Tierney rocket secures www.30secondchallenge.com
NO MATTeR how far Arsenal go in this competition, no matter where their fine start to the season eventually leads, one thing is certain: this victory will, before long, be relegated to a footnote in their upward journey under Mikel Arteta.
Zurich were already eliminated. They are bottom of the Swiss Super League and this, ultimately, was a win that served only to cement Arsenal’s place at the top of europa League Group A. But the last seven days have been a curious live experiment of their mettle and mental toughness. Defeat by PSV, when Arsenal were fortunate to lose only 2-0, could have wobbled lesser sides. It is to their credit, then, that they followed that blip with two wins and two clean sheets. even if this should have been far more comfortable than it proved.
Once again, nerves jangled towards the end of a game which should have been settled by halftime. After Kieran Tierney’s excellent early strike, Arsenal flirted with disaster.
And by the end, Zurich — who had offered very little — were piling on the pressure. Adria Guerrero did score, only to be flagged offside. And then Bohdan Viunnyk sent a rocket just wide.
But Arsenal held on and that defeat in the Netherlands had served only to delay the inevitable. Arsenal knew they had to match PSV’s result at Bodo/Glimt to secure top spot — and skip a tricky play- off round against a Champions League drop-out. That they did.
‘Losing matches is part of it,’ Arteta said. ‘It will happen at certain stages. You have to react and make sure it affects you just in the moment, and move forward, analyse what happened and try to become better as a team. That’s what we have done.’
Last week’s collapse had posed some troubling questions about Arsenal’s staying power during this unforgiving season. Within the confines of Group A, however, the
damage was limited. Top spot remained in their hands.
It meant that what might have been a dead rubber had become a final hurdle to negotiate. There wasn’t much in it for Zurich. Third place and the Conference League was the best they could hope for.
Not that Arteta was taking chances: Gabriel Jesus, Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes all started but it was Tierney who made the difference.
His goal offered a chance to release some of the frustration and energy that must be building inside him. Relegated to third- choice left back, the Europa League has become an unlikely outlet for the Scotland international and after showing great technique to drive home a bouncing ball from outside the box, Tierney raced off in furious celebration.
That, really, should have been the first of several Arsenal goals during the first half. Fabio Vieira had a couple of efforts blocked and Eddie Nketiah was denied twice by Yanick Brecher.
At the other end, not much at all. Before Tierney’s goal, Zurich had shown flashes of threat on the break. But you don’t prop up the Swiss Super League, winning only one of 14 matches, for nothing. As long as it stayed 1- 0, however, Arsenal’s grip on top spot remained slightly precarious.
How they could have done, then, with an early second-half settler. One almost arrived immediately, when a free-kick fell to Jesus a few yards out. Alas, Brecher stayed big to deflect his effort over. That allowed Zurich to keep scrapping.
Yet still Arteta threw Bukayo Saka back into the fire — just four days after he hobbled off against Nottingham Forest. Other big guns followed as Arsenal sought to make safe these three points.
Instead, nerves took hold after Guerrero and Viunnyk each thought they had equalised. And then, finally, concern swept around the Emirates after Takehiro Tomiyasu was struck by injury. Only time will tell if that setback is more damaging than the last.
‘We just had to show fight and hunger,’ Tierney said. ‘We really wanted to get the game done by 60 minutes and score a couple of goals, but we didn’t.’ ARSENAL (4-3-3): Ramsdale 6; White 6.5 (Tomiyasu 73min, 6 (Cedric 88)), Holding 5, Gabriel 6.5, TIERNEY 7.5; Vieira 7 (Odegaard 73, 6), Elneny 6 (Partey 62, 6), Lokonga 5.5; Nelson 6, Jesus 6.5 (Saka 62, 5), Nketiah 6. Scorer: Tierney 17. Booked: Gabriel. Manager: Mikel Arteta 6.5.
FC ZURICH (3-4-3): Brecher 7; Aliti 5.5 (Santini 89), Katic 6, Kamberi 6; Boranijasevic 5, Conde 6 (Krasniqi 82), Selnaes 6 (Hornschuh 77), Guerrero 6.5; Tosin 6 (Viunnyk 77), Okita 5, Rohner 5 (Marchesano 46, 6.5). Booked: Aliti, Katic, Conde. Manager: Bo Henriksen 6. Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium) 5.5. Attendance: Not provided.