This rather pointless match between Arsenal and Qarabag had very little going for it, with the Azerbaijani side nailed to the bottom of Europa League group E and Arsenal comfortably through, without all the usual drama that ensues.
It was never going to be a spectacle with Qarabag appearing to be generally demotivated and unenthusiastic about the task ahead, against an Arsenal side that had been subjected to major changes.
Ozil and Koscielny were back after injury and there were the additions of Arsenal’s future, in the form of Bukayo Saka, Chris Willock, Eddie Nketiah and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who are growing in stature with every appearance and opportunity.
The game itself was a painful affair for the most part, difficult to extract any pleasure from and on a cold evening, hard to discover any level of excitement to generate body heat. Apart from Mesut Ozil, who showed genuine class on the ball and provided the only goal of the game after 17 minutes.
Nketiah’s outstretched leg pinched the ball and he fed Ozil, who sprinted forward into the box. The German’s exquisite touch fed Lacazette who added a powerful finish to thump the final nail in Qarabag’s Europa League coffin. The Emirates looked bare, with sizeable holes in the crowd. It was said that 58,000 tickets had been sold but either there was something good on the Telly or it was too cold for the majority to come out in support of the Champions League’s poor distant cousin.
It’s more likely the time of year with many fans having to spread the cost of the festive season, cherry picking the cluster of games ahead or it may be that the Europa league has significantly less appeal than the Champions league. Yet, Emery, to his credit, affords it with the same attention to detail as the Champions League, having won it three consecutive seasons in a row with Sevilla.
Despite questions regarding the competition’s credibility, if Arsenal were to win it in Emery’s first season, it will be a stroke of genius but it’s from this point on where the hard work starts. There are bigger and tougher games ahead that will stretch Arsenal’s resources to the max and test their desire and mentality. It was a night for the academy players to stake a claim for a first team slot and with the fixtures arriving thick and fast, a few will be given the chance.
Saka is certainly up there with any of the young prospects and both he and Nketiah could have appeared on the scoresheet but almost certainly, they will have better days. Nketiah had a goal ruled offside, which was a pity but his natural desire will see him come good in the future.
Willock gave a good account of himself, waspishly gathering up any wayward balls and snapping at heels when the opportunity came. Maitland-Niles was confident and assured and looked extremely good on his forays into the oppositions half but it would be nice to see him in the midfield occasionally to show his full quota of talent.
In fact, the academy players that Arsenal have invested time and money in could be regarded in the same way as the United side that contained Beckham, Scholes, the Neville’s and Giggs. That’s how good the potential is. The game was one in which the mind often drifted, looking for things to occupy itself and there were sloppy, careless and uneventful periods that made the game difficult to enjoy.
The fact that Qarabag were so unenthusiastic about this game, made Arsenal’s job easier and with the space, they were afforded, they should have plundered more than just a single goal. Yet, in the final analysis, this campaign has been a resounding success and hasn’t involved all the usual qualification drama. One suspects that had Qarabag managed to get back on terms, then Arsenal would have been forced to do more.
However, the multiple changes in personnel did impact on the flow and style of their football. It was almost as if the team was suffering a degree of jet lag, as the natural fabric was lost but as the game went on, it got better. Of course, this disruption and the surrendered space gave Ozil the opportunity to show off his collection of passes, that were three or four levels above what everyone else was playing.
This bodes well for a busy December and particularly, the tricky encounter against Southampton, who one suspects, will have more appetite for a scrap as they try to avoid the relegation vortex.
