Norwich 2-2 Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rescues a point in Freddie Ljungberg's first game in charge

Report and highlights as Arsenal move up to eighth in the Premier League

By Oliver Yew

Sunday 1 December 2019 20:39, UK

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came to Arsenal's rescue twice as the Gunners secured a 2-2 draw at Norwich in Freddie Ljungberg's first game as the club's interim head coach.

Teemu Pukki (21) opened the scoring for the hosts before Aubameyang (29) scored from the penalty spot at the second time of asking following a handball by Christoph Zimmermann in the penalty area.

Tim Krul repelled the Arsenal captain's initial spot-kick for what would have been his third penalty save of the season, but VAR handed the Gunners a second opportunity after spotting encroachment by Norwich players, and Aubameyang made no mistake.

Norwich did regain the lead through Todd Cantwell in stoppage time at the end of the first half, but Aubameyang once again drew Arsenal level in the 57th minute as the Gunners sensed a first win in seven matches in all competitions.

However, it was Norwich who finished the stronger of the two sides and Bernd Leno came to Arsenal's rescue on numerous occasions to give his side a share of the spoils.

The point sees Arsenal, who are seven points adrift of the top four, move up to eighth, while Norwich stay 19th, three points clear of bottom-side Watford.

How Ljungberg's Arsenal held on for a point

Arsenal started brightly, attacking with much more intent than they had done in the past few weeks, but all their good initial work was undone in the 21st minute.

It was a far from ideal start for Ljungberg, as Pukki's shot from the edge of the penalty area took a big deflection off Shkodran Mustafi to beat Leno.

However, Arsenal were quickly given the chance to level the scoreline from the penalty spot when Zimmermann was penalised for handball.

Krul brilliantly saved Aubameyang's initial spot-kick, but the Arsenal captain made no mistake at the second time of asking, sending Krul the wrong way after VAR intervened to order a retake for encroachment.

It was a decision that angered the Norwich fans but their jeers soon turned to cheers as the Canaries retook the lead in first-half stoppage time.

Onel Hernandez, who caused Arsenal problems all afternoon, had time on the left wing to pick his pass and he squared for Cantwell, who beat Leno with a composed finish to give his side the advantage at the break.

Having cancelled out Norwich's opener, Aubameyang was Arsenal's hero once again in the 57th minute.

From a corner, Mustafi's initial shot was blocked but the ball found its way to the Gabon international and he finished emphatically from just outside the six-yard box.

It then became the Leno show as the German pulled off a number of brilliant saves to keep Norwich at bay. First, he made a fantastic diving save to deny Kenny McLean before keeping Pukki's low drive out with his feet.

Norwich continued to ask questions of Arsenal and Max Aarons had two late efforts saved by Leno as Ljungberg ended his first match in charge watching his side hold on for a point.

Team news

Arsenal interim manager Freddie Ljungberg made five changes to the team who lost 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday in Unai Emery's final match in charge. Bernd Leno, Sead Kolasinac, Matteo Guendouzi, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette earned recalls at Carrow Road with Emiliano Martinez, Sokratis, Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli on the bench.

Norwich made just one change to the team that secured a 2-0 victory at Everton as with Alex Tettey unavailable due to personal reasons, Ibrahim Amadou came into the fray.

Ljungberg's first team selection surprises

Analysis from Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher:

"It shows that it isn't just a case of changing the manager. There are problems there that will take a while to fix.

"I was surprised by the team because he has gone back to players who we know what they are and they aren't going to get any better.

"In terms of the club going forward, find out about the players they have in the squad. Calum Chambers isn't a right back, he struggles there every time l see him play. Put him at centre-back - you know that Mustafi and Luiz aren't the answer.

"They spent £70m on Pepe. We need to see what he's like. As a club, there are certain players who need to play as opposed to others."

What the managers said…

Norwich boss Daniel Farke: "It was a great performance - we delivered what we wanted to do. I'm disappointed to some extent - we should have got three points. Some of that was due to a world class Bernd Leno. Four points from two games is quite good.

Arsenal interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg: "We started the game really well, that's how I want to play football," he said. We dominated totally and that's when we needed a goal. We couldn't get that but we need to work on the transitions, we dominated and they break us too easily, and that's where their two goals came from.

"That's hard to take but the player showed great mentality. They went a goal down twice away from home and came back, that shows that we have desire. We have things to work on.

"In the beginning I saw a lot of things we worked on in training, but we need to score goals and take the lead. I want this club to do well, it is only winning that counts. I wanted to win the game so I am disappointed, but I have also seen some positive things."

Opta stats - Arsenal's winless run continues

Arsenal are now winless in six Premier League games (D4 L2), their worst run since August 2011 (also a run of six).
Since his Premier League debut in February 2018, Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 27 goals in games played on Sundays - more than any other player has scored on a day of the week in that time. Aubameyang has now scored 10 goals in 11 Premier League appearances against newly-promoted opposition.
The Gunners have won none of their last 40 away Premier League matches when losing at half-time (D10 L30) since a 5-3 win at Chelsea in October 2011.