Toothless Gunners are made to pay as Fleck forces point
THERE were 15 minutes to go when the biggest roar of the day from the home fans — make that the only roar — rent the air at The Emirates. On the touchline,
Eddie Nketiah waited to replace Alexandre Lacazette and, after the two men had embraced and Nketiah sprinted on to the pitch, the crowd yelled out its encouragement and its approval.
The yearning for a fresh start at Arsenal, the desperation to draw a line under the mediocrity of the last decade, the desire to establish an identity at the club that has lost the one it used to have under Arsene Wenger, was everywhere in this corner of Islington as the home supporters sought signs of encouragement that things might be changing under the new rule of Mikel Arteta.
This was a poor game and, by the end of it, Arsenal were clinging on for a draw against a Sheffield United side who equalised seven minutes from time through John Fleck and stay four points ahead of them in the Premier League.
The Arteta Revolution has not got off to a fast start. It has been bloodless and colourless. Yesterday, it was toothless. Some of the Arsenal fans streaming towards the exits before the final whistle screamed at their new manager to ‘sort it out’.
On this evidence, that may take a while. A draw was what they deserved. No more.
It is a sign of how far Sheffield United have come that manager Chris Wilder and his side did not greet this draw as a cause of celebration. ‘It is one more point to go with the 32 we had before,’ said Wilder. ‘I don’t set targets. The journey we have been on makes us a good story. We can turn it into a fantastic one by keeping going right to the end.’
Arsenal have now won just one game in six league matches since Arteta was appointed manager. They remained 10th in the table. It is not a false position. They are a long way from being a force again.
There was an interruption to the boredom on the stroke of halftime. Bukayo Saka’s cross deflected off George Baldock and looped into the path of Gabriel Martinelli, who prodded it over the line.
But seven minutes from the end, Callum Robinson floated a cross into the box and when it was flicked on, Fleck hammered it down into the turf and in.
‘I’m very disappointed, the performance deserved three points,’ said Arteta afterwards.
That was stretching it a little bit. The Blades made their point. Arsenal still have plenty to prove.