AZ 1-1 Arsenal

AZ 1-1 Arsenal

Postby SE13 » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:33 am

An injury time goal cost Arsenal the three points, so we end with a draw, but still top of group H.

Mannone kept the goalkeepers jersey, in front of him the more familiar line up of Clichy, Vermaelen, Gallas and Sagna. A solid looking defence and this partnership are gelling together nicely.

In truth, the game wasn't a great one, Arsenal had enough chances to well and truly put the game to bed, but it was poor finishing and a string of decent saves that kept the Dutch in the tie. AZ rarely troubled in the first half, in fact it must have been a good hour before Vito had anything to worry about.

Chances fell to Van Persie and Fabregas before a good interchange between Arshavin and RVP set up Cesc to open the scoring. Half time 1-0 to The Gunners.

The second half continued in the same style, Arsenal dominating proceedings but unable to kill the game off with a second. As we entered injury time most of us would have been looking at the full nine points from the opening encounters, and thinking about the knock out stages until the 93rd minute when AZ gained a free kick. A sort of "gung ho" free kick followed, Arsenal failed to clear and the ball was thrashed home to send the Dutch into rapture. Not a goal they particularly deserved, a cruel blow to Arsenal, but again the moral of the story is not putting the game to bed when the chances are there.

Arsenal lead the group with seven points ahead of Olympiacos with six, two away games negotiated, one to go with two home fixtures, so all is not lost.

Back to Premiership action on Sunday with Wet Spam the opponents, and hopefully some lessons learned from this game.
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SE13
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