Portsmouth 1-4 Arsenal: Martinelli hat-trick sends Gunners through

Match report – Player Ratings – Arteta’s reaction – Quotes Roundup

Arsenal are through to the 4th round of the FA Cup after a 4-1 victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park yesterday.

Mikel Arteta made 10 changes from the team that started against Liverpool, with Gabriel the only one remaining from that game. And very early on, we could see a lack of cohesion. The home team scored in the third minute as I tried to understand what we were doing form-wise. Kepa saved a shot but didn’t push it far enough, and Portsmouth skipper Colby Bishop was there to force the rebound. Arteta’s face when that goal went in was something, so much so that I almost felt sorry for the guys who would have to deal with his wrath at half-time. Almost.

To their credit, Portsmouth were brave from the start, pressed high and that gave us some problems. We were sloppy in possession, and a little ragged, but we reacted quickly in the event of a delay by equalizing within minutes. Eberechi Eze delivered a corner, initially given as a goal for Christian Norgaard, but it turned out to be an own goal from Andre Dozzell.

There were still a few moments of danger in our defensive third which the manager will not have liked, but we started to play successfully thanks to their press and after that the dynamic really changed in our favor. A fine pass from Ethan Nwaneri to Noni Madueke resulted in another corner. The latter’s near post was good, and Gabriel Martinelli’s header even better to put us 2-1 in front.

Mikel Merino, our best player of the first half, created another chance for Martinelli which he curled just wide, and the Brazilian should have scored his second of the match when Ben White’s fantastic delivery found him with a simple tap-in, but he instead stabbed the ball onto the post. It was all Arsenal, and when Madueke committed a foul in the box, the referee awarded a penalty. The ex-Chelsea player stepped up to take it, puffed out his cheeks, did the kind of stuttering run that makes you look like an idiot if you miss… and quickly fired the ball away from the right post. A really bad penalty, but somewhat in line with his overall busy performance but ultimately lacking conviction… apart from his corners.

In the second half, after receiving a few words of “encouragement” from Arteta at the break, we stepped up our action, although the Whites had to produce an excellent block in our box to prevent Portsmouth from shooting on target. Almost immediately we increased our lead. Madueke was fouled in midfield, Myles Lewis-Skelly’s quick thinking saw him find Gabriel Jesus, and his ball at the far post was cleared away without error this time by Martinelli to make it 3-1.

A triple change in the 69th minute saw the return of Kai Havertz, and the German quickly got involved with some nice, safe touches and link-up play. It was his good pass to Madueke that led to another corner after the winger’s shot was deflected behind. Madueke delivered again, Martinelli produced another excellent header, which completed his first ever hat-trick for Arsenal.

Marli Salmon became the club’s youngest player in the FA Cup, and Portsmouth finished the match with 10 men after picking up an injury despite using all their subs. In the end, a comfortable afternoon despite the scare at the start, and a few useful minutes for some players who, if I want to be a little diplomatic, sometimes looked a little rusty.

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

We started the match exactly the way we didn’t want to, giving them momentum, a goal and hope, then we had to fight back and give them credit because they made it difficult for us, especially in the early stages of the match. The more we started doing the simple things well and being a little more dominant, the more quality took over.

And praised Gabriel Martinelli’s attitude in a week where the spotlight was too focused on him because of that incident during the Liverpool match. Which, if you watched on TNT Sports, they seemed to bring up every 2 minutes for no good reason:

I love it, because of every context you throw it into. Sometimes he doesn’t play, sometimes he plays well or not well the next one. Today he scored three goals, tomorrow he will train at 100 miles an hour. He’s not going to change that – and that’s Gabi.

Martinelli is now our top scorer this season, with 9 goals in all competitions, and I hope it’s the race between our players that will do a bit of yo-yoing while others find their shooting boots. Havertz’s return is also welcome, of course, and the manager said of him:

The last few minutes I’ve been watching him move and his awareness, the way he needs to move, when he needs to move versus where he’s moving, it’s just a joy to watch. We missed him a lot; he is back with us and now we have to keep him on the pitch because he is a very important player for us.

He had a shot almost on the last touch of the game, but it was blocked, but finally getting it back and having some minutes under his belt was more important than a goal. What else? Well, I know I wrote last week about Ethan Nwaneri and a possible loan move, but I liked his performance yesterday. Once we regained our collective composure, which I think Merino was fundamental for in the first half in particular, Nwaneri impressed me with the way he used the ball. There was an absolutely perfect pass to Eze, passed through a crowded area in midfield, it was so good. He could have chosen the easier option, but I love that he tried and executed the harder one.

So it’s a promising outing for him, and I also liked Ben White’s performance at right back. He didn’t get much defensive help from Madueke, who seemed determined to make his life a little more difficult than it needed to be, but he did well, should have had an assist for that chance from Martinelli, and gave us a classic Ben White when he just pushed a guy after being strained. I love Jurrien Timber, but I missed those Benny Blanco gems.

We now move on to the fourth round draw, which will take place later this evening. I hope it’s another relatively nice one, but we’ll find out in due time. Expect an Arsecast Extra, as always. We have already launched a call for questions on Blue sky @gunnerblog.bsky.social and @arseblog.com. So shoot using the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you are a member of Arseblog on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-questions-extra channel on our Discord server. The module should be available around noon today.

For now, have a good one.