Standard Liege v. Arsenal 2-3 16/Sep/09

[Photo: Mirror Football]



Arsenal's European title race began today with a difficult and nonsensical win at Belgium at Stade de Sclessin. The first match after the dreadful incident at the Eastlands last Saturday, was a tough visit considering the length of the long calendar in the following month. The competition is yet to start and in the most juvenile phases of the tournament picking a result or a favourite is dangerous, to say the least.




[Photo: Getty Images via Soccernet]



The first half was a virtual nightmare: the young Italian keeper was beaten twice in the space of five minutes; one due to a mistake led by Eduardo that Mangala finished and a penalty kick taken by Jovanovic. Ten minutes and the panorama looked as a unsurmountable task.
From the thirteenth minute the siege commenced as the Belgian team attempted to regain possession. Arsenal tried through most of the match to break the deadlock imposed by the home side but many of the attempts were wide of the mark, and in some cases not even reaching the opposite goal. Statistics were shocking: 65% of possession for the London team in the first 30 minutes of game.
From crosses to passes the Gunners attempted in many forms to earn a goal to at least be able to challenge in the following forty five minutes. As the first half wore off, the attacks from the Londoners were fiercer and came as thick as two or three by the minute. Still the resilient defence led held off pretty fair.
In one of those attempts, Arsenal scored their first, in the final minute: Abou Diaby delivered Bendtner on the wing, who beat Bolat with a powerful shot. At least the hope of the Gunners to equalise and win in the following half was promising.




[Photo: AP through Telegraph]



Bolat denied Bendtner just a minute in the second half to score, when the Dane was already putting his body to score. Reaching the sixtieth minute the Gunners still led the attack fully, as the home side simply took the defensive role. While the Gunners charged with all their fire, the Belgian side - in the 65th minute - held an impressive amount of pressure. The first substitution was kind of strange; Ramsey in for Rosicky.
Instead, every supporter would have opted for the young Wilshere, due to the fact that the Englishman has more of an attacking approach than the Welsh. In any case the match went on and in the 75th minute, the home team seemed no more than a reminiscence of the strong side that pushed Arsenal over the edge in the first five minutes. The equaliser finally came in the 78th when a strange set piece gave the Vermaelen the opportunity to score past Bolat.
Immediately after the Gunners made a couple of substitutions with Sagna in the following minutes, the Gunners came in with everything they had, Vermaelen header was cleared inches from the post. The first lead for the Gunners came in the 81st minute when Eduardo kneed the ball just in front of the opposite keeper. With the introduction of Wilshere in the final five minutes the Gunners held and cleared off each and every ball that came into their box.