Arsenal cruised to a comfortable victory over Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The result means that the Gunners have all but secured a place in the top eight of the inaugural league phase of the competition, having accumulated 16 points from their opening seven matches.
Kai Havertz was praised by Arsenal fans for his role in the first goal, laying the ball back for Declan Rice to thump home after just two minutes.
Mikel Arteta’s side doubled their lead mid-way through the second period, with Havertz getting on the scoresheet with a neat header from a Martinelli cross, before Martin Odegaard tapped home a third in the closing moments.
Zagreb offered little to disrupt Arsenal’s goal, and the North Londoners ultimately played in second gear on their way to the three points.
Five things you missed from Arsenal vs Dinamo Zagreb
Arsenal’s dominance was certainly blatant, but there were several other things you might have missed from the game.
Josh Kroenke was in attendance
Arsenal’s owners aren’t known for regularly attending the Emirates Stadium on a matchday, but Josh Kroenke was in the crowd for the clash with Zagreb.
Pressure is growing on Kroenke to add a forward to Arteta’s ranks before the end of the January transfer window, and the Gunners faithful were keen on letting him know how they feel prior to the game.
Arsenal fans added to Kroenke’s existing mural outside the ground on Wednesday afternoon, painting the message, “time to splash some cash, Josh”.
Whether the club’s owner’s son was made aware of this message is unknown, but he certainly would’ve enjoyed Arsenal’s performance against the Croatian outfit.
Declan Rice’s free role
While Rice is often tasked with supporting the attack when deployed as the left eight by Arteta, the Englishman was given greater licence to break into the box than usual.
With Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jorginho and Odegaard left to orchestrate the build-up and the wingers instructed to provide the width, Rice’s sole in possession responsibility was to get on the end of moves and support Havertz inside the Zagreb penalty area.
He did so extremely effectively, popping up to slam home the opener and finding himself in similar positions on multiple occasions throughout the game.
This is clearly a strong facet of Rice’s game, and Arteta should look to exploit it further in the future.
Zagreb’s boisterous atmosphere
Packed into the clock end and east stand corner, a few thousand Zagreb fanatics brought the noise, providing the soundtrack to the Champions League clash.
While the Croatian following contributed greatly to a lively atmosphere with relentless chanting, they also caused some disruptions.
The away fans were throwing various objects at Rice when the Arsenal midfielder went to the far side to take corners in the first half, a slightly unsavoury theme that marred their contributions to the occassion.
Oleksandr Zinchenko did Kai Havertz’ celebration
After Havertz nodded in Arsenal’s second from a magnificent Martinelli cross, the German wheeled away to celebrate.
However, the former Chelsea man didn’t initially deliver his trademark celebration, in which he places both thumbs on the side of his head with his hands spread outwards.
Zinchenko took it upon himself to elicit the celebration from Havertz, running alongside the striker and mimicking the action, in what was a heart-warming show of affection from the Ukrainian for a player that has been low on confidence.
Jorginho’s passing was exquisite
With Arsenal dominating the ball for much of the match, Jorginho was afforded a lot of time and space when in possession.
The Italian was parked on the edge of Zagreb’s box in the first half, and pulled out several wonderful clipped balls in behind the opposition defence, most of which were wasted by Arsenal’s attackers.
In the second half with the Gunners sat a bit deeper, Jorginho still retained the ball excellently, and was able to execute some cuter balls in between the lines.
This will certainly have served as a reminder to Arteta of his veteran midfielder’s quality.
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