For Arsenal the night will be remembered for Eberechi Eze’s first goal for the club but for Port Vale they will look back at when they ran a Premier League giant to the very end, only to fall short and out of the Carabao Cup.
Once Eze scored early on, it felt as if Arsenal would thrash their League One opponents, but instead it was a tight game as Port Vale gave everything. They did not have the requisite quality and Arsenal scored again, the second coming late from Leandro Trossard. There was doggedness in abundance but Vale’s inability to have a shot on target summed up their shortcomings.
The hosts offered the anticipated blood and thunder approach in the opening seconds of the match, spurred on by the biggest Vale Park crowd this century. But before the smoke from the pre-match pyrotechnics settled, Arsenal were in control and ahead. Gabriel Martinelli found Eze in the middle of the box in the eighth minute, aided by a Myles Lewis-Skelly dummy, and the former Crystal Palace playmaker calmly placed the ball beyond Joe Gauci. “I’ve been waiting to score for this club for a long time and the first is very special,” Eze said.
Mikel Arteta put out a strong team, the only debutant being the world’s most expensive goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. For all their domination, enjoying more than 80% possession in the match, Arsenal did not test Gauci until Mikel Merino flicked the ball through for Eze but the goalkeeper was off his line quickly to block. Port Vale hassled their way back into the game, lifting the crowd through work-rate as they did their best to pressurise the Gunners. Considering how early Arsenal took the lead, the League One side were boosted by reaching half-time with a single-goal deficit.
Leandro Trossard doubles Arsenal’s lead in the 86th minute. Photograph: Chris Radburn/Reuters
Arsenal needed something to silence the majority inside Vale Park but were unable to find their rhythm against a team set up to frustrate. There was greater confidence in the Vale ranks the longer the score stayed at 1-0. They were more eager to send the ball into the Arsenal box and make them think, rather than the conservative approach that was the hallmark of the opening 45 minutes. “In the second half we lost a little bit of grip of the game, especially with the direct play, with all the throws from the sidelines and winning territory and then again,” Arteta said. “We lacked a bit of dominance and control.”
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If the idea was to get players into a rhythm, Bukayo Saka struggled to cause Vale problems. He was slow in possession and rarely had a chance to run at the defence, often needing to turn back. Saka was booed off by the home supporters in the 63rd minute, who were upset by his reaction to an earlier challenge.
The League One strugglers were having the better of the action, causing Arsenal to panic at the back. Port Vale could have equalised if they were more dynamic after a misplaced Cristhian Mosquera pass across his own box and a rising drive from Devante Cole kept Arrizabalaga interested until the last second when it whistled over the bar.
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Instead of celebrating, supporters were silenced, apart from complaints about a potential offside, when a direct ball from William Saliba found Trossard. The substitute took a few touches and fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to send Arsenal into the next round and break Vale hearts.
“To see this ground packed,” the Port Vale manager Darren Moore said of the positives to be taken. “I told the boys if they can bottle tonight and take it into the league we won’t go far wrong. We played an elite team with a top manager. I am proud of the boys tonight.”