Who was Arsenal’s ‘Man of the Match’ vs Middlesbrough?
|Arsene Wenger was forced to change his starting XI for the match against Middlesborough, with Santi Cazorla picked up a slight kick in the Achilles. Mohamed Elneny replaced him to mark his 3rd start in the Premier League this season.
The match ended in a goalless draw, thanks to the heroics of both the goalkeepers. It was a disappointing result in the end for Arsenal, who were clear favourites to take the three points. They are, however, top at the moment but they would have liked a three-point cushion over Manchester City, who face a tough game against Southampton on Sunday.
Arsenal came into the game playing their 3rd match of the week. With Wenger reluctant to make significant changes to his starting XI, Arsenal played a rather tired side. They did, however, produce moments of almost-magic at the start and towards the end of the game, but couldn’t find the goal they were vying for.
In a match where there was very little to be impressed about from Arsenals point of view, let’s look at the potential ‘Man of the Match’ candidates for today’s game.
A) Laurent Koscielny:
Proving to be one of Arsenal’s most consistent players, Laurent Koscielny did not disappoint. Whenever the Teesiders seemed dangerous on the counter, he was there with his strong, perfectly timed tackles. Adama Traore’s constant threat was dealt firmly by Koscielny and his last ditch defending earned him a spot in today’s ‘Man of the Match’ feature.
B) Mohamed Elneny:
Started the game brightly for Arsenal. Popped up in midfield to make important interceptions and opened up players with his well-controlled balls. Elneny seemed to be operating as a link between the two ends initially but his effect eventually faded as the game went on.
C) Petr Cech:
Middlesborough could have made Arsene Wenger’s 67th birthday night a long one if it had not been Petr Cech guarding Arsenal’s goal. After making a sharp double save initially, Cech went on to deny Ramirez and Traore’s chances, to keep the game scoreless. Another well deserved clean sheet sees Petr Cech earn his 4th clean sheet of the campaign.
B) Alexis Sanchez:
Alexis might have been the shortest player on the field today, but certainly not the weakest. His strength allowed him to work so well protecting the ball. With almost everyone behind the ball for Boro, Alexis did wonderfully to get into good areas and play quick short passes. He also managed to test Valdes but to every Arsenal fan’s misery, couldn’t find the back of the net.
Verdict: Some players seemed off the radar after a tiring week for Arsenal, who sadly couldn’t finish it off perfectly. Arsenal have given the fans a lot to cheer about this week, but the fans will expect Arsene Wenger to figure something out to get back to winning ways in the Premier League against Sunderland next week. Arsenal are 11 games unbeaten now, however, thanks to today’s Man of the Match, Petr Cech. So there you go, Petr Cech takes this weeks award.
I think Petr Cech was the clear MOM. Thanks to him we avoided an embarrassing defeat after having 75% possession.
I agree that we had tired legs but that was entirely foreseeable and we have a big enough squad now to make changes. Instead we reverted to the slow stale backwards and forwards play which is bread and butter to teams who park 9 men behind the ball.
When Elneny first came to us, it was a breath of fresh air. We had suffered for too long with slow indecisive play and he was quick and efficient in receiving the ball and moving it on. On Saturday, he started by playing his way and he tried to link defence with attack.
Unfortunately, he gradually became absorbed into the malaise of negativity around him and his passes became sideways and back, just like the rest of the team. Chamberlain suffered the same fate and it was only when Lucas came on at the end of the game that we perked up a bit. Too little too late! Wenger has referred to the slow negative play himself and it seemed that he had finally found a way of replacing it with his brand of fast crisp football. It is up to him now to clamp down on eliminating this scourge of slow play which is costing us dearly. A little bit of Klopp psychology would do nicely.