Arsenal were a competitive but resilient team who played like brave underdogs for large stretches of the young 2024-25 season, determined to punch above their metaphorical weight. In the English Premier League, there is a noticeable conservative and passive attitude. In the 0-0 draw in Italy in the opening game of the UEFA Champions League, he traded dynamism for defensive solidity, taking just nine touches in Atalanta’s penalty area.
But in round two of the Champions League, the Gunners once again showed why they can challenge for every trophy available.
The reason for this can be summed up in two words: “set pieces.”
They beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium, but many pundits would suggest they didn’t play that well. They produced less than 1.0 expected goals. We had fewer possessions and fewer shots.
But they have mastered the static parts of the sport that many purists had previously ignored. And on Tuesday, they used dead balls to their advantage, as they did in Tottenham’s game against Man City last month, and as they did against Leicester City on Saturday.
Kai Havertz’s header had already given them a 1-0 lead. Then, in the 35th minute, he decided the match with a free kick. Bukayo Saka swung the free kick. No one touched it. The ball then slipped through his body, past PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the goal.
It sounded simple. It looked fluffy. But out of context, that was never the case.
It was perhaps the latest trick devised by Nicola Jobar, the revered set-piece coach who has transformed Arsenal into perhaps the best dead-ball team in the world.
Nine days earlier, Jover had planned to embarrass Manchester City and (almost) win. Arsenal players huddled near the back post as Saka lined up in the corner in a ferocious clash that could have taken them to the top of the Premier League. They blocked City’s players and Gabriel Magalhães attacked the back post area to meet Saka’s cross, clearing the path and giving Arsenal an incredible lead against the EPL champions.
Six days later, the Gunners defeated Leicester with a similar back-post corner kick in the 94th minute.
Three days later, their main threat was again at the back post as they won a free kick near the right sideline.
PSG, unlike Man City, adjusted accordingly, leaving their near post relatively barren.
So, perhaps anticipating an adjustment, Gabriel and Thomas Partey, as well as Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli, swooped into that barren space. Saka was aiming for that. PSG were unable to clear his cross and Donnarumma was left on the floor in defeat.
This was already Arsenal’s fifth set-piece goal of the 2024/25 season. The Gunners have scored more than 20 goals in the Premier League alone since the start of last season, and nearly 40 since Jover joined the club from Man City in 2021.
They have a lethal combination of elite attacking power, aerial ability and a best-in-class coach to plan, all of which means they are currently not in the middle of the Premier League table but near the top. This is the reason why I am here.
Judging from the exhibition games, they have had a pretty mediocre performance so far in the EPL and Champions League. Hampered by injuries and red cards, they are no longer the breakthrough force they briefly were a year ago.
But they have the stingiest defense in soccer. They have a set-piece threat that isn’t going away anytime soon. Their mentality was shaped by manager Mikel Arteta and reinforced with their title wins in 2023 and 2024.
So come 2025, they will be legitimate competitors again.
