Arsenal Vs Blackpool: 5 things we learned – Young guns explode

Arsenal travelled to much-troubled Blackpool in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday evening. Here are five things we learned from the 3-0 win.

It was a comfortable, controlled win for Arsenal. While the Blackpool fans threatened a strike and protest against the poisonous Oyston owners, on the pitch, the young Gunners were the antidote for any uncertainty and turbulence. They were calm, composed and quite aware of what they had to do. And then they did it. This was a professional victory, which is not something that you can often say about this team.

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Here are five things we learned from the 3-0 win.

5. Don’t worry about Nketiah finishing

At youth level, Eddie Nketiah has been utterly prolific. Even in brief moments for the first team, he has proven himself a more than capable goalscorer. But this season, he has been extremely wasteful in front of goal. The trend continued here.

Nketiah missed three excellent chances in the first half alone, all of which should have been scored. Two came in the opening moments, both assisted by Ainsley Maitland-Niles. The latter he stretched for at the far post but couldn’t divert the ball into the essentially open net. And then he missed a one-on-one just before half-time, opening his body out to curl a finish into the right corner of the goal but telegraphing where the shot was going.

Despite his poor finishing, however, this was still an encouraging performance from the young centre-forward. His movement off the ball was excellent, his hold-up play was superb, up against two centre-backs that were determined to shake him up, and he got Arsenal up the pitch time and time again on the counter-attack. Do not be dismayed by his missed chances. The goals will come. Instead, be buoyed by his overall play.