A 16-year-old scores twice as a rotated Arsenal side press its way into round four.
The numbers
| Arsenal | Ipswich Town | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 59% | 41% |
| Shots | 12 | 8 |
| On target | 6 | 3 |
| xG | 0.95 | 0.72 |
| Corners | 2 | 3 |
| Pass accuracy | 89% | 85% |
Result the chances deserved: Arsenal 39% / 34% / Ipswich Town 27% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Kepa, Zubimendi, Salmon, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Guimarães, Madueke, Dowman, Eze, Gyökeres.
Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1): Walton, Furlong, Kipré, Greaves, Ouattara, Florentino, Núñez, McAteer, Mehmeti, Philogene, Flemming.
Ipswich subs: Clarke, Akpom (61'), Davis, Walle Egeli (69'), Lukić (81').
Key moments, move by move
- McAteer's pass inside is loose. Dowman reads it and steps in.
- He carries straight at the heart of the defence.
- Lays it wide to Eze on the left…
- …and keeps running for the return pass.
- A shimmy leaves Kipré on the floor.
- Finish with his weaker right foot, sending Walton the wrong way.
- Ipswich play out from the back. Dowman presses Walton and Guimarães jumps on the pass.
- Guimarães wins it and gives it to Merino.
- Merino dinks the ball over the defence; Madueke has already started his run from the right.
- Madueke finishes into the bottom corner. A runner in behind: the weapon Arsenal lacked at Brighton.
- Two minutes after half-time. Madueke finds Zubimendi, a midfielder playing right-back, making a run into the box.
- Zubimendi squares it across the six-yard area. It clips Greaves's arm on the way.
- Dowman takes two touches to adjust and slots it low into the corner with his left foot.
- Guimarães works the ball back inside to Merino at the edge of the box.
- One touch to set, then a curling shot in off the left post.
- Substitute Clarke takes on Zubimendi down Ipswich's left and gets past him.
- He cuts the ball back from the byline.
- Mehmeti, unmarked in the centre, sweeps it first time past Kepa.
- Leif Davis crosses from the left.
- Former Gunner Akpom controls and turns in the box.
- His shot takes a deflection off Konsa and beats Kepa.
Zubimendi at right-back: both sides of the coin
- A midfielder at right-back. With White, Saliba and Mosquera unavailable, Arteta used Zubimendi there. After Julienne came on, Zubimendi moved back into midfield.
- Going forward it worked. He timed a run into the box like a No.8 and set up Dowman's second.
- Defending wide, it didn't. Sixty seconds after coming on, Clarke went past him for Ipswich's first goal. Sports Illustrated and VAVEL both flagged Arsenal's right side after half-time.
- Arsenal's press did the damage early. Goals one and two both started with Arsenal winning the ball in Ipswich's half (Arseblog).
Recreate it in FM26
Arsenal · A rotated Arsenal press high and go straight in behind · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
A rotated Arsenal press high and go straight in behind
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Kepa | Ball-Playing Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper |
| RB | Zubimendi | Inverted Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Salmon | Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LCB | Gabriel | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LB | Lewis-Skelly | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCM | Merino | Midfield Playmaker | Pressing Central Midfielder |
| LCM | Guimarães | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Central Midfielder |
| RW | Madueke | Inside Forward | Winger |
| AM | Dowman | Attacking Midfielder | Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Eze | Wide Playmaker | Winger |
| ST | Gyökeres | Centre Forward | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Attacking TransitionCounter-Attack
- TempoHigher
- Passing DirectnessMore Direct
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Trigger PressMore Often
- Short Goalkeeper DistributionYes
The idea: Press Ipswich Town's short build-up, then attack the moment the ball is won: Guimarães jumps onto the pass, Merino looks forward first, and Madueke is already running behind. Zubimendi as an Inverted Full-Back adds a midfielder going forward but is exposed one-on-one out wide.
What FM26 can't copy: Four goals from 0.95 xG was finishing well above the chances; FM26 won't repeat that ratio.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Julienne on at 46' (for Guimarães), not 64', Ødegaard on at 60' (for Eze), not 76'. The attacking plan worked. Bring Julienne on at half-time so Zubimendi can move back into midfield, and Ødegaard earlier to keep the ball once the tie was won; that removes most of what Ipswich got. It moves Arsenal's win chance from 39% to 47% (xG 0.95–0.72 becomes 1.03–0.52). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer Arsenal needed
Ben White
Ipswich's first goal came when Clarke went past Zubimendi, a midfielder playing right-back, and cut it back. White is a natural full-back who defends that 1v1 and can still step inside, as Zubimendi did for Dowman's second. Same attack, no weak side.
Jules Koundé
The one flaw here was defending one-on-one on the right: Clarke beat Zubimendi for the first goal, and SI and VAVEL flagged that side after half-time. Koundé is an elite 1v1 defender at right-back and good enough on the ball to join in going forward.
What the analysts said
“He was brilliant… Some of the individual actions he made to make the difference and to impact the game were outstanding… We know the talent, we need to look after him.”Mikel Arteta on Max Dowman (Sky Sports)
Four goals from 0.95 xG, and all four big chances taken.Sports Illustrated player ratings
A “snappy high press as Ipswich tried to play it out from the back” set the tone.Arseblog
“We got punished by a very good, clinical side… without there being too much in the game, we were four behind.”Gary O'Neil, Ipswich manager (Sky Sports)
Gyökeres had six first-half touches and looked “very static”.Sky Sports, VAVEL
A rotated side showed the answer to Brighton four days early.
What's happening. Arsenal won 4–2 at Ipswich in the League Cup with a rotated team. Sixteen-year-old Dowman scored twice. Ipswich also made ten changes, and the second half was even.
How it works. Two goals show how to beat a press. For one, Merino looked forward first and Madueke was already sprinting behind the last defender: one pass, whole defence beaten. For the other, Dowman carried the ball past his marker; once one marker is beaten, a man-to-man system has no cover. Both tools were missing at Brighton four days later.
What the shots say. There is no public shot-level xG for this game, so we built it from the play-by-play with our own model. It rates the chances close to even and finds no clear-cut big chances, so four goals is finishing well above the chances. Read the scoreline as sharp finishing, not domination.