Arsenal Win 2-0 Over Sevilla, Approach The Champions League Round Of 16

JAKARTA - Arsenal are now approaching the last 16 of the Champions League after beating Sevilla 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night, November 8 or Thursday WIB.

Syang, the two goals won did not reflect Arsenal's dominance in the match. But they still celebrated the victory they won thanks to goals scored early in the first half by Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka.

Mikel Arteta's side are entering the match in North London with the hope that victory over Sevilla, along with Lens' win over PSV Eindhoven, will secure the top two positions in Group B with two games remaining.

However, PSV's 1-0 win at home to Lens means that Arsenal's qualification for the knockout round has to be postponed. Arsenal, who are at the top of Group B with a four-point gap from PSV in second place, only need one more point from their remaining two matches.

Meanwhile, Sevilla have slipped to the bottom of Group B after failing to win in their first four matches. But they remain in the hunt to qualify for the round of 16 as they are only three points clear of PSV and Lens, each with five points.

In this match the Sevilla coach, Diego Alonso, decided to make eight changes in the team from a 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo in La Liga last weekend. Meanwhile, Arteta made only one change in Arsenal's team, who lost 0-1 to Newcastle United in the last match. On the Trossard line-up, he was present to replace the injured Eddie Nketiah.

Kai Havertz remains the core player in the Arsenal team, playing with Trossard in attack and in front of midfielder duo Jorginho and Declan Rice was trusted by Arteta. In the early minutes the German got a good chance to put Arsenal ahead but ultimately failed.

Arsenal dominated the game in the first half and were always dangerous on both wings where Martinelli and Saka were operating which made Sevilla's right-back Juanlu Sanchez struggling to face Martinelli who was fit on Arsenal's left wing.

However, Arsenal managed to open the scoring on the right side when Jorginho sent a fine pass behind Sevilla's back line to be met by Saka, who then fired a suitable pass for Trossard who fired a shot that put Arsenal 1-0 up.

Trossard has now scored five goals for Arsenal in all competitions this season, including two goals in the Champions League. Uniquely the five goals were all thanks to Saka's assists.

Sevilla, who failed to record a single shot on target in the first half, struggled to create chances in Arsenal's territory with only 28% possession. The only positive thing the Spanish side can take from the first 45 minutes is the fact that they limit Arsenal to just one goal and one shot on target.

There was no significant change in the game after the break where Arsenal continued to control the game. Havertz had two good chances early in the second half, the first time a half-ball volley was blocked by Juanlu, the visitors' goalkeeper.

Sevilla kemudian menikmati beberapa saat penguasan bola, meskipun tanpa ancaman serius ke gawang rumah. Selanjutnya Arsenal merespons dengan baik dan mencetak gol kedua pada menit ke-64 melalui gol yang dipelak dengan baik oleh Saka.

This victory came at a price from Mikel Arteta, who looked down on Bukayo Saka's fitness after he suffered a Saka injury himself scoring goals in front of England manager Gareth Southgate, who watched the game live.

Arteta's decision to replace goalscorers Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli who performed outstanding in the 81st minute, but forgot to call Saka to the bench. A few seconds later, Saka fell and grabbed his ankle after landing unnaturally before finally limping off the pitch.

Arsenal will host Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday, while Southgate will announce its English squad for European Championship qualifiers this month against North Macedonia and Malta on Thursday. However, Arteta has even stated that its six-goal forward will be fine despite the recent bruises.

"In the end he wasn't comfortable to go on. Hopefully it wasn't too bad, but I was very satisfied with his performance. I think he's getting used to it (the opponent violated). I don't think that's going to change, especially with the way he plays and the way he attracts players, so it's better for him to get used to it because I don't think it's going to change," said Arteta of Saka.

"It was just a shot and I was told by physiotherapists via radio that he was not happy to continue. So he would feel uncomfortable but I assumed he would be okay," said Arteta.

After the controversy over their defeat last weekend to Newcastle, in which Arteta called VAR's decision to give Anthony Gordon the winner a "embarrassing" thing, it was a much-needed night for his injury-hit team.

Apart from Eddie Nketiah being absent due to an ankle injury, there are still Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus who can't play for Arsenal.

"Today requires other requirements, tactically we need something else and we are implementing it very well, so I am very happy with the last two performances."

In addition to concerns about Saka, Takehiro Tomiyasu was also replaced in the first half. "He felt uncomfortable in the first half," Arteta said of the defender.

"We don't want to take any risks because he has played many minutes. Where Alex (Oleksandr Zinchenko) is ready to get off the bench, I think it is the right decision."

Regarding the injuries of Odegaard (peops) and Nketiah (articles), Arteta thinks they will recover soon. "They are in a race against time to recover. They are trying their best to be here with us today, but that is impossible and we have 48 hours left before we play against Burnley. We will try again and see because we need players right now," said Arteta.

In that match Sevilla were only able to open fire on their first target in the seventh minute of extra time and it was natural to suffer a second defeat in the group round. Coach Diego Alonso also admitted that.

"We can't show the performance we want. Our opponents are better than us and play well. Our goal is to win the ball at the top of the pitch, but we are very far from their area. That is my assessment," said the Sevilla coach.