Arsenal 2 - 0 Napoli: Game over after 15 minutes

Where we were all expecting a long, tough slog against a Napoli side renowned for it's doggedness and searing counter attacks, Arsenal turned up and played some of the best football I've seen us play in Europe in a long time and effectively won the game in the opening 15 minutes.

There were some worries going into the game with no real genuine pace of width. Wilshere and Gnabry were both rested for Arteta and Rosicky, meaning Arsenal would be lining up with five midfielders. When you see a line-up like that, you expect us to play quite narrow with little in the way of penetration, but that wasn't the case. Arsenal moved the ball with pace and purpose from the first whistle. The likes of Sagna, Ramsey, Rosicky and Özil made great runs in behind Napoli's fullbacks, the weak part of their team that many identified, while Giroud acted as a wall for these players to play off of. Both goals came down the same side in a similar fashion; Giroud holding the ball up and a runner, be it Ramsey or Özil, playing off of him.

Napoli hardly threatened to get back into the game after that. They were unable to get Hamsik, Insigne or Callejon running at our backline, and this was partly down to the great job Flamini and Arteta did protecting our backline, and to our fullbacks making sure they weren't caught too high up the pitch. When their attacks broke down, we were able to escape their pressure with confident passing and by using Giroud as a direct option; there was one particular excellent instance where Mertesacker had to go back to Szczesny, who kicked it long and Giroud just nodded it down first time into Özil's path with ease.

Their performance didn't improve much in the second half, either, and we were able to comfortably see out the game without exerting ourselves going forward or suffering any panics at the back. We didn't threaten their goal much, but we didn't have to.

And that's it, really. We played very well, Napoli played very poorly and it's not entirely unexpected. After all, Napoli do have a bit of a history of not performing as well away from home as they do in Italy, and our record against Italian teams is extremely good. Everyone had a good game and we can now enjoy these four days until the West Brom game with the knowledge that we have no new injuries and that we seem to be improving by the game.

It is, of course, important not to get too carried away. It is still too early to make claims that we'll win the group, or even qualify from the group. Sure, we've got six points out of the 10 that many think should be enough to see us through to the knock-out stages, but we do have to play Dortmund, and we do have to travel to Germany and Italy and play in some of the most difficult places in Europe.

So for now, let's enjoy what we're doing, but keep our feet on the ground.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BVhQf_OIIAIo4W7.jpg

Fantastic match. Dominated in every way possible.

Everything has been said already. I can't stress enough how shrewd of a signing Flamini was. Was fantastic again. Hamsik couldn't do anything.

Arteta and him ticked perfectly. Moved the ball quickly and won it back when required.

Ozil and Ramsey stole the show again. MOTM was Ozil with Ramsey close 2nd. Giroud was a monster and shouldn't go unnoticed.

6 points from 2 games. 4 games to go and we will require at least 4 points from that to qualify. Things can change very quickly but i think we will qualify in the end.

this game was supposed to be a very difficult one.. a real test of our season considering that this team had only played weaker oppositions this season.. and it turned out to be the easiest game.. i saw glimpses of the quality and professionalism matched to Barca or Bayern when at their best in the first half..

total domination and destruction of Napoli.. our team lacked wingers and Napoli was expected to pack the centre and force us wide.. interestingly our attacks came more through the wings with Ramsey and Ozil finding their way easily.. and the most important difference we did was, we cycle possession mostly in our half or middle, and break really guick with pace and one touch passing.. instead of the slow build up around the box in final third.. and second half saw our defensive resilience.. Flamini-Arteta pivot looked excellent.. offered defensive stability and possession.. and it allowed Ramsey, Roaicky and Ozil to focus offensively.. Napoli couldnt manage anything through the middle and were forced shooting wide from 30,40 yards..
craving for more of such matches.. will have to download the highlights of this match and save it to my collection..

Sczeny - 7 seems like he has improved on high balls
Sagna - 7.5 total bossing and interlink play along the right wing
Metskr- 7
Kos - 7
Gibbs - 7
Arteta - 7.5
Flamini - 7
Ramsey - 8 amazing consistency as we see..
Rosicky - 7
Ozil - 8.5 MOM what a way to score the first goal.. <3
Giroud - 9 great hold up, aerial domination and passing.. involved in build up to both the goals..
Wilshere - 7

Giroud a 9, but Ozil is MOTM with 8.5? .

First half was a masterclass, dominated possession, created chances and scored goals. Going forward we were amazing, think we could have scored more goals tonight. Second half Napoli came into the game a bit more but we were strong at the back and did enough to see out the game.

FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE!!!

Hamsik was marked out of the game. Great stuff from us.

beatrixasdfghjk. wrote:Giroud a 9, but Ozil is MOTM with 8.5? .

does MOM mean top rating..? Ozil won us the match with a great goal and assist, the most influential on our result.. but i didnt see even one mistake from Giroud.. does that sound crazy ?

Had this game on in the background of Barca, so I obviously paid very little attention.

But even with that, it was clear you dominated and Ozil was fantastic. You often pinned them back in their own half and from what I saw, Napoli only really came close from a set peice.

guys all the 3 predictiosn i have made this season have HAPPENED

i need my reward FFS!!!

i predicted this match will be won in Midfield..and it was

Isn't every match won in the midfield  

Looking forward to watching this one after dinner, though I expected more from Napoli even without Higuaín.

Motogp69 wrote:Isn't every match won in the midfield  

Looking forward to watching this one after dinner, though I expected more from Napoli even without Higuaín.

teams like Napoli rely on counter

Arsenal also plays counter so it was going to be a midfield mental fest

Maybe I'm being a bit cocky, but I felt like we let them attack in the 2nd half and were more than happy to soak up what little pressure Napoli had to offer

Let's top the group to avoid the big teams now !!

The whole team was Fantastic, but Girould was unreal, glad he scored. We beat one of the best teams in Europe, there is not much we can ask for in a game. We didn’t let them get into their game. Flamini and Arteta make a great partnership in front of the back four.

Did we really get Flamini for free?

Such great start that was
watched first 20 mins again
exploiting Napoli's weakness in behind their full backs

we were much different to what a simple look at that Line up would suggested

Giroud and Rosicky just deserve as much credit for the 1st goal as the provider and scorer
and such superb finish that was

Great decision to start both Arteta and Flamini along side eachother

just watch Hamsik performance in pre season and this one

Kos made couple of crucial interceptions to stifle their potential counters

but yeah lets not get carried away

the fact that we can change our Rhythm and approach based on situation is so encouraging

lets get some injured players back and see how far we can go this season

Insigne:" Arsenal is a wonderful city"


LOL

I think this has to b among the best performances of the season so far and the guys r clearly beginning to gel. Arteta playing alongside Flamini obviously adds a new dimension to our flow.
Cant wait for the dilemma to start, when Walcott, Cazorla, Podolski and Diaby return. Wenger will have to find a way to keep them all happy.

Absolutely amazing how Wenger found a great way to use Flaminis strengths perfectly. I remember him starting to show signs of the old him after 2012, but our midfield play is so slow and weird to follow. He still is someone you get worried about with those 2 foot tackles tho lol

Napoli without a top forward is a team without an identity, and it is scary to see just how much is linked with them having someone up front to lead them. Still got completely destroyed though. Not many teams could survive that kind of movement.

Its a lot to do with confidence aswell. Immagine if Arsenal had this confidence when they met a top contented for the CL? I doubt even a Bayern side could deal with this kind of movement without getting hit a couple of times.

I love that full on approach right from the beginning. Not hard to understand why Arsenal has so many fans. Wenger  

Whats all this non-sense about selection dilemmas?

We all know that when a player returns from injury, we'll lose another to some other injury

What a game!!!

beatrixasdfghjk. wrote:

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