Arsenal cruise past Monaco: Five things we learned | OneFootball

Arsenal blew away Monaco in a comfortable Champions League game that could’ve finished 7-0 but instead was 3-0. Here’s five things we learned:

Thomas Partey shone at RB

Partey has been asked to play at right-back and central midfield at different points this season and he’s done both well. Tonight he was breaking up Monaco’s attacking play and setting off Arsenal’s moves. The Ghanaian has had a good season and that continued today. Mikel Arteta will be pleased to see that, with Arsenal’s injury worries and at times patched-up squad, he can rely on Partey.

Arsenal could have rued missed chances in the first half

The Gunners won 3-0 but it easily could have been six or seven. Gabriel Jesus had a shocking night in front of goal, and even Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard were wasteful. On another night Arsenal could have drawn or lost the game and would have only had themselves to blame.

Jesus wasn’t good enough

Jesus has had a difficult 18 months and it didn’t get any easier against Monaco. The number nine missed two amazing chances. The first in particular, he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and there was absolutely no excuse for him to miss, but he did. Arteta must be concerned about the lack of reliability he gets with Jesus leading the line.

Monaco’s fans were up for the game

Even if their team struggled, the fans were in full voice all evening and did their side proud. It was surprising just how poor Monaco were. Especially in the first half, they struggled to even make it out of their own half. Eliesse Ben Seghir, Monaco’s left winger, is a very highly rated youngster and he unfortunately wasn’t able to see any of the ball tonight.

It was an almost perfect game for Arsenal

The Gunners have been in inconsistent form over the last couple of months and a game like this was almost perfect for them. Missed chances aside, they were rarely threatened, held the ball nicely and a lot of their players performed well. Monaco even gifted them their second goal. A comfortable evening for Arsenal.