Kevin Whitcher
Arsenal’s allocation in Moscow amounted to 300 fans, approximately 50 of those from England. The bulk of the remainder were Russian Gooner and there was a fair sprinkling of Arsenal colours in the home stands for the second leg of their Europa League quarter final against CSKA. And in spite of political tension, or indeed memories of Marseille in 2016, apparently no reports of any ill feeling or aggression towards visiting fans. A cracking atmosphere in the stadium though. And as for the CSKA fans behind the goal that, to a man, removed their shirts during the second half… it’s difficult to envisage that particular gesture getting a try-out at the soulless bowl in north London.
Still, let’s see if the stadium in rocking for whoever the draw gives Arsenal for the semi-final at 11am this morning. I recall a real buzz before the start of the match for the club’s last home European semi-final appearance in 2009. In the Champions League versus Manchester United. We’ll briefly move on from what happened when the referee started that game shall we?
Before we move on from the subject of pre-match anticipation though, it has to be said that the Europa League anthem they play when the teams are lined up before the game is a pretty poor cousin to the more stirring Champions League theme… a bit like the competition I guess.
Arsenal went into the match without Mkhitaryan and Xhaka, and in terms of fluency, the former was certainly missed. Welbeck and Elneny came in. Ospina would have played this game under normal circumstances and may have done better than Petr Cech did. The squad is crying out for a new keeper in the summer.
Arsenal’s previous away match, due to the postponement of the Leicester away game, was actually the first leg of the last 16 tie against Milan five weeks ago. But their performance in the first half was more reminiscent of the visit to Brighton the weekend before the San Siro trip. Not one shot of target and a lack of ability to play a decent pass when opportunities near the CSKA goal came about. Mesut Ozil really did not look like he fancied it at all, half-heartedly challenging for the ball with the main aim of avoiding physical contact. His colleagues must look at him and wonder how on earth he is getting such fat wages given his evident lack of commitment to the cause.
Defensively, Arsenal were Arsènal, as they have been for several seasons under Arsène. To think the club once had a reputation for a solid, organized backline. The opening CSKA goal was a litany of errors, as a cross was allowed in, a header at Cech’s goal too easy, and Mustafi letting his man in to tap in home the keeper’s parry. The home crowd’s volume went up a couple of notches and their team started to believe. Aaron Ramsey got away with a handball to save Petr Cech facing a penalty.
At the start of the second half, Elneny seemed to drop back into defence, although the consequence of this was his team being completely swamped in midfield… and another CSKA goal. Plenty of room for a shot from distance, parried out by Cech to an onrushing opponent who slotted the ball home. The Gunners, remember, don’t do rebounds either in attack (or they’d shoot from distance more often rather than play keep ball) or defence (hence two goals conceded last night).
Elneny moved back into midfield and had the ball in the net, only to be flagged offside. Chambers came on for Wilshere as the manager decided he needed more solidity. Jack did not have the best of games. Elneny though, proved to be Arsenal’s savior, with huge contributions to come, making him the team’s standout player.
After 74 minutes, finally, we saw an Arsenal shot on target. And even better, Danny Welbeck, after an intelligent one-two with Elneny, beat the keeper with it to ease the nerves. CSKA now needed a further two goals simply to take the match to extra time. Lacazette was replaced, as he always is, and looked unhappy as Iwobi came on. In fairness to him, there was hardly any supply, very little for him to work with. Iwobi proved hopeless in front of goal, but fortunately the clock was ticking down.
Deep into injury time, Arsenal avoided defeat in the 90 minutes when Elneny sent Ramsey through with just the keeper to beat, and the Welshman finished in style. The scoreline may not have been a reflection of the game, but that won’t concern anyone at the club. The team are in the last four with a serious chance of winning the trophy and the attendant Champions League spot. As Martin Keown put it, “Arsenal have limped through”. He added, “Arsene is a survivor”. Ain’t it the truth?
Looking around at the aggregate scores of the quarter finals, Arsenal’s was 6-3. Marseille went through 5-3. Red Bull Salzburg qualified 6-5 over the two legs, whilst Atletico Madrid went through 2-1. Spot the team with a defence worthy of the name amongst the four semi-finalists.
There is a belief that Arsenal’s best chance against Atletico would come in a one-off final. However, this is a team that, under Diego Simeone, in their previous three European finals, have conceded a total of two goals, not allowing for extra time, and two of those matches were against Real Madrid. As it stands, popular betting sites such as Unibet have the Gunners as 9/4 second favourites for the trophy, with Atletico odds on favourites to win the competition. In a one-off game, Arsenal would need a fair slice of fortune to outscore them. Let’s see what the draw brings anyway. If Atleti were drawn and the first leg is in London, at least we might see a full stadium, something I can’t remember experiencing for a few months at the Emirates. And personally, I’d love to check out the newly built Wanda Metropolitano.
There was an interesting moment during the course of the match. Arsenal failed to make the most of a decent chance when a pass into the CSKA area was overhit and the keeper gobbled it up before the attacking player could reach it (might have been Welbeck or Ramsey, can’t recall). The director showed Arsene’s reaction on the bench. It was real frustration. I think he realizes that unless he fails to win this competition, his time at the club is up. His staff sat alongside him looked hardly reacted at all.
None of this will matter if Arsenal win the trophy. The 2014 FA Cup does not come with an asterisk in the record books that says, lucky to survive against Wigan or might have been 3-0 down in the final before scoring. It’s about progress. The Gunners are through. Two more teams to beat, no requirement to expend any energy in the Premier League and a third European trophy will be theirs. Simple, no?
To end on a lighter note, some texts received from Doktor Schneide over the course of the game last night…
Christ. Wilshere goes down easier than a Reeperbahn oh-la-la girl.
If Ozil was any more disinterested, he’d be asleep.
It was a convincing display. I’m convinced we’re nowhere near winning the competition.
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