Arsenal: Alvaro Morata wins battle of the strikers

Arsenal travelled to Stamford Bridge and earned a hard-fought point. It was the setting for the battle of the strikers: Alexandre Lacazette vs Alvaro Morata. It was the latter who won.

One of the primary narratives during the build-up of Arsenal’s trip to Stamford Bridge centred on the fate of their two respective club’s record signings. As is ever the case in the modern footballing world where opinion is controversial and quick and conclusions are not patient and considered, but sudden and unfounded, comparisons were always going to be made from the get-go, with no time afforded for accurate and precise analysis.

Both Alvaro Morata and Alexandre Lacazette were expected to lead their new sides’ lines with great prolificacy. Neither had played in the Premier League prior to this season; both came with rather substantial reputations.

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Although their styles and their approaches to the position are different, given the stature of the transfer and the importance to their clubs, their relative successes and failures will always be exactly that: relative. So, now that Sunday’s 0-0 draw has been played out, seeing as I am one of those who is happy to make rash judgements, the battle between Morata and Lacazette was one of the things that I was keeping a close eye on. And, in all honesty, while neither scored, there was only one winner on Sunday and it wasn’t Arsenal’s latest starlet.

The most important piece of play came late in the first half. After Aaron Ramsey surged away from Cesc Fabregas in midfield and bundled his way through Cesar Azpilicueta, his poked shot, which bobbled past Thibault Courtois, careered off the post and fell perfectly to the feet of Lacazette. From within the six-yard box, with the corner of the goal to aim for, Lacazette, awkwardly, ballooned to rebound over the bar in an ugly attempt.

It was far from the clinical fashion that had come to be expected of Lacazette; it was wasteful and unpleasant and will need to be ironed out moving forward. Morata, meanwhile, although he was not able to forge a genuine opportunity to find the net, was far more involved in open play and caused far more problems as a result.

His combination of size and speed had Shkodran Mustafi in particular in fits, with the German wanting to get tight to him to impress himself on the first touch, but often finding himself turned and then exposed. In contrast, David Luiz had little difficulty in dealing with Lacazette who struggled to hold the ball up with the same effect as Morata.

Additionally, Morata’s prowess in the air – he has scored four goals and assisted two so far this season, all of which are with his head — added another dimension to the Chelsea attack. He was always on the shoulder, looking for the clipped ball to the far post, and allowed the Blues to get up the pitch from goal kicks and clearances, rarely losing the battle in the air to Mustafi or the rest of the Arsenal defence.

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Morata won the battle of the strikers on Sunday. That does not mean that he is a better player than Lacazette. That does not mean that he is a better signing. It simply means that he was the better man on the day. Lacazette will have his day, as will Morata, and it will be extremely interesting to watch both this coming season.

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