Sheffield United 1-2 Arsenal
It didn’t take long for the home side to inflict their first scare on the Gunners defence, when Norwood’s corner was headed back across goal and finished off by Lundstram only for VAR to intervene in which was one of the more straight forward decisions this season, to keep the game all square. Arteta’s side were slow to get going in an attacking sense, however possession wasn’t hard to come by and eventually lead to a penalty after Kieran Tierney found Alexandre Lacazette just inside the area, which was deemed too tempting for defender Chris Basham, coming through the back of the French striker to give Arsenal the best chance of the game so far. Set-piece specialist Nicolas Pepe stepped up to take and made no mistake, calmly side footing the ball into the side netting far from the out stretched hand of Henderson. Chances seemed to all come at once as Martinez cleared the ball shortly after, only for the goal scorer to flick it onto Lacazette who played a clever back heel into the Ivorian’s path allowing him to sting the palms of Henderson with a powerful low strike. Going into the break Arteta’s side lead the tie by 0-1.
The second half resumed in almost spectacular fashion with Blades goalkeeper Dean Henderson nearly finding the back of the net with an enormous kick forward, in which Martinez had to watch over the crossbar. Game management was the cry from the away dugout with the Gunners sinking deeper and deeper as the half went on, showing their manager some positive signs that when games get tough on the road they are able to grind out a result, however a comical piece of defending from Sead Kolasinac saw him clear the ball onto Mustafi which deflected the ball into the ball of McGoldrick giving the striker a golden opportunity, one that he was never going to miss in the 86th minute. With extra-time looming, Arsenal managed to commit some players forward in the hope of creating one last chance, Saka led the charge and managed to work the ball onto Nketiah who in turn found Pepe, however it seemed as though he tried to do too much nearly losing possession only for Ceballos to run onto it into the box and slot it past the helpless Henderson in the 90th minute. The game finished with Arsenal 1-2 victors meaning Arteta will be facing his old side once again before the end of the season in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Player Ratings
Emilio Martinez
Another solid display, made some good saves throughout. His distribution is also very good. 7.5/10
Maitland-Niles
We look much better going forward with Ainsley at right back as it allows Pepe to push further up the pitch. Made some very nice tackles and passes. 7/10
Skhodran Mustafi
Had a poor game, nearly gifted them the opening goal with a terrible header and his passing was inconsistent. 5/10
David Luiz
Wasn’t his best game, but won a lot of headers defensively. Limped off early in the second half. 5/10
Sead Kolasinac
Was looking good up until the equaliser which saw him kick the ball against his teammate, another individual mistake from a defender. 6/10
Kieran Tierney
A very energetic display getting up and down the wing to whip crosses in. Solid defensively as well. 7.5/10. My MOTM.
Granit Xhaka
Held the midfield together and was always offering for the ball, good to see him end the game with the captians armband. 7/10
Joe Willock
Tried to drive the team forward with burst from midfield, however needs to improve his final ball. 6/10
Bukayo Saka
Another excellent perfomance, becoming vital to the team. Probably needs a rest at some point as he’s played a lot of football since the restart. 7/10
Nicolas Pepe
Showed his ability from the spot to put us 0-1 up. Always looked a threat down the right hand side. Unlucky not to have a brace if it weren’t for a good save. 7.5/10
Alexandre Lacazette
Was on the end of some rash tackles, but battle through them and won the penalty. A decent perfomance. 6.5/10
Subs
Dani Ceballos
Great goal to win us the game, really clever finish. Needed that because extra-time would have done us no favours. 7/10
Rob Holding
Rplaced Luiz and looked relatively comfortable. 6/10
Eddie Nketiah
Didn’t have loads of time but didn’t impact the game much. 6/10
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James Humphreys
Gunners Daily 