arsenal as the “fourth or fifth best team in Europe.” He knew that his club were big underdogs, especially after their home defeat against Arsenal two weeks ago.
The onus was on Arsenal to make the game, to prise Sevilla apart, which they accepted. Arteta was without the injured Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus, which was why he gave Trossard the opportunity up front; Kai Havertz had the licence to roam from the No 10 role.
Havertz ought to have scored inside the opening minute. From a corner won and taken by Gabriel Martinelli, he stood completely unmarked at the far post only to get the connection on the downward header all wrong. Arteta put his hands up to his face. What just happened?
Arteta had a question in the 15th minute for the referee, Istvan Kovacs. “How many?” he mouthed, after Saka had been fouled. Again. How many times before a yellow card, he meant. Sevilla knew they had to stick close to Saka and they did not care whether the means were entirely fair.
What was clear from the opening exchanges was that Saka was in the mood.
With his pace and trickery, he had the beating of his full-back, Kike Salas, and the same was true on the other flank for Martinelli with Juanlu. When Martinelli flicked on the afterburners, it actually felt unkind. One moment on 43 minutes summed it up. Martinelli kept the ball in on the byline before spinning, moving it away from Juanlu with the outside of his boot and bursting past him. The move did come to nothing.
Arsenal dominated the first-half. It was all Sevilla could do to string a few passes together. Crossing the halfway line felt like a pipe-dream, although Pedrosa did suddenly burst clear in the 39th minute. No problem. William Saliba raced back to execute the perfect slide tackle.
Gabriel Magalhães had headed off target from an early Saka free-kick and the breakthrough goal was well trailed. It was only a matter of time before either Saka or Martinelli made a decisive move in behind Sevilla’s overworked backline.
It was Saka who did so, Jorginho releasing him with a superbly weighted pass inside Salas, whose head was surely spinning by now. Saka’s first action was to see Trossard timing an unmarked run into the middle; the next to find him with a low cross. Trossard’s finish was true. The beauty lay in the ruthless simplicity.
There had been a Spanish theme to the two main banners unfurled by the Arsenal support. “Vamos,” read one, alongside an image of Arteta. “Nuestra Casa,” went another. Sevilla were tentative guests. It said plenty that Erik Lamela, the former Tottenham winger, heard his first boos on 50 minutes when he got on the ball. It was because he had barely touched it until then.
Havertz had further chances at the beginning of the second period. The crowd seemed to be willing him to do something, to break free of the shackles that have enveloped his Arsenal career so far.
He unloaded a shot which Salas deflected behind after a Saka break; then he could not read a Martinelli cross to the far post. There was also a vicious curler from Havertz that flashed wide.
It was back to Martinelli and Saka for the second goal, the former running from left to right across midfield before releasing Saka up the channel. What a finish it was. Arsenal were in cruise control.
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November 09, 2023 at 05:04AM
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Arsenal on verge of Champions League knockout stage after sinking Sevilla - The Guardian
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