Arsenal 1 v 0 Ipswich Town FA Premier League Friday, 27th December 2024 Kick-off 20:15 | ![]() |
Arsenal 1-0 Ipswich Town - Match Report Friday, 27th Dec 2024 22:16 Kai Havertz’s first-half goal was enough to see Arsenal to a 1-0 victory over the Blues at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners utterly dominated the first half but with Town limiting their chances, while Town had more opportunities to counter-attack in the second period but without ever seriously threatening to get back on terms. Town boss Kieran McKenna made five changes with Luke Woolfenden, Ben Johnson, Jacob Greaves, Kalvin Phillips and Liam Delap coming into the team. The Blues switched to the system that saw them to a 2-1 win at Spurs on their last visit to North London with a back three of Dara O’Shea, who skippers the club for the first time, on the right with Woolfenden in the centre and Greaves on the left. Ben Johnson and Leif Davis were the wing-backs with Phillips joining Jens Cajuste in the centre of midfield with captain Sam Morsy suspended. Omari Hutchinson, a former Gunners academy player, and Sammie Szmodics were the number 10s behind lone striker Delap, back after his one-match ban. Harry Clarke, another one-time youth player with the North Londoners, Wes Burns and Conor Chaplin dropped to the bench and Cameron Burgess was out of the 20-man squad but having travelled. For Arsenal, Declan Rice came back into the team for Thomas Partey, while Leandro Trossard replaced Bukayo Saka, who suffered a hamstring injury in the 5-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday. Town almost got the game off to a shock start in the opening 25 seconds, a Davis cross from the left clipping Jurrien Timber and Szmodics behind him only just failed to connect at the near post. But after that, the early stages were all Arsenal, passing the ball around, prodding and probing and looking for an opening, but without threatening keeper Aro Muric, aside from a seventh-minute corner which the Kosovan punched to the edge of the area where Gunners’ skipper Martin Odegaard mishit his shot. On 14, Trossard worked himself some room on the left edge of the box but saw his effort deflect behind with Town defending another corner against the division’s set-play experts. The Blues continued to frustrate the Gunners, who at this stage had had 89 per cent of the possession, but in the 19th minute Timber brought the ball forward from deep before hitting a shot straight at Muric, who claimed. Town were defending resolutely, despite the game being played almost entirely in their final third, but in the 23rd minute the Gunners finally created a serious opening and went ahead. Trossard got round the outside of Johnson on the left of the box and sent over a cross from the byline which Woolfenden and Greaves both failed to connect with and Havertz volleyed into the net from a couple of feet in front of the line, the German international’s 12th goal of the season. Arsenal went looking for their second, maintaining their dominance on the ball before Rice shot not too far over from 25 yards. Town launched a rare attack in the 32nd minute, Hutchinson breaking away in the Gunners’ half before feeding Johnson on the right but the former West Ham man’s cross deflected into the arms of home keeper David Raya. Arsenal had the ball in the net for a second time in the 35th minute when Gabriel Jesus was played in on goal by Trossard and forced the ball past Muric from a very tight angle, Gabriel Martinelli adding a final touch with it already over the line. The assistant’s flag was immediately raised and VAR upheld the decision. That was the last chance of the first half with the Gunners continuing to dominate until the break. The first period had been all Arsenal, the half-time possession stat of 84.3 per cent in their favour illustrating their superiority on the ball. Town had defended resiliently with the goal the only out-and-out chance the home side had created. However, aside from Davis’s early cross and Johnson’s later ball into the box, the Blues had presented no threat at all going forward having been unable hold possession for more than a few passes at any stage. Town were first to attack following the restart, Szmodics taking the ball into the box on the left before being dispossessed. But the Gunners soon began to threaten again, Odegaard driving through the middle before hitting a shot which Greaves blocked. On 49, a Trossard effort from the left of the area was similarly stopped by Johnson. Two minutes later, Hutchinson tried to trick his way past Myles Lewis-Skelly on the right of the box and went to ground. However, referee Darren England gave a free-kick against the Town forward and there didn’t appear to have been enough in the challenge to warrant a penalty. On 52, Phillips tactically fouled Rice just outside the Town box with Odegaard eventually slamming the free-kick into the wall. As Hutchinson broke, the forward, was was booed by his old fans for his move to Chelsea as a youngster, was hauled back by Havertz, who was shown the game’s first yellow card. As the game approached the hour mark, the Blues started to keep the ball in the Arsenal half for the first time, Hutchinson and Davis sending over crosses from each flank but without finding a teammate in the middle with Delap crowded out. In the 59th minute, Phillips whipped a dangerous free-kick into the area from deep on the right, which was nodded behind for Town’s first corner of the evening. However, Davis struck the first defender with his flag-kick. Arsenal quickly went back on the offensive and in the 63rd minute Havertz was played in on the left and Woolfenden did well to divert out for a corner. From the resultant corner, Gabriel Magalhaes should have scored. The Brazilian international, the highest scorer from set pieces in Europe’s top leagues, got away from Delap at the far post but nodded into the ground and wide when it seemed easier to score. Moments later, Davis became the first Town player to get his name taken, for a foul on Odegaard, who was OK to continue after requiring treatment. The Blues saw more of the ball in the second half and had been able to break through Hutchinson in particular on a number of occasions, but too often the attack broke down due to a poor decision or pass. Town made their first change of the evening in the 72nd minute, Jack Clarke, a former Tottenham player, replacing Szmodics, who had put in his usual busy shift on the left but may have been rueing not getting his toe to the Blues’ early chance. Arsenal switched Jesus for Mikel Merino. A minute later, Odegaard brought the ball forward into the area, twisted and turned and then hit a shot which Muric did well to palm over. Following the corner, Rice smashed a goal-bound shot which O’Shea blocked for another flag-kick with the Blues again under pressure. In the 75th minute, the Gunners went close again, Trossard nodding a cross from the right down to Havertz, who was forced off the ball by Greaves and Muric was able to bundle it behind from inside his six-yard area. Muric was busy again two minutes later, the Blues’ keeper getting across to his right to push Merino’s shot away from goal. Town made a triple change in the 80th minute, replacing Cajuste, Johnson and Delap for Jack Taylor, Nathan Broadhead and Ali Al-Hamadi. Seven minutes later, Arsenal swapped Rice for Partey. Two minutes from the end, the Blues failed to make the most of a promising situation, Taylor sweeping wide to Davis when he might have shot and the left-back losing out to Timber. In the final minute, with Town having shown more threat since the substitutions with Broadhead again having been a positive influence, Hutchinson looped a cross into Raya’s arms. Seconds into four minutes of time added on, Harry Clarke replaced Woolfenden to polite applause from the fans of the club where he spent eight years. In the dying seconds, Town were pushing for an equaliser, Broadhead working space just inside the area on the right before hitting a shot which Havertz blocked. The whistle went soon afterwards to confirm a Gunners victory, the home side having been very dominant for long spells but with the Blues defending resolutely and preventing them from creating many clear-cut chances with the goal their only real first-half opportunity. The home side had further chances in the second period, Gabriel missing the best of them and Muric making a couple of decent saves. Town, who had presented no attacking threat in the first period, had opportunities to break in the second but too often poor passes or decisions saw promising situations break down and ultimately Raya was never really tested to any degree. After the 4-0 loss at home to Newcastle on Saturday, it was important that the Blues weren’t on the end of another heavy defeat and there’s little disgrace in losing 1-0 at Arsenal and there were positives to take from the performance, not least limiting Arsenal to few big chances, while the Phillips-Cajuste central midfield partnership showed promise. The Blues, who remain 19th in the division, three points from safety following Wolves’ 2-0 victory over Manchester United yesterday, have another tough game up next, at home to Chelsea on Monday. Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Rice (Partey 87), Havertz, Odegaard (c), Martinelli, Trossard, Jesus (Merino 72). Unused: Neto, Zinchenko, Tierney, Kiwior, Calafiori, Jorginho, Nwaneri. Ipswich: Muric, Johnson (Broadhead 80), O’Shea (c), Woolfenden (H Clarke 90), Greaves, Davis, Phillips, Cajuste (Taylor 80), Hutchinson, Szmodics (J Taylor 72), Delap (Al-Hamadi 80). Unused: Walton, Townsend, Burns, Chaplin. Referee: Darren England (Doncaster). VAR: Alex Chilowicz.
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