Arsenal 4 – Portsmouth 1 match report: job done

Arsenal breezed past Portsmouth into the FA Cup 4th round with a comfortable 4-1 win. The Gunners’ heavily rotated side (Gabriel was the only starter from Liverpool not changed) were far too much for Pompey. There were plenty of positives for Arsenal to take from the match, the most important of which were resting players and not picking up any new injuries. The Gunners await the draw, which takes place on Monday the 12th.

Full credit to the home side. They came out pressing high, forced a turnover, and scored within the opening minutes. They continued to make it uncomfortable for Arsenal for the first 5-10 minutes of the match, forcing Arsenal to play faster than they wanted. If I were to watch it back, it likely looked and felt worse than it actually was. The Gunners were passing through and around the pressure well enough, but there were a bunch of nearly moments and it didn’t feel great. Arsenal equalized in the 8th minute and took the lead in the 25th, after all.

Kudos to Portsmouth for not trying to kick Arsenal off the pitch, too. So often in these cup matchups between big fish and lesser teams, the little guys resort to overly physical, dangerous play to try to even things out. Pompey had a plan to play high pressure football and they stuck to it. They were rewarded with their shock opening goal and a half chance or two to follow up.

Arsenal got a foothold in the match on their first set piece. Of course. The whipped in delivery caused all sorts of chaos and the bouncing ball caromed off the back of a defender’s leg into the net. It looked for a second like Christian Norgaard had tapped it in, but his touch came after the ball had already crossed the line. The Dane had a solid game deputizing at CB, as he did a few weeks ago. His ability to do a job there should not go unnoticed. It’s important that William Saliba (or whichever defender needs time) gets rest during cup matches.

Gabriel Martinelli was next in line to score from a corner. His glancing, near-post header was lovely. It was also far too easy. Portsmouth have struggled defending set pieces this season. It seems almost unfair to put them up against the best set piece team in Europe.

Arsenal should have been out of sight by halftime, but they were wasteful with their chances. Gabriel Martinelli hit the post when the net was wide open. It was a somewhat-difficult take, the ball took a deflection, was bouncing, and he had to jump to touch it goalwards, but he really should have done better. Noni Madueke took an extra touch and had a shot blocked on an excellent chance. Madueke also put a penalty wide after sending the keeper the wrong way with his hop-step approach.

You can see why Mikel Arteta doesn’t fully trust Noni Madueke. He was not strong enough under pressure, which lead to Pompey’s goal. He gave the ball away in a bad spot in the second half, too. He’s a bit wasteful in the box. He needs to improve the little things. He’s also undeniably an electric attacker. He makes things happen. That’s his yin and yang. He’s a bit too sloppy with the ball, but he almost always beats his man to create promising attacking moves. That’s the kind of player you want as a backup and rotational option. You’d expect him to improve, too. Let Mikel Arteta coach him up a bit more, and he could be a superstar.

Where Noni Madueke had an up and down match, Ebere Eze had a mostly down one. He was not nearly involved enough for my liking. He, his teammates, and Mikel Arteta need to figure out how he fits into the puzzle to maximize his talent. Everyone knows how good he is and can be. It’s just not clicking yet.

Eze’s fellow central midfielders, Mikel Merino and Ethan Nwaneri, were excellent. The Spaniard quietly glued everything together really well, doing an excellent Martin Zubimendi impression. Nwaneri’s speed on the ball stood out. He seemed well-suited to the up-tempo match, comfortably carrying the ball through the middle third at pace before distributing it wide. It was a welcome reminder of his quality and promise.

Arsenal made their midfield control count in the second half, albeit not directly. Both goals came from set pieces but it was the midfield domination that led to them. The Gunners had the run of the middle third. Portsmouth could only slow them down by fouling. On one of them, Myles Lewis-Skelly did really well to spot Gabriel Jesus with a quick free kick. The Brazilian hit a brilliant early ball across the face of goal for a sliding Gabriel Martinelli to touch home.

The fourth goal came minutes after Kai Havertz’s introduction, and the German was instrumental in the buildup. As he does (and was sorely missed), Havertz dropped deep to receive the ball. He turned, and with his usual economy of touches, played an excellent through ball to Noni Madueke. The shot was blocked out for a corner, and Gabriel Martinelli scored his hat trick goal in nearly identical fashion to his first — open, glancing header at the near post.

There really isn’t much to be unhappy about with today’s performance. Arsenal rotated a bunch of players, got guys some minutes (including a Marli Salmon cameo), controlled the game, and won comfortably. That’s all you should be asking for in early round cup matches. On to the next.