Arsenal 1 - Manchester United 1 (4-5 pens): out. dreadful.
Today at 01:35 PM
From bad to worse.
Arsenal went out of the FA Cup to Manchester United on penalties in about the worst way possible. Mikel Arteta put out a strong side, the match went to extra time, three Arsenal players went off injured, and they still lost. The Gunners cannot seem to find the back of the net — the xG in the match was 3.34 to 0.25. United were dreadful and Arsenal were worse (in front of goal) against a United side that went down to 10-men in the 61st minute.
There really isn't much to be said about the performance today. It's the same stuff. Arsenal look low on ideas in attack, although as they did against Newcastle, they at least created chances. They cannot find the back of the net to save their lives, Kai Havertz especially. Declan Rice was wasteful, too. Leandro Trossard, who was red hot last season, has gone ice cold this year.
Martin Ødegaard, despite creating 5x more attacking threat (advanced stat) than any other player on the pitch, still doesn't look right and had a penalty saved that would have made it 2-1 to Arsenal in regular time. It was Ødegaard's first missed penalty as a professional — he was 8/8 before that one. And even with Ødegaard feeling off, he created 2 expected assists, more than every team in this round of the FA Cup except Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Brighton, and Crystal Palace, all of whom were playing lower league clubs. The Arsenal captain also created 10 chances today, the first Premier League player to manage that in any match this season, according to James Benge.
The Gunners were undone by a single defensive miscue and an extremely lucky bounce. Gabriel Magalhaes had the ball won around midfield. The United attacking move, if you can even call it that, should have been over then and there. Instead, he slipped a bit and headed it straight into Garnacho's body. The ball bounced directly into the winger's path, instead of, you know, anywhere else, and Gabriel completed his slip and fell over. A few seconds later, the ball is in the back of the Arsenal net from a tremendous, why-can't-we-get-that-kind-of-finishing shot by Bruno Fernandes.
David Raya, who made a tremendous save on a deflected shot to keep it 1-1, was terrible on the penalties. He seemed to move way too early and / or guess wrong on every single one. Kai Havertz had his somewhat lightly-struck, along-the-ground effort saved and that was that. Havertz was 20/21 on penalties in his career before today.
Altay Bayındır, United's backup keeper, who recently shipped two dreadful goals to Spurs in the Carabao Cup, had the game of his life. That's just the way it's going for the Gunners.
Hopefully none of the Arsenal injuries are too serious, although I'm concerned that Gabriel Jesus' knee injury might be. The replays did not look good nor did his reaction. Jurrien Timber grabbed at his hamstring and asked to come off in extra time. Jorginho seemed to have a groin problem in extra time, too.
Arsenal have a North London Derby to play on Wednesday, the Aston Villa at the weekend, before Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League next week. The season feels like it's on the verge of spiraling out of control. The injuries are compounding and will probably continue to do so without heavy rotation or transfer market reinforcements. But who? Arsenal are low on full professionals in attack and Mikel Arteta indicated that it would be difficult to add players this window.
If you're looking for a glimmer of hope, Raheem Sterling was pretty good, probably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt. If he could find even a bit of form and be at least an Arsenal-level average player, that would be big. Gabriel Magalhaes, who scored the equalizing goal from a lovely volley, is playing with a ton of heart right now (as he always does). The guys are giving it their all. That part is clear. They just don't have all that much to give right now and things aren't going their way. On to the next.
