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Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video
The new season began yesterday with a familiar looking team selection, familiar goalscorers, and on the basis of what we saw in the second half last season, a welcomingly familiar result.
I think what stood out for me is that there are some players in the team who aren’t at 100%, whether that’s because of a truncated pre-season, or a prolonged summer, it’s hard to tell exactly, but I looked at Declan Rice and William Saliba as two guys whose performances were certainly not quite at the level we’ve come to expect from them. Gabriel Martinelli was lively again, but still missing that end product, that pass or shot that opens things up for him again.
What luck for us then that we have a couple of players in Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka whose impact is such that even when things around them aren’t perfect, they can still produce. Can we talk about Saka for just a moment? It’s barely a month since he played in the final of Euro 2024, and I think you could see – like some others – he’s making his way back to full fitness and sharpness. And yet, what a contribution.
His cross for Havertz’s opener was just outstanding, and it got the finish it deserved from the German. A thumping header as the keeper came and found himself in no-man’s land. That gave us a lead I think we deserved in the first half, and it probably should have been more. There were chances that I think a sharper team makes more of, but this is just the first day and there’s clearly still work to be done.
I thought we might have had a first half penalty too, a clumsy challenge on Saka certainly knocked him off balance as he cut back inside the defender, but there was nothing doing there. Some of that rustiness was evident in the big first half chance Wolves had, losing the ball in midfield and Jorgen Strand Larsen getting the wrong side of Saliba to power a header at goal. Thankfully David Raya was there to make a…
Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/08/arsenal-2-0-wolves-saka-and-havertz-make-the-difference/
Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2024-08-18 07:15:35
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