Chapter 1: What were the key moments in the Arsenal vs Portsmouth FA Cup match?
Gabriel Martinelli scored a hat-trick as Arsenal came from behind to beat Portsmouth comfortably at Fratton Park and progressed to the FA Cup fourth round. After FA Cup shocks involving Wrexham and Macclesfield earlier this weekend,
It looked as if the Gunners, who made 10 changes to their starting line-up, could be on the end of another when Colby Bishop put the Championship hosts ahead after three minutes. But Arsenal were only behind for five minutes before Christian Norgard forced the ball in via Portsmouth's Andre Dizel after a trademark Gunners corner to level.
That goal settled the visitors down, and they took the lead from another set-piece when Martinelli flicked Noni Madueke's corner into the net after 25 minutes. Maduke had a chance to add a third from the penalty spot, after he was brought down by Zach Swanson, but the England international dragged the ball wide.
Martinelli, who also hit the post and missed a good chance in the first half, added a third, after Gabriel Jesus played a low cross into the area following some quick thinking by Myles Lewis-Skelly and the Brazilian tapped in from close range. Martinelli grabbed his third from another Arsenal corner, when the forward flicked the ball on from the near post and into the net.
There was then a piece of history when, at 16 years and 135 days, defender Marley Salmon became the youngest player to feature for the Gunners in the FA Cup.
Yeah, I think the effort levels, the intensity, the desire the boys showed to come here and play against, you know, a top, top side, I thought was excellent. And yeah, you know, we were in the game for large parts of it. Unfortunately, we just fell short towards the back end. But I think, yeah, overall, a really positive afternoon for us. Yeah, really good, you know, that's a massive positive.
Not scored in a long time, so for Colby to put himself in that position, I thought the press was really good early on. We won the ball back high up and showed a little bit of quality in and around the box to create the chance.
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Chapter 2: How did Arsenal respond after going behind early in the game?
So, yeah, really pleased for Colby and Harvey as well, who created the chance. Yeah, we had the choice to make whether we were going to sit off and allow them to play or whether we were going to be aggressive and try and press and get at them. You give something up either way, we probably thought sitting in wasn't right. tactic for us because ultimately they can hurt you either way.
In open play obviously Arsenal created a bit towards the end but I thought for the most part we did a really good job of pressing and really good job of restricting them to not a huge amount so disappointed we've obviously conceded four but we have to move on pretty quickly. We were going to do it anyway. We want to press with intensity.
I think if you're a Premier League side coming here, probably you look at it and think, well, what would I like? I'd love it if Portsmouth sit off and allow us to dictate the game and give us a bit of time and space.
We'd already made the decision, but watched the game on Thursday night where Liverpool probably didn't press with a huge amount of intensity in the first half, but did in the second half and it changed the way the entire game felt. So, yeah, we'd made that decision anyway, but I thought it was the right thing to do. Yeah, three set plays.
Ultimately, the delivery and the aggression that Arsenal showed was better than us and we have to be a lot more aggressive and a lot more proactive in the way that we defend because you look at the set-up, the set-up was right but we just have to go and attack the ball with a lot more intensity and a lot more purpose. I thought it was a really good performance.
I think if you'd have said you can go back into the changing room without the two injuries that we picked up, I'd have been really pleased with the afternoon. That's probably marred it a little bit. So, yeah, we'll have to deal with that going into next week. I don't think Harvey's is too serious. I think he's just felt his hip flexor, but Franco's didn't look good.
I think he's done his hamstring.
Connor Shaughnessy believes Pompey can be proud of their showing against Arsenal in the Emirates FA Cup. They had threatened a shock when Colby Bishop fired the home side into an early lead in the third-round contest on the rainy south coast. But an own goal saw the Gunners level before Gabriel Martinelli hit a hat-trick for the Premier League leaders.
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Chapter 3: What strategies did Arsenal use to dominate the match?
Shaughnessy felt that a 4-1 defeat was unfair on the Blues though, and praised a contribution of the Fratton faithful. The centre-back said, The scoreline probably doesn't sum up the performance from us because we looked really positive overall. We're always disappointed not to win a game, although Arsenal are obviously a quality side. They're top of the Premier League for a reason.
The scoreline probably doesn't sum up the performance from us because we looked really positive overall, but for the vast majority of the afternoon, we were able to hold our heads high about the way we were playing. The atmosphere was incredible, and we knew that it was going to be. The fans were with us and got right behind the team.
That helped us start the game with plenty of energy and aggression, we were positive and took the early lead. It's obviously frustrating to concede from set pieces which is an area where they're really strong and we need to do better. But I enjoyed the experience of testing myself against the best, and I thought we gave a strong account of ourselves.
Connor Shaughnessy featured for just over an hour in his third match back in action following a hamstring injury. He said I feel pretty good and could have stayed on for longer, which is another big positive for me personally.
Pompey keeper Joe Bursick had this to say about three goals from corners. It's something they're strong at, and it's what gives them a three-goal win. It's annoying and we need to sort them out, because we're conceding them in the league as well. It needs to be better, and we need to address it, because it's costing us.
We'll look at it because it separates games you can look at the games where it's impacted us. The team at the top of the Premier League are putting a lot of focus on it, so it shows how important it is.
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Chapter 4: What impact did Gabriel Martinelli's performance have on the game?
It can be as simple as marking your man we need to be more aggressive. If you are picking up your man you have to stay with it, but they are very good at it. There's lots of blocks and you almost know where they are going to go but you can't do anything about it when you get blocked, and there are runners who free themselves.
You almost have to block the blocker and anticipate it but it does happen very quickly. There's a lot of things to think about, and it isn't as easy as it seems, but there is an element of being against your man and being strong.
Bursic took solace from the manner in which Pompey gave a good account of themselves in general play against Arsenal, with their efforts acknowledged by the home crowd on the final whistle. He added, If you take the set-pieces out it's 1-1, and we gave it a really good go. I've had to make one save, they've hit the post and missed a penalty.
I don't think there's loads in it, and we gave a good account of ourselves. We played some decent football at times and used the conditions to our advantage. I don't think it was bad, and we should take a lot of encouragement into the league.
Mikel Arteta was full of praise for Pompey, admitting they gave his Arsenal side a real scare, despite the Gunners eventually running out 4-1 winners at Fratton Park. The Arsenal boss was particularly impressed with his team's character after they fell behind just three minutes into the match.
Despite their struggles in the Championship, John Massinio's side were in dreamland when Colby Bishop fired them into a shock lead. The striker, scoring his first goal since August, pounced from close range after Kepa Arrizabalaga spilled a shot from Conor Chaplin, sending the home crowd wild. But the Premier League leaders managed to regain their composure.
An unfortunate own goal from Andre Dozel got them level before a Gabriel Martinelli header flipped the game on its head right before the break. Arsenal stepped it up in the second half, with Martinelli going on to complete a fine hat-trick that put a gloss on the final score.
Even with 40 league places separating the two clubs, the frat and faithful were proud of the fight their team showed, and Arteta was quick to credit Pompey for their blistering start. When we make that many changes, the cohesion isn't going to be perfect, he said. We started exactly how we didn't want to, giving the momentum, an early goal and hope.
We had to fight back, and credit to them they made it very difficult for us especially early on. The more we started to get the simple things right and dominate, our quality took over, we need everybody to be at it. We have so many games coming up in different competitions, so we need to be ready, we're privileged to be where we are, still fighting in every competition.
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