Key events
Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Coventry City
… and with that, this MBM comes to an end. Ed Aarons was at the Emirates, and here’s his report. Thanks for reading this one!
Frank Lampard’s turn to talk to Sky. “Clearly a big challenge … fantastic team … a good lesson for our boys … they played like champions … the experience is probably good for us … the goals were not great from us … you’ve seen more from us than that … we’ll improve … I don’t want to judge the lads on that tonight … I’m calm … we lost the game and we will learn our lessons … every game won’t look like that … I’m not concerned about the touches in the box tonight [Coventry had four] … the result is what it is … we’ll go over the detail and get better … we were a little bit timid in the first half … Leeds came here last year and lost 5-0 and stayed in the Premier League so I’m not making any early judgements … there are adjustments for us to make and we’ll make them … it has to be positive even if defeat is hard to take always … there may be more to do while the window is still open … we’re pretty happy with where we are at the minute.”
Mikel Arteta speaks to Sky. “There was a lot to like, right from the beginning … we were really dominant … flow … connected with each other in a really impressive way … overall very positive … a lot of big individual performances as well … I was very impressed … there were moments after the third goal I wasn’t too happy about … the compactness of the team … we need to keep improving … [Bruno Guimarães and Ezri Konsa] are 28, not 38, in their prime … they are going to give us so much.”
Ed Aarons was at the Emirates. Here’s his report … though if you’re after the views of both managers, make sure to come back here, because this MBM is not done just yet.
Coming up … Next for Arsenal: a trip to Aston Villa on Bank Holiday Monday. Coventry will have played twice by then, after going to Plymouth Argyle in the League Cup next Tuesday, and hosting Hull City at home on the Saturday.
Coventry captain Matt Grimes talks to Sky. “Disappointing … we’ve not been used to losing … we always knew it would be a tough ask … we spoke at half-time about being a bit braver … we were a little bit in our shells in the first half … so we wanted to give a better account of ourselves … when you play such a high level of player, little mistakes become big mistakes … we’re ready for it … we want to give the season a good go … our season is not going to be defined by coming to places like this and getting beat … obviously we wanted to cause a bit of an upset but it wasn’t meant to be … we learned a lot … we go again … we won’t be too disheartened.”
Arsenal captain and player of the match Martin Ødegaard talks to Sky Sports. “First game of the season is always a bit nervy … they played well … they gave us a good battle … we created a lot of chances … it was solid … there are things we could have done better … we could be more precise and sharp around the box … many times we play a low block … we need those relationships … a lot of movement … even more sharp with the last pass … the quality in the squad is unbelievable … we push each other … [his goal] was not the best finish but I was there!”
Some numerical admin. The xG finished Arsenal 1.80, Coventry 0.28. Meanwhile … and we do appreciate that some readers might consider this a bit previous … here’s what tonight’s match has done to the top and bottom of the table. Can anyone catch Arsenal? Can Coventry stage a great escape? Yes, we really should know better; thank you so much for putting up with us.
The Emirates breaks into warm applause as Arsenal open their title defence with a fine performance. Martin Ødegaard ran the show, Premier League debutant Christos Tzolis was a constant threat on the left, Bukayo Saka looks back to his best on the right. They’ll take some knocking off their perch. Coventry meanwhile won’t get a tougher assignment all season – they’ve just visited the home of the best team in England and the second-best in Europe – and while the late chance missed by Jack Rudoni will irritate a little bit, if nothing else it proves they’re capable of crafting something against the big teams. And they limited Arsenal to three, when for a while things threatened to get out of hand. Some useful lessons learned. Arsenal’s future is assured; it’s far from the end of the world for the Sky Blues.
ShareFULL TIME: Arsenal 3-0 Coventry City
The champions open their defence with a confident win.
Three goals and three points for Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianShare
Updated at 16.59 EDT
90 min +3: “A steep learning curve for the Sky Blues,” writes Robert Jones. “I was expecting an absolute humiliation after the first half, but Coventry have learnt a lot about themselves with a worthy performance in the second half.”
90 min +2: Now it’s Coventry fans filling the air with song, as they give Jimmy Hill’s spin on the Eton Boating Song a run out.
Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.52 EDT
90 min +1: In the first of four additional minutes, Havertz aims for the bottom right from long range. Rushworth gets down to stop.
90 min: Torp balloons the free kick over everyone’s head. Goal kick. On Sky, Jamie Carragher names Odegaard as the player of the match. I’d have gone Tzolis myself, but Carra’s got the caps and medals, so fair enough.
89 min: Mosquera cynically skittles Awoniyi out on the left, and is fortunate not to go into the book. But it is a free kick, which Torp prepares to send into the mixer.
88 min: It’s all petering out now. Arsenal fans care not a jot, as they run through their champions songbook.
86 min: … so having said that, nine seconds later, Torp crosses from the left and finds Rudoni in the middle, six yards out. Rudoni has to score, but slaps a header straight at Raya. That should have been the consolation.
85 min: Onyeka sprays a long pass down the left for Awoniyi to chase … but there’s simply no way past Mosquera, who escorts him away from danger. Coventry haven’t threatened a consolation at all.
83 min: Coventry welcome back Hamer, who replaces Tchaouna.
82 min: Califiori is replaced by Hincapie. Arsenal’s squad depth is outrageous.
81 min: Zubimendi whips a cross in dangerously from the right. Havertz prepares to head home from close range, but Amenda flicks clear, just in time. A goal-saving clearance.
80 min: Arsenal pass the ball around with style and sass. Coventry hold their shape.
Martin Zubimendi passes the ball under pressure from Taiwo Awoniyi and Victor Torp. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.45 EDT
78 min: Madueke rides a couple of challenges to keep possession down the right, before slipping Merino into space in the box. For once, Merino’s goalscoring radar is off, and his poor shot is easily blocked.
76 min: Merino and Eze come on for Odegaard and Tzolis, who has already earned hero status if the cheer his name receives is anything to go by. Which it is. Deservedly so, given his eye-catching performances so far.
Quantum of Tzolis. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianShare
Updated at 16.36 EDT
74 min: Van Ewijk throws long from the right. Mosquera heads clear. Rudoni nearly nips in from the left, but can’t reach the ball. Coventry still haven’t put Raya to work.
72 min: Madueke is quickly into the action, swaying down the inside-right before feeding Odegaard infield. Odegaard opens his body and shoots, but his effort is blocked. Arsenal come again, and Lewis-Skelly nearly releases Calafiori into the box with a cute pass down the inside-left channel. Rushworth is out quickly to smother and claim.
Bobby Thomas controls the ball whilst under pressure from Noni Madueke. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.32 EDT
70 min: Coventry respond with a double change of their own. Thomas-Asante and the disappointing Simms are replaced by Rudoni and another debutant in Awoniyi.
69 min: Rice and Saka make way for Madueke and Zubimendi. Arsenal in full squad-management mode now.
67 min: Thomas takes a speculative whack from distance. He doesn’t connect properly, the shot dragged harmlessly left, but it looks like the ball takes a nick off Mosquera on its way out of play. Coventry don’t get the corner, and surround the referee, Grimes nearly getting himself booked (or worse) for telling it as he sees it, perhaps even the gentle laying on of hands. The referee stays calm and makes do with a lecture.
Updated at 16.26 EDT
65 min: Tzolis continues to tear it up down the left. He reaches the edge of the box and tries to slip in Havertz on the underlap; Thomas comes across to concede another corner. Rice swings it in. Rushworth clears. Tzolis meets the dropping ball and fires through the crowd. Rushworth parries, but can’t claim, and Amenda is forced to hoick clear. It’s not been a banner evening for the Coventry keeper.
63 min: One of Coventry’s debutants, the midfielder Yirenkyi, makes way for Torp.
62 min: Rice plays the corner short, but Coventry intercept and break en masse. But Dasilva can’t decide who to pass to, and the counter fizzles out.
61 min: Tzolis and Calafiori combine down the left, the latter eventually cutting back for the winger, whose first-time screeching shot pings off Grimes and out for another Arsenal corner.
60 min: Simms’ miscontrol was Coventry’s first touch in the Arsenal box this evening. It’s been a baptism of fire all right.
Ellis Simms of Coventry City Photograph: Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.21 EDT