In the north London mist, Arsenal came no closer to stumbling upon a temporary heir to their starboy. This was ultimately an exercise in doing the necessary, making sure realistic hope of a title challenge extended towards the season’s second half and overcoming a well-coached but impotent Ipswich. Yet if the hope had been that it would offer a window into a prolonged run without Bukayo Saka, the wait for answers will now drift into early 2025.
The pre-match hype had centred on Gabriel Martinelli, moved across from his usual left-sided perch upon Saka’s injury at Selhurst Park and quickly settling down with a goal in that thrashing. Martinelli is an explosive yet mercurial talent; the darkest fears during his more barren stretches concern whether, at 23, his ceiling may not be far off. But here was a chance to prove he could be the man to deputise over a longer stretch: at least two months, as Mikel Arteta explained afterwards. On the face of things, Ipswich were ideal fodder against whom to state the case.
Kieran McKenna’s side had been ripped apart by Newcastle on Saturday, their first genuine humbling of an otherwise competitive first season back among the elite, and their openness down the flanks would not have escaped Arteta. Their left-back, Leif Davis, tends to adopt a starting position so aggressive that opponents are granted a gaping hole to exploit when things go awry. Any missteps would surely bring joy for Martinelli, who lacks Saka’s subtleties but knows how to sear a trail into those spaces, and point a way forward for Arsenal’s rebalanced attack.
In the event, this was another of those occasions when guile and verve, rather than raw speed, would have been the better solution. For 45 minutes Ipswich sat in, compact and cautious, Davis venturing up the pitch only to offer a deflected first-minute cross that Sammie Szmodics could not convert. There was early red meat for Martinelli shortly after that when he got the better of his man, ultimately winning a corner, but moments of joy in the subsequent hour and half were extremely rare.
It was a moment of incision from the other flank, Leandro Trossard beating Ben Johnson too easily before offering the cross Kai Havertz converted, that broke Ipswich’s resistance midway through the first half. Martinelli could claim a role, his deep delivery being flicked out to the Belgian by a defender’s head. But he was restricted after that, Davis winning the one-on-ones and seeing the ball over the byline during one last contest shortly before the interval.
How Santi Cazorla, paraded to the crowd before kick-off and attending a match here for the first time in seven years, might have relished the chance to pick his way through those blue and white defensive strata. Martin Ødegaard, a more than worthy successor, flickered into life after half-time and would have scored but for a tip over by Arijanet Muric. He was the only Arsenal attacker whose ingenuity seemed likely to put matters out of Ipswich’s reach, the impressive centre-back Jacob Greaves among those to snuff out half-glimmers.
Martinelli only resurfaced in the 82nd minute when, chasing the ball down in a more familiar area by the visitors’ right corner flag, he was hacked down by Dara O’Shea. There was no substitute here for Saka’s ability to dart inside, to unload early, to weave those intricate connections with Ødegaard. It was one of the reasons that Arsenal, while never hanging on, had defending to do as the match progressed and were relieved to see Havertz block Nathan Broadhead’s shot at the death.
That was one of Ipswich’s few sights of goal. The last thing they wanted was another pummelling during what has, for all their promising work, been a tough winter. They are in touch with safety though and will take encouragement that Kalvin Phillips, in his first start for almost two months, looked at home on the stage. It feels like a blink of an eye since Phillips partnered Declan Rice, one of Arsenal’s better performers, in an England shirt. The two engaged in a lengthy conversation afterwards; Phillips has a mountain to climb before breathing the same air as his former colleague again but on this evidence will give Ipswich hope of survival if he can avoid mishap before May.
Arsenal certainly cannot do with any more accidents if they are to remain within sight of Liverpool. There is a nagging sense that, Saka or no Saka, the rat-a-tat of passing and movement is not at the levels of their best moments under Arteta. They laboured against Everton a fortnight ago and were not significantly better here, albeit with greater reward. Martinelli will surely enjoy days in the sun when more ambitious opponents invite them to reach full throttle by leaving space in behind. On nights like these, though, the route to breaking their 21-year duck with minimal input from Saka looks far from certain.
