For the first time in over 30 years, Arsenal travelled to Kenilworth Road to make the trip to face Luton Town. And the Hatters gave the Gunners a real test as a back-and-forth game was one in the dying seconds as Arsenal came through with a 3-4 victory.
Mikel Arteta made three changes from the side that overcame Wolves at Emirates Stadium. Kai Havertz, Jakub Kiwior and Ben White coming into the starting XI in place of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard and the injured Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Pretty early into the match it became clear Luton were (understandably) keen to try and restrict Arsenal playing the football they want to play by making the game as physical as possible. And in the first 20 minutes that gameplan looked to have been working with Arsenal struggling to match up to the battling from Luton. However, they managed to find the lead when some quick thinking from Gabriel Jesus when taking a throw in saw Bukayo Saka drive into the Luton penalty area. The winger – who was making his 200th Arsenal appearance – cut the ball across to Gabriel Martinelli who finished well into the bottom corner.
Although, Arsenal wouldn’t hold that 0-1 lead for very long as just a couple of minutes later, the first corner of the match was swung in and met superbly by Gabriel Osho for Luton who levelled the game. The question then became will Arsenal manage to fight back before the break, and they did as a fantastic cross from White was headed in by Gabriel Jesus following some nice link-up play with Saka. The Brazilian scoring his first Premier Leagye goal since his effort against Manchester United back in September.
Despite having the lead at the break, Arsenal suffered a poor start to the second half as they failed to deal with another Luton corner as Elijah Adebayo beat David Raya to the ball to head home. But if there wasn’t question marks over the Spaniard for that equaliser, there certainly was ten minutes later as Ross Barkley’s effort somehow squirmed underneath the Arsenal keeper and in to give the home side a shock lead.
Fortunately, just like Luton in the first half, Arsenal hit back quickly as Jesus brought down a long and ball and flicked it into the box where Havertz was there to poke home in what was almost a direct recreation of his goal vs Lens in the Champions League. The goal made it 3 goals in as many starts for the German who has looked like a man reborn in recent weeks.
However, a draw would have still represented a poor result for Arsenal and as the clock ticked to 95 minutes, it looked as if Arsenal would have had to settle for one point in Bedfordshire. But with the final cross of the game from Martin Odegaard in the 97th minute, Declan Rice rose highest to head in and win the game with the last action to spark wild scenes in the away end behind the goal. It was an incredible moment in an incredible game as Arsenal yet again won a game in the last minute as Rice continues to prove his huge price tag was worth every penny and more.
Mikel Arteta and his team doesn’t have too long to celebrate however as they go to Aston Villa on Saturday in a tricky away encounter.
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 3 – Had a really poor evening as he was at fault for two of Luton’s three goals
Ben White: 7 – Strong performance as he returned to the XI. His assist for Jesus’s header was fantastic
William Saliba: 6 – Was ok but conceding 3 means it wasn’t his best evening
Gabriel: 6 – Same as Saliba. Wasn’t bad but struggled with the physically of Luton
Jakub Kiwior: 6 – Was ok but didn’t stand out
Declan Rice: 8 – Was great throughout and came up with the big winner at the end
Martin Odegaard: 7 – Kept things moving and got his cross right when it really mattered
Kai Havertz: 8 – An ok first half was continued with a great second half where he got another goal. Getting better and better every week at the moment
Bukayo Saka: 7 – Another assist on his 200th Arsenal appearance
Gabriel Jesus: 8 – Brilliant. A goal, an assist and was at the heart of everything Arsenal did well
Gabriel Martinelli: 7 – Took a nasty knock in the opening minutes but still got on the scoresheet to opening the scoring