 |
| Alexis Sanchez powered Arsenal to victory |
NEVER BACK against a fighter with 15 consecutive knockouts under the belt – even when they have been battered beyond recognition and left clinging to the ropes.
If Arsenal now finish this off with the two-goal win they need in Greece, it will be like something out of a Rocky film.
Previously, the thing that looked most rocky about Arsenal had been their defence in Munich – and consequently their belief.
How things had changed since the last European night here at the Emirates. Then, on the back of a 2-0 win against Bayern Munich, Arsenal were genuine contenders in their delirious fans’ eyes, their stuttering start to the Champions League campaign a mere blip.
 |
| Sanchez scored Arsenal's third late on |
As if to reinforce that, they were soon ascending to the summit of the Premier League.
Then came that absolute footballing lesson in Munich when Pep Guardiola’s side showed just how wide the chasm currently is between Arsenal’s brittle collection of talented, but too often purposeless, players and the real giants of Europe.
Coming into last night’s game, Arsenal were still looking for their first win since that 5-1 drubbing and that faith had visibly ebbed.
For this match to have any significance for Arsenal, they needed a favour from Germany – anything less than a home win at the Allianz Arena and whatever the score here, Arsenal would be left with the Europa League at best.
 |
| Arsene Wenger looked nervous before Arsenal got their first goal |
The early news from Munich was good. Manuel Neuer was in the Bayern line-up – what kind of fool would Guardiola be to leave out his highly respected first-choice goalkeeper against Olympiakos?
The news just kept getting better. When the Bundesliga side scored their third goal inside 20 minutes, the focus turned solely on what Arsenal could muster here three days after what Arsene Wenger described as the “nightmare” defeat by West Brom on Saturday.
Early signs were hardly encouraging. Dinamo Zagreb flew out of the traps like Justin Gatlin. They were clearly needled, but thankfully by nothing more than Wenger’s pre-match complaints about drug-taking. Arsenal defended three early corners and struggled to get a foot on the ball. A worrying start that quietened a subdued crowd even further.
Then suddenly it all seemed to click. A simple cross from Alexis Sanchez demanded a finishing touch, the only surprise was the player who provided it. Mesut Ozil ran from deep to stoop and steer the ball with his head into the corner of the net.
 |
| Mesut Ozil opened the scoring for Arsenal at the Emirates |
The relief was palpable and suddenly Arsenal looked more like a side who had found their purpose again. Leonardo Sigali found that to his cost when he carelessly gave the ball away just outside his penalty area four minutes later.
Rather than flick the ball sideways to a colleague, Nacho Monreal drove the ball back into the space behind the Zagreb centre-back and sprinted after it.
The burst of energy turned the defence inside out, so when he rolled the ball across into the danger area, Sanchez had the simple task of side-footing the ball into the empty net.
Just before half-time, Arsenal could have matched Munich’s three-goal cushion when Ozil’s low shot was turned round the post.
Within two minutes of the restart, Santi Cazorla tested Eduardo with a low drive and the resulting corner was cleared off the line by Alexandru Matel. For the large part, it was a case of going through the motions for Arsenal, who even replaced their only striker Olivier Giroud with Aaron Ramsey.
It put the onus on everybody to muck in and within minutes Campbell set up Sanchez to skip around Eduardo and score.
And the news got even better as Bayern scored a fourth.
Marko Rog hit the Arsenal woodwork in a late scramble, but the Gunners were comfortable enough to ring the changes and rest a few weary limbs. They knew that a campaign that slipped through the fingers of David Ospina last time they played Olympiakos is finally back firmly in their hands.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech; Bellerin (Debuchy 82), Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Flamnini, Cazorla (Chambers 82); Campbell, Sanchez, Ozil; Giroud (Ramsey 67). Booked: Monreal. Goals: Ozil 28, Sanchez 32, 69. NEXT UP: Norwich (a), Sun PL
Dinamo Zagreb (4-5-1): Eduardo; Pinto, Sigali, Taravel, Matel; Pjaca, Machado (Coric 84), Santos, Antolic (Henriquez 71), Fernandes (Soudani 57); Rog.
Referee: V Kassai (Hungary).
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus