I shall leave you, now, with Barney Ronay’s match report from the Emirates. Thanks for joining me today!
Updated
Aubameyang speaks! “Really proud [of his goal return] but first of all I’m really proud of the team, we deserved to win and did a great job. My performance was I think good and I’m always happy to help the team win.”
Will he sign a new deal?
“Now we’ll see, we’ll talk to the club and see what will happen, I’m focused on the games.”
Other scores
Everton 2-1 Leicester
Bournemouth 1-4 Newcastle
“I am very happy to see my team, Arsenal, do a good job today,” writes Paul Chintingiza, in Mozambique. Great to hear from you Paul and thanks for your company – we don’t often hear from readers in Mozambique.
Arsenal are seventh – for now, because Spurs and Sheffield United have games in hand – and six points behind Wolves & Manchester United. Where do they go on Saturday? Molineux. That looks a very big game in the season, now. They have plenty of room for improvement, as that early spell in the second half showed – but something is starting to go right for Mikel Arteta and company, you sense.
Norwich remain six points off West Ham, who are 17th, but their goal difference basically disadvantages them by a further point. It will need some turnaround from them. They do sometimes look very good, as we saw between minutes 46 and 65, but they were ultimately well beaten here and time is running out.
Full-time: Arsenal 4-0 Norwich
Pepe is wayward with a free-kick, and then that’s it. Arsenal put some real pressure on those Europa League spots, and possibly higher; Norwich edge closer to the drop.
90+1 min: We are in the first of three added minutes.
89 min: Idah, the young Norwich sub, has impressed me. Clearly a bright, direct striker but he makes good decisions on the ball too. He will do well.
87 min: I remember when Norwich were having a really good pop at this second half, but they’ve gone now. Arsenal get another corner and a few more balls fly around the box, but the visitors survive.
84 min: A Tierney ball into the box is just about defended ahead of Nketiah. Norwich really don’t want to concede five. They almost do though, Willock bending one agonisingly wide from 20 yards.
82 min: Pepe comes on now, for Aubameyang.
Goal! Arsenal 4-0 Norwich (Soares, 81)
Now *that* is the long-term deal Arsenal should be toasting! Soares has just come on and, when Xhaka’s corner is half-cleared, has a crack from 20 yards with his left foot. It takes a slight deflection and nestles in the corner!
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80 min: Willock does well and earns a corner. Time for number four? Well ...
78 min: Ceballos goes down under a stray arm from Aarons, which didn’t look like much. The Spaniard has done well today, but the histrionics can be a bit much.
76 min: Stiepermann and Vrancic replace Cantwell and Rupp for Norwich, to bring up the five chances. David Luiz is in a little pain, meanwhile, and taking treatment. But he looks to be OK. We now see Nketiah replace Lacazette while Cedric Soares makes his long-awaited debut in place of Bellerin.
74 min: Holding goes on a bit of a novelty jink down the right but is crowded out. The sting has gone from this game now.
73 min: More subs imminent, Eddie Nketiah among them ...
70 min: The last 20 minutes are a perfect microcosm of why Norwich will go down, for all their admirable ways. Couldn’t take advantage during a very good spell; made a silly and avoidable mistake to let more clinical opponents in at the other end.
Goal! Arsenal 3-0 Norwich (Aubameyang 67)
That’s sealed, then, and you sort of felt it might happen. It’s another Norwich howler, the substitute striker Drmic receiving a throw-in deep in his own half and then carefully laying it back ... straight into Aubameyang’s path. He doesn’t miss those.
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66 min: Could have been three there though, Willock finding room after a poor touch from Tettey but driving well over from about 16 yards.
65 min: A Drmic drive is blocked. Norwich are finding all kinds of space when they pour forward. I guess they’ve little to lose but the difference in this half has been massive.
64 min: Lacazette has worked hard but just doesn’t seem right at all this season, to me.
62 min: Norwich are still having a proper go at this. Holding heads away a cross from Lewis, then Tierney hads to shepherd a Cantwell through ball out of play.
60 min: No penalty and, in any case, the possible foul on Cantwell was probably outside the box.
59 min: In case you were wondering whether one of the bottom three might, you know, get a result at some point ... I can inform you that it’s currently Bournemouth 0-3 Newcastle. Hold on, VAR check for a Norwich penalty ...
58 min: Maybe Joe Willock will perk Arsenal back up. He’s on for Nelson, who has done well if not spectacularly so.
57 min: Now Arsenal do produce something after a patient move but Bellerin, just as he seems set to tee up one of several waiting teammates for a third, stumbles near the byline.
55 min: I suspect this is Norwich’s “spell”, but these nonetheless look like completely different sides at the moment.
53 min: Close from Hernandez! Idah finds him on the left and the Cuban blazes one a foot or so off target. Arsenal could do with switching on, unless they want to make this a close-run thing.
52 min: Nothing from Arsenal in this half yet. A frustration throughout the season has been that they don’t put in many 90-minute performances.
50 min: David Luiz makes a foul and the Canaries have another tempting free-kick. It’s in McLean’s range but perhaps on the wrong side for his left foot. He opts for a cross and it sails out of play.
49 min: Norwich have gone for two up top and the wide threat of Hernandez. They’ve certainly come out with a bit more aggression and intent.
46 min: And Norwich almost get back into it! The young sub striker Idah does more than Pukki achieved in the entire first 45, snapping in a low 20-yarder that Martinez saves very smartly down to his left.
Peeeeep! Second half underway
Norwich start us off ...
Substitutions! A triple change for Norwich!
Pukki, Trybull and Buendia are all off. Idah, Drmic and Hernandez are on.
One for Arsenal: Holding replaces Mustafi.
Emiliano Martinez did very well for that late save. He’s 27 and has been around for a decade but, look, he is seriously good and I do wonder if Bernd Leno has a massive fight on his hands when he gets back. Profiled him, with help from people who know him well, last week:
“At last – it’s been found! The one team in the Premier League, or perhaps football, who can make Arsenal look like intergalactic world beaters,” proclaims Charles Antaki.
Do you remember when Arsenal and Norwich shared seven goals and a 21-man brawl? Who knows, it might yet happen again today. But in case it doesn’t, this is a superb read from Steven Pye:
Half-time: Arsenal 2-0 Norwich
It’s a fair scoreline although Krul did give Arsenal a heck of a helping hand for the opener. The second goal was beautiful, though, and Norwich have spent most of the game under the cosh. They have come very close twice from range, mind you. If that last effort from McLean had gone in we could have expected a very different second half; in the event, you’d fancy Arsenal can score one or two more.
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45+2 min: Super save by Martinez! He’s had nothing to do but McLean hits an absolute pearler from the set-piece and the keeper dives at full stretch to tip it behind!
45+1 min: Two additional minutes will be played. I’d imagine Norwich just want to get inside. But not before this free-kick, 25 yards out and won by Cantwell ...
50 - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored his 50th Premier League goal in fewer appearances (79) than any other @Arsenal player, and is the 6th fastest to this total among all Premier League players. Clinical. pic.twitter.com/YWjDZJzFsP
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 1, 2020
Aubameyang is so good; Arsenal really need to keep him.
43 min: This time Krul elects to clear a backpass under pressure. Norwich do spring forward after that but Rupp’s attempt to slip Cantwell in is a little underdone.
40 min: Arsenal should go for a statement victory here, because Norwich do look poor. That was Xhaka’s first goal of the season and the latest step in his rehabilitation from the Autumn unfortunateness. He tries for a second when another corner is aimed towards the edge of the box, but doesn’t catch it brilliantly and a defender blocks.
Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Norwich (Xhaka 37)
That is a lovely goal though. David Luiz pings it diagonally to Tierney quite beautifully, and he quickly plays in the breaking Aubameyang. In turn, Aubameyang prods first-time into the path of an onrushing Xhaka, who lashes low through Krul’s legs and probably puts this game to bed.
Updated
37 min: Given they’ve scored that goal twice in a week, are Arsenal lucky? Dunno about that – their forwards are working really hard, chasing goalkeepers and defenders down, and I will forever question the efficacy of “building from the back” when it’s just not on. It’s OK not to, sometimes! You will still win games (even if you’re Norwich). And people will still watch games.
Goal! Arsenal 1-0 Norwich (Aubameyang 33)
Oh, what a howler from Krul! He receives a backpass and, with Aubameyang bearing down, tries to check past the striker rather than put a foot through it. Bad idea! He’s mugged by Aubameyang, who then has an easy pass into an empty net. What a silly mistake, and very similar to the Alex McCarthy mistake that put Arsenal ahead at Southampton last week.
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32 min: The subsequent free-kick earns Arsenal another corner and their pressure is constant at the moment. It’s worked to Nelson, who does superbly to wriggle into the left side of the box and centre for Lacazette. But the striker screws his shot wide of the near post. No matter though, because ...
31 min: Ceballos, playing like a man who fancies being here next season, regains possession superbly and Rupp hacks him down. Rupp joins McLean in the book.
30 min: Free-kick to Arsenal 30 yards out. David Luiz steps up in that inimitable style ... and sends a low wobbler through, which Krul watches carefully and gathers well.
28 min: Ceballos again does well and wins the game’s first corner. Up go the cavalry! But that’s as good as it gets, because Ceballos tries a clever one to the edge of the area and it’s cut out. The ball stays alive and a subsequent cross is aimed too high for Aubameyang.
27 min: McLean is booked for a foul on the thus-far impressive Ceballos, whose reaction was somewhat dramatic.
25 min: I did Godfrey a disservice, upon review I reckon that thunderbolt was from 30 yards and maybe further.
23 min: Drinks.
22 min: And a decent chance for Lacazette there, as Arsenal counter well again. Ceballos finds him with a perfectly-weighted cross and, running onto the ball unmarked, he thuds his header straight at Krul. He should have done better.
20 min: Godfrey hits the post! Norwich make a rare excursion upfield and the ball is played back to Godfrey, who has space to move into and is under little pressure. So he pings one from fully 25 yards – it’s a fantastic strike and beats Martinez, but smacks off the outside of his right stick. Closest yet!
19 min: It’s certainly fair to say Arsenal are completely dominant, without battering that hard at the door. Norwich are sitting in and seeing little of the ball. Now Nelson chips a cross in but Krul is well placed to save Aubameyang’s fairly soft header.
Updated
17 min: What Arsenal are doing well is getting their wing-backs, Tierney and Bellerin, forward and high. It’s meaning, in turn, that the considerable attacking capabilities of Norwich full-backs Lewis and Aarons are nullified. Everton now lead Leicester 2-0 at Goodison!
14 min: Arsenal look fairly crisp so far and could be a goal up; Norwich haven’t really made their own couple of attacking situations into anything.
Updated
12 min: Everton lead Leicester 1-0 (more here). Arsenal host Leicester next Tuesday and might wonder whether, by hook or by crook, they might chase Brendan Rodgers’ side down on current form.
10 min: Ceballos springs Xhaka into yards and yards of midfield space; he then finds Aubameyang to his left, and the captain checks into the area before shooting towards goal. Krul parries well.
Updated
Official attendance at the Emirates tonight: 60,472
— Jonathan Liew (@jonathanliew) July 1, 2020
I think they meant “tickets sold”.
8 min: Norwich enjoy a good, prolonged spell of possession inside their own half although it doesn’t really get them anywhere and, eventually, Arsenal get the ball back. Building from the back so religiously really has to work brilliantly when it does pay off. Arsenal almost make them pay by releasing Bellerin, who this time does get in – but Tettey defends his cutback well.
6 min: Tettey cuts out a raking Xhaka pass that was intended to send Bellerin through. Arsenal have started on the front foot, that is for sure.
4 min: McLean gives possession to Ceballos and Arsenal can counter, something they are fairly good at, with men over on the left. But Buendia is back tigerishly to charge down Tierney’s attempted delivery.
2 min: I wonder if this one will be quite edgy. Neither side can really get away with a draw in chasing their respective dreams. Tierney gets forward and makes McLean defend an early centre.
Peeeeeep! Away we go!
Arsenal, going left to right, kick us off.
Big chance for Reiss Nelson today. I interviewed him earlier in the year, he’s a lovely lad and a big talent:
Norwich emerge from the away dressing room and onto the pitch. Arsenal will follow shortly. We’ll be underway in a few minutes ...
“I see that our friend with the whistle tonight, Peter Bankes, has dished out yellow cards this season at a rate of 4.45 per game,” notes JR in Illinois.
“For context, the immortal Mike Dean sits at 4.29 this season. Between the referee, the lack of defensive competence on both sides, and the inclusion of Sidesh ... uh, David Luiz, I’m optimistic we’re in for some high entertainment today.”
The Gunners have only kept four clean sheets in their last 17 Premier League games at the Emirates.
— Orbinho (@Orbinho) July 1, 2020
There is certainly room for optimism among the visitors tonight.
Arsenal have, of course, played all of their games so far away from the Emirates. Norwich have played all of theirs at Carrow Road. What does all that mean? Probably nothing, although if away sides really do benefit the most from the absence of crowds then perhaps Farke’s miracle survival bid is on.
Unusually good atmosphere at the Emirates
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) July 1, 2020
Barney is drinking it all in for us down there this evening.
Arsenal give contract kid Saka a rest. Reiss Nelson is among those to get a go, starting his first Premier League match of 2020. Mesut Ozil misses out again, possibly with a back injury. Matteo Guendouzi also misses out again, definitely not with a back injury.
Norwich look short at centre-back, where it seems as if Alex Tettey will partner Ben Godfrey.
Updated
Teams
Arsenal: Martinez; Mustafi, David Luiz, Kolasinac; Bellerin, Xhaka, Ceballos, Tierney; Nelson, Lacazette, Aubameyang. Subs: Macey, Papastathopoulos, Maitland-Niles, Holding, Soares, Pepe, Willock, Nketiah, Saka.
Norwich: Krul; Aarons, Tettey, Godfrey, Lewis; Rupp, Trybull, McLean; Buendia, Pukki, Cantwell. Subs: McGovern, Vrancic, Hernandez, Stiepermann, Drmic, Duda, Idah, Thomas, Martin.
Referee: Peter Bankes
Hello
Today has already begun well for Arsenal. They’ve announced a new contract for Bukayo Saka and it means one of Europe’s best young players is tied down. Perhaps once upon a time that would not have been a big story – but Arsenal are currently hanging on the coat tails of the leading lights, where once they used to wear that mantle comfortably themselves, and currently need to take pleasure in whatever keeps them clinging on.
Another such thing would be three points against Norwich. That’s what they should be getting, because their opponents are running out of time for an unlikely escape from relegation. Daniel Farke’s side are usually good value and ask plenty of questions; they don’t tend to pay enough heed to the answers, though, and find themselves six points shy of safety. Home defeats to Southampton and Everton in the last fortnight have been limp, though they did show up well against Manchester United in the FA Cup.
Win this, and Norwich would give themselves half a chance. But Arsenal are firmly into Mikel Arteta’s “no margin for error” territory and have belatedly discovered some form with good victories at Southampton and – in the cup – Sheffield United. The Champions League does look a bit far gone for them but a Europa League spot, which presumably means finishing at least seventh, remains up for grabs. After tonight, Arsenal have a massive few games against Wolves, Leicester and Spurs – those three will go a very long way towards defining their fate, but that’s assuming they get the job in hand done first.
Never assume! Especially where Arsenal are concerned. It should be a fun one inside an empty Emirates, so gather round and join us.
