Arsenal 1-0 Ipswich: Gunners close gap at the top and move up to second in the Premier League thanks to Kai Havertz’s first half strike

This match between challengers and wrestlers felt like the comfy couch you retreat to to rest after eating one too many slices of turkey and two too many mince pies.

As post-prandial entertainment it wasn’t as good as Gavin and Stacey’s final, but the three points it gave Arsenal put them above Nottingham Forest and Chelsea and in a prime position to give chase to Liverpool.

This was a job on Mikel Arteta’s part and nothing more. It was the bare minimum requirement that marked the start of their attempt to close the gap on Arne Slot’s side.

The sketchy 1-0 win moved them to within six points of the leaders, although Liverpool also have a game in hand and the wind in their sails.

It also proved to Arsenal that they can win without Bukayo Saka, their best player, who will be out for several more weeks with a hamstring injury sustained at Crystal Palace before Christmas.

Arsenal looked bereft of attacking inspiration without Saka, but Ipswich, bottom of the Premier League, were not good enough to expose their insecurities.

Kai Havertz’s close finish in the first half proved to be the difference on Friday evening

Warriors Ipswich were not good enough to expose Arsenal’s insecurities

Ipswich caused some nervousness among the home crowd in the second half as the team began to show some attacking ambition, but Arsenal were never really threatened. Yet the final whistle was greeted with a roar of relief in North London.

They were grateful to Leandro Trossard for the only moment of attacking flair of the match, when he beat his man in the Ipswich area and crossed the ball to Havertz to tap home from close range.

But Arsenal’s unconvincing display against Kieran McKenna’s side will increase concerns among their supporters that they will find it difficult to sustain a challenge against Liverpool without Saka.

The rest of Arsenal’s attacking band – Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli – played only inconsistently. Sterner tests than this, away at Brentford and Brighton, await Arsenal and they will need to step up a gear if they want to keep the pressure on Liverpool.

Saka’s absence had been on everyone’s minds in the build-up to the match and as the teams waited in the tunnel, the television cameras zoomed in on Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, and as Martinelli looked on, they had an intense conversation about their roles.

Martinelli, as expected, took over Saka’s role on the right flank, but before he had even touched the ball Ipswich almost scored. The match was a few seconds old when the ball was sent over from the visitors’ left side. Sam Szmodics was in space a few meters from the goal and poked at it with his foot. If he had made contact, he would have scored.

As expected, Gabriel Martinelli took over Bukayo Saka’s role on the right flank

Arsenal’s unconvincing performance against Ipswich will increase concerns among supporters

The first half then turned into a game of attack versus defense, with Arsenal frustrated by the large rows of blue shirts behind the ball. A series of patient accruals failed. The first glimpse of an opportunity was when Jurrien Timber burst forward from the defense and unleashed a strike that found Arijanet Muric’s midriff.

But midway through the half, Arsenal broke the deadlock. A Martinelli cross was only half cleared to Leandro Trossard on the edge of the Ipswich box. Trossard ran towards Ben Johnson and delivered a cross, after which Havertz sneaked behind Jacob Greaves to lift it high into the net.

If there was an expectation that a goal would increase the tempo of the match, that was a false expectation. It returned to a state of post-Christmas stupor, as woolly as the light mist that drifted around the glow of the stadium floodlights.

The biggest interest has been in the cameos, in the clash between Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips, two of England’s biggest success stories at the 2020 Euros, two players whose fortunes have diverged in the years since that tournament.

Rice now forms the core of this Arsenal team of title challengers following his move from West Ham, while Phillips is still trying to rebuild his career after his move from Leeds to Manchester City stalled his progress and led to him receiving criticism by Pep Guardiola.

Phillips did his best to compete and disrupt Arsenal’s possession, but he saw very little of the ball. It feels like an awfully long time since he was one of the stars of Marcelo Bielsa’s wonderful Leeds side.

Arsenal started the second half with greater urgency and when Phillips tripped Rice on the edge of the Ipswich penalty area a few minutes after the break, the home fans sensed opportunity. Martin Odegaard could only wedge the free kick into the wall.

Encouraged by Arsenal’s toothlessness, Ipswich actually began to venture into the opposition half, throwing in crosses from either flank. Their fans, behind the goal their team was now attacking, responded by increasing their support.

Ipswich paid for their new adventurous spirit almost immediately. Arsenal won a corner and when Rice curled it towards the back post, Gabriel ran towards it. He met it unmarked at three yards, but somehow managed to target it an inch wide of the post. The Arsenal center turned away in half disbelief.

The biggest interest was in the cameos, in the clash between Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips

Arsenal had even more opportunities to extend their lead. Rice aimed a thunderous volley at goal only to see it blocked by an Ipswich defender and Havertz missed his kick with the goal at his mercy.

Odegaard became increasingly influential as the match progressed and his encouragement caused substitute Mikel Merino to unleash a stinging shot that Muric did well to push aside as it rocketed towards the corner of the net.

Arsenal’s dominance had been such that the match should have been out of reach, but their lack of an attacking edge meant that every late foray into the Arsenal half by Ipswich was accompanied by a sense of dread.

A better team might have been able to expose that nervousness, but even if Ipswich were willing to do so, they were not that team. Arsenal saw the match played out. They got the job done. But it wasn’t the kind of display where Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and co are still looking over their shoulders.