Arsenal v. Fenerbahce 0-0 5/Nov/08

A dull and and boring draw was the result of today's match against a visiting side who was almost as boring as Mexican football. Several changes in the line-up did not attract as much attention as it "should" but even with absences the home side looked strong enough to equal the potential reached in the previous visit to Turkey.





In the first half a rather dull and boring Arsenal side expected the visiting side to make a move but neither made one! Stupid as that any Gooner had to chew the dulliest forty five minutes of the current campaign when everybody was focused on the clash against Utd on Saturday. Even with all the possession that Arsenal enjoyed during the first half and the ammount of arrivals to Volkan's goal the game was far from having the intensity of the previous tie. Van Persie's wide side-net shot, at 8', or Ramsey's inbox play, at 12', were proof of that. Rossetti managed the match to be smooth and without pauses. That did not help in any way the quality of the game. There were several knocks on the door by the home side like Denilson wide shot or van Persie shot on the cross bar, in 32'. By the 35' the only important Turkish attack was lead by the brilliant Colin Kazim Richards.





Second period started with a curled shot by Touré at 48'. Much for the surprise of the home fans the Arsenal did not offer anything spectacular. The first ten minutes Fenerbahce tried to oppose against a dull and permissive Arsenal. Cesc was playing one of the worst matches of his season with wide passes. Wenger began to exasperate. Above all was the "enthusiasm" of the Gunner side who was reluctant to make an impression on every aspect of the match. The game moved through the left side mostly with Bendtner, Nasri and Clichy's attempts. The poor level showed by both sides suggested that this was a Carling cup match rather than a competitive one. In the freekicks there was nothing to be alarmed. At 70' dull attemps kept coming. Reaching the 80' mark it was by far Arsenal's worst match in UCL. I kept aware of the Turkish Euro comebacks but it did not appear.
The final grasp of the match was that everybody was waiting for something. The final four minutes were wothlesss due to the absence of emotion even with Nasri's side change. In the end Arsenal did not even want to get the lead.