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Arsenal were blanked by BATE Borisov in the first leg of their round-of-32 tie in Belarus. The visitors put in a lethargic display, and were made to pay by a determined Borisov side.
Arsenal started the better of the two sides and created a chance very early on. Sead Kolasinac was sent free and the Bosnian whipped in a devilish cross for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The Armenian though fired straight at the keeper.
As the game progressed, the Gunners retreated into their shell and rarely carved open their opponents. On the stroke of half time, they were done in by a set-piece routine, which was finished off by Stanislaw Drahun.
In the second half, Arsenal was expected to throw the kitchen sink at their Belarusian opponents, yet nothing of the sort materialized. The Gunners’ approach play was laboured and they never came close to scoring. To rub salt to their wounds, their star striker, Alexandre Lacazette was sent off in the 85th minute.
Here is a look at five talking points from the game:
#5 BATE Borisov hold firm to see off Arsenal
When the draw was made in December, many believed Arsenal to waltz past their Belarusian counterparts. Hence, what transpired on Thursday completely caught everyone off guard. However, one could argue that the result was warranted on the balance of play.
After weathering the visitors’ early storm, the home side slowly grew into the game. Their midfield closed Arsenal down quickly, and they also sorted out the space Kolasinac was being afforded time and again.
For long periods of the game, the hosts played with nine men behind the ball with their striker acting as the out-ball. The ploy paid off, as Arsenal was never able to get through the congested midfield area with purpose.
The home side looked well-drilled defensively and whenever the Gunners threatened, the former forced the latter into unprofitable positions.
BATE was playing their first competitive game of 2019 and yet they managed to shut Arsenal out with aplomb. Thus, the victory is much more impressive than what the average fan might see.
In a season where the Gunners have struggled for clean sheets, BATE just churned one out with minimal fuss.
#4 Matteo Guendouzi has a shocking game
Arsenal have endured a stop-start season this term. Several of their high-profile players haven’t got going, with Mesut Ozil and Mkhitaryan the prime examples. Yet, one player who can hold his head up high is Matteo Guendouzi.
However, against BATE, the Frenchman was poor throughout. None of his trademark incisive balls came to fruition, and he was forced to go backwards and sideways most of the time.
Additionally, his dependable dribbling let him down on the night, with him being guilty of losing the ball several times during the game.
The teenager tried to get on the ball and conjure something of note, but sadly one astray pass was followed by another for the entirety of the game. Moreover, he was also caught out defensively at times.
Arsenal fans though shouldn’t worry about Guendouzi just yet as the Frenchman has previously shown the stomach to bounce back from setbacks.
And while the Gunners have a lot of aspects to panic about, Guendouzi definitely isn’t one of them.
#3 A day of contrasting fortunes for Arsenal’s wing backs
On Thursday, Unai Emery adopted a 3-4-3 formation and fielded Kolasinac and Ainsley Matiland-Niles as the wing-backs.
The move partly paid dividends, as the former was Arsenal’s best attacking outlet. On countless occasions, the Bosnian got in behind the BATE defence and it was just a shame that he couldn’t cap it off with any end product. Moreover, his partnership with Iwobi was a bright spot in an otherwise dull display.
However, things didn’t pan out as well on the other flank. Maitland-Niles got up and down the flank with energy yet couldn’t contribute anything to the Gunners’ offensive play. The Englishman was horrendous with his decision-making and tried to complicate things a little too much.
Though he didn’t have a lot to tackle defensively, his lack of invention going forward rid the Gunners of a lot of promising positions.
At the weekend, Maitland-Niles was the subject of some choice remarks by some Gooners. And with an equally appalling performance against BATE, the Englishman should expect harsher opinions to come his way.
#2 Another awful away Arsenal performance
For a quarter of the current season, Arsenal looked a better team on the road than last term. However, since the turn of the year, the Gunners have been on a downward spiral.
A couple of weeks ago, Arsenal turned in a tremendously tepid display at Manchester City. Thus, many believed that the only way from there for the Gunners was upward. Yet, their performance in Belarus trumped all the depths they had contrived to achieve previously.
The visitors’ offensive play was wretched for the majority of the game. The midfield and the forward line looked bereft of ideas, and played into the hosts’ hands by being too slow with their movements.
On numerous occasions, they got into decent offensive positions but they always seemed to take the wrong option.
Moreover, they were eventually knocked out by the sucker punch, as BATE scored from a set-piece to pile misery on the Gunners.
The pattern of atrocious away performances started with the toothless display at Brighton. At the time, many believed it to be only an anomaly. However, four equally diabolical displays later, it has become a worrying trend for Arsenal.
The Gunners are already a disaster waiting to unravel defensively, and if they stop scoring altogether on away trips, the season which started off promisingly will turn into a damp squib in a trice.
#1 Arsenal have it all to do next week
Arsenal was comprehensively defeated in Belarus by BATE Borisov. The Gunners were shoddy on the night and barely had any positives to take back home.
Fortunately for them though, the Europa League allows for a two-legged tie and the Gunners would hope to put their miserable display on Thursday behind them.
Arsenal has always looked shaky on the road this season and the defeat against BATE was the Gunners’ fifth in their last eight away encounters. However, the Gunners are a different animal at home.
Apart from Cup losses to Manchester United and Tottenham, Arsenal has lost only once at home in the Premier League. Thus, the tie is far from over, and the North London outfit would expect their star players to turn on the style in a week’s time.
If the Gunners bring their A game to the plate in the return leg, they have the potential to blow BATE away and keep their hopes of winning the Europa League alive.
Yet, if they produce anything even distinctly similar to today, they can kiss the Europa League goodbye.
