4 positives and 1 negative from a glorious 3-1 Arsenal triumph over Inter Milan

Arsenal made sure of a top-two finish in the UCL table on Tuesday night as they stormed to a 3-1 win over Serie A giants Inter Milan.

Given their usual, tepid beginnings, it was ironic that the Gunners started bright at San Siro in a near dead-rubber and took the lead on ten minutes. Jurrien Timber scuffed his cross towards goal but it found a clinical Gabriel Jesus on the turn, the Brazil star doing expertly well to stretch out and steer the ball past a helpless Yann Sommer.

Inter levelled soon after via Petar Sucic, whose powerful 20-yard side foot gave David Raya no chance in goal, but the visitors would edge in front again before half-time. Again, Jesus came to the rescue as he reacted quickest from a deep corner and headed home from point blank range after his teammate Leandro Trossard had struck the crossbar.

Positives and negatives from a brilliant 3-1 UCL win for Arsenal against Serie A giants Inter Milan

Viktor Gyokeres put the cherry on top in the closing stages when he broke free on the counter attack and fired an unstoppable shot into the net – 3-1 secured, and a seventh consecutive UCL win for the Gunners to boot.

The Round of 16 now awaits, and here are four positives and one negative from another epic night in Europe for Mikel Arteta’s men.  

Positive #1: Rotation works a treat

The boss is often a man of extremes; he seems to run some players into the ground and others find it hard to get a look-in.

Here, the night belonged to the fringe men as Eberechi Eze, Cristhian Mosquera and Mikel Merino all featured from the off. It was hardly a huge shock considering the favourable look of the UCL table, while Arteta himself may argue that those on the margins are simply being managed responsibly and were always bound to be more involved later in the campaign.

But it still felt like the first time that fans got the opportunity to see this much-lauded depth actually being used as depth, and not as the only solution to an ever-worsening injury crisis. Achieving a final score like this against European royalty, after making as many as seven changes, should only get the fans excited about what lies in store this year.

That 2023/24 title charge is reloading…    

Negative #1: Vulnerable in transition

It feels so wrong to be critical after a match like that but, at times, it looked quite reminiscent of the Aston Villa match last month.

Arsenal played very well when in possession yet Inter cut through them at will during that first half and could easily have done more damage than just the Sucic thunderbolt, with Myles Lewis-Skelly particularly struggling to track back.

Perhaps it is nothing more than a natural trade-off for this style of play: if you want to set up with a high line, put plenty of bodies forward and sustain pressure on the opposition, there will inevitably be some space left at the back.

But it might still have been managed better, such as being more sure on the ball (Eze was guilty of a few poor giveaways), knowing when to just ‘get rid’ (Bukayo Saka, I’m looking at you) or doing more to come out on top in 50/50s (that one is for Merino).

They got away with it though.

Positive #2: Jesus is back

Bad form has cast doubt on Viktor Gyokeres’ role in the Arsenal team; Gabriel Jesus offered a strong case for his inclusion moving forward.

Okay, his goals were not exactly brilliant: a poke from mere yards out and a header inside the six-yard box. But he demonstrated something with both strikes that the Gunners do not see from Gyokeres – a sense of anticipation.

Jesus reacted so quickly to manoeuvre himself and meet the Timber cross while he showed excellent movement to nod in the second. Furthermore, the frontline generally seemed much more fluid with him leading it than it has done with the Swede, the chances felt more forthcoming than they usually are for this Arsenal team.

He will be very difficult to ignore on Sunday and, with Kai Havertz back in the frame, surely Gyokeres gets ‘rotated’ (read ‘dropped’) for it.

Positive #3: A great Arsenal performance

Dropped points of late brought a pain that was only exacerbated by the timing – just when rivals seem to be surrendering the title, Arsenal have been unable to reproduce their level of football from earlier this campaign and take advantage.

But they brought the style on Tuesday night. The Gunners were in control for much of the match and could have won by more than 3-1 too; a refreshing thought given how lethargy had appeared to stop them in their tracks recently and sparked fears that this glorious trophy-winning opportunity would slip them by.

Of course, they are not out of the woods yet and the same questions/fears will resurface if they get anything less than three points at the Emirates on Sunday – a repeat of their Old Trafford clash would see nerves fray.

Hopefully the Inter game shows that, instead, the team are ready to go through the gears again after a relentless winter schedule.  

Positive #4: UCL table reads well

Do Arsenal now have European pedigree?

This seventh win out of seven – a club record in the UCL – means the Gunners have now guaranteed themselves a top-two finish and all but wrapped up top spot, something which they can claim with just one point against Kairat Almaty next week.

Crucially, the top two outcome has earned the club all home matches for each of the second legs of the knockout phase; a nice little bonus which might prove decisive if any ties with the big boys lie in the balance come spring.

It has been a truly faultless campaign and, in addition to the above, spares Arsenal two matches in the play-off round. That all means that the boss should have his troops in as fine a condition as he could possibly wish for during the end-of-year run and, thus, fans might be in for a dream-like ‘end’ to this process in May.

I would say be excited.