Jorginho v Girona

Job done! Arsenal solidify top-eight spot with 2-1 win in Girona

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Arsenal secured a 2-1 win against Girona in the Champions League this evening.

The Gunners looked to take an early lead and nearly succeeded, only for Leandro Trossard to flash his shot wide.

Riccardo Calafiori also had the ball in the back of the net within the opening 12 minutes, but it was ruled out for offside.

Arsenal continued to dominate as they searched for the opening goal, but it was Girona who struck first when Arnaut Danjuma found the back of the net.

It was a shock lead, but Girona had looked dangerous with each forward break, and the goal felt inevitable.

Danjuma continued to trouble Arsenal’s defence, but the Gunners responded well, with Jorginho converting from the penalty spot to bring them level.

Just four minutes later, Ethan Nwaneri scored a superb goal to give Arsenal the lead they had been pressing for.

The Gunners entered the break with a deserved 2-1 advantage and would look to extend their lead in the second half.

After the interval, Arsenal remained on top, with Trossard causing constant problems for the Girona defence.

However, the Gunners’ intensity seemed to drop as the half progressed, and Girona began to believe they could salvage something from the match.

Cristhian Stuani thought he had equalised for the Spanish side, but his effort was disallowed for offside, and Arsenal stood firm to keep Girona at bay.

Raheem Sterling had a chance to add a third for Arsenal after they were awarded a late penalty, but the former England international was unable to convert.

Still, it was job done for the Gunners, who secured all three points and a top eight finish.

Tags Girona v Arsenal Match Report

43 Comments

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        1. Sorry ken, apparently city115 may have to play BM instead of Madrid. I looked at the table and saw where the clubs finished and made an assumption of how this thing would be expected proceed. I guess I was wrong and have to review how this goofy thing is supposed to work for the playoff round.

        1. Actually I just came to say sorry because I thought I was wrong! lol

          BBC seemed to update their “final table” after I first read it.

          When they first posted it in the live reporting pages, the teams I mentioned first were in positions 19-20 and 13-14 – the positions Arsenal in 3rd place could play.

          It’s late, I’ll look tomorrow.

  1. Yea, job done for the Boys.
    Now it’s MCity to prepare for, the good thing is no injury scare after the match. Only BSaka won’t be available for MCity game on Sunday.
    Well done to the Boys. A special thumbup to Sterling who imo had a good game but unfortunately missed a penalty. Sterling seem better from the left side.
    Nwaneri and MLS really growing in confidence.

      1. If your referring to my post Jay, I did say Saka will be back then and, as White and Tomiyasu are already back in training, my “no further injuries” covers your concerns.
        As we all know, Jesus is out for the rest of the season, so that’s the three you mentioned covered. lol.

  2. Yes! Congratulations to us Arsenal. Gore our qualifying for this seaso Ucl last 15 teams. Moreso grease to our elbows.
    But talking of a goal-scoring player signing by Arsenal this winter window.
    If Mikel Arteta will accept y joke. I would ave advance a Joke to him by making a Joke if Aesenal should instead of to sign Aston Villa’s Ollie Watksins this window. But why not sign their Morgan Rogers?

  3. Congratulations to Mikel and the lads, special mention to Ethan, never disappoints.
    Relax folks, we have qualified for the round of 16, not yet reached the finals. A 800M spend should guarantee you a spot in the finals as a bare minimum., since EFL is nearly done and EPL is too distant. COYG!

  4. I hope thi ollie watkins deal collapses he is nearly 30 will he score 20-25 prem league goals for us i have huge doubts plus the fee is way to high for this player would rather take a chance with Sesko or johnathan david!

  5. Shiba, based on the angle you hinged your opinion on, Chelsea and man u should be winning everything available. I think it will be proper to enjoy and celebrate the moment to encourage the team to take further steps.

  6. A great win to close out the league stage of the CL. Nwaneri is a real gem and a legend in the making. He will be on par with Henry in the Arsenal books if he continues to perform like this, the sky is the limit for the lad. Neto had a shaky debut and hope
    Raya is fit and back against City on Sunday. With a fully fit squad and 1/2 key additions in the January transfer window, Arsenal can go deep in the CL and maybe even win it.

  7. Bit nervy at the back but I thought it was a good performance. Hopefully, just hopefully, Arteta will now realise with the performances of MLS and Nwaneri that he can rotate the squad. Saka doesn’t need to play every minute of every game, and Nwaneri can and should be used as cover for both Saka and Odegaard.

    One thing I think stood out was how much it affects the team when anyone other than Havertz plays as the focal point of attack. Nothing against Trossard here, I think he did ok and is actually a better finisher than Havertz generally speaking, but it’s all the other work Kai does off the ball that mostly goes unnoticed because it isn’t glamorous.

    1. @Ben: Agreed on both of your points. arteta must now trust Nwaneri to rotate with Saka and Odegaard and also the fact that most of King Kai’s work goes unnoticed specially his work rate off the ball. But I am sure Arteta and the players know the importance of having Kai in the team.

      1. gunnerforlife,

        While it’s good to have work rate, don’t make me laugh. If the team want’s success we need more than that.

        Whoopi! Havertz works hard. For me all players need to work hard, that should be a given.

        Come on, we need more than that surely. 🤦‍♂️

          1. Ben,

            While I hear what your saying, it just makes me laugh when I hear the sentence, but he works so hard for the team.

            So what, If I’m the manager that’s the least I would expect, in fact without good work rate your not in my team. That’s a given as far as I’m concerned.

            They said the same about Lacazette, he worked hard. Yes he did, but he didn’t do what as a striker he should have done and that was score goals.

            In my opinion Havertz should never have been brought in the first place.

            If your telling me that there wasn’t better signings out there, then football is in big trouble. 🤦‍♂️

  8. Top 3 in UCL league table is a big accomplishment, well done! Nwaneri a standout today. Wish Raheem had scored to boost his confidence though.

  9. I think Arsenal should forget about signing a striker this January window. Watkins is too old for the amount the media are quoting. If we can’t get Sesko, let’s move on till the summer. While it may be true that we won’t catch Liverpool without a striker, it is equally not guaranteed that we would win with one. We have been able to cope and done well so far with our injuries. Bad officiating has been some of our problem.

  10. Good win, now play the under 21 side, without MLS and Nwaneri, and rest everyone., don’t care if we go out to Newcastle as it means less games for everyone.

    Heal up and come back strong for a CL run!

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