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Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video
In yesterday’s preview, I wrote about how there will be games when Arsenal need to dig in and scrap their way to three points, and the 2-1 win over Brentford was exactly that. Their game plan made life much more difficult for us than most of our recent fixtures. It was scrappy, physical, stop-starty – which was precisely what they wanted.
The ball was in play for less than 50% of tonight’s match between Arsenal and Brentford.
Total time: 105:01
Time in play: 49:26
— Sam Dean (@SamJDean) March 9, 2024
They did well initially to stop a fast Arsenal start, but it wasn’t long before we were on top, and deservedly ahead through Declan Rice. His header from Ben White’s cross was excellent, and it was quite something to see him time and again pop up as a de facto centre-forward. The licence to play higher up when Jorginho is alongside him in midfield looks like something he relishes – and that was his sixth Premier League goal of the season. He also has six assists to his name, and it’s interesting to think that in all the chat about whether Kai Havertz could replace what Granit Xhaka gave us last season (7 goals, 7 assists), Rice has basically done that without too much fanfare about that aspect of his game.
We should have been 2-0 up before the break, Havertz dinking a sensational Jorginho pass wide. The flag went up but he looked onside to me. What a difference that might have made to Aaron Ramsdale’s night though. Just before the break, he was closed down quickly by Yoane Wissa, who blocked the attempted clearance into the Arsenal net to make it 1-1. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. It’s a bad mistake. I felt really sorry for him, but it was his fault – just taking an extra step when he could have played the ball.
So, a bit like the Liverpool game a few weeks back, a game we should have been leading at the break saw us go in all square. Afterwards, Havertz was asked about how it…
Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/03/arsenal-2-1-brentford-kai-kills-em-again-ramsdales-eventful-night/
Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2024-03-10 09:26:33
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