Arsenal secured a place in the last-16 of the Europa League with a narrow win over Zurich at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners needed to beat Group A’s bottom side to be assured of progression to the knockout stages and they got the job done with a 1-0 victory. But ahead of a weekend of Guy Fawkes night celebrations, there were no fireworks in north London.
Kieran Tierney was the match-winner, producing a brilliant strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to put Mikel Arteta’s side ahead early on. Eddie Nketiah forced a good save from the visiting keeper with a header from a corner and Fabio Vieira spurned another great opening from a Tierney cut-back as the Gunners went in to the break with a one-goal lead.
Arteta rung the changes in the second half, bringing on first-team regulars to shore up his side, but Arsenal lacked rhythm against a Zurich team who had only won one of their last 17 away games in Europe and gave them an unnecessarily nervy ending. Zurich had a goal ruled out for offside and bombarded the penalty area in the closing stages.
Ultimately it was job done for Arsenal, who avoided Manchester United's fate in booking a play-off against a ex-Champions League side, but there was little to get excited about. Here are Mirror Football’s talking points.
1. Tierney back in business
It’s been a long and arduous journey back to full fitness for Tierney. Nights like this showed just how good he can be when rid of pesky injuries.
Left-back has been somewhat of a problem position for Arsenal in recent times, with Granit Xhaka filling in and the more limited Takehiro Tomiyasu often deployed there. Now, with Tierney firing and Oleksandr Zinchenko back fit and on the bench, things look a lot brighter.
Tierney was the outstanding player in the first half. The technique he showed for the first goal – knee over the ball, head down – made for a pleasing strike and the celebrations showed just how popular a scorer he was. He should have finished the half with an assist too, but Vieira’s shot from his cut-back was blocked.
2. Lokonga heating up competition
Albert Sambi Lokonga has been vocal in his unhappiness at the lack of opportunities with Arsenal and Belgium, admitting he “almost snapped” at the end of last season. This was exactly the kind of chance he’s been asking for – and the fact he lined up alongside Mohamed Elneny made it particularly interesting.
Arsenal’s midfield has been very settled this season, with Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey playing behind Martin Odegaard. But with Lokonga knocking at the door and Elneny back fit, the competition for places is heating up.
Lokonga played just like a player desperate to prove himself, while Elneny appeared a much calmer presence at the base of midfield before he was replaced by Partey. They are two different players, with the Belgian more suited to the box-to-box role Xhaka has excelled in this season, but Arteta is unlikely to have seen anything to change his mind in this game, despite plenty of endeavour from Lokonga.
3. Nketiah a bright spark
Nketiah knows all about biding his time at Arsenal, having forever been the bridesmaid but never the bride. When he committed to the club by signing a new contract in the summer he knew a new striker would be coming in after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette left, but he didn’t know that it would be Gabriel Jesus and that he would quickly become undroppable.
Surprisingly, Nketiah is the only Arsenal player to feature in all 18 games this season. He started the game out of position on the left, but still looked a real threat. His link-up play with Tierney was the standout attribute of the first half for Arsenal and he nearly grabbed a goal with a firm near-post header from a corner.
4. Not quite happening for Vieira
Vieira arrived at Arsenal with a fair point of hype behind him after a £34million transfer from Porto, but Gunners fans have yet to see much from the Portuguese midfielder. After picking up an early injury, this was his 13th appearance for the club and his seventh start – six of which have come in the Europa League.
The 22-year-old announced himself in some style by scoring a rocket against Brentford on September 18 but it’s been slower going since then. Against Zurich he had more than enough opportunities to get on the score sheet, but it just wouldn’t happen for him.
Tierney’s cut-back in the first half was perfect, but Vieira was leaning back as he hit his shot, which was easily blocked. He left the pitch in the 72nd minute to warm applause, but on a night of auditions, his was one of the weakest.
5. Workmanlike Gunners
Arteta will be happy with the outcome. He rotated his side, giving a rest to Odegaard, Partey, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli, while Xhaka was absent through suspension, ahead of a crucial Premier League game against Chelsea on Sunday.
But there shouldn’t really have been any need for the slightly nervy conclusion to the match. Partey, Odegaard and Saka all made it onto the pitch in the second half as Arsenal sat back a little too much towards the end.
Nevertheless a win is a win and after Manchester United finished second to book a play-off match against a team dropping down from the Champions League, this was an important one. Arsenal have not often been described as workmanlike – and that might even be considered praise in these circumstances.
