Arsenal were held to a goalless draw by Middlesbrough on Arsene Wenger’s 67th birthday to halt the Gunners’ six-match winning run in the English Premier League. The North London outfit dominated possession – ending the game with 75% possession – but failed to exhibit the required penetration to break down Aitor Karanka’s side.
Arsenal have moved up to the top of the Premier League table, for the time being, with 20 points from 9 games but will rue that they could not secure all the three points despite dominating possession. The newly promoted side, on the other hand, had plenty to look forward to with Gaston Ramirez and Adama Traore particularly impressing.
It looked like the Gunners had sealed the 3-points in stoppage time when Mesut Ozil poked the ball home from close distance only to be correctly ruled out for offside by the linesman.
Here are the major talking points from Arsenal’s 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough:
#1 Arsenal lacked creativity in midfield
It was evident by the end of the game that Arsenal – despite their mammoth possession – were unable to provide any kind of penetration through the middle. While Francis Coquelin and Mohammed Elneny are excellent holding midfielders, it is naive to expect any kind of creativity from the two.
Santi Cazorla’s absence was dearly felt as Wenger’s side probed and probed but failed to find a way past the resilient defence of Karanka’s side. The Spaniards quick feet and the ability to prong accurate balls forward was clearly missed as the Arsenal midfielders looked bereft of ideas. Ozil did drop deep to help out his side but ultimately it was a futile effort as the Gunners were held to a 0-0 draw.
#2 Middlesbrough’s goal-scoring woes continue
Karanka’s side have scored only 7 goals in 9 Premier League outings which neither justifies their heavy spending in the summer transfer window nor guarantee top-flight status at the end of the season. And it is no surprise that the newly promoted team find themselves in 17th position – just one place clear of the relegation zone 9 games into the season.
Summer signing Alvaro Negredo has failed to deliver in the manner Middlesbrough expected and a solitary goal in 8 appearances is worrying stats for any Premier League striker. Gaston Ramirez and Adama Traore did threaten on occasion but lacked the conviction to breach Petr Cech.
Karanka has to rally his troops and find the goal-scoring threat in his team if they are to maintain their top-flight status for one more season at the very least.
#3 A game of fine margins
While at the end of the game the possession stats were heavily skewed towards Arsenal, it does not tell the complete story. Arsene Wenger’s side did have most of the ball but it was the newly promoted side that had the better chances.
Be it Gaston Ramirez’s free-kick that cannoned off the crossbar in the first half or his point-blank header that was directed straight at Cech. Be it Alexis Sanchez’s rasping drive that was saved by a diving Victor Valdes or Mesut Ozil’s poke in injury tiime – that was correctly ruled out for offside.
Be it Adama Traore’s jinxing runs from his own half to the crunching tackles by Hector Bellerin and Laurent Koscielny that denied their opposition clear goalscoring chances, the result was anything but a fair reflection of what the audience had witnessed for 90 plus minutes. Arsenal had dominated and Middlesbrough had refused to give in and if any one of the chances mentioned above were slightly here or there we might be looking forward at a different result.
#4 Adama Traore is one to watch out for
When Adama Traore moved to Aston Villa from Barcelona at the start of last season, a lot of expected from the La Masia graduate. While his former team were relegated to the Championship at the end of last season, Traore found a new home in Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough and in only his first start for Boro he stole the show, well almost.
Two jinxing runs from the 20-year-old resulted in huge chances for his side, the first culminated when Traore’s shot from the right was saved by Cech while the second resulted in an excellent through ball to Negredo in the 87th minute and the Spaniard should have buried it but instead was denied by an excellent recovery tackle by Laurent Koscielny.
Traore was a constant threat on the left-hand side and got the better of Hector Bellerin with his directness and speed.on numerous occasions and is one who is definitely one to watch out for in the near future.
#5 The curious case of Mesut Ozil
Mesut Ozil had recorded 16 assists by the end of December last season. We are nearing the end of October and the Arsenal magician is yet to record a single assist in the league this season. While this may be attributed to the shift in focus of Arsenal’s goalscoring threat and the relative lack of dependency on Ozil for goals but the deeper problem remains – Why isn’t Mesut Ozil assisting as frequently as he should.
6 goals and an assist in 10 games is a high benchmark for any attacking midfielder and while Ozil can be credited for this, is this the inherent fault in Arsene Wenger’s new found system? Are Ozil and Alexis Sanchez not meant to function in tandem? Can only one of the two function at their best?
While Alexis excelled in his first season at the Emirates when Ozil was relatively subdued and the German excelled last season when the Chilean was subdued, there hasn’t been a scenario when the duo have functioned in tandem and wrecked havoc at opposition – apart from the 3-0 demolition of Manchester United last season and the 3-0 annihilation of Chelsea this season.
Does this highlight a bigger problem, which is swept under the rug due to the good performance of the team, or does it overshadow the havoc Arsenal – as a team – can cause to cultured defences when the two work in tandem? By the looks of it, a solution is nowhere near and one Arsene Wenger is best left to wonder about.
