As a stretcher collected an injured Gabriel Jesus off the Emirates turf, you half-expected it to stop and retrieve the further remnants of Arsenal’s crumbling campaign, too.
A season which started with so much promise, but is now on the verge of crashing. By the end, Gabriel’s left-footed volley, two minutes after Diogo Dalot’s second yellow card for fouling Mikel Merino, was not enough to keep Mikel Arteta’s side in the FA Cup — the competition which presented the Gunners’ best chance at winning silverware this season.
It is still Arteta’s last, and only, major triumph at Arsenal, dating back to 2020. The Spaniard’s actions on the touchline gave a further indication as to the value he had placed on this fixture.
Dalot’s sliding challenge on Merino saw Arteta sprint off his seat to the byline with the urgency of a swimming pool lifeguard, waving his arms in angst. In extra time, Arteta had turned into a ball boy, scurrying to retrieve the ball for his side.
Before Sunday’s defeat, a 1-1 draw with Brighton in the Premier League, followed by a 2-0 loss to Newcastle on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, had left the Gunners in the mire.
Now, it is this nine-day spell which has completely changed the fortunes of Arsenal’s season for the worse — and made the possibility of a trophy at this club look, for this term anyway, a complicated one indeed.
Arsenal’s season started with so promise but is now on the verge of crashing
Mikel Arteta’s sideline actions gave an indication as to the value he had placed on the FA Cup
Kai Havertz had his face buried on the grass after popping the ball over the bar late on
The gap to Liverpool in the league is at six points (the Reds have a game in hand), the two-goal deficit to the Magpies away from home is an uphill task and the Champions League has a number of better contenders.
Arteta has brought this club far in five seasons. Going from consecutive eighth-place finishes to an expectation of silverware, as well as a mass cultural reset, is no mean feat. Though, there are serious questions to be had — particularly centred, once again, around the frontline.
It was that kind of afternoon for the Gunners. Kai Havertz had his face buried on the grass after popping the ball over Altay Bayindir’s goal from a yard out on 88 minutes, which prompted Arteta to reach for his own cheeks.
Yes, Manchester United under Ruben Amorim were resilient. He suffered his first defeat as Man United boss on December 4, against Arsenal at the Emirates. That 2-0 loss, via two set-pieces, precipitated the dreadful run which has seen United teeter above the relegation zone in the league.
Amorim’s return to the scene in which he had first seen the extent of the mess he inherits at United had clearly stirred both him and his side.
Even with 10 men from the hour mark, they were in this bout to the end. But the visitors’ stubbornness, refined at Anfield a week previously, ignores a glaring problem for the home team which is not new: their attack.
It’s as basic as the white kit worn on Sunday for the club’s ‘No More Red’ knife crime awareness campaign. It’s also an area which has been papered over for the past two seasons amid a focus to fix everywhere else — bar their frontline.
Since Arteta was appointed as Gunners boss in December 2019, just six attacking signings have been made: Jesus, Havertz, Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling (on loan from Chelsea), Willian (left in August 2021) and Marquinhos (on loan to Brazilian side Cruzeiro). In that same period, 17 defenders have been signed.
Since Arteta was appointed in December 2019, just six attacking signings have been made
Gabriel Jesus was forced off on a stretcher after suffering an injury against Manchester United
Sterling, Jesus’ replacement on Sunday, who returned from a knee injury, showed signs of promise. But the winger, signed in the final hours of the previous transfer window through Chelsea’s desperation to offload him, being one of the Gunners’ main attacking threats is a clear indictment of a failed strategy.
The statistics reflect this. On Tuesday, Arsenal fired 23 shots with no success — their second-most in a single game without scoring under Arteta.
On Sunday, they had 26 shots, resulting in a single goal — from a centre back. Already without Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri, if the injury to Jesus does not prompt the north London club to buy an attacker in this January window, nothing will.
