Gunners win again in Europe

Arsenal 3-1 Olympiacos

During his first season with the Gunners, Per Mertesacker was often lambasted, with several football pundits failing to understand why Arsene Wenger had decided to bring him to the club. Yet this season, the German international appears to be the glue which holds Arsenal’s defence together. He was pivotal in helping the Gunners secure three consecutive clean sheets in their first three games of the season, thanks largely to his exceptional positional sense and organisational abilities. Mertesacker’s importance to Wenger’s side has been highlighted further by his absence in the last two games.

Against Chelsea, the German’s aerial ability was sorely missed as Arsenal conceded two soft goals from deliveries into the box, while in the Champions League victory against Olympiacos, on Wednesday, Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny played as though they had only just met for the very first time. Misplaced passes, poor positioning and rash tackles allowed the visitors to place pressure on the Arsenal defence and create several opportunities which other teams would have taken. Vermaelen, particularly in the last two games, has seemed to be far too nervous when the opposition have possession in and around the Arsenal penalty area. As a result, he has developed a tendency to dive into needless tackles, which the opposition can either evade and thereby taking Vermaelen completely out of the game, or if they are unable to do this, the Belgian ends up giving away a penalty or a free kick.

This worrying trait was seen far too often during Wednesday night’s game and must be eradicated if Arsenal are to improve on their game when they do not have the ball. Another worrying aspect of the Gunners’ first half performance against Olympiacos was the fact that they were not really able to dominate the midfield as you would have expected them too. The visitors were happy to allow the Arsenal centre halves to have the ball, but as soon as it was played forward, into the midfield, the visitors would press forward, often stealing possession. The fact the Gunners struggled greatly to overcome this tactic, does not bode well for the weekend game against West Ham, who you can be sure will employ the same tactics in an attempt to stifle Arsenal’s creativity.

The first half performance was largely disjointed and simply not good enough and yet against the run of play, Arsenal took the lead in the 42^nd minute. The visitors should have taken the lead earlier on when Paulo Machado somehow managed to miss the target when all alone, right in front of the goal and Gervinho made them pay for their profligacy. The Ivorian collected a loose ball and fired a low shot across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner. Arsenal did not deserve to be in the lead and on the stroke of half-time; Olympiacos got their just deserts as Leandro Greco’s fine cross was met with a terrific header from Mitroglou, who had managed to sneak in between the Arsenal centre backs to guide the ball past Mannone.

The Gunners needed to respond in the second half and their performance did improve, enabling them to exude more and more pressure on the Olympiacos goal. In the 56^th minute, that pressure told as Gervinho cut the ball back from the by-line, finding Lukas Podolski. The German’s first touch was slightly heavy and the chance appeared to have been lost. However Podolski would not be denied and he fired his shot low and hard, through the goalkeeper’s legs to once again showcase his incredible finishing ability and give Arsenal the lead once more. The visitor’s resolve seemed to have been broken by the Gunners’ second goal and the home side seized the initiative, although they could not find the killer third goal.

Kosicelny headed over the bar from six yards out, when completely unmarked, while Giroud’s goal bound effort hit an Olympiacos defender and flew wide. However Arsenal would not be denied and sealed the win in the last minute of the game, as Giroud’s nod on released Ramsey for the Welshman to confidently clip the ball into the net.

Although the Gunners were not at their best, their great spirit and togetherness enabled them to come through a stiff challenge. However both Vermalen and Koscielny must improve their performances as they are currently undermining the fine defensive work which is being carried out by the rest of the team. With Andy Carroll and Sam Allardyce’s penchant for a long ball, the Gunners’ defence will be sorely tested on Saturday. All Arsenal fans will be hoping Mertesacker will overcome the virus which saw him miss this game as his sheer presence should provide the stability and composure which the defence has sorely missed in the last two games.