Arsenal continued their glorious begin to the season with a 4-2 victory over Leicester City at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, with Gabriel Jesus bagging a double in what was a sensational dwelling debut from the Brazilian.
Leicester closed the deficit to only a single objective twice, firstly by William Saliba’s personal objective after which after James Maddison’s low angled strike discovered it is well beyond Aaron Ramsdale, however the Gunners hit again in model on each events – Granit Xhaka first capitalising on a goalkeeping howler from Danny Ward earlier than Gabriel Martinelli netted a terrific low effort.
The Gunners look like stuffed with confidence, coming off the again of a gradual pre-season, and there is a actual really feel good issue round north London that’s clear to see in the way in which Mikel Arteta’s gamers are going about their enterprise.
Here’s 5 things we learned about Arsenal from Saturday’s fixture…
While you possibly can say the Gunners had been in management from the outset, they failed to start out the sport with the depth and vitality ranges seen at Crystal Palace the earlier Friday.
The stiflingly scorching climate situations definitely made that a much more tough activity but it surely wasn’t till Jesus’ beautiful opener that the hosts actually clicked into gear.
The Brazilian’s chic end was paying homage to one thing the Arsenal trustworthy could have seen from Alexis Sanchez in his pomp, a second of magic that led to the all vital opening objective. The 25-year-old adopted it up simply 12 minutes later with a poacher’s objective to double his aspect’s benefit. What a distinction a high quality striker could make.
The a lot maligned Granit Xhaka has dramatically improved below Arteta’s administration and whereas many doubted his skill to play additional up the pitch, he has proved his doubters flawed in current weeks.
The Swiss worldwide presently performs because the ‘left quantity eight’ that means he typically finds himself trying to impression the sport within the remaining third. His instruction is to rise up alongside the play within the attacking section, primarily occupying the half areas and sometimes slotting into various areas to facilitate the left-back’s advances.
He saved the ball transferring brilliantly towards Leicester, including to the fluidity of the workforce’s attacking play and contributed a objective from a place he’d have by no means occupied in seasons prior.
At Crystal Palace final weekend, William Saliba was calmness personified – nothing appeared to faze him and regardless of his personal objective on Saturday it was extra of the identical. The Frenchman obtained all of the bodily attributes a Premier League centre-half requires to succeed – tempo, energy and a robust aerial presence.
Perhaps extra importantly than all the above, after heading the ball previous his personal goalkeeper – halving Arsenal’s lead on the time – Saliba was capable of put it behind him instantly, regain his composure and performed out the remainder of the match flawlessly.
Since becoming a member of from Manchester City the controversy round whether or not Oleksandr Zinchenko will primarily play in defence or midfield has rumbled on.
There’s little doubt the 25-year-old’s versatility was key in Arsenal’s resolution to signal the participant and judging by Saturday’s efficiency, he performs an enormous half within the workforce’s build-up no matter the place he begins on paper.
He typically tucked into the midfield to help within the press, made overlapping runs down the left-flank and performed passes by the attention of a needle with a view to break strains and instigate attacking phases of play.
There are nonetheless some questions relating to his defensive capabilities however there isn’t any doubt that Zinchenko provides one other dimension to the Gunners’ assault.
Arriving at Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon there was an air of anticipation and a really feel good issue across the place forward of the primary dwelling league fixture.
It’s taken a while but it surely lastly feels as if Arsenal are again on the correct path, a sense that is been enhanced by the way in which Mikel Arteta has come throughout within the current All or Nothing documentary.
The crowd caught with the Gunners and particularly William Saliba on the weekend. The moans and groans that may very well be heard ceaselessly contained in the stadium beforehand have since been changed by vocal assist.