Kevin Whitcher
Arsenal, on their knees after getting nothing from their first two group games and about to face Bayern Munich twice, beat the odds and managed to make the last 16 of the Champions League through attaining three wins out of their last four group fixtures matches and getting better than the two goal margin they required against Olympiacos. So the words of Alex Ferguson, spoken after their winning this competition on the tenth anniversary of Arsenal’s famous two goal victory at Anfield seem somehow fitting to title this editorial.
Shorn of first choices Alexis Sanchez, Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla, and with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain about the only option to improve things going forward on the bench, we were informed before the game that Mesut Ozil might have a dodgy calf. It didn’t augur well and for the first 20 minutes or so, there didn’t look like too much indication of what was to come from the Gunners.
Then, Flamini hit the bar and Giroud headed straight at the keeper. Arsenal were breaking through and just before the half hour, Ozil and Ramsey combined brilliantly to set up Giroud to power home a near post header. Halfway there. Certainly there were a few defensive scares, but Cech did what you would expect him to do and the Arsenal defence made key interceptions at the vital moments, or committed fouls in the midfield as and when required. It was a fairly professional European performance at a venue where results rarely come easy. Theo Walcott missed the first of two very good chances before the break but fortunately the other first choice centre forward knew where the goal was.
Confirmation came soon after the restart when Campbell found Giroud, who looked like he might have to go off only a couple of minutes earlier with ankle ligament problems, to guide home and make the scoreline the required 2-0.
It was knife edge stuff – Olympiacos only needed one goal to go through. It was hardly Anfield 89 as the Greeks had plenty of time to score it. One feared gung ho Gunners might suffer if they went forward with too many bodies in search of a third, but they were not caught on the break.
A penalty was perhaps fortunately given in the 65th minute. A less experienced referee might not have made such a key call, but it presented Giroud with the opportunity to get a first hat-trick for the club and he took it wonderfully well.
They saw the remainder of the game out comfortably. Olympiacos had more possession and territory, but could fashion very little with it. There were superb performances all over the pitch, especially from Koscielny, Joel Campbell, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey. And obviously Giroud who was immense after failing to win his physical battles in the opening stages. A real team performance. And a welcome one in the unpopular blue third kit.
So the last 16 once again. Against one of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Wolfsburg and Zenit St Petersburg. After Monaco last season, let’s not hear talk of an easy draw. Arsenal will face one of these sides and hope the law of averages means that, for a change, they can progress to the last eight. Play as they did last night and against Bayern in the home group game and they will have a chance. Confident? No. Open to possibility? Surely, the definition of a football fan.
Let’s hope the team can get their focus back quickly for the Premier League and hit the ground running v Villa on Sunday. Last night was a great victory to be savoured and we can only hope it has some meaning towards the business end of the season. Arsenal got themselves into a position they shouldn’t have, but dug themselves out of it once they were there. And credit to the players and the manager for that.
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
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