Another win, another clean sheet as Arsenal overcome Wimbledon to further ease early-season crisis

That makes three consecutive victories for Arsenal, with three consecutive clean sheets. Given their start to the campaign, this League Cup win will feel like another step forward for Mikel Arteta’s side as they look to further distance themselves from their early-season crisis before Sunday’s north London derby.

Arsenal were forced to work hard again, though, as AFC Wimbledon proved to be obdurate and resilient opponents for much of the night. Unfortunately for the League One side, 90 minutes is a long time to defend against a team of Arsenal’s attacking quality. By the end they simply did not have the legs or the energy to deny the home side’s young forwards.

The visitors should take some pride from the fact that it took until the introduction of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka for Arsenal to really start firing. Arteta’s side had taken an early lead through Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty but for an hour they lacked creativity in the final third, where the blue shirts closed down every avenue.

Smith Rowe eventually added the second for Arsenal, ending the match as a contest, before Eddie Nketiah converted a fine flicked effort with 10 minutes remaining. From there Arsenal could probably have notched a few more, if they were that way inclined, but the job was done and there was no need for overexertion ahead of the derby.

“We knew we had to close the game down and we did it at the end,” said Arteta, whose side will host Leeds United in the next round. Momentum is building at last, after those three gruelling defeats to start the league season.

“Competition brings out the best of you when you have difficult moments and the boys have managed to win three games in a row. Credit to how they have handled the situation and now they are obviously looking forward to playing on Sunday in what is our biggest game of the season.”

No side has been involved in more goals in League One this season than Wimbledon, who have scored 15 and conceded 13 already, and it looked destined to be another high-scoring affair when Lacazette gave Arsenal the lead in the early exchanges.

The Frenchman has had a slow campaign so far, in large part due to his coronavirus diagnosis last month, but this first start of the season soon brought a first goal. It all stemmed from the quick feet of Gabriel Martinelli, who darted inside from the right wing and was cleared out by the lunging Nesta Guinness-Walker in the penalty box. Lacazette slotted home from the spot.

There was to be no subsequent onslaught from the home side, however, as Wimbledon more than held their own. Mark Robinson’s side are currently seventh in League One and are far from pushovers, although they did struggle to create chances against a robust Arsenal defence which featured both Rob Holding and Pablo Mari.

“We did not carry enough threat,” said their head coach. “That is the difference in the levels. We certainly tried to play, and we need to kick on from that.”

Nuno Tavares tested Wimbledon goalkeeper Nik Tzanev after the break before Smith Rowe added a second from close range, from Lacazette’s pass, and Nketiah artfully found the corner from a low Cedric Soares cross.

Match details

Arsenal (4-3-3): Leno 6; Cedric 6, Holding 6, Mari 6, Tavares 6; Maitland-Niles 6, Partey 7 (Smith Rowe 59), Lokonga 8; Martinelli 7 (Saka 76), Lacazette 7, Nketiah 7 (Balogun 83)
Subs: Hein (g), Chambers, Elneny, Kolasinac

Wimbledon (4-2-3-1): Tzanev 6; Lawrence 6, Heneghan 6, Nightingale 6, Guinness-Walker 5; Woodyard 6, Hartigan 6; McCormick 5 (Mebude 60), Palmer 5 (Pressley 54), Rudoni 5 (Chislett 69); Assal 5
Subs: Oualah (g), Csoka, Marsh, Alexander
Booked: McCormick, Heneghan

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)