Kevin Whitcher
So who needs Aubameyang? Arsenal’s front three of Lacazette, Ozil and Mkhitaryan, ably supported by Aaron Ramsey, wreaked havoc in a stunning first half against CSKA Moscow in last night’s first leg of their Europa League semi-final.
They went one up early when Ramsey fired a Bellerin pass across the box into the roof of the net, but the visitors responded with an excellent free-kick into the top corner to secure an away goal, something Arsenal would have been desperate to avoid. However, they responded well, and Mesut Ozil, who in tandem with Mkhitaryan, created havoc for the CSKA defence all evening, won a penalty. Lacazette converted it, and soon after, Ozil spotted Ramsey’s run into the area and chipped the ball into him. The Welshman produced an audacious volley off the side of his boot in mid-air to lob the ball sumptuously over the advancing keeper. Probably Arsenal’s goal of the season. Those who had bought tickets in the Clock End had all the fun last night (with the exception of the 600 away fans) as the Gunners made it four before the interval, courtesy of a nicely placed Lacazette shot after he found space to receive an Ozil pass in the area.
Before the game, there was a view that the CSKA defence was a little too old to cope with Arsenal’s quickness of movement, and so it proved. Defensively, the scoresheet suggests a fairly solid match for Arsenal’s own rearguard, but the reality is that CSKA had opportunities to add to their single goal, although fortunately their finishing was generally woeful. The combination of a dodgy defence combined with a relatively impotent forward line (at least on the evidence of last night) suggests the Gunners have little to worry about next week in Moscow.
All the goals came in the first half hour. The second half should have seen the home side comfortably extend their lead, but a myriad of chances were spurned, including a few for Ramsey to collect the matchball. It was a game they could afford to be profligate in, having notched four in the first third of the game. Mkhitaryan had to go off injured, although the club can give him three weeks to return, with the first leg of the semi-final then, assuming no collapse in Moscow, where you would fancy them to score at least one.
This was a highly significant match in the context of Arsenal’s season, so it was something of an eyebrow raiser that something like 10,000 fans decided not to attend. For the semi-final home leg, surely there will be a full stadium.
Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere played as two attacking midfielders with Grant Xhaka in a pivot role behind them. Ramsey was far more involved than Wilshere was, the latter having a relatively quiet game for a change. For the rest of the Europa League campaign, the team pretty much picks itself now, unless the manager decides to go more defensive and bring in Elneny, or even revert to three at the back, which seems to have been consigned to history now. Ozil and Mkhitaryan as the wide forwards works well for the creation of chances, certainly based on last night’s evidence, although neither are going to do too much to help their full backs.
Aaron Ramsey has a year left on his deal, and last night will have done no harm to his bargaining position. One suspects he will be offered a deal that gives him parity with the January arrivals, and will accept it. If not, the club will be willing to sell him rather than let his deal wind down, now that there are new people behind the scenes that can use the income from his sale judiciously. I am expecting a far more efficient, and where necessary ruthless approach to players than we have seen when Arsene was running the show. The Wilshere situation is a clear pointer to that.
So, Arsenal’s season is not dead just yet. The second leg of the semi-final is on May 3rd, after which there are only two further Premier League matches. The latter competition though, already has a ‘so what’ feel for the club, and in spite of scoring 13 goals in their last four home matches, I expect a crowd of about 40,000 will turn up on Sunday for the Southampton game. Arsene wants to please the fans with his attacking football, and the goals flowing in is surely serving up exactly what he has in mind to excite them. But they aren’t coming. There is something broken at the football club that desperately needs fixing, because if people aren’t motivated to attend a European quarter final, as many were not, then the future looks like an uphill battle.
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