Arsenal 4-0 Atletico Madrid: Rampant Gunners go 4G in the second half

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Arsenal made it three wins from three Champions League games last night, turning on the style in the second half for a 4-0 win that few would have predicted over opposition like Atletico Madrid.

It was a game we started brightly, an Eberechi Eze shot deflected and looped up onto the bar, and Declan Rice’s follow up bounced down and over in the 5th minute. Myles Lewis-Skelly dragged a shot that wide that might have been a tap-in had someone gambled at the back post, before the game settled down into what many had expected.

Atleti sat deep, defending well as we know they can, and up the other end there was a real let-off when David Raya tried to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick but had to concede a throw. They took it quickly, and with the keeper scrambling to get back in, Julian Alvarez curled a shot just wide. A lucky escape.

Arsenal had a Gabriel Martinelli goal ruled out for offside after good work from Bukayo Saka, and the winger had a headed chance which he didn’t make the most of just before the break. I do think, despite the emphatic scoreline, we need to acknowledge a couple of sliding doors moments. Early in the second half Alvarez hit the bar with Raya beaten all ends up, and the goal from which we opened the scoring game from the award of a free kick that I think was really generous.

While I think he’d probably been clipped a second or two before, Martinelli jumped into the defender and the ref blew in our favour. I’d be very unhappy if that were given against us, but at the same time, they had every chance to defend the set-piece. Admittedly, the delivery from Declan Rice was absolutely superb, and when you have someone like Gabriel attacking that with the timing of his runs in the box, you’re always going to cause the opposition problems. The Brazilian met the flight of the ball perfectly, and nodded home from close range to make it 1-0.

Set piece again, Olé Olé

As I’ve said previously, I have no complaints about us being really, really good at them, and as a way to crack open a tight game, our set-piece prowess bears real fruit for us. Another way to crack open a game is for someone to produce something special, and just 7 minutes later Lewis-Skelly did exactly that. He picked up the ball inside the centre-circle in our half, cut through their midfield like a hot knife through butter, then played the perfect pass for Martinelli to provide an excellent first-time finish to make it 2-0. Apparently Riccardo Calafiori was being readied for an introduction just before that MLS run, and understandably he was asked to sit back down again in the wake of that superb contribution. “That’s football”, said Arteta afterwards.

Two minutes later it was 3-0, and this time it was Viktor Gyokeres. After 7 Arsenal games without a goal, he really needed this one. In the end the finish was untidy, a scuff between the defender’s legs and just inside the post, but after a bit of a dry spell, it doesn’t matter how it goes in, once it does. For me, it’s worth nothing the quality of the pass from Martin Zubimendi in the build-up, and if there was a bit of good fortune in the build-up, the Swede deserved it for the way he worked all night long.

Three minutes later, it was 4-0. Rice delivered a corner, Gabriel headed it back across goal, and Gyokeres was there to thrust the ball over the line from something quite close to his special area. I think it was more upper-hip than lower-mickey, but if he’d had to take that pain for a goal, I’m sure he would have. The celebrations were fantastic, you could see how much his teammates were delighted for him, although Gabriel Martinelli was a bit more Pan’s Labyrinth than Bane.

A game that had been pretty even, swung massively in our favour with four goals in 13 minutes, and with that kind of scoreline, the manager was able to make changes and not lose any fluency. I think Atleti had a shot on target, but Raya saved that at his near post comfortably (the one he saved from Conor Gallagher didn’t count because of a foul in the build-up).

This was far more comprehensive than I had expected, but at the same time, there’s a bubbling momentum to this Arsenal team at the moment that means, while delighted, you’re not necessarily too surprised that we did it. All the goals came with a G: Gabriel, Gabriel [Martinelli] and Gyokeres. 4G, not bad.

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

I’m extremely happy and proud of the performance and the results against a really good side. I was very impressed when I analysed them and what I’ve seen today about them as well. So, I knew about the difficulty of it. It required a lot of aggression and a lot of patience as well, and the way they managed the context of the game and the way they can manipulate their behaviour was really impressive.

And on two goal Gyokeres:

The work that he does for us, he brings a different dimension to the front line. He opens up so much spaces. And today you can see his reaction, the reaction of his teammates, how happy everybody is for his goals. The work rate and everything that he brings to the team is outstanding and he fully deserves it.

As for Diego Simeone, a man who started the game in animated fashion on the touchline and ended it sitting down slugging disconsolately from a bottle of water, he said:

From 60 minutes they were the better team and deserved to win. I would say they are the best team we have faced this season. They compete so well, they run and they run, and they have quality all over the pitch.

So that’s three from three this season in the Champions League, without conceding a goal. And since our return to this competition in the 2023-24 season, we’ve played 10 9 games at home in the group/league stage, won them all, and not conceded in any of them. That’s kinda ridiculous. Arteta has often talked (in general terms) about making the stadium something of a fortress, and there’s no question we have made it a very, very difficult place for the opposition to come. When you add four goals into the equation like we did yesterday, it makes for a very pleasing night indeed.

I don’t really think that could have gone any better to be honest. On another night it might have been the kind of result that people sat up and paid attention to, but there were so many mad scorelines in the Champions League last night, it’ll probably get lost in the mix a bit. However, I think the benefit isn’t really what other people think, it’s how this will instill even greater confidence and belief in this team, and in that regard there’s a lot of positivity to take away from this one. A great night’s work.

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Right, I’ll leave it there for now. Stand by for an Arsecast a bit later on this morning as we recap the game and the performance, and I enjoyed the WhatsApp I got from my friend Gary last night who was sitting behind a man called Ben from New York. Suffice to say he came prepared for a Gyokeres goal!

Until later.

 

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