In a game that Arsenal dominated, they had to settle with a point thanks to their late equalizer from Danny Welbeck. Arsenal's territorial and possession dominance can be clearly seen on the Player Positional Tracker. ThatsWengerBall gave me his thoughts on the game via the lens of the PPT, and his comments appear below the gif. (Click on the image to open in a larger window) That'sWengerBall's comments:
- Arsenal started the match in a 4-3-3 formation however spent much of the game in a 3-4-3 shape, with Flamini dropping between the centre backs whilst Gibbs and Bellerin pushed up the pitch.
- Hull City, meanwhile, chose defensive solidarity by starting in a 3-5-1-1 formation and packing the central areas. Both Hernandez and Ben Arfa were continually dropping deep, helping to squeeze out any space.
- There was very little play in Arsenal's half of the pitch as the Gunners proved adept at keeping the ball in the final third. However the centre of the pitch became over-congested from around the 25th minute onwards when Arsenal's wingers, Chamberlain and Alexis, both started to play very narrow.
- Arsene Wenger made some changes after the 60th minute. Ramsey and a few minutes later, Campbell came on as Arsenal pushed even higher up the pitch searching for an equaliser. Hull stayed very deep with Ben Arfa effectively acting as a left back for much of the game.
- This game was a classic example of one side playing a low block against another team that dominates possession. When looking at this PPT and the stats after the match many Arsenal fans will be scratching their head as to how they didn't get the three points. Hull were a little lucky but their defensive resolve matched with their efficiency up front meant they earned a valuable point.