Arsenal were tonight held to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates by notorious ‘hardmen’ Red Star Belgrade in a lackluster night.
The point was enough to allow Arsenal to progress through to the knockout stages of the Europa League with two games to spare but the performance from the Gunners was less than impressive.
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Arsene Wenger opted to field a relatively inexperienced side just as he did last week in the away fixture against Red Star but this time the risk was not as effective.
Last week’s 1-0 victory was lead by the experienced quality of Jack Wilshere, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott but unfortunately they were unable to lead the line in as much of an effective manner with much of Arsenals’s opportunities being suffocated by Red Star throughout the 90 minutes of football at the Emirates.
Man of the match
Jack Wilshere was the only bright spark for the Gunners tonight. Wilshere was the star of the show for Arsenal last week and at times looked as though he would provide the quality to give the North London side the breakthrough again this week. However, the quality from Walcott and Giroud was not present as it was last week with Wilshere growing frustrated throughout the game with his teammates.
Another 90 minutes of football under Wilshere’s belt and despite being left out of this week’s England squad it is surely only a matter of time before we see the midfielder back in a shirt for the three lions.
Flop of the match
When you’re struggling to cement a place in the starting lineup you have to grasp at any opportunity you’re given. That was not the case this evening with Olivier Giroud. The French international was isolated throughout and was unsuccessful in dropping deep to create chances for himself. In a frustrating evening it would have been far more prudent to see a more dynamic attacker running the channels in Giroud’s place such as Danny Welback or Alexis Sanchez.
Stat of the match
Certainly not one to be proud of…
0 – Arsenal failed to score in a European home game for the first time since February 2016 (0-2 v Barcelona in the Champions League). Drab. pic.twitter.com/jGURcgyB8v
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 2, 2017
Player ratings
Arsenal: Macey 6, Debuchy 5, Elneny 6, Holding 6, Nelson 6, Wilock 5, Coquelin 5, Maitland-Niles 6, Walcott 5, Wilshere 7, Giroud 4
Subs: Nketiah 6.
Reaction
As expected many fans were frustrated with Arsenal’s performance despite securing their qualification to the next stage of the Europa League with two games to spare.
Give me back 90 minutes of my sleeping time, shame gameplay…
— Ali ridho (@alieshahab) November 2, 2017
That has to be the worst Arsenal performance I’ve ever seen live
— Matt (@RobHoldinq) November 2, 2017
never wasting my time again watching Europa league with that squad.yeah we qualified but frustrating to watch
— Don Michael’s (@DonMichaels254) November 2, 2017
Only Arsenal fans would stay until the 94th minute just to boo the under 19’s for getting the draw that got them through.
Awful fans.
— Mark (@_The12thMan) November 2, 2017
Coquelin looks like a fan that’s won a competition to play for Arsenal.
— Mike Sanz (@mikesanz19) November 2, 2017