Gunners go second in Premier League table with victory over Ipswich - but unconvincing display raises concerns

Photo: @JTaylorSport

Arsenal 1 Ipswich Town 0

One-nil to the Arsenal.

A phrase which has held sway since the eighties around north London summarised not only the scoreline but a languid performance by the Gunners in what was a basic work out.

Mikel Arteta’s side managed to round off the year with a victory from this encounter with struggling Ipswich – but this was, frankly, a stuffy, forgettable night apart from the Gunners’ stealthy rise to second place in the Premier League table, six points behind leaders Liverpool. Fans hoped for a goal glut but a first half goal by Kai Havertz had to suffice.

Without the improvisation of the injured Bukayo Saka, Arsenal were ponderous and increasingly lethargic, particularly in the second half. Striker Gabriel Jesus could not continue his recent scoring feats and was replaced in the second half. It was that sort of evening.

Meanwhile, Ipswich were poor for long spells of this clash - they offered precious little other than reasonable organisation and some defensive resistance, although they brightened significantly later on. Their lack of cutting edge at places like the Emirates remains all too obvious.

Incentive

With the kick off in north London a late one, at 20:15, amid slightly swirly fog, Arsenal had the incentive of putting some pressure on Liverpool, while maintaining the feel-good factor achieved by reaching the League Cup semi-finals and a resounding 5-1 thumping of Crystal Palace last time out.

And the Gunners walked out at a festively-filled Emirates Stadium hoping to extend their 16-game unbeaten home run against an Ipswich side who had not won in N5 since 1979.

However the current incarnation led by Kieran McKenna, approached the capital having won two of their last three on the road. Ipswich were lying in 19th place as they slowly get to grips with life in the top-flight after successive promotions.

Nevertheless, despite losing 4-0 at home to Newcastle United in their last match, the Tractor Boys have been ploughing with some intent on their travels recently. Wins at both Crystal Palace and Wolves indicate a side which is up for maintaining life in the highest echelon. Their knack for the occasional surprise eluded them here.

The immediate task for Arsenal was to see how they would cope without the intricate skills of Saka. They coped, just about.

The England international is out for several weeks with a hamstring injury. There was now an opportunity for Myles Lewis-Skelly at left back, and at just 18 and having made his debut only in September this was a chance to show Arteta if he belongs in this intense, rarefied environment.

With McKenna, unsurprisingly, opting to string five players across the defence, the onus was on Arsenal to demonstrate both patience and ingenuity.

A quiet opening spell was only broken in the 18th minute when Jurrien Timber was able to stride forward through the middle of the pitch before unleashing a decent strike which was well held by Town keeper Arijanet Muric.

Nevertheless, the deadlock, when it was broken in the 23rd minute, was met by relief by the home support. Some neat build up play found Leandro Trossard on the left - and the former Brighton man’s cross was stabbed home from close range by the predatory Havertz.

Jesus managed to poke the ball cleverly into the net from an acute angle but the Brazilian had timed his run a fraction too early and the effort was ruled out by VAR. Such fine margins went against the Londoners for the most part.

It was hard to mistake the first half as anything other than workaday business for the Arsenal supporters, and the wider hope was that matters would heat up following the break.

Frustration

Rather than increasing the intensity, Arsenal kept the vast majority of the Emirates crowd in a state of suspended frustration, typified by a glaring miss by Gabriel, who somehow contrived to head a Declan Rice corner past the post when unmarked. Martin Odegaard was next – the Arsenal skipper had a pop, but his impressive surge into the visitors’ penalty area ended with a shot that sailed over the bar.

Presumably, on McKenna’s instruction, Ipswich came out with more enterprise and enjoyed copious amounts of possession without unduly troubling Gunners’ keeper David Raya.

Arsenal’s probing was there to see as ever, but that piece of post-Christmas creativity, to add some glass to the scoreline remained absent.

Arteta will happily take the points but this was far from title contention material. And the over cautious Gunners – at least on this occasion - will have to work now on four fronts, domestically and in Europe, amid nine games in January.

As the Ipswich fans chanted "Boring, boring Arsenal" at the lacklustre climax, questions regarding the Gunners' overall sustenance remain.

Gunners: Raya, Saliba, Gabriel, Odegaard, Jesus (Merino 71), Martinelli, Timber, Trossard, Havertz, Rice (Partey 86), Lewis-Skelly