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By ISAAN KHAN Published: 00: 57 AEST, 21 April 2025 | Updated: 01: 22 AEST, 21 April 2025 23 View comments As Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard gradually dismantled Ipswich, the if, buts and maybes of Arsenal’s season could not help but be thought of. We’ll never know how the Gunners would have fared in the Premier League this season if these two men weren’t scuppered by injury; the gap between first and second place would surely have been far slimmer. But the incentive of delaying Liverpool’s inevitable title a few more days had clearly stirred them, as they ran the show in shades of their dominance in seasons gone by. Saka should have struck at least twice by half-time, fluffing a couple of great chances — though his two first-half crosses provided Arsenal with the goals to put his team out of sight, before Leandro Trossard’s second goal and an Ethan Nwaneri strike in the second half. The Ipswich defence panicked whenever the England man received the ball, particularly when driving to the byline. Thankfully for the north London club, he was able to continue the game after an awful red card challenge from Leif Davis, his studs going down Saka’s right Achilles. Having comeback from hamstring surgery earlier this month, that was a real concern, particularly with the Champions League semi-final leg against Paris Saint-Germain on the horizon. He was substituted on 57 minutes, and immediately got an ice pack wrapped around his ankle. Leandro Trossard scored a brace as Arsenal secured a 4-0 victory away to Ipswich Town Trossard opened the scoring for Arsenal as he found the net in the 14th minute Gabriel Martinelli applied the finishing touch to a neat move as Arsenal doubled their lead For Odegaard, who has had a mixed campaign marked by his ankle injury in September which saw him out for two months, the Norwegian was at the forefront of Arsenal’s best attacking play. It was his knack of getting in threatening positions when off the ball and splitting passes out wide to the likes of Saka which provided the blueprint for breaking down Kieran Mc Kenna’s Ipswich, who spent much time in retreat with their life support now further depleted. West Ham require just a point on Saturday for the Tractor Boys to be relegated. Saka and Odegaard’s synchronisation served as a reminder as to the class Arsenal have in the higher gears, an element which has gone missing in recent league matches — as seen by the draws to Everton and Brentford. The euphoria of beating Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate to book their first Champions League semi-final in 16 years was still coursing around the north London club, and their slip in domestic form has effectively handed the title to Liverpool. But, nevertheless, a runners-up position is helpful in terms of optics and money. The difference between second and fourth place is millions. With Newcastle, Manchester City and other teams in the hunt, it still needs to be sealed. Declan Rice was paired with Mikel Merino in the midfield, while Trossard made his third consecutive league start as a false No 9. It was a trial ahead of the Gunners’s European encounter against PSG. With Thomas Partey not available for that game through suspension, this was a good opportunity for Mikel Arteta to test out the potential midfield and attack. Ipswich’s bid for a result was not helped by Liam Delap being on the bench because of a rib injury. Martinelli celebrates with Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino after finding the net against Ipswich Ipswich were reduced to ten men in the 32nd minute as Leif Davis received a red card Davis was sent off following a rash challenge on Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka Ipswich: Palmer, Tuanzebe, O'Shea, Greaves, Davis, Morsy (Chaplin 90), Cajuste (Luongo 81), Johnson, Enciso (Taylor 46), Clarke (Burgess 35), Hirst (Delap 82) Subs: Walton, Boniface, Godfrey, Woolfenden  Sent off: Davis  Arsenal:  Raya, White, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Rice (Tierney 73), Odegaard, Merino (Lewis-Skelly 57), Saka (Nwaneri 57), Trossard (Butler-Oyedeji 84), Martinelli (Sterling 73) Subs: Neto, Timber, Partey, Henry-Francis  Goals: Trossard 14, 69, Martinelli 28, Nwaneri 88  The visitors, as expected, immediately had Ipswich pinned in their own half, with Zinchenko looking bright on the ball. The full back pinged a few cross-field passes early on which set the tone. The Gunners’s opener arrived on 14 minutes, Odegaard breaking forward on the right to feed cross Saka. He crossed the ball into Trossard — Odegaard got a faint touch on its way — who, under pressure from Sam Morsy, fell on his backside before prodding the ball home through Dara O’Shea’s legs. Mikel Merino should have made it 2-0 10 minutes later, having found himself free at the back post for a Saka corner-kick, only to balloon his header over. But that didn’t matter, Gabriel Martinell finding the net soon after. Trossard took a sublime touch to bring the ball down, before lifting it to Saka. His cross was backheeled by Mikel Merino to Martinelli who finished easily. Saka was soon to squander two chances, having first capitulated after being played through the middle by Merino, and then dragging wide Trossard’s cross from yards out. The home side, despite being a player short, threw more players forward in the second period to try salvage something. George Hirst had a good effort whistle past David Raya’s right post after 57 minutes, having found space around William Saliba. Trossard celebrates after adding another goal, which made it 3-0 to Arsenal A deflected effort from Ethan Nwaneri added to Arsenal's tally against Ipswich Aside from this, their joy was limited. A Declan Rice short corner-kick on 69 minutes was passed back to him by Odegaard, and he set up Trossard for his second goal. Substitute Ethan Nwaneri managed to get on the scoresheet, too, his strike deflecting off O’Shea’s leg into the net. It rounded off a good day’s work to make Liverpool wait that bit longer for their title moment, orchestrated by Arsenal’s two big game players.

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