Bukayo Saka was in good form as Arsenal earned a convincing 3-0 victory over AS Monaco in the Champions League this evening.
Arsenal began the game on the front foot, knowing they needed an early goal to settle their nerves and unsettle their opponents.
However, AS Monaco appeared well-prepared for the challenge in London. It wasn’t until the half-hour mark that Arsenal created a clear opportunity, but Gabriel Jesus failed to capitalise.
Radosław Majecki, Monaco’s goalkeeper, looked determined to keep Arsenal at bay. However, Jesus soon turned provider, setting up Saka, who was perfectly positioned to score the opener.
That goal calmed Arsenal’s nerves, and the Gunners began to bombard the Monaco goal with chance after chance. Despite their dominance, they couldn’t add to their tally before the half-time whistle. Monaco, on the other hand, came close to equalising early in the second half, but Thilo Kehrer squandered a golden opportunity.
The French side continued to push after the break, but Arsenal matched their efforts and remained dangerous on the attack.
Saka capitalised on a Monaco error to double Arsenal’s advantage, reinforcing their control of the game and boosting their confidence.
With their superiority evident for much of the match, Arsenal looked comfortable as Monaco struggled to mount a comeback in the closing minutes. This allowed the Gunners to extend their lead further, with Kai Havertz sealing the win by adding a third goal late on.
A well deserved win and much needed 3 points.
One thing that annoyed me was our failure to score from our corners. Need a new Set Piece Coach…
Lol!
@Herr Drier
My sentiments exactly…😂
Herr Drier:
No. No. No.
We do not need a new set piece coach.
We need to fire Arteta.
Then adopt a new strategy:
punch and volley the ball in with our hands.
That way, we will be godlike.
👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼
Herr Drier,
Quality.😂
Three points, clean sheet. All attention now on Everton visit. COYG!
Well deserved win for the Boys.
And for all critical pundits who feels Arsenal have issues scoring from open play what more can they say?
Three goals from open play and could have been more of Jesus and
Odegard had not been wasteful.
Next to Everton on Saturday.
There were a couple of spells for Monaco where they looked better and we looked rather grey. A couple of Chelsea rejects made their appearance. Jorginho floated a beauty (just a bit of class) and Havertz got an assist and a dubiously accredited goal which has now been classed as an og
Overall, Arsenal were clearly superior despite our injury issues which were a major concern prior to kick off
Skelly clearly wasn’t overawed and made a lovely pre assist for Jesus and Saka to finish
After all the C*ap that has been dished out since Sunday, it’s a truly massive yahoo moment to have had a solid win
Will 2nd that
Onwards a d upwards
Good result and 3 points. If ever there was 45 min of football that highlighted we needed a striker it was the first half in spades. 3-0 is satisfactory but Monaco were that poor, it should have been 7-0. Take the points and move on.
3 goals from our starboy Saka, well done.
So how many did Haaland score tonight
@Junking
😖
Has Haarland won the league and CL?
And what has Haarland got to do with our own wastefulness?
2 goals Reggie. The 3rd has been awarded as an own goal
No, i am awarding him it. It was going in😂
Sound win from the Ladz and big ups to MA for tactics, selection and timely effective subs. Starboy, enough said. Skelly, get in young gunner. Looked like he was staking his claim for the LB spot. Just sayin…😁
He is actually good enough to start consistently for us.
He is good with the ball, strong for his age and passes well.
@SJ
I like the way he shook off the challenges as well as his eye for a pass. He’s good going forward and defends well also. I agree with you, he should be starting a few matches.
He’s never looked flustered on the ball in any of his games, and I’ve not seen him look out of his depth in any game so far – and didn’t he come on for a short time against city (before their drop off)? I’m not surprised he played well, but the only reason I still want to be cautious in assessing him is that I don’t know exactly how good he is defensively – he’s clearly comfortable in 1v1s and is good in duels when play is in front of him, but I don’t know how well he knows the lb position. How good is his positioning when diagonal passes come his direction, or early crosses come in? I find that hard to judge, but he’s passed all tests so far, so imo deserves the opportunity to be tested further in future games.
SJ
We can all be armchair managers but it isn’t remotely close to working with the players
It was a risk to play Skelly, but Arteta clearly felt he was a better fit than Tierney and he did really well. Neither was he nervous.
Feeling sorry for Tierney is more than reasonable but it’s a tough old world and nothing can be taken for granted and it sadly looks at the moment his boat has sailed
Spot on.
But he wasn’t good enough to start against Fulham?
Is he a LB NY? 🤔😂
I think he’d look good in that left 8 spot, possibly rotating with or even eventually replacing Merino (not that I’m writing Merino off).
@Reggie
He is now…😁
🤣
Important and well deserved win. Some positives also regarding team selections. Should be able to cruise through remainder of group stage and hopefully byin a stronger position come February.
What was it that made the team selections positive for you Joe,S?
Utilising the best of the players available is a good starting point. Young Lewis Skelly at wing back, no Jorghino to bog down the midfield. Odegaard, Rice and Merlo with no Harvetz. Plus the trio of Saka, Martinelli and Jesus up front. Jesus may not be the best striker around but if fit he can niggle defenders. The most positive aspect of course is that unlike the lineup against Fulham, they got the job done.
To be honest, you can’t win the league if you keep missing such opportunities on goal. Odegard, Martinelli and sadly Jesus should have at least scored one apiece, but it is shameful to have your supposed striker miss such. As for Martinelli and Jesus, enough of making excuses for them, it is now evident why others would start ahead of them in Brazil.
To be honest:
Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli need to be relegated.
And Ødegaard needs to have a taste of the bench, for now, as that is most appropriate. The captains band is shield from certain reality. With glaring underwhelming displays, he gets lauded for being king of the world.
A great win despite some wastefulness in the first half.
Once again we have Partey starting at RB and the team remained balanced as it has before. This time there was better play up front which ensured the win in the end. Great performance from MLS who is progressing quite well.
Once again Arteta demonstrates why he is one of the best managers in Europe in the way he sets up his team.
Interesting to see that some so-called Arsenal fans have now gone silent after the ridiculous diatribes of the last few days.
You could see some some of our so called fans criticizing the manager for picking some players over others even before the kick off, waiting for a bad result so they bombard this platform with “I told you so.” I’m glad we won, cause that’s when you see real fans comment in here.
GK
Think 99% are genuine fans and everyone is entitled to have an opinion which is healthy as you get two sides.
If it is constructive criticism then that is great.
After we have lost or drawn some myself included at times are left feeling frustrated
annoyed ect
Some vent on here,Some call for the managers or players head and a majority have a constructive point of view for why. Unfortunately some and they know who they are will never change and can be a bad read. Just skip past it. Good thing now days is we win more then we lose or draw so we get less of it 😀
Good win for the team and manager
2 to go and almost there
Onwards and upwards
Allanball08
Your points about frustration and annoyance after a bad game are absolutely fair and it’s part and parcel of JA under those circumstances.
I do, however have sympathy for GK’s post because the barrage since Sunday has been completely overboard.
I do sympathise with him as well
And we have all had it in the past one way or another as you know and you know who from
Best thing is ignore
Still gets under my skin at times
But i now read and laugh 😃 😀
It’s the only way – couldn’t agree more
Well Gerald, I was one who criticised the way Tierney was being treated, but also congratulated MA on a great win…. so am I a real fan or not?!
😂
The so called Arsenal fans you refer to, gave their opinions.
I noticed you went missing for quite a while after the Fulham draw, so what kind of fan are you?
Well, having faced more thunderstorms from Arsenal fans than the reason Everton vs Liverpool was postponed, I think Arteta should be eulogised and Myles Anthony Lewis-Skelly heralded.
Merino played well and along with young MLS, who looks to have great potential as a midfielder, provided good support for Martinelli and Jesus who had chances to score in the first half.Without wishing to put a damper on what was a fairly comfortable win, Monaco did miss 2/3 clear cut chances which ,on another day, might have turned the game.I have been critical of Kwior recently, with some justification, but I thought he was our best defender last night.Perhaps he needed a run of games to gain real match fitness and to improve his self confidence .He certainly looked the part last night.
You have a clear head.
Some have been distorted by bias.
The game played out the way you put it down.
That match could have ended with Arsenal dropping points – football being a tragicomic game, as we know it – and some might have insisted on having Arteta’s head on a platter for contriving to lose when winning was the easier option.
Both Martinelli and Jesus, I think, should be sent out on loan . . .
Good Arsenal won anyway so we can experience peace which some don’t want.
Great win for the teams guaranteeing our place in play off round, now we can push for a top 8 spot. Just found out that that the knockout stage is seeded so a high place will be crucial.
P.s nice to see useless dan missing me when not here. I was sleeping btw😁😁
No im here mr VAR boy , i see you dint mention it tonight .
I sense some animosity between you two. Can you please refrain from mentioning other readers in your comments please. We are all Arsenl fans
Thought Merino had his best game for us last night. Getting better with each game.
Good result boys. Played well in the first half, but the finishing left a lot to be desired.
We’ve got a set piece coach, I now think the club need to invest in a finishing coach.😊
Although I was a big advocate for the inclusion of Tierney last night. Can I just say Lewis Skelly, stand up and take a bow, what a mature performance from one so young.
If you can keep to those level’s, I want you at left back more often.
I thought for a spell in the second half, that we tried our best to give Monaco a way back into the game, but once the second goal went in, control was established once more.
Thank goodness for Saka, it looks like he’s the only one who went to finishing school.😊👍
* levels
Plurals don’t take apostrophes.
I’ve long been of the opinion that Jesus and Martinelli are not quite the qaulity we need upfront…good win qt the end of the day but in tighter games and against opposition of superior quality I’m afraid we would be punished for such profligacy in front of goal
Even in the month of December and him having the name Jesus, he still can’t score.😂🤣👍
Great performance, and a big shout out to MLS. I thought he was outstanding, especially considering he was only just back from injury, and has barely played in the first team.
A real footballer is a real footballer.