A 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid makes next week’s second leg even more challenging, and it’s hard not to look at tonight as a missed opportunity against a side which played with 10 men for most of the game.
Read the report and see the goals here.
Here are the player ratings for this evening, and while I think we played quite well, it’s so deflating to concede like that.
Kos kicks it off his face when trying to clear and then mustafi falls over summing up his arsenal career. Sad to see such a great player like Kos fade.
But, typical Arsenal.
If it hadn’t of hit his face it would’ve been seen as an amazing clearance, a younger version of himself mightve got it done, but had he just stayed on his feet….
Just get rid! Overthinking defending once again.
Yes but he could have easily booted it out for a corner
As I said, “had he stayed on his feet”. I was basically saying if only he was the same player as he was years ago, we might’ve won the game.
There was not much he could “easily” do, his positioning and lack of pace had already caused 80% of the problem, the fact he couldn’t clear a bouncing up ball whilst stretching, facing his own goal running full pelt with greizman breathing down his neck was actually understandable. Getting into that situation however was not. And that was not all his fault, Kos was our best defender today, besides that moment. Monreal too was one of our best on the night as was Welbeck.
Mustafi only fell over because he was jogging towards goal way too long until he realized that he could be needed on the goal line and then panicked and fell over. It was again his bad anticipation that let him down. Kosc didn’t look great too but you can lose these kind of duels against players like Griezmann. But there should always be someone covering.
This is nonsense. I am a big fan of Koscielny, but he deserves almost all the blame for the goal.
Griezmann peels off the back of Koscielny but where was Mustafi’s shout and covering run even though he was the deeper of the two and could see everything infront. Mustafi is just shite and Kosc made a terrible mistake.
From the way the game played out it always looked like if we were to concede it would be down to us orchestrating our own demise and, lo and behold, the prophecy was fulfilled.
😀 😀 😀 The prophecy was fulfilled!
Defensive calamity never diminished this season. Hopefully next season we have no more of this
Kos = Wilshere = Walcott = RVP = Fabregas = Nasri = Arshavin = Titi = Pires = Vieira ========= Arsene Wenger yeah?
Should I elaborate on this or……?
If you wouldn’t mind…….
I don’t think either can recover from that…Its as a Gerrard slip type moment for both. Koscielny in particular.
Suprised how low i feel after that game, hope we can turn it around in madrid COYG
Gutted! But I’m confident we will finish it off in Madrid. Probably a 2 2 draw will do it.
This was never going to be uneventful.
#COYG!!!
They’ve conceded four at home all season, scoring twice would be a tall ask.
They lost to Chelsea at home who are pretty much just as shite as us this season. Also lost at home to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey. Definitely a tall order but I think that stat is only for the league and there’s still hope – another red card, defensive cock up and we could be on top early on.
I have been wilshere’s biggest fan but Mkhi walks straight in for the second leg. Fuck I’d take coquelin over him at the moment!
Also thought the assist rescued him a little bit. Apart from that there wasn’t that much. Rambo was way better for me. Won more defensive duels, had a few good to excellent chances and ran his arse off.
Rambo was pretty shite tonight, too gung ho, everything was behind him
Ridicoulous that some people still find a way to blame Wilshere…
I criticise this because this is very far from what we are used to see from him. He stopped jumping into risky situations, that is great. But he seems very out of pace. If you don’t see that you really haven’t seen Jack at all (and I’m not only implying at that Barca game) he had great performances, this is really really far from his best
I criticize Wilshere a lot but I thought this was one of his better games in a long time
It’s moot. He hasn’t been good for a long time. He’s done. Get rid and move on.
Very generous to Wilshere – other than a good cross for the goal was a complete passenger, closing up the space all night by dribbling forward with nowhere to go. No longer bursts past people and virtually no penetration. Xhaka chose a terrible night to forget how to shoot too. Clearly Athletico planned to shut down Ozil, but surely that should open up space for others but none of them took advantage, Oh to have had a Santi or Miki on the field today to take advantage. Big opportunity missed. Kos has been a great player but boy does he… Read more »
They didnt get close to Ozil all night except to foul him where the ref didnt give him anything all night in that regard.
Completely agree on Wilshere. I feel that momentum always breaks down with him, either because he passes sideways/backwards, or passes with not enough pace. No longer at the required level, which is sad
Totally agree. Wilshere was average
Welbeck thinks too much. The likes of Ozil and Ramsey know the next step before the ball gets to them. For the most part Welbeck receives the ball and then takes one or two more touches killing a move. He did start lively but then ran out of ideas. As did our manager. Love him but this is why he’s moving on. How was Lacazette out wide crossing so much when he’s the best man to be on the end of the ball? And how after a colossal mistake to let Atletico back in is he having to cover for… Read more »
It was by no means an easy chance, but he really should’ve done better after that very nice 1-2 with Wilshere I think it was. It was a tough angle, but he has to lift it a bit there. He had plenty of time to pick a spot.
That chance was a high point. He takes too long on the ball.
Welbeck shouldn’t be blamed for 1 -1. But unfortunately he loses head when he is in front of goal. In the beginning og the second half, he blasted a shot wide over, from a position three yards to the left of goal, close to the line. I don’t think he knew where he was.
and you don’t think that his age has anything to do with his retirement nah?
What rating does Wenger get for his substitutions?
Why not just boot it for a corner Koz? You missed an open goal first half too.
While it’s right we focus on Koscielny’s role in the goal, I was more angry with Welbeck. In what could have been a good position he decides to cut inside down a blind alley then tries to buy a free kick as soon as he realises what he’s done. That’s so poor from him…
Welbeck had run his hole off for 80 minutes and should have been brought off for fresh legs 10 minutes beforehand
I don’t see the problem. From the minute they were playing with 10 man all they wanted was to defend. Actually it hasn’t worked that well. We could have scored at least 5 if we had been a bit more clinical. It’s all about who will get the first goal at Madrid. I know their defense is strong but so is out attack. I think we have shown that again today despite the fact that we haven’t converted all these chances. Will score at least twice over there and go through. We like us a bit of the underdog role.
Honestly, I’m not too sure if we have got an upgrade on Giroud anymore. With someone like Giroud, we might have made more of the crosses coming in and Laca’s miss in the first ten mins, when he hit the post was disappointing. He could have taken a touch and then hit, but he hit it on the volley and screwed it up. Welbz is a mystery, after his wonderful goal i would have thought this guy’s confidence would be sky rocketing but he doesn’t get the ball properly on his feet while shooting still, though under no pressure! I… Read more »
We lost Giroud because it was the only way to get Aubameyang; nothing to do with Lacazette, who we already had. As much as I like Giroud, and think he is generally underrated, I’m not sure there is any club in the world who would not choose Aubameyang.
1) win
2) draw 2-2 or greater
3) 0-0 or 1-1 = pens
Um…we have to score otherwise they qualify through their away goal.
Mustafi just fell over. He wasn’t to blame entirely for the goal, but if he simply doesn’t fall down, Griezman loses the angle.
That Jan Oblak is one fantastic keeper. Imagine if Arsenal had him all year instead of the pile of used diapers that they put in goal.
*nappies
Can you give a rating to the guy in the stands with the most lumiscent too I have ever seen – probably visible from space!
* top
So frustrating. We were so much better than them. I was disappointed with Ozil. He did ok but you always expect there to at least be one moment where he does something no one else could do and he didn’t do that tonight. Lacazette is looking better and better. His strength and composure on the ball tonight was phenomenal. He took on three players at once and retained the ball. What a good player he is. Jack was solid but I would have liked to see him try to dribble through the middle because he could have made some space… Read more »
I thought you missed one game after a double-yellow sending off, and 3 after a straight red? Not in Europe?
Why the thumbing down? As far as I can discover: “If a player is sent off for a professional foul … or a second bookable offence they will be handed a one-match ban.”
Is that what you meant by a sending off lasting both legs? Or have I misunderstood?
He meant if they had to play with 10 men in the next leg too.
OK, I understand now. Sorry.
A tough night, should’ve scored more, possibly a lot more, but if you think Mourinho knows how to park a bus then Simeone knows how to steal the wheels. You know when Ospina starts runnning to meet the ball towards the halfway line that somethings amiss with the defensive mindset, that we’re a bit too comfortable. You could smell it from there. The mistake. The lingering premonition of “it’s going to happen again”. But, for any spin of positivity we can look at the relatively recent past and see how we’ve come back from much worse results in the first… Read more »
We won in Sweden (against poor oipposition, admittedly, but they played well enough to beat us at home), and in Milan. We can do it. You gotta believe!
20 mins to go…….the obviously fading Welbz, off…..Eddie on…..
Keep the momentum going.
Super team performance. We are the better team and we’ll go through over there. Terrible mistake from our captain, he’ll have to make up for it. Point of order. “Although he created 6 chances”…. we give him a 6?? (or a 6.5?). We might be feeling deflated but we have the better players and we’re gonna DO them in their place! COYG!!!!!!!!!!
I’m weirdly positive going into the second leg
What is this belief and where has it come from ?
Maybe we’re going to wheel in George Graham for a crash course on defending & tactics? ‘Well errrrrr’
it’s come from realising suddenly that when we want to play football..we really can beat anyone..remember Bayern away?
I think it’s called desperation.
I.m a bit surprised at the negativity here. I thought we played a good game against the best defence in europe who were defending for their lives. We had some variation in attack..good touches all over the pitch. Everyone worked hard. I get it is disappointing, deflating even to concede that goal..but i saw enough to give me hope for the return leg
Yes, but…concerned that Diego Costa will be good for a pen in Madrid.
Really a pity Elneny was hurt for this game.
Bring in Holding to own him again.
Any other manager or anyone who knows anything about football would have made some subs, change things around, give their defence more to think about. Times like this remind you how poor Wenger has become. One trick pony that can’t adapt tactically in a game. Poor show.
Disappointing way to concede, but we need to win now to go through which is how it should be. We said we had a chance against them in a one off final, the players and the coaches need to think of next week as a final now.
I hear that phone lines to the Emirates were swamped after the game by Movie moguls wanting to recruit Ospina, Koscielny and Mustafi for a film remake of the Keystone Kops. And now for the statistic of the day. Did you know that Granit Xhaqa has the worst shooting record of any midfield/attacking player in the top half of the Premier league with a woeful 34% accuracy. Of 58 shots he has had this season only 20 have been on target and only 3 hit the back of the net. Perhaps the new manager should fine him for every shot… Read more »
What did Ospina do wrong? Nearly save a shot from one of the best strikers in Europe who was in alone?
Thought welbz was good in the first half, he held the ball up well when he needed to, I.e. There was no space to run into down the left channel. But in the 2nd half I thought so many times he could have taken a touch beyond the player because there was room, guess I was used to watching Henry do that. But when he did get in those kind of positions he tried to turn back onto his right foot to cross and the momentum was lost. Up until the goal I thought generally we were pretty good, oblak… Read more »
As for the ratings Arsenal played 90 minutes against 10 men and yet did not run them ragged. Those ratings are far too generous given that despite all the good fortune that Arsenal had in the game it is Atletico who go back to their own ground with the advantage
True. Look, we all love arseblog, but let’s be honest: they’re not great at giving ratings. No different than the countless forums I’m sure we’ve all frequented over the years.
The comments are usually cracking though.
That was the best and most electric we’ve played for a long time. With this in mind, the ratings seem a bit low?
lol?
I loved Xhaka, while celebrating Lacazette’s goal he seemed unsure of what to do, so just screamed “FUCKKKKK OFFFFFFFF!!!!!”
Probably worked against us having their player red carded so early as it caused them to sit so deep and defend with everyone making it tough to score. We did create some good chances, but I think we could have had a better result the way we started playing 11 v 11 with more up and down play opening things up for us more on counter attacks and more full field build up vs the entire match being played in our attacking third making it so crowded. Thought Lacazette was unlucky not to have a hat trick with the volley… Read more »
This. I don’t think some appreciate how good our attacking play was in this match in creating the chances we did.
0/10 – the fans who left as soon as Atletico scored. Yes the goal was deflating, but we played well tonight and the team could have really done with our support for the last ten mins. It was 1-1 and we could easily have made it 2-1 and taken a lead to theirs. I’m not having that ‘got to get on the tube’ excuse, leave on 80 mins when we’re 1 nil up then and not in a huff the second they equalise. We saw how much better the side plays today when there’s an atmosphere, let’s do that more… Read more »
I’m obviously in the minority. I thought we were quite shit
If even if a fan thought we were shit, it was our last (and arguably only) big home game of the season, we were 1-1 against the side ranked 3rd in Europe (by UEFA) and had 20+ shots on goal including a couple gilt edged chances. Why leave with 10mins of the game left when the team needs your support the most?
I’ve bigged Xhaka up all season, and am so glad he’s come good these past few weeks… But we hardly ever play a game where all our players hit form together..!? Look at Citeh; De Bruyne, Silva, B Silva, Sane, Jesus or Aguero, Gundagon… Always seem to hit form and play well together… We never have that!?
It’s actually not true–they often have one or two players who are not very good (including Jesus, Sterling, occasionally Silva), but there is so much talent there that the others completely take up the slack.
I have to disagree with the relatively high midfielder ratings. While I don’t think the midfield were ‘bad’, I think they were pretty impotent and there were quite a few lapses in skill level. Ramsey and Wilshere both fives for me.
Good bye Arsene. Take Kid with ya.
I meant take Kos with ya.
This won’t make me popular in saying, but Koscielny looks done – going down the same sorry slope as Thomas V. Perhaps we can sell him to Barca in the summer for £15m? And Ozil had possibly one of his worst games for us.
On another note, yes they went down to 10 men very early on, but as a team we performed pretty darn well. Lacazette stood out for me, challenging for every ball and looking like he had a point to prove. Not a bad result, but it’s going to be impossible to get anything in Madrid.
I don’t think Mustafi was poor positionally for the goal. BUT I do think its the system we play. The pair of Mustafi and Koscielny were solid all game. It was just an individual error which will happen (not just to Mustafi it seems) I thought Granit was again very solid today. He bossed the midfield and played good balls forward releasing us quickly. Jack was also decent. Considering we were dominating them even before the sending off, I’d say the lads were well up for it. I think Lacazette could have been sharper (yes he got the goal) but… Read more »
You are spot on regarding Granit contribution. His releases are pinpoint and fast. While there are occurrences of misrakes and mispasses, I got to say he have gradually improved his decisions and passing choices for the past months and has been more disciplined and alerted. His lack of awareness and switching off at critical times still prompt rooms for improvement. Really thought Arsenal played fairly well and showed a different direct Arsenal side today (less the comical typical arsenal defending). So rarely Wenger opt for a more direct approach after the red card. A more direct style would suit players… Read more »
I just don’t get the opinions that we played well. Once they went one man down they were always going to park the bus and allow us a lot of possession. I thought we really lacked thrust and were wasteful.
It was an amazing result for them
Ironic, but (sadly) not surprising to see Arsene’s tenure end in the most Arsene way possible. I was so afraid at half-time we would not make enough of our chances and gift them a goal or two. Surely I was not the only one… I feel kinda sorry for Arsene, but this game (in many ways) showed exactly why he should have left a couple of years ago.
A 9 for the Emirates crowd too. It seems to have been years since the team had so strong support.
Same old problem for me. When teams defend deeply we can’t break them down and we have no plan B. We should have been 3-0 up by the time they scored. And please don’t make excuses for players who can’t be bothered to play to the whistle. They should be fined heavily.
Fucking hopeless. We don’t deserve shit after that crapshow.
And I don’t think there is anything more disgusting than a Spanish club football side, led ably by those horrible POS’s Griezmann and Simeone. Honorable mention to Correa. I would, however, take Oblak in a heartbeat.
Speaking of diving cunts, they’re welcome to Welbeck. He’s not only nowhere near the level required, his diving is a disgrace. Get rid ASAP.
I wonder if Arsene has lost faith in Iwobi? Surely if it were last season he would have brought him on in a situation where we needed a goal (and against 10 men).
I know he’s been hit or miss lately but thought it was strange. I really hope he writes that book.