Arsenal get a comfortable win that lifts them up to seventh in the Premier League. They saw off Norwich easily in the end, largely thanks to Aubameyang who is Arsenal’s best striker since at least Robin van Persie. Norwich can count the days before they’re back in the Championship.
90′ + 3′ FULL TIME: ARSENAL 4-0 NORWICH CITY
90′ + 3′ Pepe is the one to take Arsenal’s free-kick. The French winger goes directly for goal but there’s too much power on it and it sails over.
90′ + 2′ Norwich over-commit forward and Nketiah goes hunting on the counter-attack. Stiepermann commits a cynical foul to put a stop to it. That’s a yellow card all day long.
90′ There’ll be three more minutes of this.
88′ Arsenal are looking for a fifth goal, sensing a chance to boost their goal difference. Norwich look resigned to a heavy defeat.
87′ Vrancic hands Arsenal their sixth corner of the game down the right. Pepe’s delivery isn’t great and Norwich see it out.
M. Vrančić
Yellow Card
86′ Vrancic receives a yellow card for bringing down Willock. Norwich’s best hope now is for a consolation goal.
84′ Arsenal have rediscovered their confidence while Norwich’s brief revival has melted away. Willock picks up the ball and fizzes a shot wide from outside the box.
N. Pépé
P. Aubameyang
82′ Aubameyang’s game is over. Two goals and an assist isn’t a bad haul for him. Pepe takes the place of Arsenal’s captain.
82′ Soares has now scored as many PL goals in 229 seconds for Arsenal as he did in 120 appearances for Southampton – one.
Cédric Soares
Goal
81′ GOAL! 4-0 ARSENAL! The corner comes in and Norwich don’t fully clear it. Soares fires towards goal and it takes a slight deflection to guide it past Krul and into the net! That’s a goal on his Arsenal debut!
79′ Willock darts down the right wing and plays the ball off Hernandez for an Arsenal corner. Aubameyang is in there looking for his hat-trick.
Cédric Soares
Bellerín
77′ Arsenal’s next change sees Bellerin replaced at right-back by Soares.
E. Nketiah
A. Lacazette
76′ Arsenal use this opportunity to make changes of their own. Lacazette has been quiet today. Nketiah comes on for him up front.
M. Vrančić
L. Rupp
75′ Norwich’s second change in this substitution window sees Rupp go off. He’s replaced by the silky Bosnian Vrancic.
M. Stiepermann
T. Cantwell
75′ Norwich make two more changes. Cantwell is replaced by the German midfielder Stiepermann.
74′ Cantwell latches onto a clearance from Kolasinac and tries to feed Idah but Luiz steps in to put a stop to it. Cantwell and Luiz stay down briefly but Cantwell will be leaving the pitch anyway.
72′ That third Arsenal goal has knocked the stuffing out of Norwich, who had been looking brighter since the restart. It’s fairly obvious now they’ll be getting nothing from this game.
70′ Godfrey spots an opportunity to have another pop from range. This time the young centre-back doesn’t connect with the ball anywhere near as well and drags the shot wide to the left of Martinez’s goal.
69′ That’s 14 Premier League goals by Aubameyang now in 14 games against teams in the relegation zone. Only Mo Salah has scored more Premier League goals than the Gabonian since he made his Arsenal debut in February 2018. The man is ruthless and relentless.
P. Aubameyang
Goal
67′ GOAL! 3-0 ARSENAL! It’s another gift from Norwich. Drmic plays a blind pass and loses possession. Aubameyang capitalises, rolling a shot into the bottom left corner.
66′ There’s a bit of tit-for-tat between the two sides. Drmic has a shot blocked after he receives the ball from Hernandez, while Willock balloons an effort over from the centre of the box.
64′ Norwich have had 66% possession in the opening 20 minutes of this half. Arsenal look fine for the time being but they have a problem to solve.
E. Martínez
Yellow Card
63′ Martínez is booked for what looks like timewasting. Arsenal are barely seeing the ball this half.
62′ Norwich are playing better in this half but aren’t creating much. It’s leading to something of a stalemate at the moment.
60′ Cantwell goes down in Arsenal’s penalty area under pressure from Kolasinac. The midfielder looks to the referee for a penalty but the official isn’t convinced. VAR takes a brief look at the incident and agrees.
J. Willock
R. Nelson
58′ Arsenal make another substitution. Nelson is replaced by his fellow Englishman Willock.
56′ Cantwell threads Lewis through down the left-hand side for Norwich but the offside flag goes up against the Northern Irish full-back.
54′ Rupp is fouled by Tierney in his own half. Arsenal are having to work hard all of a sudden as they adjust to Norwich’s change in formation.
52′ Norwich have been revitalised by their changes. Hernandez cuts inside onto his favoured right foot and blasts an effort just over the crossbar.
50′ Idah wins a free-kick for Norwich as he’s barged over by David Luiz. The free-kick comes in but bounces harmlessly out of play. Promising for Norwich though.
48′ Norwich look to have switched to a 4-4-2 with Idah and Pukki up front. It seems to be having a positive impact so far.
47′ Idah almost makes an immediate impression! The 19-year-old blasts a left-footed shot towards goal from outside the box. Martinez drops low to keep it out.
47′ Norwich get the second half underway. What will all those changes mean for the visitors?
R. Holding
S. Mustafi
46′ Arsenal also make a substitution. Holding replaces Mustafi in a like-for-like change.
A. Idah
T. Trybull
46′ Finally, Trybull is replaced by the young Irish striker Idah.
J. Drmic
T. Pukki
46′ Pukki also goes off. Drmic comes on for him.
O. Hernández
E. Buendía
46′ Daniel Farke isn’t messing around. Norwich make a triple change at half-time. First off is Buendía who’s replaced by Hernandez.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 46 Premier League games when they’ve been two or more goals up at half-time, having won 44 of those games. Will Arsenal add to their goal tally in the second half, or will Norwich mount an unlikely comeback?
Arsenal can be pleased with that first half. The Gunners have been comfortably on top so far, although it took a horrible error by Krul for Aubameyang to open the scoring. Xhaka doubled the home side’s lead shortly after. Norwich have shown a few promising signs but have given themselves a lot to do to get back into this.
45′ + 2′ HALF-TIME: ARSENAL 2-0 NORWICH CITY
45′ + 2′ Norwich take the corner and win another on the opposite side. This time Buendia aims for the near post but it hits the side netting. That’ll be that for now.
45′ + 1′ Great save by Martinez! McLean curls the free-kick towards the top right corner. Arsenal’s backup goalkeeper gets across to make a fantastic stop. It’ll be a Norwich corner.
45′ There’ll be two additional minutes at the end of this first half. McLean earns Norwich a free-kick in a central position as Mustafi strides out from the back and oversteps his challenge.
44′ Nelson teases Lewis down Arsenal’s right flank. The passage of play ends in a Norwich goal-kick, but the 20-year-old has looked lively so far. The whole Arsenal team has.
43′ Norwich show signs of life as Buendia’s shot from outside the box is blocked. Aarons sends it back into the Arsenal area first-time looking for Pukki but Kolasinac is on hand to thwack it away.
41′ Ceballos dances past a few Norwich players in the centre of the park and pops a pass to Aubameyang who can’t hold it up. Norwich will be hoping for half-time.
39′ Arsenal smell blood. They could rack up the goals at this rate. Buendia hands the Gunners another corner. This time Norwich manage to just about hold firm as they block Xhaka’s shot.
P. Aubameyang
Assist
37′ That’s a goal and an assist for Aubameyang, who found himself in possession after Tierney passed on a great crossfield ball from David Luiz. Norwich look done for already.
G. Xhaka
Goal
37′ GOAL! 2-0 ARSENAL! Arsenal are getting into their groove now. Xhaka slips into the box and finds the bottom left corner from Aubameyang’s cut-back.
36′ Norwich have yet to recover a single point from a losing position in the Premier League this season. No side in Premier League history has ever failed to do that from the course of a whole campaign. Can they rally here and change that?
34′ That’s Aubameyang’s 50th Premier League goal. The Arsenal captain has reached the milestone in just 79 appearances, faster than any other Arsenal player and sixth fastest of all Premier League players. He’s Arsenal’s best striker in years.
P. Aubameyang
Goal
33′ GOAL! 1-0 ARSENAL! Calamity at the back for Norwich! Krul takes a fraction too long to clear a routine pass back. Aubameyang nips in to steal the ball and slots it into the net. That was too easy.
32′ Arsenal float the ball into Norwich’s box and Tettey heads it out for a corner. Arsenal take it short and Nelson tees up a chance for Lacazette who drags his shot wide! Lacazette should have at least hit the target there.
L. Rupp
Yellow Card
31′ Norwich are racking up the fouls. Rupp is next to be booked for a foul on Ceballos in midfield.
29′ David Luiz eyes up the free-kick. The Brazilian steps up to side-foot a shot towards goal from distance. It’s swerving but a bit too close to Krul to cause him great difficulty.
28′ Arsenal get the first corner of the game down the right. Norwich aren’t cowed and head it away. Buendia is penalised for treading on Lacazette’s foot.
K. McLean
Yellow Card
27′ McLean gets a yellow card for that trip on Ceballos. He can feel slightly hard done by.
26′ Cantwell receives a pass from Pukki and spanks the ball straight into David Luiz. Ceballos goes straight on the run and is brought down by McLean.
24′ Play pauses temporarily for the players to have a quick drinks break. Arsenal can be pleased with how they’ve done in the first quarter of this game.
22′ Lacazette peels off to the far post and glances a header towards goal from Ceballos’ cross. It’s straight at Krul. The Frenchman perhaps should have done better with that one.
20′ Norwich hit the post! Godfrey steps forward from centre-back and unleashes a right-footed piledriver of a shot which bounces just off the left-hand upright .That must have been from 40 yards out.
19′ Nelson hangs the ball up in the box for Aubameyang whose tame header is no threat to Krul. An Arsenal goal looks imminent if things carry on like this.
17′ Arsenal have several players in the box waiting for a cross from Tierney. Tierney looks to pick out Nelson but Norwich boot the ball away. Arsenal are dominating the wings at the moment.
16′ Bellerin is getting way too much space down the right for Norwich’s liking. Arsenal’s wing-back races behind the visitors’ defence for a third time. This time he can’t quite latch onto Ceballos’ pass.
15′ Norwich enjoy some possession and pop the ball around in nice triangles down the left flank. Buendia’s buzzing around and tries a pass inside to Pukki but it’s intercepted.
13′ Arsenal are starting to assert themselves now. Aubameyang is off and running again after a promising ball over the top. Krul races out of his goal to claim it.
11′ Norwich are pushing their luck already. Bellerin, loose down the right again, floats in a cross that finds Lacazette. Lacazette can’t quite get a shot away and Aarons wins a foul as he ends up on the turf.
9′ Arsenal work their way out from the back past Norwich’s press. Aubameyang drifts into the left of Norwich’s box and forces Krul into a decent stop! Norwich manage to get the ball clear.
7′ Arsenal get their first chance of the game. Bellerin makes a great run behind the Norwich defence as Lewis switches off. Norwich’s longest serving player Tettey comes across the box to block. It ends in a Norwich goal-kick.
5′ Arsenal are on top at the moment but aren’t quite in control yet. The offside flag goes up against Pukki after the Finnish international latches onto a flicked header from McLean.
3′ Bellerin’s touch from a Martinez ball forward is poor and Norwich intercept. McLean loses out to Ceballos though and Tierney runs forward. Buendia is back to defend. There’s a good end-to-end feel to the game so far.
1′ Arsenal get a feel of the ball early on as Norwich drop deep into their own half. Tierney whips in a low cross from the left after a great switch of play by Bellerin. McLean clears it without much trouble.
1′ Arsenal get this game underway!
The two sides are out on a crisp-looking Emirates Stadium pitch. Arsenal will play in their traditional red shirts and white shorts, while Norwich are wearing their first choice yellow and green kit. There’s a minute’s silence for Arsenal’s former assistant manager Theo Foley who passed away last week.
The last time Arsenal and Norwich met was in a ding-dong 2-2 draw at Carrow Road last December. The Gunners have lost just one of their eight Premier League home games against Norwich, while Norwich have kept just one clean sheet in the pair’s last 12 league meetings. Goals look guaranteed!
Arsenal make four changes to the starting XI that defeated Sheffield United in the FA Cup this past weekend. Their captain Aubameyang, Bellerin, Ceballos, and Nelson all come in. Willock, Maitland-Niles. Pepe and Saka all drop to the bench. Norwich’s only change from their last game is enforced as Trybull replaces the suspended Timm Klose. Tettey will fill in at centre-back.
SUBS: Jordan Thomas, Josh Martin, Ondrej Duda, Onel Hernandez, Mario Vrancic, Marco Stiepermann, Adam Idah, Josip Drmic, Michael McGovern.
NORWICH CITY (4-1-4-1): Tim Krul; Max Aarons, Ben Godfrey, Alexander Tettey (c), Jamal Lewis; Tom Trybull; Emiliano Buendia, Lukas Rupp, Kenny McLean, Todd Cantwell; Teemu Pukki.
SUBS: Cedric Soares, Sokratis, Eddie Nketiah, Joseph Willock, Matt Macey, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe.
ARSENAL (3-4-3): Emiliano Martinez; Shkodran Mustafi, David Luiz, Sead Kolasinac; Hector Bellerin, Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka, Kieran Tierney; Reiss Nelson, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (c).
Arsenal’s visitors today are Norwich, whose Premier League survival hopes now look very slim. However, Daniel Farke’s team still have some fight in them, as their extra-time defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup this past weekend proved. It’s the first competitive game these two sides have ever played in July. Let’s go!
Arsenal got their first win of Project Restart with a 2-0 win over Southampton last week. It was their 10th league win of a sputtering campaign, the longest they’ve had to wait to hit that milestone since 1975-76. The Gunners will be hoping to continue their gradual improvement under Mikel Arteta here.
Hello! Welcome to our live text commentary of this Premier League match between Arsenal and Norwich City at the Emirates Stadium, London.
M. Stiepermann
Yellow Card