The state of play after Arsenal's first two months of action in 2021/22
State of play after Arsenal's first two months of Premier League action in 2021/22
Mikel Arteta’s men got off to a horrendous start in
August.
His Arsenal side slumped to three consecutive
Premier League defeats in the first month of the new campaign, but things are
looking up in September and the doom and gloom appears to be shifting away from
North London.
Here’s a look back at how things have gone at the
beginning of the 2021/22 season.
August
It was always going to be a tricky start for the
Gunners away at Premier League new boys and London rivals Brentford.
Thomas Frank’s side could not have been more up for
the game that marked their return to the English top flight after 74 years.
And the new Brentford Community Stadium was
bouncing as goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard sealed a 2-0 win in
the very first game of the season.
New £50million defender Ben White came in for
criticism after the match with Emile Smith Rowe’s performance one of the very
few positives that Arsenal could take from their opening run out.
Things did not get any easier for those in charge
at Arsenal as they became the first side to feel the force of Romelu Lukaku’s
return to Chelsea when the Belgian forward struck first at the Emirates to land
his first goal for the club.
Reece James added another in the first half and the
Gunners were never able to recover, losing 2-0 for the second straight league
game.
The men in red were dominated by Thomas Tuchel’s
Blues, who look to be strong title contenders after winning the Champions
League last season and strengthening over the transfer window.
It was only the third time that Arsenal have lost
their first two Premier League games in a season.
And there was more unwanted history for Arteta as, for the first time in the club’s 117 seasons in existence,
they began a league campaign with two defeats and no goals.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the largest
Emirates crowd in almost 18 months amid the pandemic.
However, they soon had something to cheer in the
Carabao Cup as the Gunners romped to a 6-0 win away at West Brom in the second
round of the competition.
Skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted a
hat-trick with Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette also finding
the net to offer some respite.
But the pressure wasn’t eased for long, as Arsenal were firmly brought back down to Earth with a
crushing 5-0 defeat away at reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.
Former City No.2 Arteta returned to the Etihad only
for his old side to run riot, aided by Granit Xhaka’s red card, to highlight
just how far off the pace the North Londoners are.
September
September appears to have brought a change of luck
for Arsenal.
Many rival fans jokingly billed the game at home to
Norwich City as a relegation six-pointer with both sides without a win.
And although that might have been a stretch, a
defeat really would have left Arteta sweating on his job.
But Aubameyang found the net again to deliver a
much-needed 1-0 win and belatedly kickstart the Prem campaign.
Just like London buses, Arsenal waited weeks for
their first win but immediately added a second away at Burnley on Saturday.
Martin Odegaard’s stunning free-kick was enough to
seal all three points at Turf Moor and proved exactly why he was brought back
to the club on a permanent basis from Real Madrid, after an impressive loan spell
at the back end of last season.
Arsenal are just a point off the top half of the
table which is a fair achievement when that terrible start is taken into
account.
Arteta’s squad are 13th in the table on six points
from five games but all will soon be forgotten with a North London derby win
over Spurs, who have plenty of problems of their own, on Sunday.
Before that, the Gunners host AFC Wimbledon in the
Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday night which should be another perfect
confidence booster and an ideal chance for Arteta to give minutes to his wider
squad.
After the Tottenham game, Arsenal travel to
high-flying Brighton before hosting Crystal Palace and then Aston Villa.
