Well, this wasn’t exactly a classic, but Arsenal made it four wins on the bounce last night and four in a row against Manchester United.
Mikel Arteta’s side were far from their best in attack and actually looked quite blunt in the first half, but two sets of goals in the second 45th secured all three points and kept them in the Premier League title match.
Furthermore, while some of the attacking players left a lot to be desired on the night, there were still several brilliant performances elsewhere, notably from William Saliba.
Lintasa’s performance against Man Utd
Despite being without central partner Gabriel Magalhaes through injury, Saliba put in another monster performance, proving he is one of the best defenders in the world, let alone in England.
The France international was everywhere in defence, putting his body in the way and making it impossible for Rasmus Hojlund to get a hold of the game, and then to top it all off, he scored the team’s second goal to all but guarantee the three points would stay in North London.
Predictably, the watching press were as impressed by the former Saint-Étienne ace as we were, with the Standard’s Simon Collings. giving it an 8/10 match rating at full-time and wrote that he was “so focused on the ball” and completely “dominant” throughout.
While that’s undoubtedly high praise, Collings’ assessment is backed up more by the stats.
In his 94 minutes on the fieldthe Bondy-born titan scored a goal, made two disposals, two interceptions and a tackle, won two of three ground duels, took 78 touches, completed 67 of 71 passes, was accurate on 100% of his long balls and made a shot. to the target.
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Saliba’s game in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
94 |
|
Goals |
1 |
|
Clearances |
2 |
|
Wiretapping |
2 |
|
Tackling |
1 |
|
Ground Combat (Win) |
3 (2) |
|
touches |
78 |
|
Pass accuracy |
67/71 (94%) |
|
Long Balls (Accurate) |
2 (2) |
|
Shots on target |
1 |
All in all, it was a practically perfect performance from Saliba, however one of his teammates was arguably just as good.
Performance in numbers
Want data and statistics? Football FanCast’s Performance in Numbers series brings you the latest match analysis from across Europe.
The Arsenal star who was as good as Saliba against United
So there are a number of players who could potentially fit in, from centre-back partner Jakub Kiwior to right-back Jurrien Timber, but it’s actually of the club £105 million man, Rice Declan.
Yes, the former West Ham captain has finally started to look back to his incredible best in recent games and while he was a bit slow in the first half, he was superb in the second or as journalist Sam Dean saida “different beast”.
It was the Englishman’s corner that was so perfectly placed for Timber to open the scoring, and after that, it felt like he was here, there and everywhere.
One moment, he was squelching counter-attacks that threatened to develop, and the next, he was playing brilliant, accurate passes to help the Gunners maintain their stranglehold on the game.
The 25-year-old left Collings duly impressed, as did the journalist awarded it an 8/10 match rating on the night, writing that it “gave Arsenal the injection of energy they needed”.
Like his French team-mate, the 6ft 2m’s stats from the night bear out all the praise.
In 94 minuteshe produced an expected assist number of 0.41, gave an assist, took 56 touches, played three key passes, completed 100% of his long balls, created one big chance, blocked two shots, won five of six duels and made one clearance. , an interception and a tackle.
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Saliba’s game in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
94 |
|
Expected assists |
0.41 |
|
It helps |
1 |
|
touches |
56 |
|
Key Passes |
3 |
|
Long Balls (Complete) |
2 (2) |
|
Great chances were created |
1 |
|
Blocked shots |
2 |
|
Duel (Win) |
6 (5) |
|
Clearances |
1 |
|
Wiretapping |
1 |
|
Tackling |
1 |
Ultimately, while Timber and Saliba will understandably grab the headlines for their goalscoring exploits, Rice should receive just as much plaudits as he was simply impressive for Arsenal.
