Arsenal 2-0 Wolves: Saka and Havertz make the difference

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

The new season began yesterday with a familiar looking team selection, familiar goalscorers, and on the basis of what we saw in the second half last season, a welcomingly familiar result.

I think what stood out for me is that there are some players in the team who aren’t at 100%, whether that’s because of a truncated pre-season, or a prolonged summer, it’s hard to tell exactly, but I looked at Declan Rice and William Saliba as two guys whose performances were certainly not quite at the level we’ve come to expect from them. Gabriel Martinelli was lively again, but still missing that end product, that pass or shot that opens things up for him again.

What luck for us then that we have a couple of players in Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka whose impact is such that even when things around them aren’t perfect, they can still produce. Can we talk about Saka for just a moment? It’s barely a month since he played in the final of Euro 2024, and I think you could see – like some others – he’s making his way back to full fitness and sharpness. And yet, what a contribution.

His cross for Havertz’s opener was just outstanding, and it got the finish it deserved from the German. A thumping header as the keeper came and found himself in no-man’s land. That gave us a lead I think we deserved in the first half, and it probably should have been more. There were chances that I think a sharper team makes more of, but this is just the first day and there’s clearly still work to be done.

I thought we might have had a first half penalty too, a clumsy challenge on Saka certainly knocked him off balance as he cut back inside the defender, but there was nothing doing there. Some of that rustiness was evident in the big first half chance Wolves had, losing the ball in midfield and Jorgen Strand Larsen getting the wrong side of Saliba to power a header at goal. Thankfully David Raya was there to make a fantastic save, shifting back as he was going the other way to stick a hand out to stop it.

In the second half, Wolves were a lot better, and made life difficult for us on top of us making life difficult for ourselves. Saliba made an uncharacteristically careless pass across his box which presented Wolves a great opportunity to equalise, again Raya saved but the effort on goal was unconvincing. If there is an ‘excuse’ for Saliba, it’s that he too went deep into Euro 2024, and he’s always been the kind of guy who takes a game or two to get up to speed.

There are no excuses for Thomas Partey coughing up possession the way he did. He had a full summer to prepare, and while I understood his lack of form at the end of last season having been out for so long, I’m unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt now. I think this position is something of a problem for us now, his legs are heavy, he can’t get away from opposition players any more (and they can certainly get away from him), and Arteta has some serious thinking to do here. My suspicion is that the arrival of Mikel Merino (left of out of the Real Sociedad squad for their game today), will see Rice play more often as the 6 with the Spanish international further ahead in the midfield.

I’ll admit I was a bit worried about Saka as the half went on. I looked at the bench, and while Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard are good options, I wished we had something else to call on. With all due respect to Eddie and Reiss, a signing would make a big difference to this squad. In the meantime though, we’ll just have to make do with the extraordinary output, consistency and quality of Saka (what a chore!). Picking up a pass from Havertz, he cut inside the defenders to drill a shot beyond the keeper at the near post, and that was always going to make the game safe.

The finish was superb, but his ability to step up and get us a goal we really needed, on a day when I think he was not 100% to begin with and certainly flagging before he cracked off that shot, is incredible. A goal and an assist to kick off the new season, his numbers could be off the charts this year.

What else? Well, I think Wolves should have been down to 10 men. Yerson Mosquera’s chokehold/slam on Kai Havertz was entirely deliberate and the very definition of violent conduct. I really don’t understand how the officials looked at that and decided it wasn’t. I guess they’ve set a very high threshold for the season ahead. Also, while Jesus was being annoying when Wolves were trying to take a free kick, Mosquera grabbing his arse was very weird and I don’t blame our man for reacting the way he did. Of course Jesus was the one who got a yellow card, while the Wolves man stayed out of the book. I guess for all the pre-season chat about officiating and new rules etc, not much changes in terms of their ineptitude in key moments.

Raya had to make another save late on, Gabriel celebrated Arsenal winning a goal kick with some typical gusto, and it was nice to see Jurrien Timber make his official return after sustaining that injury on the opening day of last season. Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

We generated a lot – we probably should have scored two or three, and the game would have been a bit different. In the second half, there were moments where we became a bit sloppy and not controlled, especially with some giveaways, which against this team is particularly difficult.

It was the first game – there’s always uncertainty around how we’re going to respond to that against a really difficult opponent. We scored two, clean sheet, win, job done.

Clean sheet, three points, just what the doctor ordered to kick off the new season, but clearly there is room for improvement too. It’s not uncommon, especially after a tournament summer, to take a bit of time to find fluency and rhythm, but the fixture list is such that we have to try and get up to speed as quickly as possible. So, I expect a busy week on the training ground as we prepare for our trip to Aston Villa next weekend, but with that first hurdle successfully cleared, we can do it in a positive frame of mind and hopefully we can be better again next Saturday.

Right, that’s it for this morning. Enjoy your Sunday, and join us tomorrow for the first Arsecast Extra of the new season.