Three goals, three points, an away win to the team currently first in Serie A, doing it with a rotated team, players in attack finding form. What’s not to like about yesterday’s 3-1 win at the San Siro?

Before a ball was kicked, yesterday morning and afternoon, I was excited for this game. The reason was that, like the League Cup game against Chelsea, it felt like a little more of a ‘free hit’ than the Premier League. I can absolutely guarantee that I won’t have the same feelings when we play Man United on Sunday.

And I think Arteta had that game in mind when he picked this starting XI to line up in Milan last night. He would never admit that, he might also say that minutes and load needed to be managed from the trip to Nottingham last weekend, but I think he’s well-aware of what kind of different and difficult challenge a refreshed and rested United might pose, so he selected his playing pieces yesterday very carefully, I think.

There were starts for some of the regulars; you’d expect that given the opposition – Inter rested players at the weekend for this game, and you can’t expect Arsenal to play all the kids with a calibre of opposition that we had. So I wasn’t surprised to see Raya, Saliba, Timber, Zubi, Saka and Trossard all start.

Complementing them was, of course, MLS, the returning Mosquera (who played really well given the physicality of his opponent last night), Eze, Merino, Gabby Jesus, which still made for a very experienced lineup. And you could tell, because from the first minute we were on top of them. We probably could – or even should – have scored within the first couple of minutes. We pressed high, we closed space, we forced Inter into a few errors, and it felt very much like the start of the PSG away game last season. Unfortunately for us, the similarities with that game also existed in the form of not getting that Blitzkrieg goal that I think Arteta probably wanted within the first minute or two.

Well, I say we didn’t get that early goal, but we actually did. I guess we did so much in the opening five minutes that I momentarily forgot that we were actually ahead by 10 minutes. Timber’s deflected shot was, I think, superbly poached on by Gabriel Jesus. He loves the Champions League, doesn’t he? We’ve said it ever since he signed, and I think it has more to do with the space afforded to Arsenal, plus the reduction in physicality of the Champions League (teams are all winners in their respective domestic competitions, so they’re used to playing football and not just low-blocking the shite out of football matches), that means some of our players can flourish. Ironically enough, I think Gabby Jesus has plenty of upper-body strength that does help him in the Premier League. But there’s just something about the Champions League that makes him more prolific. 

And prolific he was yesterday. His first goal was a predatory strike just outside the six-yard box, whilst the second was a nod in about two yards out. Although I think we have to say that there was a touch of fortune about the way the ball kissed the bar before falling for him to nod in ahead of any Inter defenders. “A penny for Viktor’s thoughts with those chances” I thought when that second one went in. Those are the kind of positions he’s been taking up (think his Burnley goal as one example), but the ball just hasn’t been finding him. I do think we need to have a serious think about whether he’s right for us in the long term. I’m just not sure his style fits, and when you see our former first choice number nine bag his third goal since returning from injury, you start to wonder. But these were goals that I would also have expected Viktor to get, were he on the pitch, anyway. 

It didn’t matter a whole deal, though, because despite coming on as an impact sub, he still bagged the best goal of the night. And it felt like the kind of YouTube goal we saw from his highlight reels last season for Sporting. Inter pushing up and pressing, Arsenal defend a corner well, Martinelli plays an absolute sumptuous pass in behind, and the Swede gets the wrong side of his man. He didn’t quite race away from his two centre-halves; he also sort of fluffed the pass to Saka, but you can’t argue with his pounce on the loose ball and finish.

That essentially ended the game as a contest, which was certainly a very good contest up until that point, with Inter having their fair share of shots and attacks on the counter. It made for a good game. We talk about the Premier League being a good advert for football, but in reality, the increase in tactical discipline and defensive risk-aversion often results in games in which Arsenal have to wade through the treacle of a low or mid-block. The Champions League has no such stodge and, as a result, proper football matches can unfold. This game had some basketball moments, it had some fine goals (the Inter goal is one that you have to begrudgingly say was a good hit from just outside the box), and it had two teams wanting to move the ball around purposefully. It even had a little bit of handbags with Bastoni pushing Merino over after he’d gone in on a couple of Inter players. It was fun to watch. Made all the more fun, of course, by the fact that we won. 

And that win allowed us to confirm our top two slot in the competition, significant because it means all of our knockout games will be played away first, then at home all the way to the final. Will that make a difference in helping us to progress? Let’s bloody-well hope so. 

The team will travel back today, they’ll be back in light training tomorrow, I suspect, which means the Friday session to prep for United and then also on Saturday. And with players rotating and resting like Rice, Timber too (whose job was shared with White on 60+ minutes – which I liked a lot), we hopefully have ourselves not only fresh players, but players rather buoyed and confident going into that game against United. 

Can’t ask for much more than that.

Back tomorrow as we start to prep for that big game on Sunday.