MONACO nullified Arsenal’s set-piece prowess last night with two interesting tactical manouvres.
The Gunners swept past the Ligue 1 side 3-0 at the Emirates in the Champions League.
But in a departure from recent matches, none of their goals came from corners.
In their last Premier League game against Fulham, William Saliba equalised from a corner routine.
The Frenchman also scored from a corner against Manchester United in a game that saw Jurrien Timber net via the same method.
Last night, Monaco boss Adi Hutter tried a different approach to most Prem coaches.
It has become customary across the English leagues for sides to now send everyone back to defend corners.
This often leads to congested penalty areas with, at times, all 11 players on the defending team in the 18-yard box.
Under the tutelage of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, Arsenal have become masters of chaos as deliveries get whipped in.
Monaco, however, found a way to combat their threat.
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In a move reminiscent of a tactic used by Jose Mourinho at Porto 20 years ago, Hutter’s men left three players up near the halfway line for each corner.
This led to Arsenal sending three players back in order to stop a potential counter.
Monaco also sent a player towards the corner to prevent a short option, thus reducing congestion further still.
With fewer Arsenal players in the penalty area, Mikel Arteta‘s side possessed fewer threats.
Ordinarily the Gunners would have at least one player attempting to disrupt the goalkeeper during corner routines.
But with fewer men in the box, Radoslaw Majecki found himself to be far less bothered than most Prem stoppers have been against Arsenal this term.
Irrespective of their relative success in defending corners, Monaco still fell to a 3-0 defeat courtesy of two open-play goals by Bukayo Saka and a late Kai Havertz strike.
Ahead of the game, a mural of Jover was seen outside the Emirates.
The German-born French coach was recent dubbed the “most annoying bloke in football” by Man Utd legend Gary Neville.
Jover, 43, joined Arteta’s coaching staff in 2021.
Since the start of last season, the Gunners have scored 22 goals from corners.
This is more than any other Premier League club in that timeframe.
Arsenal have turned into a prolific team when it comes to scoring from corners.
The Gunners have now scored 22 goals from them since the start of last season – seven more than their nearest rival Manchester City and eight more than Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Two of them came against Manchester United – Jurrien Timber and William Saliba netting in the second half to earn Mikel Arteta’s men a vital win as they chase down Arne Slot’s Reds.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were the architects with their deliveries, and each now have seven set-piece assists since the start of the 2023/24 campaign – more than any other player.
United legend Dimitar Berbatov joked Arsenal are the new Stoke City of the top flight – a side under Tony Pulis who terrorised the so-called “bigger clubs” with set-piece mastery.
