Arsenal booked their place in the next round of the Carabao Cup with a 4-2 victory over Ipswich Town at Portman Road, although a commanding four-goal advantage eventually became rather more uncomfortable than Mikel Arteta would have wanted.
The headline belonged to Max Dowman, who scored twice, while Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino were also on target for the Gunners.
Dowman gives Arsenal the perfect start
Arsenal started strongly and were ahead after only seven minutes when Dowman opened the scoring.
The Gunners had Ipswich pinned back for much of the opening stages and doubled their advantage in the 16th minute through Madueke, putting themselves firmly in control.
Ipswich did begin to grow into the contest as the half progressed. Kepa was forced into action and Marli Salmon also produced an important block, while Gabriel made a couple of excellent interventions as Arsenal became a little more careless in possession.
Martin Zubimendi endured some unusually loose moments with his passing, including one misplaced ball which nearly sent Ipswich through on the break.
The game became increasingly open towards half-time, but Arsenal survived the home side’s improved spell and went into the interval 2-0 ahead.
Dowman strikes again before Merino makes it four
Arteta made a change at the break, with Ezri Konsa replacing Gabriel, but Arsenal needed only two minutes of the second half to extend their lead.
Once again it was Dowman, grabbing his second of the evening in the 47th minute to make it 3-0.
Ipswich refused to disappear, however, and Kepa was required to make another good save shortly afterwards.
Madueke then sent an inviting ball across the Ipswich goal which Viktor Gyökeres was unable to reach. It summed up a difficult night for the striker, who had struggled to become involved in Arsenal’s attacking play.
Arsenal’s fourth arrived in the 58th minute through Merino, and at 4-0 the contest appeared completely settled.
It didn’t quite work out that way.
Ipswich fight back but Arsenal see it through
A series of Ipswich substitutions around the hour mark gave the hosts fresh impetus, and they pulled a goal back in the 62nd minute.
Arsenal also began rotating their side and giving further minutes to academy players, while the home side continued attacking with very little to lose.
Kepa became increasingly involved. He claimed an Ipswich cross confidently before producing another good stop from close range and later dealt with another break as the Tractor Boys repeatedly threatened Arsenal’s defence.
Eberechi Eze had looked lively before being replaced alongside Madueke in the 76th minute, with Martin Ødegaard and Tzolis coming on.
Another Arsenal youngster, Ibrahim, replaced Zubimendi late on, while Salmon was booked in the closing stages.
Ipswich eventually grabbed a second through Akpom in the 91st minute, but it arrived far too late to alter the outcome.
Full-time: Ipswich Town 2-4 Arsenal.
There were certainly defensive moments Arteta will want his players to learn from, but four goals away from home, valuable minutes throughout the squad and, above everything else, two goals for Max Dowman made this a productive Carabao Cup night for Arsenal.
What did you make of Arsenal’s performance at Portman Road? Were you most impressed by Dowman’s two goals, Kepa’s saves or another player entirely? Let us know in the comments below.
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Victor G…… Goodness me what on earth has happened to him. He’s gone from average to appalling if that’s possible!!
And he will be gone for 10M Euros by next summer. Bertha needs to bring in the players the manger wants, not the other way around. Finally we demand answers from the manager, not the DoF.
The manager wanted Sesko? No thank you.
Sesko – stats for Utd. 34 games – 12 goals in a poor Utd. set up.
Gyokeres – stats for AFC, 37 games – 15 goals in a mouth watering midfield set up
Sesko – aged 23, transfer fee to Utd. 66M
Gyokeres – aged 28 , transfer fee to AFC 63M
I may not be accurate with the figures.
Once again we got mugged
Thanks to Mikel for the solid defense he built which gave us the title and almost the UCL.
TSRS,
Cheers!
He is that good, he is a bench warmer, no thanks. Awful player.
Well done Lads
COYG!
I just watched the highlights, but Dowman is obviously more suited to the CAM and the right-sided AM roles than the RW one
He struggled to dribble past Chelsea U21’s LB through the right wing
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Great stuff.
Dowman looking the real deal every time we see him. Great game from Noni, Zubi, Bruno and Merino too. Gabi as reliable as ever, surprise surprise. Good experience for Salmon, came across some tricky situations and will only make him more experienced .
One thing I dont unddrstand is why arteta insists of never complelty resting players. Why bring on players like odegard who you wamt to play UCL and prem. Winming the game eze etc doing a good job. Why risk it and put the miles on. Strange
Yes it is stubborness. And then he complain that psg play in different world… Yes but he does not simplify the problem himself as he could…
Imo when it was not necessary Odegaard and Tzolis were brought in an attempt to enliven Gyokeres and help him score with their assists though it didn’t work out due to the poor positioning of the striker.
A good win with needed minutes for the fringe players and good rest for Rice and Saka. Gyokeres looked like a lost soul, but to be fair to him, he was for the most part ignored and he received virtually no service. If we are not going to play to his strengths we should put him out of his misery. I really feel for him, he is being set up to fail.
That’s not really true. I saw at least two good crosses from Noni that went begging for someone to tap in. All Gyokeres needed to do was run across his marker and be more aggressive to get on the end of these crosses. His positioning,movement and anticipation were poor,making it hard for teammates to find him. Other times he gave the ball away cheaply.
He’s not playing at the level he was last season.Perhaps he’s low on confidence but it’s unfair to blame his poor performance on teammates. Thought he was really good against Napoli.
@JBG
“and he received virtually no service”.
Not quite correct. Noni Madueke served a perfect crossball in front of goal, but he was too slow and not ready.
We all saw it. Both the great crosses for him. He was behind the defender on his heels.
What did Berta see in him?
Gyokeres goals out in Portugal game from way team set out and played counter attack. Looking at them on YouTube reels he’s picking ball up outside box, and running in on goal.
Does Berta and team work solely on stats – with stats like Tzolis and Gyokeres they can’t possibly fail in the Prem?
There’s players in conference and below with great stats does it mean ready for the Prem?
Brighton and Norwich rejects for a reason in English football? Numerous times in recent weeks Tzolis has come up against Prem League Muscle he can’t use strength to get right side, he’s muscled off it.
Eze in the left wing position is another concern. The former Gunner Akpom showed with his goal for Ipswich what a typical poacher no.9 should do.
Thank you Ipswich for not playing rough physical game which otherwise could have endangered our many teens on the pitch.
Guimaraes was superb with his well timed interceptions and tackles.
Konsa could have prevented their goal if he made early moves to mark the striker.
When shall we see a clean sheet Kepa?
Speaking of rough play, Chuba had to run over MLS to get into the box and score that goal. Normally I’d mention lack of VAR at this stage of the cup but obviously it might not would matter, lol.
Is Arsenal’s Achilles Heels that is multiple injuries in specific position at a time creeping in? Hincapie Mosquera Timber White were not in the matchday squad forcing Gabriel and Konsa to feature
Great football from Dowman. I’ve been watching him since he was 13 (so i was 12) and he’s always looked like an exciting player- huge credit to Arteta for managing him well too. Dowman’s first goal showed his amazing technical ability and his second showed his sharpness.
Salmon also looked great in defence, while Madueke put in some good crosses, shame Gyokeres wasn’t as good…
Overall, a great performance, and we should be excited for the future!
great result and we got to rest players as well.. Noni and Kepa were on it Marli Myles also, Max thrives in these
spacious games. Now its Brigthon away on sat. if we win
its cloud nine !! Viktor must grind his teeth and carrie on..
OTT,
Athletics Coming Home. Yesterday Kenya selected to host the 2029 World Athletics Championship after its bid beat both London and Rome. The first of its kind in the continent. Great news to the continent as a whole.
Next year Morocco co hosts the Football World Cup 2030. Great decision by IAAF and Lord Coe to expanding the boundaries of the sport.
Couldn’t agree more.
Amazing, looking forward to the event.
Good result for the boys. Dowman continues to impress. Salmon had a good game to.
Madueke scored, and looked a threat down the left. (Although it’ll take more than one game to convince me about him). But it’s a start.
I don’t know how the ref didn’t see former Arsenal boy Akpon’s pull on Skelly before scoring their second. But no doubt, Howard Webb’s latest apologie text is on it’s way as we speak😂.
But overall a good game for the team, and it was nice to see them in amongst the goals. I hope they’ve saved some for the weekend. 👍
Correction, Madueke looked a threat down the right. Forgive me, but at least this correction wasn’t a spelling one. Make’s a change.🤦♂️😂😉
Correction, I spoke to soon. Just look at the way I spelt Akpom. 🤦♂️😂
I was laughing as MLS was on his arse at the top of the area looking around as if asking if anyone got the number on that passing truck.
Lucky Arsenal in the 4th Round Carabao Cup fixtures. The League Two Fleetwood have 2 things in common with Arsenal as their stadium is named Highbury and their kits are identical to Arsenal from top to toe. Any connection?
The draw gives more teens to show their names and talents. Almost in all the draws EPL teams play each other which somehow makes Arsenal advantageous
amba.
Is Stevie Nicks still with them? She must be getting on a bit now.
Jax,
She’s is now with herself being aged nearing the 80
Amba,
If I’m not mistaken, Arsenal donated some goalposts to Fleetwood when they moved to the Emirates.
If I’m wrong, I’m sure a certain Herr Drier will correct me. He normally does. 😂👍
DEREK,
Only goal posts? It would be Okay if the donation includes shirts shirts and socks as well for the kits of both clubs are all the same except the words and signs.
Thanking you let’s hear what HD would say
Amba,
It appears there was no donation between Arsenal and Fleetwood. According to Google no transaction ever took place. My apologies’.
I shall be having words with my source.😠😂
DEREK,
You swiftly did the self correction that is great. Maybe the donation was to some other nearby club. Thumbs up!
Amba,
Further to our conversation regards, have Arsenal ever donated to other teams. With a bit of research I’ve found three to be going on with.
Apparently the notion that Nottingham Forest had donated Arsenal’s first football strip is a myth, according to the minutes in an Arsenal meeting. Apparently in 1886, Nottingham Forest were due to play Valencia in a friendly, and it was Arsenal who in fact provided them with a kit and not the other way around.
In 2017 after we beat Sutton United in an FA Cup tie, Arsenal wanted to give them the £50,000 gate receipts. This was against the FA’S rules. So Arsenal bypassed it by donating the £50,000 directly to Sutton United to help the club build new community classrooms and improve infrastructure.
In 1910, Rangers helped Arsenal out of a severe economic downturn by purchasing a batch of Arsenal shares. Years later once Arsenal returned to financial stability, they gifted Rangers additional institutional shares for free.
I hope you found this interesting, I did. 👍
Derek, sounds like one of your mates owes you a pint.🍺
Bruised Banana,
I’m teetotal, so I’ll settle for a glass of water. 😉
In the Carabao Cup Liverpool are drawn to play Chelsea. After 3 days Liverpool play Arsenal in the EPL. Advantage Arsenalllll