Three key stats as Arsenal returned to winning ways on the road against Middlesbrough

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3 – Three is not the magic number for Arsene Wenger

With Arsenal going into Monday’s clash at the Riverside on the back of four consecutive away defeats the last thing anyone would have expected was Arsene Wenger to deploy a back three.

Yet that’s exactly what he did, partnering Gabriel and Rob Holding – making only his fourth Arsenal appearance – with the returning Laurent Koscielny as he looked to add stability to his side at Middlesbrough.

This didn’t exactly pan out as Wenger had planned, however, with none of his defensive trio completing a single tackle inside the opening hour of the game on Monday evening; if anything the new system added confusion, and Gabriel in particular was guilty of running around aimlessly at the back.

If stability was what the Arsenal manager was looking for then at times he would have been left ruing his change in formation, as the defence was at fault for Middlesbrough’s equaliser.

Koscielny was simply caught ball-watching as Stewart Downing’s wide cross drifted onto Alvaro Negredo’s boot; questions marks have to be asked about how he was allowed to ghost into the box so easily.

Arsenal were somewhat fortunate to not be punished further for poor defensive discipline too, with both Daniel Ayala and Ben Gibson denied by Petr Cech as the Gunners failed to clear their lines time after time from set-pieces – on another day, the result could have been a completely different story.

Justifying his decision to alter Arsenal’s formation in his post-match interview, Wenger said:

“I felt it added more stability on the long balls. We faced a direct game and we’ve been punished a bit on that. It gave the opponents more of the ball. Against Palace we had 70% possession but lost.

“Sometimes we want to have the ball but when a team lacks confidence just to change the system can help believe something different.”

Fortunately for Wenger, Middlesbrough’s inability to find the back of the net for the majority of this season meant that they couldn’t capitalise on the weakness in Arsenal’s back three; yet if he decides to experiment again, it can almost be assured that other teams won’t let the Gunners off so lightly.