Report: Ipswich Town 0-4 Arsenal

We wrapped up a superb week by cruising to victory at Ipswich Town, with Leandro Trossard helping himself to a brace as part of our four-goal haul.

The Belgian got the scoring started before Gabriel Martinelli netted his 50th Gunners goal and the hosts then had Leif Davis dismissed to compound the misery.

We then clinched victory on our first league game at Portman Road in more than 23 years when Trossard added a second, while Ethan Nwaneri netted our fourth with a couple of minutes to go to put the seal on an excellent display.

Super start

Having booked a spot in the Champions League semi-finals by beating Real Madrid in midweek, it was evident the feel-good factor had carried into this game which quickly fell into us dominating possession and territory, and when the first big chance fell our way on 14 minutes, we snapped it up.

Julio Enciso had got himself in a good shooting position at the other end, but instead miscued a simple pass and allowed us to instigate a counter-attack.

Martin Odegaard found himself in acres of space to advance and find Bukayo Saka, and his ball back into the box was touched by our skipper into the path of Trossard, who despite slipping, managed to squeeze his shot between Dara O’Shea’s legs and into the bottom corner of Alex Palmer’s net to score our 100th of the campaign so far.

Ipswich had only won one league home game all season, and this never looked like being their second as the one-way traffic continued. Trossard blasted just off target from the edge of the box before a wicked Saka corner was nodded over by Mikel Merino,

But a well-deserved second arrived on 28 minutes. A crossfield pass by William Saliba found Trossard on the right touchline who in turn played Saka into space. He burst forward before centring the ball, and a beautiful flick by Merino sent it perfectly into Martinelli’s stride at the back post to tap into the net and complete his half-century.

That left the hosts with a mountain to climb, and they made things even harder for themselves three minutes later when a poor tackle by Davis saw the left-back stamp on the back of Saka’s Achilles and referee Chris Kavanagh rightfully brandished the red card.

Trossard again

After being on the end of that strong challenge, Saka picked himself up and had three chances to put the game to bed before half-time. He sent a trademark curler just past Palmer’s post before finding himself one-on-one in a central position but slid his attempt wide, and then sent a side-footed effort into the same place after an Odegaard cutback.

With two less goals and one less player, there was little hope of Ipswich ending their 12-game wait for a Premier League victory at our expense as they headed to a club-record seventh-straight home loss but George Hirst wasn’t too far away from finding the corner of our net after he was sent towards goal on a rare foray forward 10 minutes after the restart.

That was as bright as it got for the hosts, who then fell further behind on 68 minutes. We won a corner and, perhaps fatigued from all their defensive duties, Kieran McKenna’s side switched off, allowing Declan Rice and Odegaard to play a short corner and pick out Trossard inside the box who arrowed an effort into the net to register his first Gunners brace and put the result beyond doubt.

Ethan adds a fourth

With the game won, Mikel Arteta sent on Kieran Tierney for his 100th Premier League appearance and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji for his first, and we kept pressing for a fourth. Within a matter of seconds, Odegaard thudded the base of the post with a drive from 20 yards, before a fingertip stop by Palmer denied Butler-Oyedeji a dream top-flight debut.

However, from the resulting corner, another academy product grabbed the final goal of the afternoon when Odegaard fed Nwaneri who drifted inside and let fly, and saw his blast hit both O’Shea and Cameron Burgess before dribbling into the net and completing a fine afternoon’s - and indeed week’s - work.

FACTS AND STATS

This was the 16th time that we have won a Premier League away game by 3+ goals under Mikel Arteta, with only Manchester City (20) doing so more times since the Spaniard took charge in December 2019.

Ipswich have lost their last seven Premier League games against sides starting the day in the top two by an aggregate score of 29-2.

We are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League away games (W6 D6); our longest run within a single season since the 2008/09 campaign (12 between November 2008-May 2009).

Ipswich have won just 21 points from their 33 games in the Premier League this season, their joint-fewest at this stage of a top-flight campaign in the club’s history, converting to 3pts per win all-time.

Gabriel Martinelli scored his 50th goal for us across all competitions, becoming the fourth-youngest player in the Premier League era to reach this milestone for us (23y 306d), after Bukayo Saka (22y 159d), Cesc Fabregas (23 y 134d), and Theo Walcott (23y 235d).

Leandro Trossard has been directly involved in 11 goals in his last 13 Premier League games against promoted opposition (five goals, six assists), including scoring or assisting in four of his five such matches this term (three goals, two assists).

Leif Davis’s dismissal was the first red card of his career in English football, on what was his 152nd appearance. Arriving in the 32nd minute, it was the earliest sending off for an Ipswich player in a Premier League match since Phil Whelan in December 1994, also against us (23rd minute).

What's next

We're back in Premier League action on Wednesday when we face FA Cup semi-finalists Crystal Palace at Emirates Stadium, and with the weekend off we then host Paris Saint-Germain in the last four of the Champions League on Tuesday, April 29.