It was wasn’t it?! As the title suggests, so much went right during this game.
On a sunny day at The Emirates for the first home game of the season, expectations and excitement were high. A win on the opening day of the season at Old Trafford was the perfect start to the new season and now was the chance to build on that while also introducing a number of new faces to The Emirates faithful.
If all of that wasn’t enough, many Arsenal fans (myself included) were checking the usual Twitter accounts all day on the way to the game, with the vague hope that there might be a dream unveiling prior to kick off.
If that wasn’t enough, the sight of Max Dowman’s name amongst the substitutes added yet more anticipation and excitement.
I don’t get to attend many games at The Emirates these days due to a number of reasons but I always try my best to get to the first home game of the season as hopes and dreams are always flying high for the season ahead. I therefore made the trip down to London for this one and it felt like for this game in particular, the hopes and expectations were higher than they had been in a long time with all things considered.
There were a few hints prior to kick off that we might be getting a first glimpse of a new Arsenal player prior to kick off as there was a big of a congregation forming around the edge of the Arsenal tunnel. It had been nearly a year since I was at The Emirates so I wasn’t sure if this was normal but it certainly seemed a bit out of the ordinary (so I took the picture above). London Calling was then abruptly interrupted and someone emerged from the tunnel…
The noise was like nothing I’d heard at an Arsenal game before. It wasn’t like the cheer for a goal, although it was nearly almost as loud! It was more a reaction of shock and relief that then turned to unbridled joy and pride of finally seeing Eberechi Eze in the famous Arsenal shirt, the number 10 shirt no less! The former Arsenal youth player looked almost as stunned as the fans applauding him as he strolled onto the hallowed turf to rapturous applause and adulation from all those in red and white. The prodigal son had finally returned home to finish what he had started.
What a start to the day. I’ve personally never been to an Arsenal game where a new player had been introduced to the crowd so this is one of the list for me!
As the team was then announced, the attention then turned to today’s game and to whether Viktor Gyokeres could get off the mark today!
The game started quite well as Arsenal looked to capitalise on the party atmosphere that had been developing in the stands, with Madueke looking very lively early doors but as time worn on Leeds starting to get a bit of a foothold in the game. The away side then had the first real chance of the contest, as David Raya expertly tipped over from a header.
Shortly afterwards, Arsenal then broke the deadlock with Timber heading home for a corner yet another pinpoint Declain Rice corner to give Arsenal the lead. It then felt like the floodgates might open at this stage and we seemed to be playing with a lot more freedom but an apparent injury to Martin Odegaard disrupted our rhythm somewhat until Bukayo Saka opened his account for the season with a well worked second to give Arsenal a 2-0 nil heading into half time. A great time to score but the injury to Odegaard was already starting to dominate some of the half time chatter amongst the fans.
We didn’t have to wait long for another one of most Arsenal fans’ early season wishes to be granted as Viktor Gyokeres opened his account with a goal typical of our new striker.
The sort of goal that we’ve all seen from his highlight reel from his days at Sporting and that everyone (myself included) said couldn’t be replicated in the Premier League. Hopefully this is the first of many times that Viktor Gyokeres makes people eat their own words.
I’m not a big fan of the stadium announcer shouting the first name of the goalscorer for the crowd then to join in and shout the surname but there’s something about the way he shouted ‘Viktor’ that really did make me want to shout back with Gyokeres! It felt almost tribal in some way and reminded me of a scene from the 2004 film Troy where Achilles repeatedly shouts the name ‘Hector!’ to try and call out the General Hector for battle. For those who have seen the film, hopefully that helps to paint a bit if a picture! 😊
The next action of note was unfortunately the withdrawal of Bukayo Saka, who was cut down by another apparent hamstring injury, which dampened the mood a touch but this was temporarily forgotten when Jurrien Timber poked home from yet another set piece.
Cue a raft of substitutions and another moment to savour as The Emirates rose to greet the introduction of Max Dowman, the fifteen year old debutant who became the second youngest ever Arsenal, and Premier League, player of all time as he entered the fray with a good 30 minutes still to play. Dowman didn’t disappoint as he was into the action from the onset and had a few lovely, direct runs at his full back, albeit with mixed success but, with all of the purpose and drive that we have missed so much in these recent years. The modern game can become a bit rehearsed and overly tactical these days with the emphasis on retaining possession trumping the need to entertain and try things so a player like Dowman is a joy to behold. The final action was to see Dowman win a rather soft penalty in injury time, which many of the home fans were calling for him to take.
However, those same fans have long been calling out for a greedy striker and you can’t have it both ways and it was therefore the aforementioned ‘greedy striker’ who snatched the ball and promptly added the icing to the cake with a powerful finish from the spot.
So that was it.
Three points, check.
Eberechi Eze introduced pre match, check.
Clean sheet, check.
Customary set piece goal, double check.
Gyokeres first goal for the club, also double check.
A lively debut for the next Hale Ender off the conveyor belt, check.
So much to be positive about, yet those two key injuries to Odegaard and Saka left a dark cloud hanging over an other wise perfect evening for The Arsenal.
Fingers crossed for some good news on that front!