Key events
33 min Arsenal now have 16 goals from set-piece this season, remarkable work from the players and dedicated coach, Nicolas Jover. I do think – and this isn’t an Arsenal-related point, especially – refs need to police contact in the box better, and force teams to take their corners and free-kicks quicker, but it’s about time these aspects of the game were taken seriously again.
31 min But just like that it’s almost 3-1, Eze knocking back to Norgaard, whose first-time pass, through the middle, is superb, setting Martinelli away. Losing balance, he opens his body, looking to curl low from the edge, but doesn’t get quite enough draw and the shot zips just wide.
29 min After almost half-an-hour of purposeful football, it’s now a bit scrappy. I don’t imagine Portsmouth will mind that too much, and they still look confident in possession, moving it about and trying to work angles.
27 min This has been an exceptionally entertaining half, but do Portsmouth have another goal in them? Or, more pertinently, can they avoid conceding another?
GOAL! Portsmouth 1-2 Arsenal (Martinelli 26)
They cannot. Madueke swings in a brute, Martinelli, attacking the front post, leaps, and uses the pace of the ball to not past Bursic. Pompey have done really well so far, but they trail thanks to Arsenal’s old set-piece trick.
24 min Eze’s smart pass ushers Madueke into the box, down its left-hand side, and Swanson does really well to nick the ball behind. Can Pompey defend this second corner properly?
23 min Shaughnessy flings himself into another juddering challenge, setting Pompey away, but seeking a shooting lane, Segesic is quickly blocked off, then Arsenal counter, Jesus’ heavy touch allowing Bursic to claim at his feet.
21 min Excellent work from Shaughnessy, who intercepts a pass seeking Madueke, then thunders into a challenge. I really like the way Pompey are going about this, even if it has me wondering how they can be 21st in the Champo. If they displayed this level of intensity and acumen in every game, especially away from home, I’m sure they’d be doing better.
19 min Pompey look really well prepared for this match and they’re pressing Arsenal high; I don’t think they rate Kepa’s ability to play out, and they’re forcing him to play long, then looking to win possession and go from there.
16 min My net drops out then returns in time for me to see Devlin skirting around the outside of Lewis-Skelly – they need to keep targeting him – but the cut-back is behind everyone. No matter: Blair, who looks extremely useful and was previously at Liverpool, moves in off the left, curving low towards the far bottom corner … and Kepa dives to tip away. This is a decent contest and is I’m, duty-bound to report A Proper, Honest, Good, Old-Fashioned FA Cup TieTM.
13 min We’re shown the equaliser again and there’s a suggestion that Dozzell applied the final touch, but I think it was Norgaard sliding it in through him.
12 min Gabriel Jesus always looks like a man who’s just realised he’s gone out without his trousers.
9 min I guess Portsmouth will feel they’re in the match and the weather is worsening, wind and rain swirling. Arsenal, though, look to be taking over.
GOAL! Portsmouth 1-1 Arsenal (Norgaard 7)
That’s so disappointing for Pompey. The corner, swung to the front post, isn’t great, but Martinelli ducks to half-head, half-back the ball into the middle, Gabriel forces it towards the back post, and Norgaard bundles in. That was not good defending, at all, and having seen it, you’ll fear for Portsmouth on every set-piece.
7 min There’s some kind of medical situation behind the goal, so the game is briefly paused, but we’re back under way again.
5 min Arsenal attack for the first time, Martinelli’s cross headed behind; Eze comes over to take the corner down the left, but it’s not quite the same without Rice swinging it in.
5 min Portsmouth have started this game superbly. From kick-off, they started their intentions, looking to get the ball forward, and there’s been a focused fury about their work so far.
GOAL! Portsmouth 1-0 Arsenal ( Bishop 3)
Noise! Blair does well down the left, picking a clever square-pass to Chaplin with Arsenal expecting a cross. Using the direction of the ball, he sweeps a shot goalwards, Kepa parries but can’t get it out of the danger-zone, and Bishop opens his body to punch a finish high into the net! This competition, oh my complete and utter absolute days.
1 min Long ball, knockdown, cross into the box; Pompey look to put Arsenal under pressure immediately, and I’d not be surprised if they look to put a big man on Lewis-Skelly to create a back-post mismatch. For now, though, he and Arsenal get the ball away.
1 min Away we go!
In the WSL, league leaders Man City have won again:
Out come our players; Fratton Park is bouncing.
Leeds have come from behind to win 3-1 at Derby:
When I think of this kind of thing, I think of the Italy squad which won the 2006 World Cup – Marcello Lippi to six strikers and each of them contributed something significant – and Man United in 2012-13, when they won the league not because they were good, they weren’t, but because they had varied attackers able to turn tight games. In all these years of finishing second, Arsenal haven’t had that – until now.
Email! “Having decent reinforcements is, as you say, pretty crucial for Arsenal if they’re to manage campaigns on multiple fronts,” reckons Charles Antaki. “In fact it would be true even if they just had the Premier League to worry about. But the extra benefit of the recent recruits is what I suppose we must call the vibe factor: Madueke giving immediate and lively evidence that he’s a terrific back-up to Saka, and more especially Eze ‘coming home’ to a club he seems to have a genuine affection for. The positive sentiments around them will start to evaporate at some point, especially if they don’t play, or play badly when they do get on. But even the fumes will sustain the faith among the faithful for some time yet.”
I agree – especially in a team which isn’t free-scoring, options are crucial when it comes to settling right matches in what might be a tight title race. Arsenal have needed an alternative to Saka for a few seasons now, and in the absence of a reliable goalscorer, a variety of different profiles able to score might just compensate.
Arteta hopes to get Havertz some minutes and wants his players to be present and in the moment. He knows there’s a long history of cup upsets, so his team need to be switched on.
So how do Pompey beat them? Well, this isn’t an XI used to playing together, so the cohesion won’t necessarily be there. Pompey need to crowd the midfield and get at Lewis-Skelly down their right – great talent though he is, he’s not played much lately, struggled in midweek, and isn’t a natural full-back. Otherwise, they’ll want to get Blair in and in behind Norgaard, who’s not a centre-back, and Kepa has a mistake in him if he can be targeted with crosses and shots.
Arsenal, though, are going for all four major trophies – they meet Chelsea in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final in midweek. It’s a while since they won one, and I’m sure a man as intense as Arteta will have them fired up.
The weather is every bit as minging as you’d want it to be, dingy, and rainy. That won’t do Portsmouth any harm, and I daresay they’ll be testing Kepa under some high balls, perhaps with some long shots too.
Mousinho tells TNT that his players have done all the work they need to, he made a few little tweaks after seeing the Arsenal teamsheet, and now his players are ready to go. Pompey haven’t played since New Year’s Day and the break has done them good as they were a little thin in terms of numbers.
Otherwise, though, he wants the team to enjoy it and knows the home crowd will get them going as they do every week. He thinks Arsenal are the best team in the world but there’s no pressure on Portsmouth and it’s a special occasion, especially as it’s his 150th match in charge.
At Pride Park, Leeds have come from behind to lead Derby. They’re playing with so much confidence now they’re setting up in a 3-5-2.
Bad news for Liverpool:
I would, though, like to see Eze off the left, even if to excel in that role, he could use a left-footed left-back with the pace to go on the outside. I’d expect him to take the position in time, but for now he’s having to be patient.
Eze, meanwhile, hasn’t quite got going at Arsenal, currently understudying Leandro Trossard. In a sense, his signing was a risk as, at 27, he’s not getting that much better, but when you’re competing for the big pots it’s not just about the best 1-11 but about the ability to rest players whole having serious talent able to affect games from the bench, Even if Eze doesn’t establish himself as a first pick, there’s every chance he earns Arsenal a few points with crucial contributions off the bench.
Areteta has gone hyper-attacking in midfield, with Mikel Merino the single pivot, flanked by Ethan Nwaneri and Eberechi Eze. The former’s career has stalled a little after a thrilling introduction to senior football – I wonder whether, if further opportunities aren’t forthcoming, he might leave in the summer. But in the meantime, I’m excited to see how he does in a central role, because he’s got a lot of talent.
I’m a little surprised Victor Gyokeres wasn’t offered the chance to nab a confidence-building goal. Arsenal need more from him than they’re getting and, as the pressure increases the closer we get to the end of the season, there won’t be many chances to give him opportunities. But Mikel Arteta goes for Gabriel Jesus up front, whose return might yet be crucial, and Kai Havertz is back on the bench after a long-term injury.
As for Arsenal, Gabriel is the only man who started against Liverpool who starts this afternoon. Otherwise, it’s an entirely new side, with Christian Norgaard pressed into action as an emergency centre-back in the absences of Hincapie and Mosquera.
John Mousinho makes three changes to his Portsmouth side. Despite the 5-0 Bristol City gubbing, the back seven stay the same, with the changes all coming in attack; out go Swift, Bowat and Kirk, all three of whom are on the bench; in come Bishop, Chaplain and Blair, which is not, as it turns out, some kind of time-travelling comedy situation.
Teams!
Portsmouth (4-2-3-1): Bursik; Devlin, Shaughnessy, Poole, Swanson; Dozzell, Le Roux; Segecic, Bishop, Chaplin; Blair. Subs: Killip, Williams, Bowat, Ogilvie, Farrell, Pack, Swift, Umeh, Kirk.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; White, Norgaaard, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Merino, Nwaneri, Eze; Madueke, Jesus, Martinelli. Subs: Raya, Saka, Odegaard, Timber, Gyokeres, Havertz, Zubimendi, Rice, Salmon.
Referee: Tony Harrington (Cleveland)
Preamble
In 2008, Portsmouth won the FA Cup; in 2010, they were relegated from the Premier League.
These things were connected: European qualification cost the club a load in bonuses, players were sold, and the owner, not necessarily the kind of bloke you’d want owning your football club, ceased funding it, after which followed 15 largely miserable years. Pompey now sit fourth-bottom of the Championship.
I’d be amazed, though, if there’s a single fan not comfortable with these consequences. Of course, they’d like things to be different, but they’ll be reliving about that day at Wembley and the consequent European campaign until the day they die; it’s worth a lot more than a few more top-division, mid-table finishes. Football is about sharing moments and days with people you love, and no competition has been delivering them for longer nor with greater intensity than the FA Cup.
Pompey will, though, have to find something major to get a result today. Last time out, they were clattered 5-0 at Bristol City, while Arsenal, the country’s top team, can rest every midweek starter and still select an intimidatingly good XI. If they play well today, it won’t be close but, on the other hand, Fratton Park is designed to make that as difficult as possible and, if the home side can start well, you never know.
Kick-off: 2pm GMT
