He gave thanks to the heavens, as always, when delivering the finish which was a product of some quite exquisite Arsenal inter-play, but Eberechi Eze had more than a first goal in an Arsenal jersey to appreciate. It was the pocket of space he had been allocated: the No 10 role which is his natural position and to which he staked a serious claim last night.
He was certainly not locked to that place. In a hugely consummate Arsenal first half, the man who wore 10 was everywhere. Leaping for aerial challenges, constantly assessing the space around him for the chance to take a player on, very occasionally drifting out the left flank, quite often morphing into to the central point of the attack.
But that magical position he feels he was borne for gave him the freedom to play and took us a long way from that night in Bilbao last week, when he was assigned his now customary role on the left and was made to look ordinary. Enviously watching Mikel Merino operating in the central space where he wanted to be.
First, a necessary caveat to the notion that Eze has laid down a marker. Arsenal were up against a Port Vale side who simply could not live up to the atmosphere engendered for them by the biggest crowd here since the 1990s, who had been urged to ‘be loud, be proud and be valiant’ and give the club something to remember its 150th anniversary by.
But from the moment the strong team Arteta had fielded began to set up – with Eze and Ethan Nwaneri operating as a pair of eights, to be quite precise, there was a spring in his step. This was the first time he’d been fielded centrally. Just a year ago, almost every attacking thrust was dependent on Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard in this team.
Now we had Eze arriving to meet a Saka cross, pressing Jaheim Headley’s attempts to move out of defence; then drifting comfortably into the six-yard box to find that opener – a delicious flick from Myles Lewis-Skelly sending a Martinelli cross on for the 27-year-old, who pounced.
Eberechi Eze rounded off a superb Arsenal move to give the Gunners the lead at Port Vale
Eze set the tone for a routine victory for the Gunners – and staked a claim for the No 10 role
A moment on the half hour mark told a fuller story of a player with a spring in his pink boots. Eze rolled the ball under his studs to a spot in front of Vale’s George Hall, toying with him until Hall lunged in, then flipped it out to William Saliba. There was more of that silver touch just after the break – Eze flicking the ball with his left outstep to Lewis-Skelly who couldn’t find the delivery to match.
Those around him couldn’t reach the same level, even as the game of 600+ Arsenal passes which resembled a training match. Nwaneri and Merino occasionally flickered into life. Saka, the captain, was given an hour’s game time and the miles in his legs that Arteta had said he needed on his gradual return from the hamstring injury sustained against Leeds. But it was a quiet night for him. Gabriel Martinelli, on the opposite flank, caused more trouible.
Eze was then one for whom, on this night at least, seemed to be back in those south London training cages, flapping his arms in frustration when a move had broken down, retreating to block Vale captain Connor Hall’s effort on a rare home side sortie in the Arsenal box. He might have doubled Arsenal’s lead when Merino threaded him into the six yard box, but the advancing goalkeeper Joe Gauci, who generally impressed, closed the chance down.
The question for today is whether a walkover in Staffordshire is enough to warn Eze a central role in more of the weeks ahead. Those who know this side well believe he should. For Martin Keown, Eze, rather than Merino, should have been the central player Arteta fielded at Manchester City because Eze is for him, pure and simple, a midfielder.
With Martin Odegaard expected to return from back-to-back shoulder injuries at Newcastle on Sunday, there is another big impediment. In the 4-3-3 formation Arteta favours, Odegaard will always have that advanced central role. But successful management is about adaptation to suit the players available. The ‘two eights’ Arteta deployed last night creates scope for Eze to do what he has always known at Crystal Palace and what he does best.
The game’s outcome was self-evident as Eze waited on the edge of the box for Nwaneri to roll a corner in to him, ten minutes from time. It was the moment Arteta selected to remove him from proceedings and his departure low key. Applause for the 2,000 who had travelled, a jog from the field and barely a flicker of response from the manager. The second goal from substitute Leandro Trossard followed soon afterwards.
Arteta last night said Eze still has improvements to make. ‘He played very sensibly, was very capable,’ the manager said. ‘He needs to play more times with those guys to understand the timings and actions so he will be more consistent and successful with us.’ But he had made his point. The man wearing 10 had staked his claim.
