arsenal 2020–21 football season
The 2020–21 season was Arsenal ‘s 29th season in the Premier League, their 101st consecutive season in the lead flight of English football and their 104th season in the top flight overall. In addition to the domestic league, Arsenal participated in the FA Cup and participated in the EFL Cup. They besides qualified for the UEFA Europa League for the fourthly back-to-back year. Arsenal kicked off the temper by defeating league champions Liverpool in the FA Community Shield.
Arsenal finished eighth in their Premier League season, and following eliminations from the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, and the UEFA Europa League, they failed to qualify for european competitions for the first prison term since the 1994–95 season .
revue [edit ]
background [edit ]
Arsenal ‘s 2019–20 campaign had seen defensive frailties and a lack of creativity lead to a disappoint eighth-place end in the league, the club ‘s lowest for a quarter of a century, but a successful FA Cup operate and increasing promise under raw coach and early cup-winning captain Mikel Arteta gave them increased optimism for the season ahead. The season had been defined by a three-month lull between March and June, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ; indeed, it was head coach Arteta ‘s convinced test that led to the season ‘s hesitate, and when it returned, it was behind close up doors. The approaching temper was expected to continue in this manner. The league fixtures were released on 20 August, with Arsenal to kick off the raw season away at newly promoted Fulham on 12 September. [ 1 ] soon after, the baseball club announced plans to allow fans back into the Emirates Stadium in time for their home meet with Sheffield United on 3 October. [ 2 ]
August [edit ]
The club ‘s first major transfer of the season came on 14 August, with erstwhile Chelsea winger Willian signing a three-year compress. He had previously featured 339 times for the Blues over a enchantment of seven years, scoring 63 goals and winning two Premier League titles, a FA Cup, a League Cup and one UEFA Europa League. [ 3 ] Following the passing of adjunct coach and former interim coach Freddie Ljungberg, [ 4 ] Arsenal permanently signed January loanees Cédric Soares and Pablo Marí, [ 5 ] with the latter arrive for a fee of £7 million. Two days later, following the players ‘ revert from a two-week dampen, Arsenal played their alone pre-season friendly, at Stadium MK against League One side Milton Keynes Dons. Mohamed Elneny, Emile Smith Rowe, Daniel Ballard, Tyreece John-Jules, James Olayinka and William Saliba were all making their first appearances back from loan spells elsewhere ; Saliba and a host of early youth-teamers made their debuts for the club. Arsenal took an early run after Elneny took advantage of a poor people headroom from goalkeeper Lee Nicholls with a long-range feat. A flowing team move ending with Bukayo Saka setting up Eddie Nketiah for a complete made it 2–0, before Rob Holding ‘s own goal halved the deficit. A header from youth-teamer Mark McGuinness made it 3–1 recently on, before Reiss Nelson scored a punishment he himself had won as the match ended 4–1 to Arsenal. [ 6 ]
Community Shield [edit ]
Arsenal kicked off their temper by taking separate in the FA Community Shield for the twenty-fourth time in their history, against last year ‘s runaway Premier League champions Liverpool. Liverpool initially dominated the contest, but in the 12th hour, Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang received the ball from youngster Bukayo Saka and then cut away from young Liverpool right-back Neco Williams, before bending a shoot into the bed left-hand corner. Liverpool grew second into the game and equalised late on through Takumi Minamino. The equal ended 1–1 and went straight to penalties. Liverpool ‘s Rhian Brewster was the lone man to miss as Arsenal clinched their 16th Community Shield, with Aubameyang scoring the winning penalty. [ 7 ]
September [edit ]
Arsenal ‘s first gear major natural process of September was the £23 million sign of Lille centre-back Gabriel, with whom they had been linked for weeks. Gabriel signed after a promise 2019–20 season with the french club, his one-third full but his first at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy ; he had spent the previous two seasons on loanword at Avai and Dinamo Zagreb. [ 8 ] Less than a week late, the baseball club announced they had re-signed influential central midfielder Dani Ceballos on a second consecutive lend while from real Madrid. Ceballos had made 37 appearances in 2019–20, scoring twice, contributing two assists and providing a potent influence from a deep-lying position. [ 9 ] The Gunners began their Premier League campaign away at Craven Cottage against newly promoted Fulham. Both brazilian signings, Willian and Gabriel, made their debuts in a comfortable 3–0 win. Alexandre Lacazette opened the marking in the one-eighth minute with a left-footed shoot after a spill by Fulham goalkeeper Marek Rodák. Willian hit the post with a exempt kick soon afterwards before delivering an excellent corner four minutes into the second half for Gabriel to nod in for a introduction goal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wrapped up the three points with a antic fall into the corner to finish of a fine team affect, with Willian getting another assist after a fine switched ball. [ 10 ] On 16 September, captain Aubameyang signed a raw three-year contract with the club, with reports suggesting his wage was now “ in the region of £250,000 ” a week. [ 11 ] Three days by and by, the club played their first home match of the season against West Ham United, whom they had last played in their final game before lockdown. The Gunners took a first-half lead after Alexandre Lacazette powerfully headed in Aubameyang`s chipped hybrid — the Frenchman ‘s fiftieth goal in all competitions for the club — before West Ham levelled through Michail Antonio on the stroke of half-time, after a annihilating counter-attack. The Hammers dominated the second base period, hitting the bar through Antonio and wasting numerous goalscoring opportunities before Arsenal clinched all three points with five minutes to go as Spaniard Dani Ceballos squared the ball for Eddie Nketiah to tap in the winner. [ 12 ] Arsenal opened their league Cup campaign away at then-league leaders Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. Arsenal had not lost a third-round marry since a 1–2 revoke at family to Southampton in the 2014–15 version of the contest at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners comfortably won the draw 2–0 ; a christian Fuchs own goal in the 57th moment was followed by a 90th-minute second base from Eddie Nketiah to seal the gain and a fourth-round affiliation away to Liverpool for the second consecutive year. [ 13 ] Following the Leicester succeed, Arsenal faced back-to-back games against league champions Liverpool at Anfield in the distance of four days. First, a Premier League encounter with the Reds ended in a 3–1 get the better of, the Gunners ’ first of the season ; Alexandre Lacazette opened the score for the third consecutive league match after an error by Andrew Robertson, but Liverpool promptly responded with a Sadio Mané goal before Robertson atoned for his erroneousness by flicking the ball past Bernd Leno to give Liverpool the lead. Lacazette failed to convert a one-on-one with Alisson halfway through the second half, while utility and debutant Diogo Jota got on the scoresheet with two minutes remaining to seal a Liverpool victory. [ 14 ]
October [edit ]
armory cursorily avenged their league kill by narrowly progressing past Liverpool in the third base orotund of the League Cup at Anfield. Two much-changed sides were deadlocked for much of the contest, with both goalkeepers, notably Arsenal ’ s man-of-the-match Bernd Leno, producing a number of terrific stops. The game finally finished scoreless and went to penalties ; everybody but Mohamed Elneny and Divock Origi scored, leading to sudden death ; after Harry Wilson saw his descry kick saved by Leno, Joe Willock scuffed a shoot through the legs of Liverpool goalkeeper Adrián to win the tie for Arsenal 5–4 on penalties. The Gunners progressed to the quarter-finals, where they would face seven-time winners and defending champions Manchester City. [ 15 ] A day late, the draw for the Europa League group phase was made ; Arsenal were drawn in Group B aboard norwegian outfit Molde, Austria ‘s Rapid Wien and Irish champions Dundalk. [ 16 ] Arsenal headed into the international respite on the back of even another acquire at the Emirates, this clock time against pointless and scoreless Sheffield United ; two goals in the distance of 190 seconds, first a header from Bukayo Saka and then an accurate finish from substitute Nicolas Pépé just after the hour stigmatize effectively sealed the gain, despite Sheffield United getting a late goal back after a fine long-range feat from David McGoldrick for a 2–1 scoreline. On remove deadline day, 5 October, Arsenal signed Atlético Madrid ‘s ghanaian central midfielder Thomas Partey, having paid his £45 million unblock clause. Two loan departures from the club besides occurred : Lucas Torreira went the reverse steering to the spanish club while Mattéo Guendouzi moved to german club Hertha Berlin. The club announced 55 redundancies related to COVID-19 fiscal stress, including their mascot, Gunnersaurus. A fundraiser had been set up for Jerry Quy, who had played Gunnersaurus for 27 years, [ 17 ] and Mesut Özil offered to pay his wage. [ 18 ] The Gunners returned from the external break with a disappointing 1–0 get the better of at Manchester City. They fell behind early on to Raheem Sterling ’ s well-taken finish, and failed to actually threaten City, despite forcing Ederson into several chic saves and having a punishment waved off for an apparent high foot by Kyle Walker. [ 19 ] On October 20, Arsenal submitted their 25 man squad for the Premier League which excluded Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Özil. This sparked a social media struggle between Özil and the clubhouse, with the former claim “ loyalty is hard to come by. ” [ 20 ] It is to be believed that Özil will no turn for the club again in a competitive equal. [ 20 ] The baseball club then played their first-ever game against austrian side Rapid Wien. Arsenal had so far failed to win a competitive connect in Austria after former attempts against Sturm Graz in the second round of the 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and against Austria Wien in the first base round of the 1991–92 european Cup. They struggled to break down the hosts, and fell behind early in the moment half to Taxiarchis Fountas ’ randomness strike, after Bernd Leno ’ s erroneousness. however the Gunners, led by debutant and man-of-the-match Thomas Partey, turned the game around, equalising through David Luiz before winning through ersatz Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ’ s goal sixteen minutes from time. [ 21 ] This victory, however, was promptly followed by a bitterly disappoint 1–0 family kill to Leicester City in the one-sixth matchweek of the Premier League. The Gunners were controversially denied an opener with Alexandre Lacazette ’ s fourth-minute header, as VAR ( Video Assistant Referee ) adjudged Granit Xhaka to have been offside in the build-up to the goal, despite not having intelligibly interfered with the play. Despite this reverse, Arsenal went on to have a potent first one-half, but faded away in the second half, with lone Hector Bellerin ’ s cutthroat volley on 68 minutes seriously testing the Leicester back line. The Foxes snatched three points and the win late on, with Youri Tielemans ’ second simple ball over the top find oneself stand-in Cengiz Under, who volleyed across to find fellow bomber Jamie Vardy, who grabbed the winner by heading in his eleventh finish against the Gunners in all competitions. [ 22 ] A count of outskirt players, including debuting goalkeeper Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson, played as the Gunners continued their perfect Europa League startle by cruising past irish english Dundalk 3–0. In their first-ever plot against irish resistance, they struggled to break down the visitors, until a misjudgement by 39-year previous goalkeeper Gary Rogers equitable before half-time talented Eddie Nketiah his tenth goal for Arsenal in all competitions. Joe Willock fired in a moment minutes later, before Nicolas Pépé bent a terrific right-footed shot into the top corner for his one-tenth goal for Arsenal in all competitions as well. Late in the second half, Folarin Balogun made his debut as a stand-in as the match ended in a comfortable victory. [ 23 ]
November [edit ]
On 1 November, Arsenal headed away to Old Trafford to take on traditional rivals Manchester United. In the first half, neither team was able to score, although after a copulate half-chances Willian and Bukayo Saka came the closest to scoring ; the former hit the crossbar in the 39th infinitesimal, and the latter headed undisputed over the measure just before halftime. In the 68th minute, Paul Pogba clipped the ankle of Héctor Bellerín as the Spaniard tried to collect a guide from Willian just inside the box, and referee Mike Dean awarded the punishment. [ 24 ] Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang successfully converted the penalty for his second base Premier League finish of the temper and his inaugural since the season opener at Fulham by slotting the ball into the bed right corner of the finish as David de Gea dived in the other focus. [ 25 ] The Gunners were able to successfully defend their specialize lead and earn their first away win against another “ big six ” team in about five years ; the last such victory came at the Etihad Stadium against Manchester City on 18 January 2015, which Arsenal won 2–0. The victory was besides Arsenal ‘s foremost away win against Manchester United since 17 September 2006, which was besides a 1–0 affair. [ 26 ] The Gunners followed up the Old Trafford match with a foremost ever competitive meet with Molde FK at the Emirates Stadium, securing a third consecutive win in all competitions via a 4–1 scoreline. They were, however, made to work for it, as they fell behind to Martin Ellingsen ’ s well-taken rap halfway through the foremost half. Two Molde own goals from Kristoffer Haugen before half time and substitute Sheriff Sinyan just after the hour score put Arsenal into the moderate, before two well-taken recently goals from Nicolas Pépé and Joe Willock padded the Gunners ‘ lead. [ 27 ] The calendar month ended with the FA Cup third-round pull, in which the holders Arsenal would start their title defense at home plate to Newcastle United. [ 28 ] The run of good human body was ended when the Gunners lost at dwelling to Aston Villa 3–0, marking the fourth time in the past five seasons that Arsenal had been beaten by three or more goals at the Emirates Stadium. Villa took the run when a well-worked move involving Jack Grealish, Ross Barkley and Trezeguet ended with the lattermost ’ s cross being turned in for an own goal by Bukayo Saka. Another great move ended with Barkley volleying the ball across the goal to Ollie Watkins, who had scored a hat-trick in the Villans ‘ 7–2 win over defending champions Liverpool the previous calendar month, to head in. A western fence lizard counterattack three minutes later ended in Watkins ’ second and Villa ’ south third base to seal the result of the game. [ 29 ] Mohamed Elneny and Sead Kolasinac both tested incontrovertible for COVID-19 on external duty for Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina respectively, and a thigh injury to Thomas Partey against Villa left the Gunners weakened upon their trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United. The foremost half was dull and scoreless, but early in the second half, a headbutt on Ezgjan Alioski earned Nicolas Pépé a crimson card. From there, Leeds dominated, forcing Bernd Leno into several saves despite wasting numerous chances, including hitting the woodwork three times. however, Arsenal managed to hold on for a 0–0 draw. [ 30 ] The Gunners then made the trip to Norway to take on Molde again in the Europa League group stage. once more, they started unsteadily, with Sheriff Sinyan, scorekeeper of the second gear own goal in the inaugural match between the two sides, missing an open goal in an attack to redeem himself. At half time, it was 0–0, but once again the Gunners came back with three second base half goals. After Nicolas Pépé hit the crossbar with a ticket curl up attempt on 48 minutes, the Ivorian atoned for his bolshevik batting order at Elland Road by firing in Joe Willock ‘s overhit cross, before an Eddie Nketiah goal was ruled out for offside. A fine, flowing team motivate ended with Reiss Nelson tapping in boyfriend academy alumnus Willock`s low cross for the irregular goal five minutes late. Late in the irregular half, Folarin Balogun, on barely his second elder appearance, scored within 30 seconds of coming as a utility. He received the musket ball from colleague substitute and academy alumnus Emile Smith Rowe and swivelled before beating goalkeeper Andreas Linde from near range to wrap up a comfortable 3–0 gain and book their places in the hard stages with two games to go. [ 31 ] The side then returned to Premier League action in a crucial home meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers. As David Luiz and Wolves striker Raúl Jiménez battled for a intersect from Willian in the one-fifth minute, a clang of heads between the two resulted in a arrest of play. Jiménez suffered a serious mind injury that forced him to be stretchered off, while Luiz received on-field discussion and had to be bandaged for a head scent ; the latter was finally taken off at half fourth dimension out of caution. Wolves however took the contribute through Pedro Neto on 27 minutes after Leander Dendoncker ‘s header rebounded off the crossbar. however, good three minutes late, a short, well-worked corner saw Willian find the principal of fellow brazilian Gabriel to might home. It was the Gunners ‘ first finish in open play in the Premier League since 4 October against Sheffield United, but despite having several early great chances, they fell to a third home league defeat in a row after Daniel Podence vigorously finished before the break. [ 32 ]
December [edit ]
The Christmas time period began with the return of fans to the Emirates Stadium for the beginning time in nine months as Arsenal took on Rapid Wien in the fifth Europa League group degree game. A arresting long-range finish from Alexandre Lacazette gave the Gunners an early lead, which they added to with Pablo Marí ‘s first base goal for the club in equitable his fourth appearance, after a long-run ankle injury sustained in June. A very well excrete be active just before half-time culminated in Eddie Nketiah being denied from close-range by goalkeeper Richard Strebinger before heading in the recoil. barely after half-time, hitter Koya Kitagawa pulled one back for the visitors before substitute Emile Smith Rowe capped off a dominant expose with his first goal of the season on precisely his second appearance ( both as a substitute ) to cap off a 4–1 victory for Arsenal. [ 33 ] once again, Arsenal failed to take their terrific european form into their domestic games. This time, Mikel Arteta ‘s side fell to another disappoint get the better of, their fifth in seven league games, in the North London bowler hat against Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham capitalized on individual defensive errors with first-half goals from Son Heung-min and Harry Kane on buffet attacks to condemn the Gunners to a 2–0 frustration. Arsenal failed to be clinical having numerous half-chances as the side registered good two shots on target to Spurs ‘ three. Spurs went top of the league after the gain, while Arsenal slumped to 15th. [ 34 ] Arsenal recovered by completing a perfect european group stage for the first time in the club ‘s history when they beat Dundalk 4–2 in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin as their first-ever baseball club game in the Republic of Ireland ended in a achiever. Eddie Nketiah scored his fifth goal of the season, Mohamed Elneny got his first goal in closely three years, Joe Willock scored his third of the crusade, and Folarin Balogun contributed with a goal and an aid after coming on as a substitute. [ 35 ] Against Burnley on 13 December at dwelling, a crimson card for Granit Xhaka and an own goal by club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sealed a succeed for the visitors. [ 36 ] Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ended his five-game goal drought with a second-half equalizer in a 1–1 home draw with Southampton, cancelling out early Arsenal musician Theo Walcott ‘s finish on his Emirates Stadium homecoming. There were more disciplinary problems as Gabriel was sent off for two jaundiced cards in a bridge of four minutes. [ 37 ] Aubameyang picked up a calf injury which kept him out of the starting lineup of the 2–1 Premier League frustration at Goodison Park against Everton. A Rob Holding own goal and a Yerry Mina header on either side of Nicolas Pépé ‘s converted penalty before half-time gave the Toffees the win, with David Luiz coming closest for Arsenal in the moment half when he hit the military post with a well-struck half-volley. [ 38 ] This was followed by a piercingly disappoint performance against Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium in the League Cup quarter-finals. Gabriel Jesus scored for City inside two minutes and although Alexandre Lacazette equalised against the campaign of play, second-half goals from Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Aymeric Laporte gave City a comfortable 4–1 win, as Arsenal ‘s League Cup run came to an end in the quarter-finals for the second gear prison term in three years. [ 39 ] however, this was followed by a dramatic win over Chelsea at dwelling in the Premier League, Arsenal ‘s beginning in closely two months. Aubameyang was still struggling with a calf injury as Mikel Arteta reshuffled his side, giving starts to youngsters Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe, with Pablo Marí making his first league appearance and start of the temper and Granit Xhaka returning from his suspension. In the thirty-third hour, the swiss midfielder found Kieran Tierney with a float pass to the left field side of the field. Tierney cut inside past Chelsea right back Reece James, who clipped the Scotsman ‘s ankles inside the box. Referee Michael Oliver immediately awarded the penalty, which Alexandre Lacazette converted past Édouard Mendy. Before halftime, Xhaka scored a spectacular rid kick to increase Arsenal ‘s lead. In the second half, Arsenal continued to add to their lead. After receiving a base on balls from Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka seemed to attempt a crossbreed to the far post, but his errant pass managed to check Mendy and find the top corner. Arsenal about managed to add a fourth when a Saka corner in the eighty-fourth moment fell to Mohamed Elneny on the border of the box, but the Egyptian ‘s half-volley rattled off the crossbar. Less than two minutes late, a crabbed from Callum Hudson-Odoi was chested in by Tammy Abraham, which, after VAR ruled it to be correctly onside, made the score 3–1. In stop meter, Pablo Marí conceded a former penalty when he clipped Mason Mount in the box, giving Chelsea the opportunity to halve the deficit. however, Jorginho, a second-half substitute, had his topographic point complain saved by Bernd Leno to cap off a 3–1 victory for the Gunners. [ 40 ] [ 41 ] A hard-fought 1–0 win away to Brighton at the Amex Stadium saw Arsenal resurrect to thirteenth after spending the former five matchweeks at fifteenth place. After a run by Bukayo Saka down the leave in the sixty-sixth minute, the child found Alexandre Lacazette, who scored precisely 29 seconds after coming on in the 66th moment. Despite Saka limping off late with an injury, the three points ensured Arsenal ended 2020 on a high. [ 42 ]
January [edit ]
Arsenal hoped to win their third straight league game in a row and started off 2021 away to West Brom at The Hawthorns, who had conceded thirteen goals in their former three league games. A blizzard before and during the game made for less-than-ideal conditions, but Arsenal were on the battlefront foot from the depart, and a crossbreed from Bukayo Saka to the back post proved to be fair besides far for captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the fifteenth minute. Arsenal opened the score in the twenty-third infinitesimal when Kieran Tierney ran in from the left past Darnell Furlong and curled in a changeable past Sam Johnstone. Five minutes subsequently, Alexandre Lacazette passed out to Emile Smith Rowe on the right side of the box, who found the onrushing Saka, who in turn tapped in Arsenal ‘s second finish of the game. In the closing minutes of the first base half, Héctor Bellerín received a scandalmongering card for a deep rigging on Conor Gallagher ; this was the Spaniard ‘s sixth yellow card of the season and a league-leading scratch at the clock. Two minutes into the second half, West Brom came the closest they were to scoring all game when winger Matheus Pereira ‘s inject across finish hit the far post and Callum Robinson put in the rebound from just outside of the box for West Brom, but the finish was ruled out due to Pereira being offside. An early second-half substitution saw Ainsley Maitland-Niles replace Bellerín at right back, so as to avoid the danger of the Spaniard receiving a second yellow and a subsequent red tease and suspension. In the sixtieth minute, Arsenal continued to pad their lead. A hybrid from Saka from the right was closely put in by West Brom defender Semi Ajayi, who hit the mail. The bounce fell to Smith Rowe, whose shot was parried away by Johnstone but fell to Lacazette, who slotted in the third base Gunners goal of the game. The french striker added a fourth goal and his irregular of the game minutes former after connecting with a Tierney hybridization a few yards in front man of the goal. The mark remained the same and the game finished 4–0. Along with the Gunners ‘ third win in a row, this was the moment straight clean sheet for Bernd Leno and the first time all season that Leno has had consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League. With the winnings, Arsenal moved up to eleventh and their goal dispute became positive for the beginning time since early November. [ 43 ] [ 44 ] [ 45 ] Arsenal began their FA Cup defense in the third base round of golf against fellow Premier League side Newcastle United at family on 9 January. At halftime, the score was 0–0, as neither side was able to break the deadlock, though Arsenal had more of the chances. In the second base half, Joe Willock ‘s header in the sixty-fifth minute and Newcastle striker Andy Carroll ‘s strike in irregular half stop clock time, both of which forced close-range saves out of Martin Dúbravka and Bernd Leno, respectively, represented each team ‘s best opportunity to score. In the concluding moments of the second half, referee Chris Kavanagh sent off Emile Smith Rowe with a straight red wag for a dirty on Sean Longstaff, but after VAR recapitulation, the crimson tease was downgraded to a yellow. In the first half of extra time, despite Arsenal continuing to dominate the chances, they were ineffective to score ; Granit Xhaka ‘s fusillade from outside the box was tipped over the crossbar by Dúbravka, while a potential punishment was dismissed by Kavanagh and VAR when Matt Ritchie tripped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the latter attempted to dribble past the former into the box. Smith Rowe was able to redeem himself early in the second half of extra time as he chested down a happen from Alexandre Lacazette before firing a shot from a mean angle across the goal and off the cheeseparing mail to put Arsenal ahead. A few minutes late, Aubameyang sealed the acquire for the Gunners when he tapped in a broken cross from Kieran Tierney. With the 2–0 acquire, Arsenal advanced to the one-fourth round off. [ 46 ] [ 47 ] The Gunners returned to Premier League action on 14 January at home against Crystal Palace, hoping to make it five wins in a course in all competitions. however, neither team was able to find the back of the net income, and the game finished 0–0. The Eagles landed nine shots in the inaugural half, which was the most that Arsenal had given up the first half in a home Premier League game all season. All game, the visitors had more of the higher quality chances. James Tomkins ‘ header from an Eberechi Eze free kick in the thirty-ninth minute hit the crossbar, while christian Benteke ‘s header from a Tyrick Mitchell hybrid minutes former was parried wide by Bernd Leno. On the other hand, Arsenal struggled to seriously trouble Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, and arguably their best performer was Granit Xhaka, who put in key tackles to stop Wilfried Zaha on respective counterattacks. One silver lining that Arsenal could take away from the scoreless draw was that they kept a one-fourth straight clean tabloid and their third base straight in league competition. [ 48 ] [ 49 ] For the moment clock in nine days, Arsenal welcomed Newcastle United to the Emirates Stadium, this fourth dimension in league competition. Like in the previous brush, neither team was able to score in the first half, despite a approach miss in the fifteenth minute when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the stake from a close lean. however, this fourth dimension, Arsenal managed to secure the victory in regulation time. In the fiftieth minute, Thomas Partey, who made his first Premier League start since early December, hit a long pass out to Aubameyang out on the forget, who in turn took on and ran past Newcastle right-back Emil Krafth before hitting a left-footed strike past Karl Darlow. Ten minutes former, another fire down the left side of the field resulted in a irregular goal when Bukayo Saka struck home Emile Smith Rowe ‘s low cross. Arsenal continued to utilize their effective wing meet, this clock time from the right side of the battlefield. Saka found the overlapping right-back Cédric, who ran along the goal lineage before flashing a pass across goal that found Aubameyang for the latter ‘s second goal of the plot. The 3–0 win saw Arsenal extend their unbeaten streak in league competition. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] Southampton ‘s gain over Shrewsbury Town in the third base beat of the FA Cup meant that Arsenal would face the Saints in consecutive away games at St Mary ‘s Stadium within a four-day straddle. The first of these meetings was a fourth attack FA Cup match on 23 January. An own finish from Gabriel, who deflected a changeable by Southampton right-back Kyle Walker-Peters past Bernd Leno, proved to be the deviation, handing the Saints a 1–0 acquire and ending the Gunners ‘ six-match unbeaten streak in all competitions. Che Adams and James Ward-Prowse besides came close to scoring for Southampton, while a potential penalty call from Shane Long was dismissed by referee Peter Bankes. On the other hand, Eddie Nketiah ‘s deflect guess in the second half was Arsenal ‘s best prospect of scoring the whole game, and Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster was rarely called into action. With the personnel casualty, Arsenal, the cup holders, were knocked out of the competition, while Southampton advanced to the one-fifth beat to face Wolverhampton Wanderers. notably, this was the first time in five attempts that Southampton defeated Arsenal in the FA Cup. For coach Mikel Arteta, this was his first loss in fifteen FA Cup games as either a musician or a director since he played in a fifth round passing to Blackburn Rovers in the 2012–13 FA Cup. [ 52 ] [ 53 ] [ 54 ] In the second of these meetings, this meter a Premier League couple on 26 January, both teams got on the board early. In the third minute, a recess from James Ward-Prowse found Stuart Armstrong on the edge of the box, and the Scotsman powered a half-volley past Bernd Leno. however, Arsenal was able to capitalize on the absences of both of the Saints ‘ common starting full-backs, those being left-back Ryan Bertrand ( serving a one-match ban due to yellow poster collection ) and right-back Kyle Walker-Peters ( out due to a quadriceps injury ). A few minutes after the Saints ‘ opening finish, Granit Xhaka cut a pass between Saints defenders Yan Valery and Jan Bednarek to find Nicolas Pépé, who held off Valery and fired past Alex McCarthy to the far post to level the grudge. In the thirty-ninth hour, Alexandre Lacazette played a travel by to Bukayo Saka, who managed to get past Jake Vokins. McCarthy rushed outside of his punishment box to confront Saka before pulling back to avoid committing a cruddy, but the Southampton goalkeeper ‘s mistake allowed Saka to well get around him and tap in a second finish for the Gunners. In the irregular half, Arsenal sought to extend their lead and close out the game. A high floating run from Cédric found Saka across the field in the seventy-second hour, and this time, Saka turned provider for Lacazette. A first time low cross from Saka found the french striker, who ran between and past Southampton center-backs Bednarek and Jack Stephens to tap in Arsenal ‘s one-third finish. Despite a threaten free kick back from Ward-Prowse belated in the game that forced Leno to parry it away, Arsenal hang on for the 3–1 win, which saw Arsenal render to the top ten-spot for the first time all temper since Matchday 7 at the begin of November. [ 55 ] [ 56 ] [ 57 ] Arsenal finished off the month by welcoming rivals Manchester United to the Emirates Stadium on 30 January. Both teams were evenly matched and had several opportunities each to score. In the twentieth minute, a corner from Luke Shaw, headed away by Rob Holding, fell to Fred barely outside the box to scoop it towards the top recess, forcing a fingertip save from Bernd Leno. curtly before the hour score, a sequence of passes by Manchester United in and around the box ended up with Shaw laying off a pass to Edinson Cavani, but under heavy pressure from Cédric, the Uruguayan striker flashed the blastoff wide from six yards out. In the sixty-fifth hour, Alexandre Lacazette hit the crossbar with a loose kick back from the edge of the box. Less than a hour later, with Arsenal placid on the attack, Cédric hit a loop cross into the box that met the head of Victor Lindelöf and fell to an unmarked Emile Smith Rowe, whose low shoot towards the buttocks corner forced de Gea to get down promptly and parry it away. A late substitution saw norwegian attacking midfielder Martin Ødegaard, who had precisely signed on lend from Real Madrid until the end of the season, make his debut for the Gunners, coming on in place of Smith Rowe. In the eighty-ninth minute, Manchester United had the chance to steal the win, but a lapse in communication meet Cavani and Anthony Martial in the same localization trying to connect with a intersect from Aaron Wan-Bissaka. It was the former who got there first, but his scissor-kick only managed to divert the ball precisely wide of the post. The 0–0 tie intend that both teams shared the points, and Arsenal maintained their seven-game unbeaten streak in the league and a circus tent ten placing. [ 58 ] [ 59 ]
February [edit ]
On 2 February, Arsenal traveled to Molineux to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the Gunners dominated the game for most of the beginning half. Bukayo Saka had two early shots on target, including one that hit the mail in the inaugural minute, before apparently scoring in the ninth minute. A pull-back pass from Alexandre Lacazette was met with a half-volley from the edge of the box by Saka, but VAR quickly disallowed the finish, having found Lacazette offside on a knock-on header from Rob Holding. Arsenal continued to lay on the coerce and had another close miss when Emile Smith Rowe laid off a pass for the onrushing Nicolas Pépé, who could only managed to hit the carpentry. Minutes late, after wriggling past Nélson Semedo and nutmegging Rúben Neves, the Ivorian winger curled the ball to the far post and in to finally put Arsenal on the board. In first-half stop time, Daniel Podence played a pass between Arsenal defenders Holding and David Luiz to the advancing Willian José. As the Wolves striker continued his run into the box, his heel struck the knee of David Luiz and brought down both brazilian players. Despite the minimal contact, characterized as “ accidental ” by NBCSN commentators Peter Drury and Phil Neville, referee Craig Pawson immediately brandished a red tease to David Luiz, a call with which VAR referee Jon Moss agreed. With Arsenal depressed to ten players, Rúben Neves curled the penalty into the top corner to bring Wolves floor and turn the tide of the bet on. A few minutes into the moment half, a strike by João Moutinho from 25 yards out hit the post and fly in past a dive Bernd Leno to put Wolves into the lead. Arsenal ‘s misfortunes were compounded on in the seventh-second minute with their second gear red card of the game, this time for Leno. Semedo played a long ball for the rapid Adama Traoré to chase, but the slightly overhit pass was met first by Leno merely outside of the box. In a desperate attempt to parry the ball away from Traoré, the german misjudged the bounce of the ball and scooped it out of bounds with his pass, an illegal action for goalkeepers outside of their own penalty area. Pawson once again brought out a crimson poster for the misdemeanor, reducing Arsenal to fair nine players for the remainder of the match, while backup goalkeeper Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson came on in finish. Arsenal were unable score again, and the 2–1 loss saw their fetching streak came to an end, while Wolves completed a league double over Arsenal and snapped an eight-game winless mottle. [ 60 ] [ 61 ] [ 62 ] Arsenal continued their Premier League campaign on 6 February with another aside game at Villa Park against Aston Villa and former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who had signed with the Villans in the summer transfer window. The Gunners hoped to overturn the 3–0 loss from earlier in the temper, but an early goal from the home side within 75 seconds turned out to be the only finish all game. John McGinn tried to play a through die to Ollie Watkins, but it was cut out by Gabriel, who touched it to Cédric. The portuguese full-back immediately tried to play it back to Gabriel, but the weight of the pass was not enough, and Bertrand Traoré rushed in to intercept it. Traoré then ran past Gabriel before crossing it to Watkins, who fired through the legs of Rob Holding. The deflection off Holding ‘s legs was adequate to take it past the reach of Mathew Ryan, who was deputizing in goal for the red-card-suspended Bernd Leno. The best opportunity from Arsenal to tie it up came from a Granit Xhaka free kick in the twenty-ninth hour that was tipped over by Martínez. The 1–0 loss saw Aston Villa complete their first league double over Arsenal in 38 years, who remained winless against the Villans in their last three Premier League meetings dating bet on to last season, the first of which besides happened to be a 1–0 loss at Villa Park. [ 63 ] [ 64 ] eleventh station Arsenal took on tenth space Leeds United on 14 February in their first home Premier League catch of the month. Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the score in the thirteenth hour after receiving a pass from Granit Xhaka and dribbling past Luke Ayling with a few stepovers before cutting inside and fire to the dear post past Illan Meslier. In the thirty-ninth minute, Meslier tried to play out from the ball, but with Bukayo Saka applying big atmospheric pressure, the Leeds goalkeeper hesitated to pass. A inadequate touch from Meslier as he tried to keep the ball away from Saka saw the latter arrive to the ball first, and Meslier subsequently clipped the bet on of Saka ‘s ankles to give away a penalty. Aubameyang sent Meslier the wrong way and converted the penalty for his irregular goal of the game. As halftime approached, the Gunners continued to apply offensive imperativeness. A sequence of passes in and around the box was finished off when a pass from Dani Ceballos nutmegged Mateusz Klich and found Héctor Bellerín, whose shoot managed to sneak under Meslier at the approximate post. Despite the 3–0 spark advance at halftime, Arsenal were n’t content on equitable preserving their lead. Less than two minutes into the second half, Emile Smith Rowe lofted a cross to the back post, which Aubameyang headed in for his third base goal of the game and his first hat-trick in the Premier League. [ 65 ] Though Arsenal hoped to keep the clean sheet, Leeds hit back with two goals. First, a Raphinha corner in the fifty-eighth minute found Pascal Struijk, who got to the ball first ahead of David Luiz and Saka and headed it past Bernd Leno. Eleven minutes belated, Raphinha played a through ball to Tyler Roberts, who ran to the touch trace before pulling it back to Hélder Costa for a first-time stopping point. Leeds had a penalty shout belated on, as Patrick Bamford ‘s discharge into the box was stopped when he was squeezed between Cédric and Gabriel and fell over, but neither referee Stuart Attwell nor video adjunct referee Andre Marriner decided to award it. Arsenal hoped to stymie Leeds ‘ late call up and put the game out of reach, but Aubameyang and Saka managed to only hit the carpentry with each of their shots. The 4–2 victory saw the two teams swap places in the standings, and Arsenal moved bet on into the top ten-spot. [ 66 ] [ 67 ] With the hat-trick, Aubameyang besides surpassed the milestone of at least 200 goals in Europe ‘s top five leagues, becoming merely the one-ninth player ever to reach that stigmatize. [ 68 ] The Europa League knockout phase began with matches in the round of 32 on 18 February, and Arsenal took on Benfica. Because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, the first leg match took placed at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome alternatively of at Benfica ‘s home footing, the Estádio district attorney Luz, in Lisbon. [ 69 ] Arsenal had the first big chance of the game in the eighteenth minute : Dani Ceballos played a through pass to fellow Spaniard Héctor Bellerín, who ran past Benfica left-back Álex Grimaldo. Bellerín played in a depleted crabbed and found Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, hot off a hat-trick, but the ahead missed just wide with his impart foot from eight yards as he tried to slot it in past Helton Leite. Neither team managed to get another major chance in the beginning half, and the score remained 0–0 at halftime. In the fifty-third minute, a Benfica corner found its way to Diogo Gonçalves on the edge of the box, but his hybridization was blocked by Emile Smith Rowe, whose arm made contact with the ball. After taking a moment to think about it, referee Cüneyt Çakır branded a yellow card to Smith Rowe and awarded Benfica the punishment, which Pizzi converted just past the compass of Bernd Leno. however, the Portuguese side ‘s go did not last long. After dragging a shot wide minutes ago, Bukayo Saka tapped in a Cédric traverse from close image. Neither team managed to break the 1–1 deadlock ; Aubameyang came close to putting Arsenal on top in the sixty-third moment but he dragged his shooting broad. [ 70 ] [ 71 ] On 21 February, Arsenal returned to Premier League action to face league leaders Manchester City at Emirates Stadium. Like in the former fixture in mid-october, the Gunners lost 1–0, with the lone goal coming from Raheem Sterling again. Less than 80 seconds into the game, Riyad Mahrez hit a loop cross that found Sterling in the box, who headed the ball in from six yards out and gave Bernd Leno little gamble to make a save. City dominated the rest of the game and had a greater percentage of scoring chances, including an eightieth-minute João Cancelo trivela stroke from close range that curled just wide of the post. Arsenal, on the other hand, only managed one shot on target, that being a long roll feat from Kieran Tierney at the half-hour marker. [ 72 ] [ 73 ] A week after the beginning leg of the Europa League turn of 32 matches, Arsenal took on Benfica in the second peg on 25 February. The match was originally scheduled to be held at Arsenal ‘s home plate crunch, the Emirates Stadium, but once again, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the match had to take place at a achromatic venue, this fourth dimension at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Greece. [ 74 ] notably, this was the home plate stadium of Olympiacos, who had knocked the Gunners out of last season ‘s Europa League rival in the circle of 32 on aside goals. Arsenal kicked off the seduce in the twenty-first moment with the beginning real scoring opportunity from either team. Bukayo Saka cut a legislate through the Benfica defensive structure for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was close set and kept precisely onside by Lucas Veríssimo, to run onto in the corner. As goalkeeper Helton Leite ran out and went to ground, Aubameyang chipped the musket ball over him to the far stake and in to give Arsenal the early lead. however, as the game neared halftime, Benfica drew even with a 23-yard free bang from Diogo Gonçalves that found the top corner past a dive Bernd Leno. shortly after the hour mark, the Eagles pulled ahead, swinging the aggregate score in their favor. A long goal kick from Helton Leite was ill dealt with by Dani Ceballos, who headed it backwards. The ball fell to Rafa Silva, leaving him exposed for a one-on-one with Leno, as Ceballos had been the end man in department of defense. Leno rushed out of his box to try and confront Silva, but the Benfica midfielder tapped it past Leno and into the open goal. however, it did not take farseeing for Arsenal to respond. In the sixty-seventh hour, Kieran Tierney played a pass down the leave flank for Willian, who had merely been substituted in place of Ceballos five minutes anterior. Willian carried the ball towards the touch line before cutting it back to Tierney, who ran past Everton before striking the testis to the far bottomland corner. Though Tierney ‘s goal tied up the match and the aggregate score, Benfica inactive had the advantage with two away goals to Arsenal ‘s one. In the seventy-seventh hour, as Helton Leite hesitated with the ball at his feet, Aubameyang applied pressure and rushed in, just managing to block the goalkeeper from getting off a long bang. The diversion fell to Saka, who slashed it wide and was ineffective to capitalize on the err. With their Europe League campaign on the production line, Arsenal left it late to get the enterprise goal and avoid the like fortune in back-to-back years. On-loan attacking midfielder Martin Ødegaard found Saka on the right flank in the eighty-seventh minute. With a few stepovers, Saka managed to get himself a yard of space past substitute left-back Nuno Tavares and cross the ball to the army for the liberation of rwanda post. Aubemayang beat Lucas Veríssimo to the ball and headed it in for his second goal of the crippled. crucially, this gave Arsenal a 3–2 lead in the game and tipped the aggregate score ( 4–3 ) binding in Arsenal ‘s party favor. After a brief VAR check mark for offsides, the goal was confirmed, and Arsenal hang on for the acquire, advancing them to the cycle of 16. [ 75 ] [ 76 ] To finish off the month, Arsenal headed to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City. For the game, director Mikel Arteta chose to rest several key players that had played in the Benfica couple good three days anterior, including Bukayo Saka and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Leicester got off to a fast start. In the sixth moment, Youri Tielemans intercepted a elapse from Granit Xhaka entail for Willian before running dislodge down the proper flank and into the box, where he struck a shoot that went in at the far post. The Foxes closely doubled their lead from the ensuing beginning. Bernd Leno received a back exceed from David Luiz, but with Jamie Vardy charging forward and applying coerce, Leno attempted to return the pas to the defender. Vardy managed to intercept the pass, but his first equal took the testis spinal column into Leno ‘s hands. At the early end of the field, Nicolas Pépé made a run into the box in the twelfth minute but was tripped up after both Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi seemed to clip his ankles. Referee Paul Tierney initially awarded the penalty, despite Tielemans ‘ protests, but video adjunct referee David Coote adjudged the foul to have occurred just outside the box, so a free kick was awarded rather. In the thirty-eighth minute, Pépé tried to run past Thomas down the right flank but was brought down outside the corner, which resulted in a yellow card for Thomas and another free kick for Arsenal. Willian took the free kick and found David Luiz, who ran free of his marker Timothy Castagne and headed the ball to the far post by Kasper Schmeichel. As halftime approached, Pépé continued to threaten, this clock taking a blastoff from good outside the box. Ndidi raised his arm to block the scene on the edge of the box, but referee Tierney did n’t initially award the punishment. however, after the intervention of VAR and Tierney having a second look on the VAR monitor, Arsenal were given the penalty and the prospect to take the go. As Schmeichel dived to the right, Lacazette converted the penalty into the bottom left corner. After a scrum for possession in the in-between of the field early in the second half, Xhaka found Pépé on the right flank, who pushed towards the goal. Pépé centered it to Martin Ødegaard, who found Willian near the touch line. As Schmeichel charged advancing to close the slant, Willian stabbed the ball over the goalkeeper and through Tielemans ‘ legs for Pépé to tap in. Leicester did n’t look to seriously threaten or challenge Leno in the remainder of the second gear half, and Arsenal closed out the game for a 3–1 win. [ 77 ] [ 78 ]
March [edit ]
Arsenal headed to Turf Moor on 6 March to take on Burnley, and it was the Gunners who got on the board early. Just over five minutes into tha game, Thomas Partey passed through the in-between to Willian, who ran forth unchallenged from the center r-2 and passed to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the left flank. Aubameyang squared up against Matthew Lowton and executed a few stepovers to move free of the Burnley right-back before cutting inside and firing a low shoot towards the approximate bottom corner. Though Nick Pope managed to get a hand on the musket ball, the power of the shoot carried it the ball past Pope into the goal. Bukayo Saka had the opportunity to double Arsenal ‘s lead on twenty-two minutes ; a one-two pass from Aubameyang bounced off of Ben Mee, James Tarkowski, and Charlie Taylor before falling to Saka, who tried to nudge the ball past Pope but the shooting rolled just wide of the cheeseparing post. Before halftime, Burnley would equalize, capitalizing on an Arsenal defensive mistake in the thirty-ninth minute. The Gunners were trying to play out from the back, and Pablo Marí passed back to Bernd Leno, who found a retreating Granit Xhaka in the middle of the sphere. Xhaka tried to cursorily pass it to David Luiz out on the right flank, but the poor passing bounced off the thorax of Chris Wood and into the goal. In the second base half, Burnley kept Leno busy on a few occasions, including two shots from Matěj Vydra and a long loop shoot from Erik Pieters that had to be tipped over the cake. Controversy arose in the seventy-first minute with the foremost of two penalty shouts for handball. Nicolas Pépé made his way into the box and squared off against Pieters. When Pépé tried to get the ball up and past Pieters, the ball hit Pieters ‘ outstretched hand, but neither referee Andre Marriner nor video adjunct referee Kevin Friend bothered to have a moment think about the misdemeanor. Arsenal missed several good chances to score, including in the eighty-first moment, when Pépé swing and missed at a first-time Kieran Tierney intersect. A few minutes later, Pépé managed to connect with a looping hybridization from Saka, but his shoot hit Pieters and clanged off the crossbar. Pieters had stuck out his branch in an undertake to block the shoot, and Marriner showed him a red card for the misdemeanor. however, after VAR reappraisal found the ball to have contacted Pieters ‘ shoulder, Marriner rescinded the red card. In stop fourth dimension, Arsenal desperately tried to find a late winner with a bombard of shots from Aubameyang, Saka, Pablo Marí, Alexandre Lacazette, and Dani Ceballos, the last of which clattered off the military post for the concluding inject of the game, ending 1–1. [ 79 ] [ 80 ] On 11 March, Arsenal faced Olympiacos in the first leg of their Europa League polish of 16 match. For the moment straight Europa League match, the game took locate at the Karaiskakis Stadium, Olympiacos ‘ home labor. Arsenal came closing to scoring early, as a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang header from a Héctor Bellerín traverse in the one-sixth minute deflected off of former Arsenal defender Sokratis ‘ shoulder and was punched onto the crossbar by José Sá before the goalkeeper scrambled to his feet to collect the ball safely. Arsenal dominated the beginning half, and their blackmail ultimately paid off in the 34th moment. As Olympiacos tried to play out of the back, respective Arsenal players pushed fore in the high compress, finally causing a pass to be intercepted by Thomas Partey. Partey immediately passed it to Martin Ødegaard, who had several yards of quad to run into before he fired a shoot from outside the box. Though the shot was quite cardinal and Sá managed to get a hand to it, the ability of the shoot carried it over Sá and in for Ødegaard ‘s foremost Arsenal finish. several minutes subsequently, Arsenal closely made the lapp err ; as David Luiz tried to pass out of the back, the pressing Giorgos Masouras blocked the testis before curling a shot high and wide-eyed of the far position. however, Olympiacos would finally exploit the Gunners ‘ tactic and force a mistake. In the fifty-eighth minute, Gabriel passed rear to Bernd Leno, who played it forward to Dani Ceballos, who had good been substituted on for Partey. Youssef El-Arabi immediately closed down and dispossessed the Spaniard before breaking forward and fire past the outstretched hand of the retreating Leno. The greek side closely made it two in quick succession when Lazar Ranđelović fed the ball to El-Arabi near the punishment position, but the blast was deflected wide by a dive Bellerín. In the seventy-ninth infinitesimal, Ødegaard played the corner short to Willian, who sent a high loop crabbed into the corner. Gabriel jump high above his diametric number Yann M’Vila and headed the ball back in the same direction to the top corner over José Sá. A few minutes former, the Gunners would secure the acquire, as ersatz Mohamed Elneny was allowed to run free and unchallenged through the middle of the playing field before he shot from around 25 yards out. The power and proficiency of the inject curled it away from Sá, who could entirely tip it onto the military post and in. With the 3–1 victory and three aside goals, Arsenal put themselves into a good put heading into the second stage. [ 81 ] [ 82 ] Arsenal faced off against fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium on 14 March in the second gear North London Derby match of the season. Despite the importance of the match, director Mikel Arteta dropped captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the starting line-up to the terrace for disciplinary issues. [ 83 ] Initially, the omission seemed to have backfired when Tottenham got on the display panel beginning soon after the half-hour crisscross. Gareth Bale played a switch ball across the field to Sergio Reguilón, whose first base reach bye fell to Lucas Moura in the box, who in go tapped it to substitute Erik Lamela, on for the hurt Son Heung-min. Lamela set his feet before hitting a curling rabona guess through the legs of Thomas Partey, around David Luiz, and past the reach of Bernd Leno. however, the Gunners would draw level before halftime. Kieran Tierney sized up Matt Doherty on the bequeath flank before sprinting past the Spurs right-back and finding Martin Ødegaard in the box. Ødegaard ‘s injection deflected off the inwardly of the branch of Toby Alderweireld, leaving Hugo Lloris with no opportunity to make a deliver as the norwegian loanee scored his first gear Premier League goal and his irregular goal in adenine many games overall. In the sixty-second hour, substitute Nicolas Pépé fired a through pass to Alexandre Lacazette, who had split the Spurs ‘ center-backs. With his second touch, Lacazette attempted a volley and misfired, but in the follow-through, Davinson Sánchez bundled into his legs, tripping him over. Despite the protests of the Tottenham players and coaches, referee Michael Oliver awarded Arsenal the penalty and Sánchez a scandalmongering wag for the foul, both of which were upheld by television assistant referee Paul Tierney. This time, Lacazette fired truthful, slotting the punishment in the bottom corner as Lloris dived the early direction. Down 2–1, Tottenham made matters worse for themselves in the seventy-sixth minute. Lamela, who had already been shown a yellow card in the first half, struck Kieran Tierney in the face with an outstretched hand, prompting Oliver to show him a second yellow card, amounting to a red card and a send off. Despite being reduced to ten men, Tottenham doubly came close to equalizing. Minutes after Lamela ‘s sending off, Harry Kane was offside when he headed in a Lucas Moura absolve recoil. Near the end of regulation time, Kane fired a abject free kick that bounced off the far mail, and the follow-up shoot from Sánchez had to be cleared off the trace by Gabriel. Despite the five minutes of stop clock time, Arsenal managed to hold on for the winnings. [ 84 ] [ 85 ] At the Emirates Stadium on 18 March, Arsenal welcomed Olympiacos in the moment peg of their Europa League round of 16 match. With the 3–1 leave from the first leg, the Gunners hoped to eliminate the visitors and avoiding eliminating at the hands of the lapp team for the moment directly european campaign. In the nineteenth hour, José Sá launched a long gripe downfield to find Youssef El-Arabi sprint through the Arsenal refutation. With Dani Ceballos and Héctor Bellerín giving chase, El-Arabi ‘s shot deflected wide off Bernd Leno ‘s shin. Arsenal continued to have thoroughly grade chances but were ineffective to capitalize on them. In the twenty-third minute, Gabriel beat El-Arabi in an antenna duel for another of Sá ‘s long kicks and passed forward to Aubameyang, who, with his back to goal, laid it off to Ceballos. Ceballos returned the pass to Aubameyang in between the Olympiacos center-backs, but his shoot went merely over the measure from 12 yards out. A few minutes into the second one-half, Yann M’Vila put in a challenge on Ceballos, managed to dispossess him, and poked the ball to Giorgos Masouras, who found El-Arabi ahead on the leftover flank. El-Arabi baseball swing inside on David Luiz before firing a shoot that deflected off Gabriel ‘s back and in. The Gunners hoped to rebound quickly ; a pacy first-time hybridization from Kieran Tierney fizzed across the corner to Nicolas Pépé, but his shot deflected off the head of teammate Emile Smith Rowe and over the browning automatic rifle. With around ten-spot minutes left in regulation meter, El-Arabi found himself again on the lose end of a challenge. This clock time, Granit Xhaka dispossessed him and found Martin Ødegaard, who quickly passed to Aubameyang on the separate. Aubameyang found himself one-on-one against José Sá and tried to chip the ball past the goalkeeper, but his attempt went well wide-eyed of the goal. With meter winding down and Olympiacos placid behind, a moment of frustration from Ousseynou Ba saw the greek english reduced to ten men. As Gabriel Martinelli tried to sprint past Ba, the latter caught the erstwhile in the face and brought him down, for which referee Carlos del Cerro Grande showed a yellow batting order. In response to the yellow card, Ba threw the ball away, prompting del Cerro to brandish a second yellow poster in quick succession and dismiss Ba. Aubameyang had two more chances in flying succession to equalize : his backheel movie was deflected up in the breeze by José Sá, and the recoil was scissor-kicked over the bar. Though El-Arabi ‘s goal gave Olympiacos the succeed, the greek side would have silent needed two more goals with Arsenal having the advantage on away goals. With an aggregate score of 3–2, Arsenal advanced to the Europa League quarterfinals for the third base time in the concluding four seasons. [ 86 ] [ 87 ] On 21 March, Arsenal faced fellow London side West Ham United at the London stadium for both teams ‘ last matches of the calendar month before the international unwrap. It was the home team who got away to a hot start, jumping out to a 3–0 in the first gear thirty-five minutes. West Ham dominated monomania in the open fifteen minutes, and their efforts paid off when Michail Antonio found Jesse Lingard on the edge of the box, whose snapshot curled away from Bernd Leno into the crown far corner. Less than two minutes late, referee Jon Moss awarded the Hammers a free kick on the edge of the box after he judged Bukayo Saka to have committed a clog by clipping Antonio ‘s ankles. As the Arsenal players stood and protested, Jesse Lingard took the free gripe quickly and found Jarrod Bowen unmarked on the proper flank. Bowen was able to run towards finish before squeezing the tear under the hands of Leno, who punched the turf in frustration. merely after the half-hour mark, West Ham scored their third. Tomáš Souček played a through ball for Bowen to chase after, but Kieran Tierney recovered well to block Bowen ‘s foremost clock time traverse. The deflection fell to Vladimír Coufal, who sent a gamey loop header into the box for Antonio, who jumped higher than David Luiz to nod it in. however, on its way in, the ball was unintentionally touched by Souček ‘s foot, leading to claims of offside from several Arsenal players. A VAR control from Martin Atkinson confirmed that the ball had indeed touched Souček, who was onside and awarded the goal, with Antonio given his second gear assist of the bet on. From that point, Arsenal ultimately began to get in the crippled. In the thirty-eighth minute, Calum Chambers ‘s humble hybridization found Alexander Lacazette in the box. After Lacazette took a refer to steady the ball, he lashed a half-volley attack that deflected off Souček ‘s outstretched leg and just above the reach of West Ham goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański, a early Arsenal player. however, because Lacazette ‘s shoot was measured to have been going wide-eyed initially, it was given as an own goal to Souček. At the hour mark, the Gunners would halve the deficit with another West Ham own goal. Martin Ødegaard played it out wide for Chambers to hit a beginning clock time crossbreed into the box, but rather of it reaching an Arsenal player, West Ham center-back Craig Dawson ‘s forward momentum saw him smash the ball into the back of the net income before he collided into Fabiański. In the eighty-second minute, the Gunners completed the comeback. Ødegaard played it out wide for another first-time hybridization, this time from Nicolas Pépé, to be headed in by a jump Lacazette, who found himself undisputed between Dawson and Coufal. Minutes later, West Ham about came away with all three points. As they looked to clear after an assaultive phase of Arsenal, Declan Rice ran from penalty box to punishment box, dribbling past several Arsenal players. With David Luiz closely marking Antonio, the only other West Ham player surging forward, Rice was forced to take a shoot, which Leno easily parried out of injury ‘s means. After being down by three goals early on, Arsenal managed overcome their poor begin to escape with a 3–3 draw, though both Lacazette and director Mikel Arteta expressed frustration at how Arsenal had started the crippled. [ 88 ] [ 89 ]
April [edit ]
After the international fracture, Arsenal resumed their Premier League campaign with a home plot against Liverpool on 2 April. In the first half, the Gunners managed to hold strong against Liverpool, and it remained scoreless at halftime. It was not until the one-sixty-fourth minute when the champion champions scored the inaugural goal of the game, from which point they dominated the rest of the game. Trent Alexander-Arnold ‘s cross found utility Diogo Jota in between Calum Chambers and Rob Holding, and the Portuguese forth ‘s header from close range was excessively knock-down for Bernd Leno to keep out. A few minutes later, Liverpool would double their leash through Mohamed Salah. Fabinho played a long pass over the lead for Salah to chase, but Gabriel fair about managed to get to it first. With Salah bearing down, the defender ‘s first time campaign to try and tackle the ball out of play was blocked by Salah, who now had a few yards of distance in which to run ahead unopposed. Salah held his patience before slotting the ball through Leno ‘s stage into the finish. Salah had a find to get two goals in quick succession ; in the seventy-second minute, Roberto Firmino lofted a crack to Salah, who ran between Gabriel and Cédric. This time, Leno was able to get behind the shoot and parry it away, although he had to scramble for the bounce to prevent Salah from regaining possession. In the close ten minutes, Liverpool would add a third goal to their score. After Leno collected a guess from Georginio Wijnaldum, he rolled it to Gabriel, whose crack to Cédric out on the leave flank was intercepted by Alexander-Arnold. With his first reach, the Liverpool right-back passed to Salah, who turned baseball diamond and found Sadio Mané near the penalty spotlight. Mohamed Elneny managed to dispossess Mané, but this left the ball free for an onrushing Diogo Jota to blast it in for his second crippled of the equal. [ 90 ] [ 91 ] In the Europa League quarterfinals, Arsenal were drawn against Slavia Prague. The first leg occurred on 8 April at the Emirates Stadium. Neither slope had much of an offensive discharge in the beginning half, and the score was still 0–0 at halftime ; the closest chances from either slope were Rob Holding ‘s header and Lukáš Provod ‘s long shoot, respectively, both of which went precisely over the bar. In the open minutes of the second half, as Bukayo Saka tried to chase down a passing from Héctor Bellerín, he was brought down fair outside of the box by David Zima, who was booked for the foul. Willian took the ensuing release kick and sent it clattering off the right post. fair after the hour check, Oscar Dorley received a backwards happen from Provod and was immediately put under pressure by Alexandre Lacazette. Lacazette dispossessed Dorley, who was the deepest actor and therefore the last line of defense for Slavia Prague, and broke free for a one-on-one opportunity against Ondřej Kolář, who was wearing a mask and helmet in his first crippled back from a skull fracture injury suffered in an earlier Europa League game. once again, a good Arsenal prospect hit the woodwork, as Lacazette ‘s try to check the ball over Kolář hit the top right corner of the goal frame. As the bet on went on, several players from both sides, including substitutes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabriel Martinelli, and Petr Ševčík, missed good opportunities either just wide or just high of the finish. In the eighty-sixth moment, Arsenal looked to have won the game, as Nicolas Pépé, another ersatz, perplex Zima to a excrete from Aubameyang and lifted the ball over an onrushing Kolář. however, in the completion seconds of excess time, Slavia Prague managed to find the counterweight. First, a guess from Provod was pushed onto the post by Leno to force a recess. From the ensuing set nibble, Provod ‘s recess bounced off Pépé ‘s thigh for Tomáš Holeš, who beat Cédric at the far post, to head in from point blank range. Though the game ended 1–1, Slavia Prague came away with a all-important aside goal ahead of the second branch. [ 92 ] [ 93 ] [ 94 ] On 11 April, Arsenal headed north to Bramall Lane to take on relegation-embattled Sheffield United. The Gunners exerted their dominance and set the tempo early on, as an early interruption in the third minute saw Gabriel Martinelli find Bukayo Saka ahead of him, but the latter ‘s shoot went precisely past the approximate top corner. In the thirty-third hour, a series of one- and two-touch passes in the final examination third put Arsenal on the scoreboard. Nicolas Pépé passed the ball out wide-eyed to Calum Chambers on the right, who returned it centrally to Thomas Partey. Partey found Alexandre Lacazette on the edge of the box, who immediately played a one-two with Saka. On the return elapse, the ball was helped on its direction by a Dani Ceballos backheel to Lacazette, who slid the ball into the internet by Aaron Ramsdale. In the seventy-first minute, an errant John Lundstram pass was intercepted by Pépé, who then ran forward and managed to get off a moo shoot towards the far post. Ramsdale could only manage to parry the ball right to Martinelli, who was closest to the rally and tapped it into the loose net to double the Gunners ‘ head. Arsenal would put the game to bed in the eighty-fifth infinitesimal, when an accurate through exceed from Partey cut through the Sheffield lines to find Lacazette, who outsprinted Ethan Ampadu to fire in his second goal of the game. The goal besides saw Lacazette reach the benchmark of 50 Premier League goals, being only the tenth Arsenal player in history to achieve that feat. [ 95 ] The Blades, with only two shots on target, never very managed to challenge Bernd Leno, who kept his inaugural clean tabloid in ten Premier League games dating back to the end of January. With the 3–0 leave, bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United moved within one game of relegation, while Arsenal moved up to ninth, ahead of Leeds United on goal difference. [ 96 ] [ 97 ] In the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals on 15 April, Arsenal hoped to finish the speculate against Slavia Prague and progress to the semifinals, and a three-goal bustle in a six-minute cross early in the first gear half basically wrapped up the tie. [ 98 ] Arsenal looked to have scored in the fourteenth moment, as a Bukayo Saka hit that ricocheted off the far post fell to Emile Smith Rowe to tap it into the open web, but a VAR review found Smith Rowe to have been offside on Saka ‘s shoot. shortly thereafter, the first goal would come in the eighteenth minute ; Smith Rowe wriggled around several Slavia Prague defenders in the box and slipped a pass through to Nicolas Pépé, who bided his prison term before finding a better slant to fire past Ondřej Kolář from close range. Two minutes late, the Gunners were on the offense again, and as Saka ran to get onto the end of a Smith Rowe cutback base on balls, Jakub Hromada stuck a leg out to try and intercept the pass but managed only to slip Saka over. For the filthy, referee Cüneyt Çakır showed Hromada a scandalmongering circuit board and awarded Arsenal a penalty, which Alexandre Lacazette successfully converted into the face-to-face corner by hesitating briefly to send Kolář diving the wrong manner. The third base finish in flying succession came in the twenty-fourth hour. As Calum Chambers ran to receive a run out wide from Thomas Partey, he evaded the challenge from Slavia Prague captain Jan Bořil, who had advanced forward from left-back, and passed ahead to Saka on the fender. With Bořil out of place, Saka cut inside on David Zima to buy himself a few yards of space to let off a stroke, which went in at the dear post past a stationary Kolář. Arsenal ‘s dominance in the first base half was eminent ; in addition to their three-goal count, they prevented the Czech side from having a unmarried nip on prey. This prompted Slavia Prague director Jindřich Trpišovský to make four substitutions at half-time, though to little effect. alternatively, the Gunners added a fourth goal on seventy-seven minutes. Granit Xhaka played a spend that sat up for Nicolas Pépé to receive and sprint on the left flank, and the winger ‘s crisscross found Lacazette in the box. Zima, who was marking Lacazette, slipped, giving the Frenchman space to maneuver and fire home his second goal of the game for his second brace in arsenic many games in all competitions. The 4–0 succeed and the 5–1 aggregate score saw Arsenal advanced through to face Villarreal and former Arsenal coach Unai Emery. [ 99 ] [ 100 ] Despite blitzing Slavia Prague for four goals midweek and beating Fulham comfortably in Matchweek 1 of the temper, Arsenal came crashing back down at home on 18 April against the eighteenth home Cottagers, with neither side apparently able to fire on all cylinders. It did not help Arsenal that captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had caught malaria playing for Gabon over the international transgress, sidelining him for a few weeks. [ 101 ] In the second moment, Alexandre Lacazette found Gabriel Martinelli bursting through the Fulham defense mechanism with a looping run, but the latter ‘s campaign to lift the ball over goalkeeper Alphonse Areola went wide-eyed of the mail. At the other end of the field, Fulham had a approach neglect in the twentieth minute, as a Bobby Decordova-Reid shooting from the edge of the box richocheted off Gabriel and fell to Josh Maja, whose shoot took a deflection off Rob Holding and precisely rolled wide-eyed of the near post past a scramble Mathew Ryan. In the fortieth minute, Dani Ceballos seemed to have scored a header from a Héctor Bellerín hybrid, but video recording assistant referee Stuart Attwell judged Bukayo Saka, who had made the pass to Bellerín, to be precisely offside in the buildup, so the goal was taken off. Though the game was placid scoreless at halftime, it did not take long for the first goal to come. Just before the hour distinguish, with Fulham on the crime, Mario Lemina tried to play a through sink to Ola Aina that was cut out by Gabriel. As Lemina and Gabriel chased after the unleash ball, the early reached it first and was tripped over by the latter in the box. After a moment of circumstance, reviewer Craig Pawson awarded the Cottagers a penalty, which Maja easily dispatched into the ceiling of the net. Around ten minutes former, Martinelli trapped a through excrete from Emith Smith Rowe just out of reach of Areola before sending in a cross from the touchline to the far post, where it found the head of Nicolas Pépé, but the header from a close angle hit a convalescent Areola and was cleared off the goal line by Tosin Adarabioyo to maintain the Fulham contribute. In the one-seventh minute of arrest time, Ryan, who had not faced a single blastoff on target except for the penalty, sprinted forth from his own box to give Saka another musician to target for the corner. It was indeed Ryan who connected with the corner and headed the ball on to Ceballos, whose low photograph bobbled through the crowd to Areola. Forced to react quickly, Areola could not parry the shoot far adequate away, as substitute Eddie Nketiah was the fastest to react for an easily tap-in. The goal was confirmed after another VAR check judged Holding to not have made any try to play the ball despite being offside on Ceballos ‘ shoot. With the last-minute Arsenal equalizer, both London sides shared the spoils. [ 102 ] [ 103 ] On the same day as the draw against Fulham, the cabaret announced their engagement in the proposed european Super League as one of the 12 initiation penis clubs. [ 104 ] The newsworthiness drew immediate and heavy backfire from fans and commentators, particularly considering Arsenal ‘s struggles and subpar league standing this season. Under heavy pressure, and with the other five english clubs withdrawing from the Super League, Arsenal announced their withdrawal on 20 April, equitable two days after the initial announcement. [ 105 ] [ 106 ] Despite this, fans continued to protest, calling for American owner Stan Kroenke to leave the cabaret. [ 107 ] Although Arsenal hoped to return to winning ways after the underwhelming puff against Fulham, their disappoint Premier League form continued on 23 April, as they lost at home to Everton 1–0 thanks to a Bernd Leno own goal late in the game. In the first half, Everton twice had good score opportunities, though neither luck was converted. At the half-hour scratch, Bernd Leno did adequate to parry a Richarlison stroke out of the achieve of a fast-closing Dominic Calvert-Lewin, while Gylfi Sigurðsson hit the top of the crossbar with a free kick from around 27 yards out in the thirty-ninth minute. Six minutes into the moment one-half, Arsenal looked to have been awarded a punishment. As Dani Ceballos tried to dribble the ball away from Richarlison in the box, the latter actor appeared to have stuck a foot out and caught Ceballos on the tibia, bringing him down. referee Jon Moss pointed to the point, but video adjunct referee David Coote found Nicolas Pépé to be offside in the buildup, thus nullifying the penalty call. At the other end of the field, Everton had a punishment abuse of their own, as a Richarlison cutback hit Pablo Marí ‘s arm, but a quick VAR check ruled Marí ‘s arms to be down by his side in a natural defender ‘s position. In the seventy-sixth minute, Allan picked out Richarlison with a long ball over the top. The brazilian winger was able to twice get the better of Granit Xhaka, deputizing at left-back, and fire off a low cross into the box for Calvert-Lewin. however, the slightly mishit cross came to Leno for what should have been an easy scoop-up, but the ball slipped through his hands and deflected off his leg on the way up. The ensuing VAR arrest confirmed Richarlison to be onside for Allan ‘s excrete, thus not sparing Leno ‘s blushes. The Gunners tried to find so far another last-minute equalizer in blockage time but to no avail. Willian tried to pick out the advanced Leno with a cross, but the goalkeeper was marked by Allan, who got to the ball foremost and could only head it into the path of Martin Ødegaard, whose volley through a crowd of players was saved by Jordan Pickford. Had Ødegaard ‘s volley gone in, it would not have counted, as Moss had already blown the whistle for a Leno filthy on Allan as they both leapt for the intersect. [ 108 ] [ 109 ] Villarreal and former Arsenal director Unai Emery welcomed the Gunners to the Estadio de la Cerámica on 29 April for the first leg of the Europa League semifinal. In the opening minutes, Villarreal managed to get on the scoreboard early with the first gear chance of the game. As Samuel Chukwueze tried to dribble between Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos, the ball slipped free for Manu Trigueros to fire a low shoot across finish into the far corner. Just before the one-half hour marker, the Yellow Submarine would double the contribute. A Dani Parejo corner was headed on by Gerard Moreno for Raúl Albiol to volley in from point-blank stove at the far post. A few minutes later, Arsenal looked to apparently stymie Villarreal ‘s momentum with a penalty. Xhaka played a farseeing guide down the left flank for Nicolas Pépé, and as he tried to dribble past Tottenham loanee Juan Foyth into the box, the former was tripped over by the latter. Referee Artur Soares Dias immediately awarded the penalty, but VAR review found Pépé to have handled the testis with his weapon before the foul, thus cancelling the punishment shout and Foyth ‘s chicken menu. Foyth had been repeatedly allowed to make ahead runs, and one such run towards the end of the first half was stopped when he was tripped up by Ceballos, who was shown a yellow batting order as a consequence. Having finished the first half without a shot on prey, Arsenal hoped to turn their fortunes around, but Ceballos ‘ sending off ten minutes into the second half put them at an even greater disadvantage. As Cebellos chased after a slenderly overhit pass from Pépé, Parejo slid in and poked it away before Ceballos could get to it. however, in doing so, Ceballos stepped on Parejo ‘s outstretched ankle in stride, earning the former a moment scandalmongering circuit board, which amounted to a red card and a dismissal. Villarreal closely got a third goal in the sixty-sixth minute : substitute Francis Coquelin, a early Arsenal player, played on Moreno for a one-on-one with Leno, but the resulting shoot was right at the goalkeeper, who tipped it over the bar. In the seventy-first moment, Arsenal would get another punishment visit. As Bukayo Saka attempted to take on and dribble by several Villarreal defenders, he was tripped up by Trigueros. This time, the penalty stood, and with Arsenal ‘s first shot on target, Pépé fired down the middle just past the feet of Gerónimo Rulli, who dived to his correct, to halve the deficit. subsequently on, Villarreal saw themselves besides reduced to ten men : Étienne Capoue, who had earlier been awarded a chicken circuit board for a dirty on Pépé, put in a late skid harness on Saka. In doing so, Capoue injured himself and was taken off the airfield on a stretcher, but to add abuse to injury, Dias showed him a second yellow poster for the cruddy, amounting to another bolshevik card and dismissal. Despite the 2–1 loss, the crucial away goal gave Arsenal more of a fighting probability ahead of the second leg at home in a week ‘s fourth dimension. [ 110 ] [ 111 ] [ 112 ]
May [edit ]
Heading into the survive month of the Premier League season, Arsenal headed up north to take on Newcastle United at St James ‘ Park on 2 May. Just like Villarreal did mid-week, the Gunners opened the score in the opening minutes. David Luiz played a long communicate to find Héctor Bellerín behind the Newcastle defense. Bellerín ‘s first-time cross found Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the box, but the Gunners captain mistimed his shoot and the ball ricocheted backwards off his heel. The ball bounced to the edge of the box for Mohamed Elneny to volley it, and despite Martin Dúbravka getting a decoration to the ball, the pace of the tear carried it into the net for Elneny ‘s first base Premier League goal in 66 games. [ 113 ] As the game progressed, both goalkeepers were forced to make all-important saves : Allan Saint-Maximin ‘s self-deflected shot was tipped over by Mathew Ryan, while Granit Xhaka ‘s long-range feat was palmed away by Dúbravka. On the ensuing set patch from the latter opportunity, Elneny about scored again : his header from a Willian corner was headed off the goal line by Miguel Almirón. In the moment one-half, another Arsenal goal helped put the game to bed. After Aubameyang was dispossessed, Martin Ødegaard found Gabriel Martinelli in quad out wide on the leave flank. Martinelli ‘s first-time crisscross flew past the outstretched peg of Ciaran Clark to Aubameyang, and this time, he connected well with the ball to volley in from close range. To make matters worse for Newcastle, a poor tackle from fabian Schär on Martinelli in the nintieth minute resulted in a straight red card and a dismissal from referee Mike Dean, capping off a comfortable 2–0 Gunners win. [ 114 ] With the home field advantage in the second gear leg of the Europa League semifinals, Arsenal hoped to overcome the one-goal deficit against Villarreal on 6 May. The visitors, on the other hand, wasted no time trying to increase their jumper cable and put the tie out of compass, as a curling inject from Samuel Chukwueze in the fifth minute forced Bernd Leno to make an acrobatic save. In the twenty-sixth moment, the ball pinballed around the box before falling to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose trivela fritter hit the far mail past a beat Gerónimo Rulli. Another Aubameyang shoot, this time in the thirty-ninth minute, was spilled by Rulli between his legs, but the goalkeeper managed to secure the shoot before it rolled into the goal. With the sexual conquest still at 0–0, Arsenal came out of halftime hoping to pick up the volume. In the first three minutes, shots from Nicolas Pépé and Emile Smith Rowe both curled just wide of the far post. With less than fifteen minutes left in the match, the Gunners however continued to search for an equalizer goal, which, with the away goal advantage from the first peg, would have sent Arsenal to the final. however, Aubameyang hit the woodwork once again in the seventy-ninth minute, this time with a header off the about post from a Héctor Bellerín crossbreed. even with five supernumerary minutes of arrest prison term, the Gunners were unable to score ; the 0–0 solution meant that Villarreal would advance to the Europa League final with the 2–1 result from the first branch. The elimination, combined with the improbable candidate of finishing seventh at best in the league, means that following season, Arsenal could be missing out on european competition for the first time since the 1995–96 season. [ 115 ] [ 116 ] [ 117 ] Three days late, Arsenal returned to Premier League natural process, hoping to do one better against West Bromwich Albion at home. however, the Baggies were the more baleful team early on : Matheus Pereira ‘s hit from outside of the box curled just wide of the far mail and Bernd Leno, and while Callum Robinson ‘s nick over Leno hit the crossbar, he was found to be offside regardless. twenty-nine minutes in, Willian played the ball down the trace for Bukayo Saka, whose first gear intersect found Emile Smith Rowe amongst the West Brom defense to be volleyed in from close range for the latter ‘s first Premier League goal in 19 appearances. To compound West Brom ‘s troubles, Arsenal added a second goal five minutes later. On the justly flank, Nicolas Pépé cut inside on Conor Townsend before rifling a left-footed shoot from the edge of the box to the near top corner just past Sam Johnstone. A third goal about came just before the hour score, as another broken crossbreed from Saka was unable to be converted by both Gabriel Martinelli and Smoth Rowe. In the sixty-seventh minute, a cross from Kieran Tierney managed to alone find Townsend, who immediately rushed forward out of defense and passed to Pereira near the center lap. Pereira continued to run downfield, holding off Dani Ceballos and Mohamed Elneny, and barely as Gabriel was about to put in a rigging merely outside the box, he hit a low shoot to the far post equitable past Leno. The Gunners ‘ third finish would finally come in the ninetieth infinitesimal from a 25-yard Willian free recoil ; this was Willian ‘s first gear goal for Arsenal in 25 league games and in 37 games overall. While the 3–1 consequence saw Arsenal hang on to the slender opportunity of european football following season, it was more impactful for West Brom, as the loss saw the team formally relegated and coach Sam Allardyce ‘s record of never being relegated broken. [ 118 ] [ 119 ] Arsenal faced crosstown rivals Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge on 12 May. From a statistics perspective, Chelsea dominated the plot. The Blues had more the double the percentage of possession, and outshot the Gunners 19 to 5, with five and two shots on target, respectively. In the first half alone, Chelsea had eight shots, compared to Arsenal ‘s two. however, of those two shots, one was on prey, and this would be the remainder maker in the game. [ 120 ] In the eleventh hour, Kai Havertz intercepted a backpass from Gabriel to Pablo Marí to set up a one-on-one with Bernd Leno, but the ensuing snapshot was skied over the barroom. Four minutes later, however, Arsenal were able to capitalize on a similar err from Chelsea. As Chelsea tried to play out from the back, Jorginho, under pressure from Emile Smith Rowe, attempted to pass back to goalkeeper Kepa. however, because Kepa was out to the left of his goal, he had to scramble back to prevent the pass from rolling into the open web, scantily managing to bat the ball off the line at full stretch. The bounce fell to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who centered it for Smith Rowe to score his second Premier League goal in equally many games. Chelsea continued their nauseating bombard well into the second one-half, when they looked to have grabbed an equalizer. Mason Mount ‘s corner in the sixty-first minute was headed onwards by Havertz to the back military post for Christian Pulisic, who made a flit function behind the Arsenal defense, to redirect into the net with his thorax from close range. however, VAR review found Pulisic to be clearly offside on Havertz ‘s header, and the goal was disallowed. Just before arrest clock time, Chelsea again came close to grade, but the equalizer was not there : Kurt Zouma ‘s header from Hakim Ziyech ‘s loop hybridization was tipped onto the crossbar by Leno, and erstwhile Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud followed up by besides smashing the crossbar with the rally. [ 121 ] The 1–0 gain saw Arsenal move up to eighth and within a point of North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, though the latter still had a plot in hand. notably, this was the first time Arsenal completed the double over Chelsea since the 2003–04 Invincibles temper. [ 122 ] In Arsenal ‘s concluding away game of the 2020–21 Premier League season, they headed across township to Selhurst Park in south London to take on Crystal Palace. This pit saw the restitution of fans, though not at full capability, and Eagles coach Roy Hodgson ‘s end home game before retirement. The beginning half hour saw scantily any threatening shots from either side until the one-thirty-second moment, when christian Benteke headed the ball down for Jeffrey Schlupp to try a volley from equitable outside the box, which forced Bernd Leno to make a dive fingertip save to his exit. A few minutes late, after several passes down the left flank between Bukayo Saka and Kieran Tierney, the latter send in a crabbed that found Nicolas Pépé, who made a belated run into the box to volley the ball in and give Arsenal the lead. A brief physical incident between Benteke and Saka late in the first half saw the former and Mohamed Elneny, who had come to Saka ‘s defense mechanism, each get a scandalmongering wag from referee Anthony Taylor. barely after the hour stigmatize, Andros Townsend whipped a free recoil into the box, where it was headed in by Benteke to draw Crystal Palace even. however, the Gunners would spoil the occasion with a pair of blockage time goals to take the winnings. just as the game entered stop fourth dimension, Martin Ødegaard ‘s lofted cross floated over a leap Gary Cahill to find colleague Gunners substitute Gabriel Martinelli, who ran around the back of the Eagles defense, got to the ball ahead of Joel Ward, lifted the ball over the strive of goalkeeper Vicente Guaita with his first base touch, and tapped the musket ball in with his second gear. In the final examination seconds of the game, Calum Chambers sent a long throw-in towards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who headed the ball down into the path of Nicolas Pépé. Pépé surged forward into the box and held off Cahill and James Tomkins before firing a gloomy fritter that went in at the far post before Guaita could get down to make a save. The peer ended 3–1 to Arsenal, keeping their slender chances of european football alive ahead of the concluding matchday. [ 123 ] [ 124 ] For the season ending match, Arsenal hosted Brighton and Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium on 23 May, with a limit number of fans being allowed in the Emirates for the first base time in 2021 and the first time all season since 13 December. The first half was scoreless, though the Gunners had respective conclude chances. The beginning inject from Thomas Partey went fair wide of the post, while his moment shot late on was tipped over by Robert Sánchez. Thirty minutes in, a Martin Ødegaard recess was flicked on by Partey to Rob Holding, who poked the ball just over the line before a clearance from Ben White, but Holding was found to be offside on Partey ‘s header. Near halftime, Granit Xhaka ‘s loft exceed found Gabriel at the far post, but the ensuing header hit off the top of the crossbar. In the second half, the deadlock was ultimately broken in the forty-ninth moment. Arsenal moved the ball from the left flank to the right flank with a series of passes that ended with Calum Chambers fizzing a low cross into the box for Nicolas Pépé. Pépé controlled the ball before firing in a half-volley with his second touch, and eleven minutes subsequently, he would double his score and increase Arsenal ‘s jumper cable. Ødegaard played the ball ahead for Pépé down the correct flank, who drove into the box and hit a low injection through Lewis Dunk ‘s leg that went in at the approach post. In the seventy-second minute, Partey would have another opportunity to bag his first Arsenal goal but to no avail : after receiving a pas from Xhaka, he cursorily turned and rocketed a volley that came off the crossbar. Brighton, with alone one shoot on prey from Jakub Moder all game, failed to badly threaten the Gunners, enabling Bernd Leno to keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 acquire. [ 125 ] [ 126 ] All the matches of the last matchweek kicked off at the like time, and ninth-placed Arsenal needed several results to go their way in club to secure european football for the 25th straight season. Heading into the match, Arsenal needed to win against Brighton and have seventh-placed Tottenham Hotspur and eighth placed Everton, who were both a point ahead, draw or lose in order to leapfrog them into seventh and qualify the newly formed UEFA Europa Conference League. Despite the 2–0 gain and Everton ‘s 5–0 bang-up at the hands of the champions Manchester City, which saw Arsenal overtake Everton into eighth, a late brace from Gareth Bale saw Tottenham beat Leicester City 4–2 and retain their one-seventh put position. As a result, Arsenal missed out on qualifying for any sort of european football for the 2021–2022 season, breaking a 24-year streak dating back to the belated 1990s. At the end of the season, Alexandre Lacazette finished as Arsenal ‘s top goalscorer with 17 goals ( 13 in the Premier League ), good ahead of Nicolas Pépé on 16 goals and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on 15 goals ( each with 10 in the Premier League ) ; this was the inaugural clock time Arsenal had three players with more than 10 Premier League goals in the temper since the 2016–17 season. Three players tied for the most assists : Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, and Willian each had seven assists across all competitions, though Willian led the manner with five assists in the Premier League. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno made the most appearances with 49, of which 35 came in the Premier League. [ 127 ]
club [edit ]
Kits [edit ]
Supplier: Adidas / Sponsor: Fly Emirates / Sleeve sponsor: Visit Rwanda
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Squad information [edit ]
- As of 23 May 2021
bill : Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .
Transfers [edit ]
Transfers in [edit ]
Transfers out [edit ]
Loans in [edit ]
Loans out [edit ]
- 1.^[211]) For an undisclosed lend fee. ( ~4m
- 2.^ For an undisclosed loanword fee. )
- 3.^[212][213]) For an undisclosed lend fee. ( ~3m
- 4.^[214]) For an undisclosed loan fee. ( ~1.8m
transfer drumhead [edit ]
Spending summer :  £ Undisclosed ( ~ 81,590,000 ) winter :  £ 0 sum : £ Undisclosed ( ~ 81,590,000 )
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Income summer :  £ Undisclosed ( ~ 28,025,000 ) winter : £ 0 sum : £ Undisclosed ( ~ 28,025,000 )
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Net Expenditure summer : £ Undisclosed ( ~ 53,565,000 ) winter : £ 0 sum : £ Undisclosed ( ~ 53,565,000 )
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Pre-season and friendlies [edit ]
Win Draw Loss Fixtures
Competitions [edit ]
overview [edit ]
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Premier League | 12 September 2020 | 23 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 8th | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 0 47.37 |
| FA Cup | 9 January 2021 | 23 January 2021 | Third round | Fourth round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 0 50.00
Read more: Hayato Gokudera – Wikipedia |
| EFL Cup | 21 September 2020 | 22 December 2020 | Third round | Quarter-finals | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 0 33.33 |
| FA Community Shield | 29 August 2020 | Final | Winners | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 00 0.00 | |
| UEFA Europa League | 22 October 2020 | 6 May 2021 | Group stage | Semi-finals | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 33 | 13 | +20 | 0 64.29 |
| Total | 58 | 29 | 12 | 17 | 94 | 58 | +36 | 0 50.00 | ||||
last updated : 23 May 2021
Source : Soccerway
Premier League [edit ]
League table [edit ]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) If the champions, relegated teams or qualified teams for UEFA competitions cannot be determined by rules 1 to 3, rules 4.1 to 4.3 are applied – 4.1) Points gained in head to head record between such teams; 4.2) Away goals scored in head to head record between such teams; 4.3) Play-offs[215]
Notes: source : Premier League Rules for classification : 1 ) Points ; 2 ) Goal difference ; 3 ) Goals scored ; 4 ) If the champions, relegated teams or stipulate teams for UEFA competitions can not be determined by rules 1 to 3, rules 4.1 to 4.3 are applied – 4.1 ) Points gained in question to lead record between such teams ; 4.2 ) Away goals scored in head to head record between such teams ; 4.3 ) Play-offsNotes :
- ^ Since the winners of the 2020–21 FA Cup, Leicester City, besides qualified for the Europa League based on league place, the second Europa League group stage position allocated to England was transferred to the sixth-placed team .
- ^ Since the winners of the 2020–21 EFL Cup, Manchester City, qualified for european rival based on league position, the Europa Conference League position awarded to the EFL Cup winners was transferred to the highest-placed Premier League team not already qualified for european competition, the seventh-placed team .
Results compendious [edit ]
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 61 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 24 | 21 | +3 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 31 | 18 | +13 |
last updated : 23 May 2021.
source : Premier League
Results by polish [edit ]
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | W | L | W | L | L | W | L | D | L | L | L | D | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | L | L | W | L | W | D | W | D | L | W | D | L | W | W | W | W | W |
| Position | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
A
= Away;
H
= Home;
W
= Win;
D
= Draw;
L
= Loss Updated to match ( e ) played on 23 May 2021. generator : Premier league
Matches [edit ]
The league fixtures were announced on 20 August 2020. [ 216 ]
FA Cup [edit ]
EFL Cup [edit ]
FA Community Shield [edit ]
UEFA Europa League [edit ]
Group stage [edit ]
The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020. [ 218 ]
Knockout phase [edit ]
Round of 32 [edit ]
The round of 32 draw was held on 14 December 2020. [ 219 ]
Round of 16 [edit ]
The orotund of 16 draw was held on 26 February 2021. [ 221 ]
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 19 March 2021. [ 222 ]
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 19 March 2021, after the quarter-final draw. The Gunners ‘ acquire meant Villarreal ‘s director Unai Emery would face his early side in the semifinals. Emery had guided Arsenal to the final examination in 2019, possibly his most celebrated moment during an 18-month stint at Arsenal between May 2018 and November 2019. [ 222 ]
Statistics [edit ]
Appearances and goals [edit ]
Players with no appearances not included in the list .
- As of 23 May 2021
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Premier League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europa League | Community Shield | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
| 1 | GK |  |
35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | |
| 2 | DF |  |
24(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 6(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32(3) | 1 | |
| 3 | DF |  |
26(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(5) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32(6) | 2 | |
| 6 | DF |  |
22(1) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 31(1) | 3 | |
| 7 | MF |  |
30(2) | 5 | 0(2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8(1) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 41(5) | 7 | |
| 8 | MF | |
17(8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 6(6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25(15) | 0 | |
| 9 | FW |  |
22(9) | 13 | 0(2) | 0 | 1(1) | 1 | 5(3) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 28(15) | 17 | |
| 11 | MF |  |
9(5) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14(6) | 2 | |
| 12 | FW | |
16(9) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 3(6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21(16) | 1 | |
| 13 | GK |  |
0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5(1) | 0 | |
| 14 | FW |  |
26(3) | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5(3) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 33(6) | 15 | |
| 16 | DF | |
28(2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36(3) | 0 | |
| 17 | DF |  |
8(2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7(2) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 19(5) | 0 | |
| 18 | MF |  |
18(6) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24(9) | 0 | |
| 19 | FW |  |
16(13) | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 10(3) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 30(17) | 16 | |
| 21 | DF | |
8(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11(5) | 0 | |
| 22 | DF | |
10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| 23 | DF | |
17(3) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27(3) | 2 | |
| 24 | FW | |
0(2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3(1) | 1 | 0(1) | 0 | 5(4) | 1 | |
| 25 | MF |  |
17(6) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 5(7) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 27(14) | 3 | |
| 30 | FW | |
4(13) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6(2) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14(15) | 6 | |
| 32 | MF | |
18(2) | 2 | 0(1) | 1 | 0(1) | 0 | 8(3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26(7) | 4 | |
| 33 | GK |  |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 34 | MF |  |
29(2) | 1 | 1(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42(3) | 1 | |
| 35 | FW | |
7(7) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0(6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9(13) | 2 | |
| 38 | FW | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(5) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0(6) | 2 | |
| 41 | MF | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | |
| 66 | MF | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | |
| Players on loan but featured this season | |||||||||||||||
| 15 | MF | |
5(6) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13(8) | 0 | |
| 28 | MF | |
2(5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4(1) | 3 | 0(1) | 0 | 10(7) | 3 | |
| 31 | DF |  |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 8(1) | 0 | |
| Players sold but featured this season | |||||||||||||||
| 20 | DF | |
0(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(3) | 0 | |
| 26 | GK |  |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Goalscorers [edit ]
- As of 23 May 2021
Assists [edit ]
- As of 23 May 2021
disciplinary record [edit ]
- As of 23 May 2021
clean sheets [edit ]
- As of 23 May 2021
Awards [edit ]
Each award achiever was chosen via open-access polls on the golf club ‘s official web site .
Arsenal Player of the Month award [edit ]
| Month | Player | Votes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| September | ( BRA )
|
72% | [223] |
| October | ( BRA )
|
79% | [224] |
| November | ( BRA )
|
76% | [225] |
| December | ( ENG )
|
70% | [226] |
| January | ( ENG )
|
46% | [227] |
| February | ( ENG )
|
48% | [228] |
| March | ( NOR )
|
53.4% | [229] |
| April | ( FRA )
|
72% | [230] |
armory Goal of the Month award [edit ]
Arsenal Player of the Season award [edit ]
arsenal Goal of the Season award [edit ]
Notes [edit ]
References [edit ]
Read more: Clint Barton (Marvel Cinematic Universe)