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John Fleck thumps home the equalising goal for Sheffield United against Arsenal.
John Fleck thumps home the equalising goal for Sheffield United against Arsenal. Photograph: Shaun Brooks/Action Plus/Shutterstock
John Fleck thumps home the equalising goal for Sheffield United against Arsenal. Photograph: Shaun Brooks/Action Plus/Shutterstock

John Fleck’s late strike stuns Arsenal to gain Sheffield United a point

This article is more than 4 years old

You can make a team run harder, recalibrate their tactics and offer everyone a clean slate, but you cannot correct an entire mentality in the space of a month. Mikel Arteta is finding out the hard way that Arsenal’s lack of resolve is deep-rooted and the latest evidence, a third occasion during his six-game tenure in which they have thrown away a lead, carried a particular sting.

Arsenal were rarely in too much trouble against a Sheffield United side that were, by Chris Wilder’s admission, some way short of their best. But they did not exactly brim with threat themselves despite going ahead through a goal on the verge of half-time by their outstanding 18-year-old forward Gabriel Martinelli; efforts to kill the game off lacked conviction and John Fleck’s well-taken equaliser ensured an outcome that was probably fair on a scrappy, stop-start afternoon.

“I’m very disappointed today, I think the performance deserved three points,” Arteta said. He would probably have been celebrating them if, with just under 20 minutes to play, his side had been awarded a penalty after Jack O’Connell appeared to illegally halt a weaving run in from the right by Nicolas Pépé. The case was scrutinised by VAR after Mike Dean, refereeing his 500th Premier League game, opted not to penalise the defender and the decision taken at Stockley Park was the same. Pépé had perhaps leaned in towards the right leg wafted out by O’Connell, but contact seemed clear enough and the overriding impression was that Arsenal had been hard done by.

Arteta described the incident as “very clear”, his distaste perfectly evident. But that did not dilute his acceptance that no spot-kick should have been required to see things out. Although Sheffield United got a fresh foothold on proceedings after in effect going missing in the middle third of the game, they had not been bashing the door down in their search for a leveller.

How different the narrative looked like being – to naive eyes anyway – when Martinelli tapped in the impressive left-back Bukayo Saka’s deflected delivery from the left byline. The Brazilian had missed a good early opening, volleying Pépé’s cross wide, but has that wonderful knack of showing up in the right areas and certainly did not hide here. It was the perfect answer to Arteta’s plea for his players to compensate for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s absence.

Aubameyang was serving the first game of a three-match suspension and, from the stands, tweeted a lavish appreciation of his understudy. “Gabi’s gonna be a superstar,” he wrote. “Not because of the goal, because of the attitude, energy and mindset.” It was hard to argue, nor to think of a more exciting forward of Martinelli’s age currently playing in this country. But not everyone of an Arsenal stripe shares his fortitude.

That was made clear seven minutes from time. The visitors had squandered an early chance to take the lead through Lys Mousset, and Granit Xhaka had cleared off the line from Oli McBurnie in the second half. But they had rarely cut Arsenal open, looking uncharacteristically skittish in possession, and Arteta was left to despair at the conception of Fleck’s goal. It came from a straightforward diagonal cross by the substitute Callum Robinson, which was duly flicked on by his fellow replacement Billy Sharp. Fleck, running on to the ball on the left side of the box, shaped his body perfectly to volley across Bernd Leno via a bounce and a snick off Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

“It’s just one long ball, a second ball and then someone put it in the goal from an incredible angle,” Arteta lamented. “It’s difficult to control it.” But it was hardly a one-off in context and McBurnie could have made things much worse if Maitland-Niles had not blocked his late effort at the death.

Defeat would have been hard on Arsenal, much as scrutiny of their weak resolve is appropriate. It would also have flattered United, who disappointed Wilder despite the outcome. “I don’t think a win for us would have been a deserved win,” he said. “I don’t think we were anywhere near our best today. The result is better than the performance.”

Wilder’s frustration said plenty about the standards he has instilled, just as the draw his team salvaged spoke volumes for their redoubtable attitude. Arteta wants a similar mental approach from Arsenal but this period is about seeing who is capable of rising to the challenge. “I inherited a team that was in a difficult situation and we’re trying to improve it as much as possible,” he said. There are some positive signs, but the journey will manifestly be a long one.

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