Arsenal 0 - 2 FC Schalke 04

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Arsenal 0 - 2 FC Schalke 04

Postby Trina » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:26 am

I will be posting the match reports from TheArsenalPost from now on. Would be much appreciated if you could comment on his blog after reading the match report :)

A very impressive Schalke side condemned the Gunners to only their second loss in 45 home Champions League games, the other defeat come against Manchester United in the 2009 semi-finals.

Schalke’s 2-0 victory lifted them to the top of Group B ahead of Arsenal who sit just 1 point behind them at the half way stage but Arsene Wenger’s men will have a chance for immediate revenge when they travel to Gelsenkirchen on Matchday Four.

It was hoped that Wednesday’s game would serve as redemption of Arsenal with a win at home enough to paper over the cracks that were left exposed on Saturday as Arsenal handed Norwich their first league win.

This was not the case and Arsenal arguably played worse than at the weekend with sloppy passing, poor positioning and no attacking prowess on display what-so-ever.

Although it is still early in the season the Gunners really need to look inward and make some serious changes if they are to end this trophy drought. They have been completely outplayed, outclassed and deserved losers on two occasions in a single week and this isn’t good enough for one of the world’s biggest clubs.

Steve Bould took charge of this one with Arsene Wenger sitting out his final game of the touchline ban. Bould made one change in personnel from the side beaten at Norwich on Saturday – Francis Coquelin for Olivier Giroud – but there were positional changes with Gervinho up front, Aaron Ramsey moved to the right of midfield and Coquelin filling the vacant role in the middle of the park.

Usually I can talk easily about Arsenal attacks, chances and goals but simply there weren’t any. For all their early possession, Arsenal did nothing.

The first real attacking moment of the game came from the opposition. A Schalke break saw Afellay skip past Carl Jenkinson and Vito Mannone before going to ground under the challenge. It was a real scare for Arsenal but the Dutchman was booked for simulation.

Arsenal didn’t spark to life but a (small) chance presented itself when Podolski’s cross flashed through Schalke’s six-yard box sending Gervinho clear momentarily for Cazorla to have his shot deflected wide.

Arsenal’s standout defensive player had to be Mertesacker who made a number of key clearances to keep Schalke at bay but it seemed only a matter of time before they would score. They almost did just before half time utilising the space on the right, Atsuto Uchida went overlapping down the flank and pulled the ball back to Huntelaar at the near post. Another should-have-been for the German side, another huge let off for the Gunners.

In the early seconds of the restart the home side looked to have found something when Cazorla showed some real class before finding the hugely disappointing Santos on the left. His cross was too much for Podolski but Coquelin collected the rebound and bulldozed into the area. This was better from Arsenal and I willed them on to create more but Schalke responded well. Farfan darted to the right and pulled the ball back to Benedikt Howedes on the penalty spot. The captain could only life his shot over the bar.

Schalke were getting into some fantastic positions in the second half and as an away team in the Champions League should have really put some away.

Edging into the last quarter of an hour Bould brought on Olivier Giroud for the disappointing Gervinho who, apart from an outrageous dive, did nothing. Arsenal put on their new front man only to fall behind a minute later. They failed to clear their lines and Afellay’s header found Huntelaar in space. He fired a fantastic strike low and hard past Mannone.

Bould reacted to the goal by throwing on Serge Gnabry and Andrey Arshavin for the final eight minutes – too little too late. The substitutes weren’t able to have that much of an impact before the game was put out of sight. Again Farfan found space down the right and his low cross was slotted home at the far post by Afellay.

The second goal put the game beyond Arsenal even after Gnabry forced a fine save from Lars Unnerstall in injury time. This was Arsenal’s third shot on target all game. Yes, you read that right, three shots on target, at home.

What a dreadful night for Arsenal and a dreadful night of football.


http://thearsenalpost.co.uk/2012/10/25/ ... ch-report/
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Re: Arsenal 0 - 2 FC Schalke 04

Postby greengoonerie » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:36 am

Great report. On the money. I thought we only had one shot on target all night!! We were actually better than I remember... :arse flag.gif:
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Re: Arsenal 0 - 2 FC Schalke 04

Postby TheArsenalPost » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:07 am

Thanks mate. Haha, yeah three times better than you thought. Gotta be title contenders now eh!?
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Re: Arsenal 0 - 2 FC Schalke 04

Postby greengoonerie » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:18 am

With a front line like ours which is being selected, regardless of ability and form, I can see QPR shaking in their boots tomorrow - NOT!
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Re: Arsenal 0 - 2 FC Schalke 04

Postby GSK_AFC » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:40 pm

I commented on your QPR match preview! :)
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Re: Arsenal 0 - 2 FC Schalke 04

Postby TheArsenalPost » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:43 pm

Thank you very much, just was commenting back! If I could say, like it on Facebook if you are on that is.

Cheers mate!
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