Unconvincing Arsenal do just enough to cut Liverpool lead

The result is all that really matters to Arteta amid a busy run of fixtures and without their most creative player Bukayo Saka, who sat out the first match of what is expected to be a couple of months out injured.

Ipswich have now lost five in six and remain rooted in the relegation zone. Arsenal remain in the title hunt, but will face a tougher test, surely, away at Brentford on New Year’s Day and it was an improved return on their last home game.

Arsenal’s air of superiority possibly cost them in their goalless draw against struggling Everton last time out in the Premier League here and there was a similar sense of entitlement going into this match. The club’s pre-match preview said how they were looking to extend a 16-game unbeaten home run against a side who had not won in London N5 since 1979. That, for those of us with long enough memories, remember it was the season after Ipswich shocked them in the FA Cup final too and know the Suffolk side are never to be underestimated.

Then, as if on cue while Arsenal fans were still confidently belting out their North London Forever anthem as the match kicked off in an eerie fog, Ipswich nearly scored through Sammie Szmodics with less than a minute gone. It was the first and last time Kieran McKenna’s side touched the ball in the other half of the pitch for some time. Not that the Fermanagh manager had come excepting anything else with his five-man defence and safety-first time-wasting tactics.

Ipswich were in League One just two years ago and fresh from a thrashing by Newcastle so their approach was understandable. Winless after the first 10 games they have since picked up a couple of victories and played with purpose despite being locked in the relegation zone.

There is only so long Arsenal can have the ball without being dangerous, however and their 23rd minute lead was wholly deserved. Leandro Trossard, called up in the absence of injured Bukayo Saka, clipped in a cross from the left and Havertz wriggled clear of a defensive pack to nonchalantly side-foot in a right foot volley. Trossard is not always a match winner but is the only outfield player to feature in every single Premier League game for Arsenal this season. German forward Havertz is not always man of the match either, but his contribution is never under-estimated here. He is also his side’s leading scorer with 12 goals so far in all competitions.

Now, the onus was on McKenna’s men to come out and play or think about damage limitations. They managed to find a happy medium, despite conceding an all-time Premier League high 84 per cent possession, and keep the match alive, going into half-time only one goal down. They also started the second half with some attacking intent and Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was scrambling back to cover his goal – only for an Ipswich shot never to materialise. They did, however, look like a match for Arsenal for a prolonged spell.

They could and should have been two goals down after 63 minutes as we witnessed that rarest of events – Gabriel missing a free header from a Declan Rice corner. No wonder the usually clinical Brazil defender howled in horror. The major miss also gave Ipswich a further injection of purpose, ever more alert they were still in this. match.

How Arsenal could have done with the midfield magic of their watching former player Santi Cazorla. The Spaniard used to make Arsenal tick like few other players and they badly needed someone to regain their grip on the game as their stranglehold loosened and Ipswich played with increasing freedom. Arteta responded by withdrawing Gabriel Jesus for Mikel Merino as McKenna sent on Jack Clarke for Szmodics with around 20 minutes to go. The changes instantly lifted Arsenal as Martin Odegaard, Rice and Havertz all went close to scoring moments later.

They kept pressing for a second goal but ran out of energy and ideas as Ipswich finished looking like they might steal a point. That would have been harsh on Arsenal but since when has football been fair?

Arsenal: Raya 6, Timber 6, Saliba 6, Magalhaes 6, Lewis-Skelly 6, Rice 7 (Partey 87), Odegaard 6, Havertz 7, Martinelli 6, Trossard 7, Jesus 6 (Merino 72). Subs: Neto, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Calafiori, Nwaneri.

Ipswich: Muric 6, Johnson 6 (Broadhead 80), O'Shea 6, Greaves 6, Davis 6, Woolfenden 6 (H.Clarke 90), Cajuste 6 (Taylor 80), Phillips 7, Hutchinson 6, Szmodics 6 (J.Clarke 72), Delap 5 (Al-Hamadi, 80). Subs: Walton, Burns, Chaplin, Townsend.

Ref: Darren England 6