Arsenal’s malaise continues with Olympiakos setback

 
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James Olley5 December 2012

The line-up may have changed significantly but Arsenal’s malaise continues. Arsène Wenger made seven changes to the team dispatched by Swansea last weekend but defeat to Olympiakos carried all the hallmarks of his first-choice side.

After flattering to deceive for 45 minutes, alarming defensive lapses cost the Gunners here as Tomas Rosicky’s fine first-half effort was overturned by goals from Giannis Maniatis and substitute Kostas Mitroglou.

Arsenal finish second in Group B and face the prospect of their last 16 clash being decided away from the Emirates Stadium. Victory would have been enough, just as Wenger predicted pre-match, after Montpellier held Schalke to a 1-1 draw in France.

Only after the draw for the knock-out stage is concluded on 20 December will the full damage of this result be determined in the context of Arsenal’s European aspirations – the prospect of another meeting with Barcelona exists – but of more immediate relevance, it did little to dampen the negativity permeating the club at present.

Rosicky, marking his first start of the season following a tendon injury with his first goal since March, was a positive influence but whether he is sufficiently ready to reinvigorate the Gunners’ Premier League campaign remains to be seen. Wenger has bemoaned his side’s lack of creativity – Santi Cazorla appears fatigued after starting all 15 league games to date – but he needs more than a revived Rosicky on this evidence.

Arsenal have ended their group stage campaign in Piraeus in three of the last four seasons and each time qualification had already been secured prior to arrival.

This fixture is also oddly notable for the fate of its left-backs. Last season’s 3-1 defeat was compounded by an ankle injury to André Santos which put him out of action for three months at a pivotal time in the season.

In 2009, youngster Thomas Cruise made his one and only Arsenal appearance on this ground in a 1-0 defeat. Now 21, Cruise plies his trade in League Two with Torquay. Jernade Meade will hope to avoid a similarly dubious place in the club’s history. The 20-year-old’s Champions League debut was his first senior start but second appearance following a late run-out in the Capital One Cup in October. He is a raw talent but showed some promise.

Meade’s inclusion was almost as surprising as the omission of Andrei Arshavin, who must be a certainty to leave next month after failing to make the starting line-up for a match of as little significance as this. To see Arshavin’s name alongside academy players including Chuba Akpom, Elton Monteiro and Zak Ansah was the ultimate indication of how far the Russian’s stock has fallen.

Wenger told the 31-year-old in the summer he was surplus to requirements but he instead chose to fight for his place rather than move back to former club Zenit St Petersburg. Surely that fight is unwinnable now.

Regardless of the turbulent mood around the team at present, Arsenal began brightly. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain stood a cross up to the back post which Chamakh headed down and after the ball escaped Olympiakos defender Drissa Diakité, Aaron Ramsey had a golden chance, arriving late into the box but completely missing his kick.

Olympiakos roused themselves. Pablo Contreras headed a corner goalwards forcing Rosicky to clear the ball off the line before Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was forced into action, flying to his right to repel Djamel Abdoun’s shot.

Rafik Djebbour headed straight at Szczesny from the resultant corner prior to firing wastefully over when found smartly by the lively Abdoun.

The Gunners looked vulnerable at the back with Sébastien Squillaci’s positional sense particularly suspect but continued to carry a threat going forward and took the lead on 38 minutes. Gervinho runs down cul-de-sacs so often he should have one named after him but as he charged into a scrum of Olympiakos defenders, somehow he dug out a fine pull-back for Rosicky to sidefoot effortlessly past former Manchester United and West Ham goalkeeper Roy Carroll.

Wenger had seen enough to convince him of Rosicky’s wellbeing and he was withdrawn at the interval and replaced by Arshavin, who headed over and then forced a decent stop from Carroll as Arsenal threatened to extend their lead.

But familiar defensive shortcomings reared themselves again albeit amid some controversy. Paulo Machado was left unmarked to head against Szczesny’s left-hand post with Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco adjudging the Pole to have made contact with his despairing dive.

From the resultant corner, the Gunners failed to clear and Maniatis forced the ball home. Szczesny was livid and was cautioned for his protest. It got worse. Moments after coming off the bench, Mitroglou turned away from Carl Jenkinson and curled a fine 20-yard effort into the bottom corner past Szczesny, who reacted late.

Wenger had no ammunition on the bench to respond and Arsenal’s dire run was extended to one win from eight games.

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