Arsenal were blunt and uninspiring as Atalanta held them to a goalless draw in their Champions League opener in Bergamo. Bukayo Saka threatened with a low free-kick in the first period and Gabriel Martinelli blazed over at the near post in the second, but that was all the Gunners could muster in a lacklustre showing from Mikel Arteta’s men.
Atalanta will be kicking themselves at not taking maximum spoils, as Mateo Retegui’s spot-kick and rebound were both brilliantly saved by David Raya, who single-handedly won his side a point.
Express Sport takes you through four key talking points from a contest which ultimately saw the two sides settle for a point each to kick off their European campaigns…
Trio let side down
A trip to meet the reigning Europa League champions was never going to be simple, but Arsenal will have fancied their chances of notching a win over the side currently sitting ninth in Serie A after being beaten twice in four games.
Thomas Partey was error-prone in midfield, gave the ball away on countless occasions, and almost lost the match for Arsenal when his clumsy tackle on Ederson gave Atalanta a penalty.
Martinelli offered nowhere near enough attacking threat on the left wing and wasted Arsenal’s best chance of the game late on, giving Raheem Sterling and Leandro Trossard hope that they can steal his place in the starting line-up.
And Gabriel Jesus was largely ineffective through the middle until he and Partey were hauled off before the hour, showing fans why Arteta so regularly favours Kai Havertz as his starting centre-forward.
Arteta sent Nwaneri message
The Arsenal manager has tinkered with a number of possible solutions to the absence of Martin Odegaard. Jorginho and Partey formed a midfield two against Tottenham, but in Bergamo it was Havertz who lined up in the middle.
At times he interchanged with Jesus, who dropped extremely deep to accommodate taller players challenging for aerial duels when Arsenal went long. Although the plan looked good on paper, it did not spark free-flowing football from the Gunners.
The idea of putting a 17-year-old in to replace Odegaard may intimidate Arteta, but wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri is the closest player Arsenal have in terms of profile to their injured Norwegian. And Thursday night’s team performance will have sent a clear message to the Gunners boss that he must strongly consider putting his faith in the teenager against Manchester City this weekend after leaving him untouched on the bench in Italy.
David Raya’s magical moment
Raya is having a superb season between the sticks for the Gunners, and his mesmerising double save against Atalanta could well be his finest feat in an Arsenal shirt. As if diving right to save Mateo Retegui’s second-half penalty wasn’t impressive and important enough, Raya incredibly sprung straight to his left to claw the Italian’s rebound header off the line.
Former Premier League midfielder Robbie Savage said during his TNT Sports co-commentary duties that it was one of the best saves he has ever seen – and it’s hard to disagree.
Gamble favours Man City
Though a Champions League opener is a big occasion, Arsenal fans will have been thinking about Sunday’s Premier League showdown with City throughout.
Arteta could have rested his big stars in Italy to keep them fresh for the weekend, but the Spaniard gambled by fielding just about the strongest side he could. It still wasn’t enough for the Gunners to clinch all three points, and City, who have benefitted from an extra day of rest following their draw with Inter Milan on Wednesday, will have been glad to see their upcoming opponents given a taxing runaround overseas.
