We moved into the top four on Wednesday after goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe wrapped up an impressive win against West Ham United.
Having cruised past Southampton last time out, it was no surprise to see Mikel Arteta name an unchanged side as we looked to build on the momentum we built up there.
We certainly came flying out of the blocks, the intensity shown the team only matched by that of the fans in a packed Emirates Stadium.
But in a first half of few clear-cut chances, we posed the more threat – although it was West Ham who first went close as Pablo Fornals bent one just past the post from the edge of the box.
Just before the interval though, as we sought to crank up the pressure, we pieced together a lovely flowing move involving Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, before Granit Xhaka’s shot was blocked.
The ball was cleared to the edge of the Hammers’ area, and Kieran Tierney took aim with a stunning strike that Lukasz Fabianski pushed on to the bar and over.
Moments later Alex Lacazette forced the former Gunner into action once more with a curling effort, but the breakthrough just wouldn’t come as the goalkeeper saved smartly.
After the restart, we stayed on the front foot and took the lead when the influential Lacazette played in Martinelli behind the backline and he curled the ball into the far corner.
It was some finish – and the crowd loved every second of it.
West Ham soon came back at us, with Aaron Ramsdale forced into a smart save from Jarrod Bowen just a few short minutes later, but it was only fleeting as we continued to control the tempo of the game.
We were handed a golden chance to extend our lead when Lacazette was taken down in the area by Vladimir Coufal – a challenge that led to the defender’s red card for a second bookable offence – but our striker’s resulting penalty was saved.
It made for a slightly nervier finale than perhaps our overall performance deserved.
Gabriel hooked a half chance wide, Saka saw a shot blocked on the line and then Smith Rowe called Fabianski into action as we kept the pressure on.
We finally removed any doubt about who would take the three points when Saka raced upfield and found Smith Rowe, and the England international arrowed a shot into the bottom corner.
It sealed a fine evening’s work in N5 as we moved into fourth spot.
#arsenal #smithrowe #martinelli
Enjoy match highlights, training and behind the scenes to get closer to the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Vivianne Miedema, Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette, Leah Williamson, Bernd Leno, Emile Smith Rowe, Nikita Parris, Tobin Heath, Mana Iwabuchi, Jordan Nobbs, Bukayo Saka, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kim Little, Gabriel Martinelli, Aaron Ramsdale, Beth Mead, Ben White, Thomas Partey and more.
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Arsenal Football Club were formed in 1886 and amassed 13 League titles, 14 FA Cups. Some of their greatest players include: Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, Ian Wright, Robert Pires, Liam Brady, Patrick Vieira, Cliff Bastin and Charlie George.
A thoroughly dominant first-half performance laid the platform for an excellent away win at Leeds.
Gabriel Martinelli netted twice and Bukayo Saka was also on target in a mesmerising opening 45 minutes, in which we mustered 11 shots on target – the most in a single half of Premier League football since 2003/04.
Leeds rallied briefly in the second half, scoring from the penalty spot, but Emile Smith Rowe came off the bench to net his seventh Premier League goal of the season late on to seal the three points.
There were signs of what was to come from the very first whistle. We had three very good chances within moments of kick off.
Martin Odegaard found Alexandre Lacazette with a fantastic throughball, but the Leeds keeper Illan Meslier was down well to deny him when one on one. The rebound was prodded wide by Saka and with our next attack Thomas Partey saw his shot turned away at the near post.
It was a bright start full of intent and ambition, with Kieran Tierney next to test the keeper with a right-footed strike.
That was all in the first five minutes, and the game settled down until Martinelli lashed us into the lead.
The Leeds defence hesitated, appealing for a foul by Lacazette, but referee Andre Marriner waved play on, and crucially Martinelli remained alert, to smash the ball home. VAR also saw nothing untoward with the strike.
The goal brought up a milestone for the Gunners – it was our 7,000th scored in the top-flight of English football, becoming the third side to the landmark, after Everton and Liverpool. Our first came some 117 years ago.
Leeds, severely depleted with injury and missing nine players, were still full of running, and nearly brought themselves level when Raphinha wriggled past Tierney and shot just wide with Aaron Ramsdale wrong-footed.
We continued to make chances though, and soon doubled our lead. This time Granit Xhaka released Martinelli through the middle, and the 20-year-old forward kept his composure, bore down on goal, and lifted a wonderful finish over Meslier.
It was no more than we deserved after an excellent start.
We were swarming around the Leeds defence, and Lacazette was next to go close, forcing another save from Meslier after great build up play involving Saka and Odegaard.
Saka increased the lead just before half-time, his shot was deflected in past the keeper, after just about beating the offside trap.
The only surprise is that we weren’t leading by more at the interval.
Leeds were in no mood to lay down though, and cheered on by the Elland Road faithful, came out fired up for the second half.
A clumsy challenge from Ben White inside the area gave them a route back into the game when Raphinha fired home the resulting penalty. More than a quarter of an hour remaining and all of a sudden it was game on again.
The hosts’ tails were up, but a thumping finish from substitute Smith Rowe restored our three-goal advantage.
Odegaard pounced on a loose ball and weighted his pass into the advancing Smith Rowe, and the England man made no mistake with his first-time finish.
It sealed an excellent away win – our first since beating Leicester in October – and consolidated our place in the top four going in to Christmas.
#arsenal #martinelli #saka
Enjoy match highlights, training and behind the scenes to get closer to the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Vivianne Miedema, Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette, Leah Williamson, Bernd Leno, Emile Smith Rowe, Nikita Parris, Tobin Heath, Mana Iwabuchi, Jordan Nobbs, Bukayo Saka, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kim Little, Gabriel Martinelli, Aaron Ramsdale, Beth Mead, Ben White, Thomas Partey and more.
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Arsenal Football Club were formed in 1886 and amassed 13 League titles, 14 FA Cups. Some of their greatest players include: Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, Ian Wright, Robert Pires, Liam Brady, Patrick Vieira, Cliff Bastin and Charlie George.
Eddie Nketiah scored his first senior hat-trick and Charlie Patino scored on his debut as we sealed our place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals with a comprehensive victory against Sunderland.
We came into the match in fine form in the competition, having scored 11 times without concession – and Mikel Arteta picked a mix of youth and experience in his line up.
While much of the pre-match talk centred around the inclusion of 18-year-old Charlie Patino in the matchday squad for the first time, the starting XI had a job to do and they set about it instantly.
Within five minutes Nketiah had headed a fine Cedric cross over the bar, and it set a theme as we focused many of our attacks down that flank.
Our Portuguese right back soon found Flo Balogun at the back post with another accurate delivery, but the striker headed wide – and then saw a low shot saved moments later.
Cedric continued to get forward at will into dangerous areas – and he played a key role in our opener, sending in a fine corner that Rob Holding directed towards goal, and while the header was saved, Nketiah was there to force it over the line.
We doubled our advantage not long afterwards, Cedric combining with Nicolas Pepe on the overlaps before cutting the ball back to the Ivorian forward in the area, and his shot flew into the roof of the net. It was a fine way for Pepe to mark his 100th game in our colours.
It was plain sailing at this point, but Sunderland got themselves back into the game with a well-worked move that saw Nathan Broadhead race in behind our defence and beat Bernd Leno.
Our goalkeeper had to be alert a few minutes later to push a goalbound effort from Carl Winchester around the post, and while Emile Smith Rowe went close at the other end there was no further troubling of the scoresheet before the interval.
But just four minutes into the second half we extended our advantage again as Nuno Tavares got into space down the left and delivered a fine cross to the near post, for Nketiah to finish confidently for his second of the night.
The visitors continued to come forward and came close with a curling effort from Elliot Embleton that struck the outside of the post.
Nketah completed his hat-trick in fine style, backheeling home after superb work from Martin Odegaard and Nicolas Pepe.
Patino came on to warm applause as the 886th player to represent the club with 10 minutes remaining, and claimed a fairytale debut goal in injury time as he poked home Pepe’s cross.
It was a fantastic moment, but the night belonged to Nketiah who walked off with the match ball having sealed our place in the semi-finals.
#arsenal #nketiah #patino
Enjoy match highlights, training and behind the scenes to get closer to the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Vivianne Miedema, Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette, Leah Williamson, Bernd Leno, Emile Smith Rowe, Nikita Parris, Tobin Heath, Mana Iwabuchi, Jordan Nobbs, Bukayo Saka, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kim Little, Gabriel Martinelli, Aaron Ramsdale, Beth Mead, Ben White, Thomas Partey and more.
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This is the Official YouTube channel for Arsenal Football Club.
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Arsenal Football Club were formed in 1886 and amassed 13 League titles, 14 FA Cups. Some of their greatest players include: Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, Ian Wright, Robert Pires, Liam Brady, Patrick Vieira, Cliff Bastin and Charlie George.
