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It was one of those nights where you can take a lot of positives from a disappointment. For large parts of our clash with Dortmund we outplayed them and we really did deserve a draw, possibly even a win. A couple of moments of naivety sunk us and to give the German side credit, they were extremely impressive too. Their discipline was fantastic and you can see they’re a top side for a reason.
I think they’d win the title with ease over here and it’s only the presence of the best side in the world at the moment (Bayern Munich) that stops them winning it every year in Germany. For us, it’s a lesson, but one that needs to be learnt within the context of our start to the season. Tonight doesn’t show that our start is a flash in the pan, it shows that we’re a few steps away from being a side that can better the best teams around and that is cause for positivity.
We were on the back foot for the first 20 minutes or so. Dortmund got into us straight away, pressing with frightening efficiency and numbers. There was no time on the ball and once Dortmund had the ball they came forward with menace and passed the ball accurately and at pace. We struggled to cope and much like in our game against Bayern last year, we conceded early.
Aaron Ramsey turned villain, trying to be clever and run the ball out of defense, he was quickly robbed. Bare in mind, this was 15 minutes in and Ramsey was practically on the edge of his own area, Dortmund had four players with 5 yards of the Arsenal man and it paid off. Reus slid in from behind (fairly) and nicked the ball away.
It fell to Lewandowski, who played a simple pass to Mkhitaryan and the number 10 cooly slotted home. I think Szczesny could have done better to be honest, he should have stayed up for longer; Mkhitaryan’s shot wasn’t great, but because Szczesny went slightly too early, it was enough. Dortmund caught us off guard in the same way we caught Napoli in our last CL game and things looked ominous.
As I’ve already said, the opening bore an unwelcome resemblance to our 3-1 defeat to Bayern and I feared we might be about to witness a similarly humbling game. But such is the confidence within the team at the moment, we managed to force our way back into to it. It took time for us to adjust and deal with the awesomely regimented Dortmund defensive shape, but once we’d taken time to calm things down and settle, we started to find some joy, in particular down the right.
This is where we were desperate for a Walcott or an Oxlade-Chamberlain to penetrate and give us width to stretch them. Without one of the aforementioned duo, it was left to Sagna to provide width and crosses. There was nothing for us down the left; Cazorla was floating infield as per normal and Gibbs was terrified of venturing past the half way line, with electric pace of Reus and Blaszczykowski ready to tear us apart on the counter.
We worked our way back into the game and, after Rosicky had had a volley cleared off the line, equalised a couple of minutes before the break. Sagna crossed from the right and Giroud caused confusion between Subotic and Weidenfeller, with the defender deflecting the ball off his keeper and into Giroud’s path for a tap in. It wasn’t the beautiful sort of goal we’re used to, but we deserved it for the way we’d responded and it was just what we needed before halftime.
After controlling the closing exchanges of the first half, we played the second half in the same manner. Cazorla replaced the off-colour Wilshere after 57 minutes, which gave us a bit more threat and intricacy. We controlled and probed, but couldn’t really create anything clear cut. Santi Cazorla had our best chance of the half, latching on to a brilliant Özil cutback and curling a shot onto the bar.
We badly missed some outright pace and I think if Walcott had been available to us, the result would have been different. Schmelzer didn’t impress me and Walcott would have given him a lot of trouble, especially as Giroud was dominating the two centre backs. Özil stayed out on the right for most of the second half and despite getting in behind a number of times, he clearly wasn’t suited to wing play.
Sagna tried to give some width and pace, but he doesn’t seem quite as quick as he once was, I suppose two leg breaks do that to you. Unfortunately we pushed too hard and having committed men forward, we lost the ball and Dortmund countered. Blaszczykowski sped down the right and we couldn’t get back in time, with Sagna caught upfield.
The winger crossed to the back post an Lewandowski finished a devastating move. We were sunk from the moment it hit the net. There wasn’t time for us to rally and respond and where we should have had at least a draw, we came away empty handed. You could see the bitter disappointment on every player’s face and they’ll know they played well enough to win that game, but lost it through stupid mistakes.
In some ways, it could be a valuable loss (if there is such a thing), as the players can easily see the mistakes they made and correct them for future big games. I think we showed we’ve got the ability to match big teams, now we’ve got to show we can take the points too. Stat of the game: Jack Wilshere’s poor night was highlighted by a pass completion rate of just 50%
Teams
Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny,Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey (Bendtner 86′) Wilshere (Cazorla 58′), Özil ?, Rosicky ? (Gnabry 89′), GiroudSubsVermaelen, Monreal, Cazorla, Fabianski, Bendtner, Jenkinson, Gnabry
Borussia Dortmund (4-2-3-1)
Weidenfeller, Großkreutz, Schmelzer, Sahin, Subotic, Hummels ?, Blaszczykowski (Aubameyang 66′), Bender ?, Lewandowski ?, Mkhitaryan (Hofmann 66′), Reus (Papastathopoulos 87′)SubsHofmann, Aubameyang, Langerak, Kirch, Schieber, Papastathopoulos, Durm
Player Ratings
| Szczesny | 7/10 | Could have possibly done better for the first, solid otherwise |
| Sagna | 7/10 | Caught up the field for the winner, but played well otherwise |
| Koscielny | 7/10 | Couldn’t do much for either goal and looked in good form |
| Mertesacker | 7/10 | Won a lot of headers and was assured on the ball |
| Gibbs | 7/10 | Had to be disciplined with quick wingers waiting to break |
| Arteta | 8/10 | A much better performance, lead the team very well |
| Ramsey | 6/10 | Overconfident, made some poor decisions tonight, passing and shooting |
| Wilshere | 6/10 | Couldn’t live with the pressing and had a poor game |
| Özil | 7/10 | Couldn’t impose himself, but still produced some quality moments |
| Rosicky | 7/10 | A typically busy performance and still looks much younger than 33 |
| Giroud | 8/10 | My MOTM, absolutely bossed the centre backs and held up play well |
| Subs | ||
| Cazorla | 7/10 | Gave us a bit more pace and some much needed quick passing |
| Bendtner | N/A | |
| Gnabry | N/A |
