Arsenal 1-0 Zurich: Gunners top Group A after Tierney's sumptuous strike

By Sports Desk November 03, 2022

Kieran Tierney's excellent strike was enough to see Arsenal seal top spot in Europa League Group A after a 1-0 home victory over Zurich on Thursday.

Mikel Arteta's side disappointed in their last European outing with a 2-0 loss at PSV but responded with a much-improved performance to ensure they bypassed the competition's knockout-round play-offs.

Tierney scored what proved to be the winner with a thumping first-half effort at Emirates Stadium, where Adria Guerrero saw a second-half equaliser disallowed in an otherwise dominant Arsenal showing.

Arsenal will avoid the likes of Barcelona and Juventus in Monday's draw after topping the group, in which PSV came second, while Bo Henriksen's side were eliminated from Europe after finishing bottom.

Zurich were without a win in five away matches against English sides in Europe but started in encouraging fashion with Lindrit Kamberi blasting a presentable opening off target.

Arsenal struck first after 17 minutes, though, as Tierney latched onto a loose ball to fire a left-footed half-volley from outside the area into the bottom-right corner.

Yanick Brecher denied Eddie Nketiah's header from Fabio Vieira's corner as Arsenal attempted to capitalise on the impetus from Tierney's opener.

Gabriel Jesus inexplicably smashed over after the interval before Guerrero finished past Aaron Ramsdale on the rebound, only to see the offside flag deny him an equaliser and Zurich a share of the points.

What does it mean? European home comforts continue for in-form Arsenal

Premier League leaders Arsenal have made their north London home ground somewhat of a fortress in domestic outings, and the same can be said for their performances in Europe.

The Gunners have lost just one of their last 20 group games at home in major European competition, winning six such matches in a row, as their blistering start to the season continued.

While tougher tasks will follow at Chelsea on Sunday and in the latter stages of the Europa League's knockout rounds, Arteta's side continue to impress both domestically and on the continent.

Vivacious Vieira

Vieira has had to wait patiently for his chance at Arsenal after his move from Porto in the last transfer window, but proved his worth with an excellent performance here.

The 22-year-old, usually a deputy to Martin Odegaard, appeared to be everywhere on the pitch as he created a game-leading four chances in an encouraging attacking display.

Under-par Rohner

Fabian Rohner endured a game to forget up against the astute defensive pairing of Rob Holding and Gabriel Magalhaes.

The Zurich striker managed just eight touches and one successful pass – both lows among starters before his half-time removal – and won just one of his three duels.

What's next?

Arsenal head to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in a crunch Premier League clash, while Zurich visit Lugano in the Swiss Super League on Sunday.

Related items

  • Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner

    Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal. 

    Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.

    He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.

    Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.

    Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return

    Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.

    However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward. 

  • Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided

    Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.

    The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.

    Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.

    At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.

  • Arteta wants to prove supercomputer wrong as Arsenal prepare for derby test Arteta wants to prove supercomputer wrong as Arsenal prepare for derby test

    Mikel Arteta is looking to prove the Opta supercomputer wrong as Arsenal prepare for perhaps the biggest test of their Premier League title credentials, in Sunday's North London derby at Tottenham.

    Arsenal began the weekend one point clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, though Pep Guardiola's men have a game in hand and have been in ominous form lately, winning their last four league matches. 

    Five wins for City will ensure they retain their crown, and according to the Opta supercomputer, the champions started the weekend with a 71.7% chance of topping the pile, compared to 26.6% for Arsenal and just 1.7% for Liverpool.

    Arteta hopes to see Arsenal's figure boosted by a derby win, saying: "I don't know what to say, hopefully we can trick that computer and make it a bit higher! 

    "Maybe it needs to update the software, we need to help it or give it more tools. Hopefully we can change that!

    "We are there. We have to look at ourselves and try to perform in the best possible way to win our matches and I can't wait to see what happens.

    "We had a big win in the last London derby against Chelsea and now we have another big one. I'm sure if we're going to win the league, we're going to have to beat Spurs as well."

    Tottenham, meanwhile, need points if they are to overhaul Aston Villa in the battle for Champions League qualification, with fifth place now extremely unlikely to be enough.

    Ange Postecoglou, though, is more interested in seeing how Spurs measure up to a side they hope to challenge in the future.

    "We understand the importance of the game but ultimately, it's still about us measuring ourselves against the teams we want to be challenging on a more consistent basis," Postecoglou said.

    "It's a great opportunity to do that on Sunday."

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Tottenham – Son Heung-min 

    Son scored twice for Spurs in the reverse fixture against Arsenal in September – a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium. In all competitions, only five players have scored more goals in the fixture's history than Son's seven. 

    The only player to score multiple goals in both north London derby matches in a league season was Arsenal's Ted Drake, who did so back in 1934-35.

    Arsenal – Martin Odegaard 

    Odegaard has been involved in six goals in his last six away appearances in the Premier League, scoring three and assisting three.

    The Gunners captain was in mesmerising form in Tuesday's 5-0 win over Chelsea, leading all players on the pitch for assists (two), chances created (eight), passes into the final third (34) and duels won (eight). A repeat performance would be huge for the visitors' title hopes.

    MATCH PREDICTION – ARSENAL WIN

    Tottenham have won just one of their last six Premier League games against Arsenal (one draw, four defeats), with their four losses in this span as many as they had suffered in their previous 16 against the Gunners (six wins, six draws).

    They also lost this exact fixture 2-0 last season, meaning the Gunners could win on back-to-back league trips to Tottenham for the first time since enjoying a run of three victories there between 1987 and 1988.

    Arteta's men know there is no margin for error with the title race in City's hands.

    Even a draw could prove fatal to their hopes – at the end of the 2015-16 season, the North London derby was the most drawn fixture in Premier League history, with 20 of 48 meetings finishing level (42 per cent). Since then, only four matches between these rivals have seen the points shared (27 per cent).

    Arsenal have kept six straight clean sheets on their travels in the Premier League, with only two teams ever keeping seven in a row – Chelsea from September to December 2008 and Manchester United from November to February in 2008-09. The Gunners should have enough to grind out a huge win.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Tottenham – 31%

    Arsenal – 41.3% 

    Draw – 27.7%

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.