David Hytner was at the Emirates Stadium. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Mikel Arteta speaks to TNT. “Very happy … scoring three goals and keeping a clean sheet … the first half we should have been three or four up … in the Champions League you are going to have difficult moments … we weren’t precise enough … we suffered … but I am very happy … the subs helped us … gave us energy … everybody is important … [Lewis-Skelly] is one of our own … he has a bright future … it is a nice feeling to help somebody change his life … [Saka] is really mature … he is incredible … his goal involvement is 20 in 21 matches … that is ridiculous … he is an incredible talent … a special person … his leadership is increasing … he is loved by everybody … and on the pitch he makes a difference.”
Yep, Kai Havertz isn’t getting that third goal. Uefa have announced it’s going down as a Thilo Kehrer own goal.
Player of the match Bukayo Saka talks to TNT Sports. “This is [Myles Lewis-Skelly’s] level … he was a big part of the first goal … he’s always asking questions and looking to learn … I’m proud of him.”
Lewis-Skelly adds: “I’m proud of myself … I believe in myself … I’ve come a long way … I thank everyone for giving me the opportunity … hopefully it’s the first of many … I push on from here … I want to keep learning from Bukayo.”
Arsenal are all smiles. They were the better side over the piece – they should have put this game to bed in the first half – though Monaco gave it a good go in their search for a second-half equaliser. The win moves the Gunners up to third spot in the Champions League, with a home game against Dinamo Zagreb and a visit to Girona coming up in the New Year.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 6 | 14 | 15 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 6 | 9 | 13 |
| 4 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 6 | 6 | 13 |
FULL TIME: Arsenal 3-0 Monaco
Arsenal head into this competition’s Christmas break in good nick.
90 min +1: Nwaneri whistles a shot towards the bottom right. Majecki claims.
90 min: There will be three additional minutes.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-0 Monaco (Havertz 88)
Arsenal take a quick free kick down the left and Trossard crosses long. Saka hits a shot-cum-cross from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Havertz competes, level with the right-hand post. Kehrer sticks out a boot and deflects into the top-right corner. It looks like an own goal, but for now the officials have credited it to Havertz.
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87 min: It’s going to be very interesting to see how Everton deal with Arsenal’s corners on Saturday, now Adi Hütter has offered his blueprint. You can bet your bottom dollar Sean Dyche has been taking notes.
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85 min: Trossard forces Teze into the concession of a corner down the left. Monaco leave three men upfield again. Discombobulated when faced with a half-empty box, Trossard and Nwaneri try some short stuff and it all goes wrong.
84 min: That mistake has taken the wind out of Monaco’s sail. Arsenal, second best for most of the second half, and suddenly first to everything. Trossard one-twos with Havertz to make space on the edge of the Monaco D, but slips as he takes his shot.
82 min: Monaco make a triple change. Camara, Vanderson and Embolo are replaced by Teze, Matazo and Ilenikhena.
80 min: Ødegaard makes way for Nwaneri.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Monaco (Saka 78)
Majecki rolls the goal kick to Kehrer on his right. Kehrer rolls it back across to Salisu to the keeper’s left. Salisu taps it to the keeper, who is immediately closed down by Havertz. The ball deflects to Saka, who isn’t missing from six yards. The ball whistles into the corner, and that should be that for Arsenal.
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77 min: Ødegaard crosses long from the right. Merino heads over at the far post. Trossard, behind him was in a better position. But it doesn’t matter, because from the resulting goal kick …
76 min: Arsenal enjoy a bit of sustained possession for the first time in this second period. Have they finally drawn Monaco’s sting?
74 min: Havertz juggles his way out of a three-man press. That’s delightful skill. He sends Trossard romping into acres down the left. Ødegaard is free in the middle, but Trossard can only clank the final pass into the nearby Salisu. He gets the ball back and aims for the top right, but the shot’s always sailing high and wide. A huge chance to wrap this up.
73 min: Jesus is replaced by Havertz.
71 min: Saka advances down the right and rolls infield for Trossard, who tries to release Ødegaard down the inside-left channel. A better weighted ball, and Ødegaard is in on goal, but the pass is overhit.
69 min: Ødegaard hauls down Ben Seghir to concede a garden-variety free kick, and briefly considers flinging the ball away in disgust. He decides against it, which is for the best. Arsenal not in a great frame of mind right now.-
68 min: Minamino dribbles into the Arsenal box from the right and is lightly tugged on the shoulder by Kiwior. A chance to go down cynically, and give the referee a penalty decision to make. But Minamino opts to stay on his feet.
66 min: Trossard crosses from the left. Ødegaard hammers a shot from the penalty spot straight at Majecki, who parries … and then the flag goes up.
65 min: Minamino snaffles Saliba’s poor pass out from the right-back position. He slips a left-to-right diagonal pass to Embolo, who swivels, 12 yards out, and flashes a low drive inches wide of the bottom right. Monaco getting closer and closer to an equaliser.
64 min: Arsenal make a triple change, Rice, Lewis-Skelley and Martinelli making way for Timber, Trossard and Jorginho.
63 min: Henrique dribbles past Partey and Saka down the right, reaching the byline and cutting back for Minamino, who should do better than slapping a weak shot straight at Raya from ten yards. Arsenal attempt to counter, only for Vanderson to tug at Martinelli and earn himself a booking.
61 min: Incidentally, Monaco’s tactic to deal with Arsenal’s famous corner routine was to keep three men on the halfway line, forcing the Gunners to match them … and thus there were fewer players and much less bedlam in the box. Premier League managers up and down the land will be whipping their notebooks out. Scribble scribble scribble.
60 min: Rice’s long corner is punched clear by Majecki. On the edge of the box, Merino thinks he’s been fouled by Embolo, but there’s no whistle. So seconds later he has a kick back, and goes into the book.
58 min: Merino spins into space and strides down the middle of the park. He plays in Martinelli down the left. Martinelli drops a shoulder to get past Vanderson, and crosses low and hard. Salisu slices a strange … and slightly fortunate … clearance over his own bar. Here comes Arsenal’s first corner of the evening!
56 min: More space for Vanderson down the right. He tries the low cross again. This time Embolo is up there competing, but Kiwior gets in ahead to knock the ball out of play for the first corner of the match. Nothing comes of the set piece, Akliouche sending it straight into Raya’s hands.
54 min: Monaco have started the half better. But then they did that in the first half too, and look how that ended up. “Lovely assist from Jesus,” writes Charles Antaki. “Who are these mealy-mouthed critics? Pshaw!”
53 min: Vanderson storms down the right and sends a dangerous ball through the Arsenal box. But nobody else in green has kept up with play.
51 min: Minamino has a dig from distance. No good.
49 min: Rice slaloms out of defence. The referee tries to get out of his way. But whichever way he chooses, Rice follows. The crowd not happy but this is silent-movie perfection. The referee can’t shake Rice off. A slapstick chase. Eventually Rice takes a hard turn right and the skit is over.
47 min: Camara curls the free kick into the Arsenal box. Kehrer wins a header, ten yards out, and powers it wide right. Had that been on target, Raya was beaten, rooted to the spot. And Kehrer was basically unchallenged, so it should have been on target. Arsenal get away with one.
46 min: Jesus has the chance to release Martinelli into the Monaco box, but underhits the pass. Monaco counter, and Kiwior upends Akliouche 30 yards from goal. Free kick. The box is loaded.
Monaco get the second half underway. Soungoutou Magassa, who made a couple of big mistakes in the first half, has been replaced by erstwhile Liverpool star Takumi Minamino. But Arsenal haven’t subbed Gabriel Martinelli, which is something of a surprise given he should have been given a second yellow card right at the end of the first half, and is surely now drinking in the last-chance saloon.
Half-time entertainment. Max! Barry! David Squires!
HALF TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Monaco
A half of two halves. Monaco looked assured for the first 20 minutes or so, but then Arsenal turned it on. The hosts could very easily have scored five. They also should have seen Gabriel Martinelli sent off for two yellow cards, so there’s a fair chance he’ll not be coming out again for the second half.
45 min: Camara strides down the right and is clanked to the floor from behind by Martinelli, who is already on a booking. He should be walking – this is a second yellow all day long - but the referee opts for a quiet word instead. Martinelli is very lucky indeed.
44 min: Arsenal stroke it around in the game-management style. Monaco are chasing shadows now.
42 min: Make that five. Monaco are suddenly all over the place, Camara the latest to ship possession. Ødegaard slips Martinelli clear down the inside-left. Martinelli then replicates Ødegaard’s miss from a couple of minutes ago. The flag goes up for offside, but Martinelli looked on. VAR would surely have got the rulers out and overturned that one.
40 min: Magassa, not for the first time this evening, faffs around on the halfway line. He slips a dreadful backpass towards Vanderson, allowing Ødegaard to storm off with the ball. He’s clear! Ødegaard reaches the edge of the box and looks for the bottom-right corner … but the shot’s always sailing wide. A huge miss, Arsenal’s third big one of the night. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, Arsenal are 4-0 up.
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38 min: Partey makes good down the right and hooks a low cross back to Martinelli on the penalty spot. Martinelli cushions a side-foot wide right. Not too far away at all.
36 min: That’s absolutely sensational play by Lewis-Skelly, who wasn’t certain to retain possession when taking delivery of a slight hospital pass, but wriggled clear of his man with great determination, before spotting the opportunity to release Jesus. As good a goal as you’ll see all week in the Champions League.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Monaco (Saka 34)
Jesus crosses low from the left. Saka slots from six yards. He couldn’t miss. But it was all about the Champions League debutant Lewis-Skelly, who spins away from Ben Seghir in the centre circle before slipping Jesus clear with a forensic pass. Saka and Jesus go straight to Lewis-Skelly to offer their thanks. That’s a gorgeous goal.
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32 min: Martinelli goes into the book for cynically bringing down an in-flight Golovin. It was one he probably had to take for the team, with Monaco countering at speed and Arsenal light at the back.
31 min: Up until those Jesus chances, Monaco had done a decent job of quietening the home crowd. But now the fans are giving it plenty again.
30 min: Arsenal’s tails are up, and now Saka dribbles hard down the right. He nearly gets past Salisu, but the defender gets enough of a challenge in to ricochet the ball off the Arsenal winger and out for a goal kick.
28 min: Another ball down the middle, and another chance for Jesus! The striker gets in ahead of Kehrer, and hammers the ball towards the bottom-right corner. Majecki sticks out a strong left hand to parry, then snaffles the rebound. Our thoughts go out to Charles Antaki.
26 min: A simple long ball down the middle nearly does for Monaco. Jesus brings it down and enters the box, one on one with Majecki in the Monaco goal. Majecki thinks about coming out to close Jesus down, but decides against it. Jesus aims a low shot across the keeper, aiming for the bottom-left corner, but the keeper adjusts to kick away. That’s a fine save.
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24 min: Ødegaard has another go at a curler towards the top-right corner, this time using three Monaco defenders as a shield. This one’s always heading wide too.
22 min: Monaco snaffle the ball off the ponderous hosts and break upfield at speed. Ben Seghir, Akliouche and Embolo all involved, as the play is switched from right to left and back again. The move fizzles out on the edge of the box, but yet again the visitors show admirable ambition.
20 min: Saka gets the better of Henrique this time, romping in from the right touchline and pinging a pass to Ødegaard, on the right-hand edge of the D. Ødegaard opens his body and looks for the top-left corner, but doesn’t get enough curl on the shot. Goal kick. For the second time tonight, some lovely Arsenal build-up has been wasted by the resulting effort on goal. That won’t have been lost on Arteta, who was talking about this very thing in the pre-match interview.
18 min: Partey takes a throw in. He sends the ball straight to an opponent, allowing the visitors to break. Nothing comes of the attack, though Arsenal’s hard-won reputation as set-piece magicians is now in ruins.
17 min: Now Rice clanks a simple pass towards Martinelli out for a throw on the left. Arsenal not quite clicking yet. Monaco look pretty comfortable at the moment.
15 min: Saka gets the ball at his feet for the first time this evening … and walks it straight out of play for a throw. Henrique yet to be stress-tested in the Monaco left-back position.
13 min: Embolo goes over his ankle and stays down. Monaco want the ball put out. Arsenal eventually oblige, not that it pleases their fans. Embolo gets up to more booing. He’s fine. Booooo! Pantomime season starting early in Holloway.
11 min: Monoco press high. Raya isn’t sure how to respond so simply blooters the ball upfield in the late-80s style. Nobody up there.
9 min: Now it’s Kiwior’s turn to dawdle on the edge of his own area, and he’s dispossessed by Vanderson. The ball’s teed up for Golovin, who sends a power curler inches wide of the right-hand post. Had that been on target, Raya might not have got there in time.
8 min: Martinelli probes down the left again. He chops back but can’t get past Vanderson, who attempts to launch a counter by dribbling in the old-fashioned style up the touchline. He flashes past Martinelli but is then dragged back by Lewis-Skelly. A bit later in the match, and that might have been a booking.
6 min: Martinelli slips Merino into the box with a cute reverse pass down the inside-left channel. Merino whips a vicious low ball through the six-yard box. Jesus extends a leg but can’t connect. Any sort of touch and that was in. Fine play by Martinelli and Merino there.
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5 min: Arsenal wake up as Magassa ambles around on the edge of his own box. Jesus nicks the ball off his toe, and sends Martinelli into the box down the left channel. Martinelli hits a weak shot straight into Majecki’s arms.
3 min: Monaco are winning most of the early duels. Arsenal not quite up to speed yet. On the touchline, Mikel Arteta claps his hands by way of encouragement.
1 min: Ødegaard loses the ball within nanoseconds and Monaco go on the attack. Ben Seghir has a run at the Arsenal defence, but there’s no way through. A very early sign that Monaco aren’t here simply to make up the numbers.
Arsenal get the ball rolling. A rare old noise down Ashburton Grove way.
The teams are out! Arsenal sport fetching retro US-style ‘Varsity Jackets’ (£160) as they line up for the Uefa anthem. Underneath, their famous red shirts with equally storied white sleeves. Monaco in second-choice bottle green. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. In the meantime, Charles Antaki would like to offer as much pre-match optimism as he can muster: “Gabriel Jesus on from the start. Hmm. A certain twitchiness is starting to be discernible amongst Arsenal fans about Jesus; early deliveries have dried up and not been replaced by anything much. You wonder whether Arteta starting him in a Champions League match might be a matter of giving him enough rope.”
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The two early matches have finished. Here are the results …
Atlético Madrid 3-1 Slovan Bratislava
Lille 3-2 Sturm Graz
… and so the supertable now looks like this. Arsenal drop a couple of places to 12th, having been leapfrogged by both of the early-evening winners.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| 2 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 4 | Inter Milan | 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 5 | Brest | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 6 | Lille | 6 | 3 | 13 |
| 7 | Barcelona | 5 | 13 | 12 |
| 8 | Borussia Dortmund | 5 | 10 | 12 |
| 9 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| 10 | Atletico Madrid | 6 | 4 | 12 |
| 11 | Atalanta | 6 | 9 | 11 |
| 12 | Arsenal | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 13 | Monaco | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 14 | Sporting | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 15 | Club Brugge | 6 | -2 | 10 |
| 16 | Benfica | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 17 | AC Milan | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 18 | Real Madrid | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 19 | Celtic | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| 20 | Man City | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| 21 | PSV | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 22 | Juventus | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| 23 | Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | -5 | 8 |
| 24 | PSG | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 25 | Feyenoord | 5 | -3 | 7 |
| 26 | Stuttgart | 5 | -7 | 4 |
| 27 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | -8 | 4 |
| 28 | Sparta Prague | 5 | -9 | 4 |
| 29 | Sturm Graz | 6 | -5 | 3 |
| 30 | Girona | 6 | -6 | 3 |
| 31 | Red Star Belgrade | 5 | -8 | 3 |
| 32 | Red Bull Salzburg | 6 | -15 | 3 |
| 33 | Bologna | 5 | -6 | 1 |
| 34 | RB Leipzig | 6 | -7 | 0 |
| 35 | Young Boys | 5 | -15 | 0 |
| 36 | Slovan Bratislava | 6 | -16 | 0 |
Here’s what Arsenal are facing tonight. “Multinational acquisitions have helped Monaco and their coach, Adi Hütter, create a physical and intense team with flair in the attacking third,” writes Will Unwin, who swanned down to the Côte d’Azur so you don’t have to.
Mikel Arteta speaks to TNT Sports. “Myles Lewis-Skelly has done really well for us and deserves a chance … we are really buzzing to see one of our own in a big match like this playing for us … it is a really tough match … Monaco have been in great form … some great results … now is the moment to capitalise at home … we have two games at home … let’s do it tonight … they are very strong attacking and defending … they prepare every throw, every free kick … there are a lot of clues if you want an advantage … the amount of entries we make into the box is more than every other team … a little more killing instinct … the last pass, the last action is not there … it is my job to help them … we have to have more symmetry … find the right balance … be a threat from everywhere.”
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Arsenal make four changes to their starting XI following the 1-1 draw at Fulham. Mikel Merino, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Myles Lewis-Skelly are recalled, the latter making his first Champions League start, while Jurriën Timber, Leandro Trossard, Jorginho and Kai Havertz drop to the bench. Kieran Tierney is also named as a sub, and could make his first appearance for the Gunners for over 16 months.
The teams
Arsenal: Raya, Partey, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Merino, Ødegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus.
Subs: Neto, Setford, Timber, Tierney, Robinson, Heaven, Monlouis, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling, Havertz.
Monaco: Majecki, Vanderson, Kehrer, Seghir, Golovin, Akliouche, Caio Henrique, Camara, Salisu, Embolo, Magassa.
Subs: Kohn, Lienard, Teze, Matazo, Minamino, Ouattara, Ilenikhena, Michal, Nibombe, Tincres.
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)
VAR: Daniele Chiffi (Italy)
Updated
Preamble
Arsenal are looking for the win that would catapult them into the top eight of the Champions League mega-table. So are Monaco, who have already taken one big scalp in this campaign in the form of Barcelona. This could be a cracker, then. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
