BRILLIANT BASICS

Arsenal strolled to a relatively simple victory in the second game of the Champions League. Games against Olympiacos have always seemed to have more jeopardy than the level of talent between the clubs would suggest, but not last night.

Arsenal defended well and kept another clean sheet. We weren’t clinical, but we did enough to get the job done.

There were also some really positive performances from players trying to find their very best form.

Viktor Gyokeres is starting to work out what his role is in our team and this was the second game in 3 days where he gave us a performance that felt like it came from a man who is comfortable in a heavy shirt. He’s dogged, relentless, and traditional. Closer to Alan Shearer than any striker we’ve seen at Arsenal. His hard running is starting to attract quicker passing. He’s getting more shots off at goal. He’s finding space for himself in areas you want to see strikers stalking.

The first goal of the evening arrived after his one vs one shot squeezed through the Olympiacos keeper, hitting the post, ready for Martinelli to tap in from 0.5 yards out. Viktor didn’t score, but I’m not really worried about his ability in front of goal, I was worried he’d struggle to get the chances in the first place.

Martin Odegaard, Scandi compatriot, also had one of his better games. He’s moving with ease, showing up more centrally, and playing those filthy through balls like he’s been watching Mesut Ozil videos on repeat. The early career obituaries are starting to look quite foolish. This guy has some bounce in his step, and it’s clear the criticism has been internalised and he’s reacting the way you would hope a captain of his talent would.

It was Martin with the pre-assist for the Martinelli goal and it was his give and go for the Saka goal late in the game. Martin is finding his ranges well and it is not crazy to me that he’s playing better with people that make the runs he’s good at finding. He’ll not play many games against a team as open as the Greeks, but are we really worried about Martin in tight spaces? I’m not.

Zubimendi had another strong game. He’s one of those classic players that is always a 7.5 out of 10, so it gets quite hard to write about him with anything of substance. But I enjoyed the aerial duels he was winning, I loved seeing him cover so much ground, and it’s a real joy to see that you can exist as a world-class 6 without having to be built like a Marvel Super Hero.

We also can’t miss out on speaking about David Raya. He made a tremendous one-handed save from an El Kaabi volley that looked like it was sailing into the top corner. It was a pivotal moment that kept us in the game and out of a high-pressure ‘chase the moment’ sort of evening. You cannot knock his class, he’s the best in the biz at the moment, the most complete keeper we’ve ever had at the club.

There were some murmurs that people weren’t thrilled with the win, and I can’t have it. Getting the job done is all that matters early in the Champions League and we need to pay attention to City and Liverpool who lost to ‘easy’ teams and set themselves back in the race for top 8 this season.

Big win. No injuries. We move!