Arsenal vs Lens: Instant Reaction
My thoughts at (mostly) the final whistle to Arsenal's match against Lens
A bit later by my thoughts at full time from the match.
Headline: A lesson in why teams sit deep against Arsenal
Arsenal have faced some of the deepest and most set defenses of any team in Europe. Using the measure of average defensive action faced as a proxy for defensive line height no one has faced a team closer to defending their own box than this Arsenal team.
Part of this is because Arsenal have dialed back the risk and speed that they attack with, favoring control and suffocating games. Part of that is because teams respect Arsenal and the attacking threat that they pose.
This (and most of the Champions League performances) was a good example of why that is the case.
Lens tried to play against Arsenal and actually didn’t do that bad with their performances.
The problem is that it only takes a few moments and a couple of openings for Arsenal to cut a team to ribbons.
Arsenal needed just a 25-minute stretch to kill this match and book their spot in the round of 16 as group winners. The moments weren’t even bad play from Lens.
1st. Gabriel Jesus has that DAWG winning a ball as if he were a much bigger man. Kai Havertz with good anticipation to score.
2nd. Decent from defending from Lens but Saka shows his strength to get a toe on the ball and Jesus has some sublime footwork.
3rd. Havertz wins a second ball, Martinelli cooks to put a good shot and Saka gives a tummy bump into goal.
4th. Tomi inadvertently turns a clearance into a through-ball for Martinelli (thank you for pressing and giving space!). He goes one-on-one creating space and puts in the corner.
Game Over. Thank you for coming.
The 5th was a nice icing on the cake but that 25 minutes was Arsenal back to their effervescent best, something that we have seen in fits and starts this season, and it was a welcome return.
Stock Rising: Kai Havertz
If you were to think back to the beginning of the season and describe what would be a good Kai Havertz match, it would probably look a lot like this.
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