Guendouzi goes from sublime to the absurd
MUCH like his frizzy-haired lookalike David Luiz, Arsenal’s young midfielder Matteo Guendouzi demands attention. He is a player of true promise, who stamps his personality all over a match. Yet Guendouzi is only 19 and he veers from the sublime to the absurd. This was the case on an evening that seemed to be going swimmingly for the Frenchman. As Arsenal laboured for a breakthrough, it was Guendouzi who seized the initiative, picking the lock with a delightful pass to create Stephan Lichtsteiner’s opening goal. When Emile Smith Rowe doubled Arsenal’s advantage – sweeping in from close range – after the interval, Guendouzi’s impetuous streak complicated his side’s task. Having already been booked for a hack at Jordan Thompson in the first half, Guendouzi needlessly placed his hands across the path of the same player as the Blackpool man pursued a flickon. All of a sudden, Blackpool turned up the heat and Unai Emery felt compelled to introduce his safety net in Lucas Torreira. Even the Uruguayan’s presence did not stabilise Emery’s side, as former Limerick man Paudie O’Connor rose at a set-piece to halve the deficit on 66 minutes. They very nearly equalised moments later, as Petr Cech’s discomfort in possession reemerged and he was dispossessed in his own penalty area only to be spared by an offside flag. After Smith Rowe’s strike, Arsenal seemed to be home and dry but Guendouzi then intervened. Indeed, Blackpool continued to threaten. Yet their goalscorer O’Connor then let Arsenal off the hook, lunging in high and recklessly on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and receiving the second red card of the game.
ARSENAL: Cech 5.5; Lichtsteiner 6.5, Mustafi 5.5, Pleguezuelo 6, Jenkinson 5.5; MaitlandNiles 6 (Torreira 60min, 6), Guendouzi 6.5; Ramsey 6, Smith-Rowe 6 (Iwobi 73, 6), Mkhitaryan 5.5; Welbeck 6 (Aubameyang 76). Scorers: Lichtsteiner 33, Smith-Rowe 50. Booked: Guendouzi, Jenkinson. Sent off: Guendouzi. Manager: Unai Emery 6. BLACKPOOL: Howard 6.5; Bola 6, O’Connor 7.5, Heneghan 7, Nottingham 7 (Pritchard 65, 6); Turton 6, Spearing 6; Feeney 7 (Cullen 79), Guy 6 (O’Sullivan 86), Thompson 6; Delfouneso 6. Subs not used: Dodoo, McLaughlin, Taylor, Mafoumbi. Scorer: O’Connor 66. Booked: Thompson. Sent off: O’Connor. Manager: Terry McPhillips 7.