Mansfield Town 1-2 Arsenal: Madueke and Eze goals get the job done

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction

Arsenal are through to the FA Cup quarter-finals after a 2-1 win away at Mansfield Town yesterday afternoon.

Mikel Arteta rang the changes, leaving some of the ‘big boys’ at home, and as I mentioned in the preview yesterday, defensive options were limited, so he went with three at the back, starting 16 year old Marli Salmon and Riccardo Calafiori either side of Cristhian Mosquera.

I think it’s fair to say we struggled a little bit with the new shape, the manager saying in his post-game press conference they trained once, “for 10 minutes”, and the home side had some early chances. Arsenal also had their moments on a difficult pitch, but lost Leandro Trossard in the first half, replacing him with Piero Hincapie and moving to a more traditional back four which seemed to suit us better.

Max Dowman, the other 16 year old in the starting line-up, was our most impressive player in the opening 45 minutes. The conditions didn’t seem to impact him as much as they did some of the others, and he, along with Salmon who showed some good composure at times, was brightest part of the Arsenal performance until the goal.

It came from Noni Madueke, who had been lively enough but a bit untidy until that point. There was nothing untidy about the finish though, sweeping home a first time shot when Gabriel Martinelli laid the ball back to make it 1-0 not long before the break. A minute or so later, he had a good chance to score again, but sliced horribly wide with his right foot from close range, a real demonstration of the yin and the yang of what he produces from one moment to the next.

Early in the second half, Mansfield equalised. Salmon left a pass a little short for Mosquera who looked a bit slow to react as their striker got to the ball first, burst past him and finished very well to level the scores. Young defenders have to learn lessons as they develop, for the younger man it will have been tough to take, but at 16 he’s got a lot ahead of him and it’s all part of the process.

Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze came on for Salmon and Kai Havertz who hopefully benefits from those minutes; Dowman made a chance for Jesus when I thought he’d shoot himself, but in tandem with his overall performance, the Brazilian’s effort was weak and unconvincing, and ultimately cleared off the line. In the 66th minute though, we found the winner, Norgaard played it to Eze inside the D, he shifted the ball onto his right foot and smashed home a thunderous shot to make it 2-1. He’s got a really interesting way of finding power in his passes/shots, almost like a golfer with really quick downswing, and this one gave the keeper absolutely no chance.

Saka had a chance which the keeper saved, Madueke blasted a shot so far wide it went out for a throw, and at the back Hincapie played with a seriousness that didn’t appear to be present with some of his other senior colleagues. There was also a debut for another young defender, Jaden Dixon, and in the end, a 2-1 win. Afterwards the manager said:

It was a great occasion. I think that game exemplifies the history of the FA Cup, the difficulty of that and the beauty of that. First of all, because they made it really hard, so big credit to Nigel and the team and the way they played. Because of the pitch, they have to adapt as well, because of the energy that the supporters put in, which I think was extraordinary. The intensity, the banter at times, the interactions, and the belief that they put in towards the team. And then because you really have to earn it. We had moments where it should have been two or three, when you don’t close the games and they have hope and belief, that becomes more and more dangerous. After they equalised in the game, you really have to dig in to earn the right to win.

And he took time to praise the youngsters he started:

Well, first of all, congratulations to them, because to make their [full] debuts in the FA Cup, I think Max is the youngest ever in the competition, and this competition has been going on for a while. So, it tells you how difficult that is. And I’m very proud of them, I hope Jaden enjoyed it the same with their debut. And to continue to work is just the first step for them, and there’s plenty more to come.

Fair play to both of them, Dowman in particular looks like someone who is ready to add something to the first team between now and May, but given the defensive injuries we have (there was another one yesterday when Calafiori went off in the second half), we might need Salmon to take that leap too.

I will say, I thought there were some established players who didn’t approach this game as seriously as I’d like. If I’m being generous this morning, perhaps it was just one of those cup ties, played on a dodgy pitch against dogged opposition, where you can understand not going hell for leather or taking any risks, but I do wonder how Mikel Arteta might view it through the prism of his own high standards. He wants every game to matter, and if you’re really determined to play your way into the manager’s thoughts for ‘more important’ games, I don’t think they’ll have done that.

Anyway, that’s a minor complaint. In the end we got the result, the draw for the quarter-finals takes place on Monday evening, and at this point it looks as if the quality of the potential opposition increases significantly. Let’s see how it goes.

Right, I’m gonna leave it there for today. Have a great Sunday, back tomorrow with more and an Arsecast Extra. Until then.

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