Arsene Wenger saw cause for optimism in the performances of Arsenal youngsters Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson amid the gloom of a 1-0 defeat to Cologne in the Europa League.
With qualification already secure Arsenal were handed top spot in Group H thanks to a 0-0 draw in the match between BATE Borisov and Red Star Belgrade, with Sherou Guirassy’s penalty keeping Cologne in the hunt for second place.
Not for the first time during their Europa League campaign Arsenal’s frontline, which included Olivier Giroud, Jack Wilshere and, for 45 minutes, Danny Welbeck, struggled to spark against an organised defence.
What joy they did have in the opening period came from Maitland-Niles’ darts down the left, whilst second-half substitute Nelson came closest in the dying minutes as he darted past four Cologne defenders before firing too close to goalkeeper Timo Horn.
“Maitland-Niles was very good,” Wenger said. “In the first half especially when we had problems to create dangerous situations, he did very well.
“Reiss Nelson came on and looked really tricky, dangerous going forward every time. Overall I would say the really young players did well on that front.”
Though their attacking play was too sedate to consistently break down a Cologne side desperate to claim a famous victory in their first season in Europe for two decades Arsenal would be entitled to feel aggrieved at the nature of their defeat.
Guirassy appeared to go down without under minimal contact from Mathieu Debuchy, with Wenger insisting it was “not a penalty at all.”
It did not overly harm the Gunners, who will be among the top seeds in next month’s draw for the round of 32. Though that would usually be cause for optimism at Arsenal, who have often paid the price for failing to top their Champions League group, there are no guarantees of a favourable tie.
Indeed half of third-placed teams that drop down from the Champions League will not be seeded. Those could include Borussia Dortmund and Celtic and Wenger was reluctant to celebrate top spot in Group H.
“You feel like you’ve got the job done when you finish top of the group.
“We’ve got BATE Borisov on home soil in our final game. There’s nothing riding on that game [for us], but we want to win it.
“What it actually means to me to finish top - I can only tell you that after the draw!”