A fog had been enveloping Milan all week, causing some of the Arsenal contingent heading here to divert towards Bergamo, and leaving the team with the disconcerting experience of learning that they had approached the runway at Milan airport. Malpensa when its wheels were down.
It was a summary of what the club appears to be like today: struggling to find a way, a creative method or meaningful victories, and now being asked to do so without the sporting director who has been the architect of the new Arsenal.
The message emanating from the club could not have been clearer in Italy in recent days: continuity and no crisis with Edu’s departure, but there was easier proof of that conviction than a feverish and vibrant reception in one of football’s crucibles European. All in all, it was a brutal ordeal, and one too many.
Uniti, fieri, mai domi: “United, proud, never domesticated” proclaimed the banner placed on the famous Curva Nord and, although those who traveled in support of Mikel Arteta’s men would say the same, the “Arsenal” chants struggled to find resonance. .
No one can say that Arteta doesn’t live and breathe every minute. After making a change at half-time to a team that was trailing and listing desperately, he became one of the few coaches to concede a free kick just after the hour mark, latching on to a ball that Inter’s Matteo Darmian was trying to control. on the sideline. He was expecting a throw-in for his team but the ball was still in play. He was cautioned for interference.
Arsenal suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Inter’s hard-fought victory marks the Gunners’ second consecutive defeat in all competitions.
Mikel Arteta’s team fell to 13th place in the Champions League standings, out of a total of 36 teams
However, he was helpless: he watched his team try to improve on a poor first half and find the impregnable blue and black line of Simone Inzaghi’s Nerazzurri standing in their way.
The fog of uncertainty also shrouds Arsenal’s midfield, which is now struggling to offer more than pragmatism and resolute defending in games. That’s why the ‘substitutes’ line on Wednesday night’s team sheet reading ‘8 Martin Odegaard’ seemed like a ray of hope, after the 12-match absence of the club’s most creative player.
The absence of Declan Rice due to a foot injury even deprived Mikel Arteta of those diagonals that have become a great outlet for him and that left a unit that did not scream creativity in a heavy first half. A brief pre-match reflection on the pitch for the Valencia flood victims had barely ceased when the Italian champions were at Arsenal, giving them hell.
The game was two minutes into the game when Denzel Dumfries’ right-footed shot hit the crossbar, and the Dutch full-back continued to harass Jurrien Timber, attacking wide and looking to cross early.
Under the din of incessant Milanese chants, Arteta’s men depended on some crucial interventions to avoid falling behind. Leandro Trossard dropped back from midfield to help deny Mehdi Taremi in the box. William Saliba prevented Lautaro Martínez from spinning around him to build a breakaway.
Those colossal twin pillars of Arsenal’s defence, Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, without whom the team would have been much poorer this season, kept the team together in the face of all this.
As is often the case, Inter’s defenders and midfielders swapped positions, meaning central midfielders such as Hakan Calhanoglu dropped deep to begin the build-up and giant full-back Yann Bisseck posed a real danger in the Arsenal box.
A flexible Italian team was also very solid and well structured defensively. Every time Gabriel Martinelli, Arsenal’s main supply line, launched balls from the left, the defense was equal to them.
The handball horror was for Mikel Merino (left), who conceded a penalty just before half-time.
Hakan Calhanoglu coolly converted from the penalty spot to put Inter ahead at half-time
Gabriel came close to scoring for the visitors, but his header was cleared off the goal line.
And then, when Arsenal seemed to have reached half-time intact, came the penalty that gave them the lead. There could be no complaints. Merino’s hand was raised and not in a natural position when Taremi leveraged his foot around the ball that Calhanoglu launched from the left. Calhanoglu then stepped forward to roll the ball into the center of the goal, as David Raya jumped to his left.
The starting 4-4-2 lineup, with Kai Havertz and Trossard leading the way, was a repeat of the formation that looked so leaden in Newcastle last Saturday and didn’t look any more dangerous. A shot that Bukayo Saka didn’t quite find connected was all Arsenal had to show for that first half.
It had been difficult to see where Arsenal’s chances would come from. By half-time, Arteta had seen enough and brought on Mikel Merino for Gabriel Jesus, bringing Havertz, supposedly the main goal threat, back into midfield.
Arsenal improved their game. Gabriel received a sharp corner. Saka made an arc from the right and Dumfries cleared the line. Havertz fired a magnificent shot into the top corner of the net, only to see Yann Sommer deflect it. Yann Bisseck blocked to deny Havertz. Saka’s set pieces were a constant threat.
There was faint applause from the Arsenal contingent when Ethan Nwaneri, undoubtedly a creative gem, replaced Trossard 10 minutes from time. Oleksandr Zinchenko also arrived to provide a wide attacking threat. But the Milanese chants gained momentum and there was no draw to make things easier for Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s trip to Stamford Bridge, which looks even more difficult now.
When Arsenal won here 5-1 in November 2003, the last time they were here, they had Robert Pires and Edu in midfield and Thierry Henry up front. The road ahead seemed clear then. There is no fog to obscure the path.
