Goals from Timber and Saliba earn Gunners 2-0 win as they keep chasing the leaders Liverpool
Writing by John Tanko, December 5, 2024 1:33 am UTC+0
On Wednesday, Manchester United lost to Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium thanks to goals from two corner procedures, giving Ruben Amorim his first Premier League loss. After United frustrated them in the first half, the home team took the lead in the
54th minute when Jurrien Timber looked past Andre Onana at Declan Rice’s corner.
Onana stopped Kai Havertz from putting the home team ahead, and a few seconds after, replacement Mikel Merino came close to scoring from another corner.
Chelsea’s 5-1 thumping of Southampton puts Arsenal in third place on goal differential despite their win, but they cut the advantage to leaders Liverpool to seven points, while United is in eleventh place.
Similar to that, Arsenal doubled their lead, although this time from the other side.
How the match played
when Thomas Partey headed back over Bukayo Saka’s back-post-delivery, with William Saliba adding the final touch. Gabriel Martinelli’s goal from Havertz’s cushioned pass gave Arsenal the lead within the first five minutes, but the offside flag was raised with German before play began.
The Gunners nearly advanced through a corner routine despite missing the injured Gabriel Magalhaes, as Partey narrowly missed Saka’s throw.
In the second half, though, the home team did take the lead thanks to a well-executed set-piece, and Timber scored his first Arsenal goal by deftly flicking Rice’s corner in at the front post.
They kept threatening from the corners, and when Rice was about to make another in-swinging delivery, they nearly went two up.
off the line by Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee together.
But in the 73rd minute, Saliba guided the ball over the line when Partey’s header found him across goal, giving the Gunners the victory through another corner. Arsenal demonstrated that set-pieces are one of their weapons as they defeated a lacklustre first-half performance to win handily.
The Gunners failed to register a shot on goal in the first forty-five minutes and were unable to generate any clear-cut opportunities in the opening exchanges. However, they got off to a strong start after the half.
Timber picked up Partey’s chipped pass and dragged it back for Martin Odegaard. But rice, couldn’t get the final touch, but he picked out Timber for the first goal, demonstrating his effectiveness on set-piece responsibilities.
After that, Arsenal controlled the game, although their opponents gave them some nerve-wracking moments at the other end. Saliba gave them a two-goal lead, but they might have been able to score more.
Later, Merino headed just wide after Havertz’s near-post attempt was wonderfully stopped by Onana.
The Gunners’ next match is a London derby against Fulham at Craven Cottage, where Marco Silva will take over as manager and try to thwart Arsenal’s potent set pieces.