Fabien Hurzeler was asking for it before the game, was he not? Getting a pre-game moan in about Arsenal’s ‘time wasting’. A tactic that has been used in football for as long as I can remember. Arsenal’s opponents have been exasperating us for years at Highbury and Emirates Stadium by engaging in those very tactics, so to have that accusation chucked in our faces is almost music to the ears. When we win, at least...
I personally don’t give a damn at this stage of the season how Arsenal win; just as long as they do. And with Bukayo Saka’s early goal giving Arsenal the opportunity to indulge in such tactics, Arteta’s men were happy to oblige Hurzeler. Watching him and the home crowd get more and more annoyed was a wonderful sight to behold - the match itself, obviously, being much more of an eyesore.
In truth, this was a very under par performance from Arsenal, but this was a tricky fixture against a side that have recently come back into some form. Plus - frankly - it's difficult to pinpoint any easy games (Tottenham notwithstanding) when it gets to this stage of a season when you have a title on the line. I'll just run through a few - and there aren't many - little points before commenting on the fallout/aftermath.
With William Saliba out injured (yet again), Mosquera was drafted in. And although we must have all expected to see Christian Norgaard start Arteta send Rice and Zubimendi to the well yet again. Up front, Martinelli was preferred to Trossard (who'd had a poor game at the weekend) on the left. Eze continued at 10, with Havertz continuing his comeback off the bench.
The game did not start well, as Raya made an uncharacteristic error; presenting the ball to Baleba in looking for Rice, when a much simpler ball to Mosquera was on. I'm pretty sure that if that's Saliba, Raya passes to him. Either way, Baleba's lob was cut out by the ever-vigilant King of Brazil.
Thereafter Arsenal had the better of the early opportunities, especially when Saka made a clever run (beautifully found by Eze btw); only for there to be nobody on the end of his cross right across the 6-yard box. Whither Gyokeres? Whither Martinelli?
Soon after, Timber found Saka, who decided to do it on his own this time. A trademark cut inside and shot - and a deflection off of Baleba was enough to wrongfoot Verbruggen, who let the ball squirm between his legs for a vital goal. A nice way to mark one's 300th Arsenal appearance for Starboy.
Thereafter it was all Brighton for the rest of the half, with very little creativity or ambition being shown by the boys in red. Gabriel - magnificent again - blocked a shot from Mitoma. Georginio had a shot blocked by a team-mate. Mosquera got himself booked, and looked far less assured than he has done. It was all very unsatisfactory.
Further forward, Martinelli failed to impose himself at all, and Gyokeres had an awful time of it; losing duel after duel after duel (so many that I was surprised to see him appear for the second half). Arsenal went in a goal up, but from a single shot worth an xG of 0.01. Remarkable - but who cares? This felt like a game to be endured.
Although they were improved at the start of the second half, with Gyokeres actually winning a couple of duels, and Saka wandering into handy positions. But with little or no end product to report. And it was the same for Brighton, with a shot from the edge of the box from Georginio and a header from Wieffer straight at Raya all they had to show for their domination of possession. Then, after Mosquera was exposed on perhaps the fourth or fifth occasion, Arteta began to make changes, with Calafiori replacing him and Hincapie - who'd had yet another solid game at left back, sliding all the way over to right centre half.
Further changes saw Trossard - roundly booed by the home fans at every touch - and Havertz on for Martinelli and Gyokeres, and Arsenal did improve. Havertz gave a new dimension to the Arsenal attack; much more effective than the Swede. Clever runs gave those behind him more options, and he put the Brighton defence under pressure.
Further back it was interesting to see the difference in Arsenal's left hand side with Calafiori on the field. Hincapie may be a more solid defender than the Italian, but the latter adds a maverick and exciting element to the side when he's on the field. A difficult one for the manager.
Anyway, time ticked on... and whilst I didn't feel that the team were in anything like as much jeopardy as they had been on Sunday it was still a relief when the final whistle went. Especially alongside the news that Citeh had been pegged back a second time by Nottingham Forest. In truth, I was watching Arsenal on my television, with half an eye on the City game on my phone. And so when the final whistle blew in Manchester there was much rejoicing - in my house, obviously, and I suspect in yours too - especially in the away end at The Amex, with that news being met with a bigger roar than the final whistle at our game.
And what this means is that Arsenal are now 7 points clear of City, who as we know do have a game in hand. Which means - dare I say it - that we could actually afford to lose to them on April 19th... On paper, Arsenal's run-in is definitely easier than theirs now. So this could have been a pivotal evening.
With West Ham winning at Fulham, there were obvious implications for the other end of the table. And this was a truly terrible evening to be a Spurs fan. Forest and The Hammers are now right on their tail, and their game against Crystal Palace - still not played at the time of typing - thus takes on massive significance. With very match day that passes, their Premier League tenure becomes less and less secure. Such fun!
But what I really want to talk about is Herr Hurzeler's comments; both before and after the game. All they did was buy into the narrative that Arsenal are 'boring' and 'anti-football', and I'm not buying it! We've seen delaying tactics done to us for years and years now - I recall Chris Kirkland of Wigan time-wasting in the third minute at The Emirates in 2007 - and so I'd say that if the situation demands it then, as the saying goes: 'If you can't beat them; join them.'
Yes, it's true that Arsenal do take ages over dead balls and even throw ins. But if they were breaking any Laws then I'm damned sure that they'd get penalised. And yes, they do go down 'injured' perhaps more often than they should. But - and this is the most important thing - they are under no obligation to anybody but themselves, they've been on the other side of the coin on countless occasions, and it's not as if any other manager wouldn't tell his players to do the same should situation demand (despite Hurzeler's protestations to the contrary). Arteta dealt with it all superbly, if you ask me.
Of course the media buy into this too. I am sick of hearing television and radio presenters go on about dead balls and time-wasting. Like there's nothing else to Arsenal. Clear at the top of the table. 100% record in the Champions League. Carabao Cup Final. 5th round of the FA Cup. But let's be negative... I'm sick of it.
So now is the time to start the siege mentality. to hell with everyone else, and let's do what we need to do - and however we need to do it. You've only come to see The Arsenal.
Can you not almost touch it now? Feel it? CIty have blinked first; and that's bloody brilliant! COYG!
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