Arsenal cruised into the fourth round of the League Cup with a fairly routine win over Ipswich Town at Portman Road with Max Dowman taking the plaudits following a star showing on the east coast, including a couple of goals in a 4-2 victory.
The lineup
I’ll be honest, this would had me scratching my head when I first saw it. With the injury to Ben White at the weekend, Jurrien Timber was left out as a precaution and apparently Piero Hincapie has also picked up a slight injury as well, which left Arsenal with a makeshift backline.
Kepa started in goal as expected and surprisingly Gabriel started the game, to bring some experience to the defence alongside right back for the day, Martin Zubimendi, college student Marli Salmon and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Into midfield it made a bit more sense, with Bruno Guimaraes and Mikel Merino in the engine room, with Max Dowman playing as the attacking midfielder ahead of them.
Up top it was again more predictable with what looks to be Arsenal’s current back-up frontline of Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze all given a run-out.
In terms of academy players, Theo Julienne and Ife Ibrahim were among the substitutes alongside the likes of Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.
The match
I’ll be honest again here, I missed the first 30 minutes due to my son’s football training so when I arrived home to watch the game, we were already 2-0 up, which is not a bad position to find yourself in! The goals themselves were both excellent, in their own way. The first was a lovely slaloming run through the Ipswich defence by Max Dowman, before a composed, no nonsense finish to open the scoring. The second came from impressive pressing from Dowman, Guimaraes and Merino, which led to the ball finding its way through to Madueke who finished with aplomb.
The whole time I was watching the game, it didn’t feel as comfortable as the scoreline often suggested, with Arsenal not looking particularly secure at the back, which is understandable given its makeup and Ipswich seemingly carrying a threat throughout, without every really testing Kepa.
Into the second half and I immediately felt a little better as Dowman stroked home a composed second, Arsenal’s third, following nice interplay on the edge of the Ipswich area by Martin Zubimendi, who I thought was excellent on the night.
Shortly after Arsenal had a fourth with Merino finishing with precision from the edge of the area, taking one touch from another incisive Guimaraes pass, before placing a left footed effort into the far corner, via the inside of the post.
Game over? It probably should have been (and it was really), but the substitutions from both sides had opposite effects for the two teams, with Ipswich carrying more threat after the introduction of Jack Clarke and Arsenal looking more and more disjointed in defence with Ezri Konsa replacing Gabriel at the break.
Clarke had an immediate impact as he set up the first Ipswich goal, though in truth they never really looked like getting back into the game with 25 minutes or so to play. Arsenal made further changes with Theo Julienne coming on for his debut at right back, followed by surprise introductions of Martin Odegaard and Christos Tzolis to see out the game.
Arsenal made one final change with Ife Ibrahim getting the last 5 minutes or so and looking decent in midfield, before Ipswich rounded off the scoring in stoppage time with Chuba Akpom’s (remember him?!) effort deflecting in off Ezri Konsa to give Akpom a moment of personal satisfaction, though the impact on the overall result was negligible.
Three things that made me smile
1. Academy players – these are different days to the Wenger era where we would see multiple debutants and teams being assembled entirely of academy players in this competition year on year, but it’s still nice to see the Hale End graduates getting a chance to play for the first team. It’s weird to think that I’m actually referring to Theo Julienne and Ife Ibrahim mainly, but we’ve got two players in Salmon and Dowman that are even younger, but somehow feel like first team players already, so it just hits a bit different somehow. Still nice to see them as well obviously, especially as we’ve barely seen them this year. Both Dowman and Salmon were excellent on the night and left us Gooners dreaming of what they might achieve for this come in years to come, so it was a very proud night for the academy.
2. Dowman – wow! – Touched on this a bit already, but wow, what a talent Max Dowman is. The goals aside, he just looks like a much more complete player than last season. Much better in his pressing, more diligent in his defending and somehow even better on the ball and with his decision making. Onto the goals, that first one is ridiculous. It just is. I remember watching it first time and thinking how the defender has had a nightmare there, but then I just think back to ‘that’ Everton goal and how those defenders looked a bit silly or the countless other defenders Dowman has left on the floor in his still fledgling career. It’s not the defenders…it’s him! He’s just so good. So silky on the ball, sharp, but somehow smooth movements, change of direction, the acceleration…what a player we have here! Finishes were class as well!
3. Martin Zubimendi looking back to his best – I’ve been getting quite worried about Zubimendi and where he fits into this squad, but on this sort of form, I needn’t have bothered. I’m not saying he’s going to oust either Declan Rice or Guimaraes for a starting spot in the big games, but he will get plenty of minutes this season and if he plays like this, he might just start knocking on that door. So calm on the ball, always seem to make the right decision, nice assist for Dowman’s second and just generally oozed class. We’ve got a decent squad here, you know.
Any concerns?
Feels like I’m trotting out the same horse every time with this one, but that was a truly worrying performance from Viktor Gyokeres. The touch count was low again, but it was the application and desire (or lack thereof) that was really concerning. I’ve seen players low on confidence before, but I don’t think I’ve seen a performance quite like this one. Clearly something wrong there. I’m not sure a goal or two is going to fix this either, so we have to hope that Arteta has something up his sleeve to turn the striker’s season around…and fast.
Not on the same level by any means, but Eze wasn’t great again either and looked for all the world like a central player being asked to play on the left as a favour. Just seems to lack the intensity to impact the game for any prolonged period and then when he gets a chance to shine, he snatches at it, as he’s so desperate to make his moments count. Like Gyokeres above, Arteta has some work to do here.
Final word
All in all, a great nights work. We got to see some great goals, had a glimpse at a really exciting future, gave some minutes to a few players who really needed it and went through to the next round of the League Cup. Can’t ask for anymore than that!
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