After the last few days of purgatory following the defeat to Manchester United and having to listen to the obvious joy from the usual mob of wind-up merchants and general pee takers, we definitely needed a bit of a lift. We wanted to see a response from our team and a return to resolute defending, control and an improvement in the finishing. Kairat were the CL whipping boys and just the team we needed for that pick me up, that was the feeling going into yesterday’s game anyway.
Arteta made eleven changes from the team that started vs the Mancs and chief among those changes was the return of Kai Havertz who made his first start in a year, Calafiori almost returned after his unexpectedly long lay off and Kepa kept goal.
After just two minutes Arsenal took the lead. Kairat kicked off and went straight on the attack. I guess they had nothing to lose but the Gunners responded via Eze who brought the ball out of defence and found Havertz loitering around the halfway line. Kai didn’t hesitate and quickly slid an inviting ball to Gyokeres, who almost lost it when the ball hit the back of his legs but the big Swede quickly regained control, surged into the Kazak box and fired powerfully home. That was just the ticket.
We sat back waiting for the floodgates to open but Kairat responded when Calafiori pulled the shirt of an opponent in the box following an attack, which led to a protracted VAR review. Eventually the referee had another look and awarded a penalty. Kepa dived too early, again, and the penalty taker simply passed the ball into the opposite side of the goal. All that by the 7th minute, it was also only the 6th goal Kairat had scored in the competition this season.
Arsenal continued to pile forward with most of the best stuff coming through Havertz and Eze. There was obviously some disjointed play given that this was a totally different XI but eventually it clicked again. Around 15 minutes Ben White sent a searching long pass towards Havertz and Gyokeres, the Swede blocked off an opponent which opened a large space for Kai to run into and he clinically buried his shot, showing us what we’ve been missing.
Kai and Viktor we’re linking up really well with the German showing a rare ability to react quickly to the Swedes darting movements and he almost put Viktor in again minutes after his own goal. On 25 minutes Calafiori found Myles overlapping and he put over a delightful cross that a stretching Gyokeres just couldn’t get to then on 32 Havertz and Eze combined to set up Myles but he fired over the bar. On 34 Eze chipped a floating pass to Gyokeres but his low drive was blocked by the Kairat goalkeeper who was having a good game.
Then on 37 minutes some neat approach play saw Havertz drive into the inside right area of the Kairat penalty area. He slid a lovely weighted diagonal pass to the onrushing Gyokeres who flicked the ball into the net, only he didn’t because before the ball crossed the line Martinelli following up, tapped it home. About a minute later Kai broke forward again and found Martinelli but his shot was saved, we were missing a lot of chances! Half-Time 3-1
Arteta made two changes at half-time wisely taking off Havertz and Calafiori and replacing them with Odegaard and Hincapie. Most of the rest of the 2nd half saw Arsenal creating some really great opportunities but under-hit, over-hit and misplaced passes saw all of them wasted. The Kairat goalkeeper dealt competently with any corners we had and despite a couple of Odegaard efforts easily saved and a few mazy but ultimately fruitless dribbles from Madueke, Arsenal didn’t come that close. Gyokeres had a couple of chances but a poor first touch saw them fritter away, it was for me quite frustrating because I wanted to see the Gunners show some ruthlessness, but we were sloppy. Jesus replaced Gyokeres on 77 minutes and Martinelli was subbed off for Bailey-Joseph for his senior debut.
Jesus missed a good chance shortly after coming on then on 88 minutes Norgaard fired in a peach of a long pass to Jesus who took the ball in his stride and clinically fired home but unfortunately he was offside, it was that kind of a half of football. Jesus then was put through but again failed to beat the goalkeeper. On 89 minutes Norgaard departed and Ibrahim earned his senior debut. Then on 94 minutes Kairat scored their 7th goal in this seasons CL when a last ditch attack saw the Arsenal defence stretched and Hincapie out of position. It kinda summed up that 2nd half.
Full-Time 3-2 and Arsenal not only secured top spot but a 100% winning run in this league format.
Positives for me was the return and form of Havertz, the return of Calafiori, the form of Eze and Myles and the two youngsters earning their debuts. The rest was just ok.
We march on…
**By Kev.**