'I was scared': Emmanuel Petit shares what frightened him about Arsenal in win over Ipswich

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Arsenal managed to get over the line against Ipswich Town on Friday night as they closed the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool to six points.

The Gunners opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when Leandro Trossard reached the byline and put a ball in for Kai Havertz to sweep home.

Arsenal dominated proceedings at the Emirates Stadium, boasting close to 70 percent of possession and weighing in with 13 efforts and over 660 passes.

However, only one goal separated the two sides, with the Gunners looking less dangerous without the injured Bukayo Saka and Ipswich playing a defensive game.

Several pundits, including Arsenal cult hero Emmanuel Petit, gave their verdicts on the Gunners’ display against the Tractor Boys.

Emmanuel Petit was scared Arsenal were going to concede late on against Ipswich

Petit admitted he was scared of Ipswich coming back and breaking Arsenal hearts with a late equaliser, and said the Gunners should have killed the game off.

“Oh my God,” Petit said on Premier League Productions.

“Very hard (game), and I was scared at the end that Ipswich would come back, get a goal and get a point, but thankfully Arsenal held on. They should have killed the game off.”

Meanwhile, Don Hutchison said: “Mikel Arteta will be a bit split tonight. He’d have wanted a more convincing win, but when you get to this stage, you just want the three points.”

Finally, Darren Bent said: “Ipswich improved in the second half but they didn’t have enough cutting edge and they didn’t get the ball in the box enough.

“Arsenal weren’t at their best tonight but they got the win and a clean sheet.”

Arsenal v Ipswich stats

As per Opta via Sky Sports, Arsenal lead the way in terms of Premier League clean sheets (7) and fewest goals conceded (16) this season.

In addition, the Gunners have kept a shutout in four successive home matches in the Premier League for the first time since December 2021.

Arsenal have also won 19 of their last 20 Premier League games against newly-promoted opponents, with their lone defeat coming against Nottingham Forest in May 2023.

The Gunners have also won each of their last 13 league matches against such opposition at the Emirates Stadium in a row.

As for Ipswich, they suffered their 10th Premier League defeat of the season in their 18th game (W2 D6).

This is earliest into a league campaign that the Blues have lost 10 games since the 2012-13 Championship season (17th game).