Match report – Player Ratings – Arteta response – Listing of quotes
Arsenal have recorded eight wins from eight in the Champions League this season, with a 3-2 victory over Kairat Almaty last night. It’s one of those games where the score makes it seem like a different game, and in reality it should have been more emphatic.
Mikel Arteta made the changes, with returns for Riccardo Calafiori at the back and Kai Havertz in midfield. It was the German who impressed in the second minute by guiding a beautiful ball to Viktor Gyokeres. The first touch wasn’t great but it broke kindly for the Swede who took the ball and hit a low shot to make it 1-0.
A great start, but although the referee did not see a foul by Calafiori in our penalty area a few minutes later, the VAR did. Kairat was awarded a penalty, and Jorginho (not that one) saved it to make it 1-1. The Italian made up for it with some nifty footwork deep in our half to keep the ball alive, and from there the ball was played forward. Gyokeres used his NFL frame to close down a defender, and Havertz cut inside to score his first goal since scoring in the 5–1 win over Man City in early February 2025.
Gyokeres then had what seemed like a host of opportunities to extend the lead. He missed one at the near post after good work from Havertz; he somehow put a great Myles Lewis-Skelly cross over the bar from a few yards out; there was a close-range header that he didn’t quite connect with; and other moments when his touch failed him at the key moment. There was at least one other incident where a good pass from Noni Madueke would have put him through after a good move behind the defenders, but like almost every final move from the winger last night it was not properly weighted. Still, Gyokeres got into good positions, and the ball often found him there, so you can definitely see that as progress from what we’ve seen this season.
Gyokeres was involved in the third goal and was eventually credited with an assist. A lovely strike from Christian Norgaard sent Havertz behind, the striker getting a little touch when he should have buried it himself, and maybe it went in, but Gabriel Martinelli was at the back post to make sure. A VAR check for offside followed, but the goal stood. Gyokeres had then cleared one off the line, but the referee had already blown for a free-kick, and Martinelli curled one just over the far corner before the half-time whistle blew.
I thought it was a fun 45 minutes of football. Sure, the stakes were low against opposition who weren’t really on the same level, but after what we’ve been through lately, it felt like a nice palate cleanser. At halftime, Calafiori and Havertz were released for Hincapie and Odegaard, and the second half wasn’t much fun. I admit it’s probably very picky as it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but I would have liked to see more from our attacking play as we had players who could have benefited from goals and assists.
Instead the pace of the game went off – which is somewhat understandable – but apart from Martinelli, who really worked hard and created a couple of decent headed chances for Odegaard, there wasn’t quite the cutting edge you would want. I thought Eberechi Eze, who had been quieter than most in the first half, had really grown into the game, and he even finished the night with six key passes. One for Gabriel Jesus, substitute for Gyokeres, should have resulted in another goal, but he shot wide. The Brazilian also had one disallowed for offside after a good pass from Norgaard, but on the right flank Madueke tended to mislead too often and never produced the decisive final pass or shot. That late moment when he drove decisively into the box and then ballooned a ball into one of the executive boxes pretty much summed up his evening.
So when they scored a late goal to make it 3-2, it felt like we had erased the writing a bit. Again, it doesn’t really matter, and at that stage Arteta had brought on Brando Bailey-Joseph and Ife Ibrahim for their Arsenal debuts at 17 and 18 respectively, so that tells you how he viewed things. I suspect he wouldn’t have been too happy with that late goal, though, and a game we should have won convincingly looked more exciting than it actually was.
Afterwards he said:
I’m very proud of the players and the run we had in this first phase of the competition. It’s very difficult to win eight games in a row in the Champions League, and you can see what happened to all the other teams. We really have to recognize that.
And about Havertz’s striking and very welcome return, he said:
Every player has unique qualities. Kai is a player who gives us so much versatility and threat from different positions, because he is a unique player in the areas he can occupy and the way he is associated with other players. He is a player who understands in the league what we want to do. He can handle pressure and different demands very well and he is a player who will become very important in this second part of the season.
Ultimately, this was a match that meant the manager could rotate and rest some players, and give useful game time to others who desperately needed it, and I think there were positives in getting ahead of Leeds on Saturday. How many minutes Havertz is capable of in the more intense environment of the Premier League remains to be seen, but assuming there is no reaction to his performance last night, you would expect him to be on the bench at Elland Road.
Winning 8 out of 8 isn’t something to think about, and looking at the players who didn’t play last night, you’d hope they return fresh and ready for what’s going to be a tough game away from home this weekend. Last night could and should have been better score-wise, but if the real benefit of that is what we get against Leeds then that’s fine by me.
Okay, I’ll leave it at that for now, but we’ll have an Arsecast for you later where we can talk a little more in depth about this game, and much more. Keep that in mind, until then, enjoy.
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