Walcott had a little knee issue, so Iwobi got a start--but AOC took Theo's place on the right. Iwobi was left wing, and, perplexingly, Alexis was given another run at forward. Everyone expected Giroud to start, and he should have, from a tactical standpoint. Coq-Caz ran the engine room, with Ozil as the #10. The defense was unchanged except for Ospina in goal.
By the time Arsenal woke up, we were down a goal. There's plenty of blame to go around for the ease with which Cavani headed in a cross from Aurier (he is very good, isn't he? Remember when it was rumored we were after him?) after just 42 seconds: Iwobi was nowhere to be found, though he should be tracking the opposition fullback; Cavani found open space between our two CBs; Monreal was not able (then or later) to stop Aurier's excellent cross. It must be said that the header was perfect, though. Fortunately, Cavani bottled every one of the chances he got the rest of the game, and there were several of them, all easier than the one he put in.
It was, I thought, a very entertaining game to watch, especially after Arsenal woke up. I didn't understand why Coquelin was the DM who was furthest forward most of the time. He did his best, but that incisive final ball is never going to come from him. It wasn't coming from Ozil either; he had a poor game. Alexis was isolated and was never going to compete for headers in the box the way Giroud or Perez would have. When Giroud did come in, Alexis moved out left and was a new man. He got the equalizer off a rebound from an Iwobi shot in the 77th minute. Both teams had good chances after that to win the game but spurned them. My opinion is that PSG was the better team on the night and we stole a point.
Or rather Ospina stole the point for us. He was brilliant.all game at stopping shots. His distribution wasn't great, but it didn't cost us. It didn't bother me when he started. He's top class, as we can see when he plays for Colombia. I'll never forget that clanger against Olympiakos, but he is a very good GK and deserved this shot. It will do wonders for his confidence.
Finally, it has to be said that Giroud is something of a moron. He's been getting yellows for dissent forever, and this season FIFA has said they're cracking down on it. But he can't seem to stop baiting the referees, and that earned him his first yellow. In stoppage time, he and Verrati (also on a yellow) got a little pissy with each other and the ref decided to throw them both out of the game. As the commentators said, maybe that's why Giroud didn't start. He got thrown out of the first group game last year too, at Zagreb, and it put us in a deep hole. That time, it took him 45 minutes; this time, a half hour. He needs to work on discipline. What a whiner; I understand why refs look for an excuse to eject him.
The other game was drawn as well. It's down to whether we can do the job against Ludogrets and Basel. Win three at home, take a point in Switzerland, and beat Ludogrets, and we win the group.
Hull on Saturday. I think we match up well against them. Paris was good preparation. I'll say 3-0 Gunners.
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