The crowd at the Bulgarian National Stadium got their money's worth when the Gunners came to town. Both teams went after it from the beginning, and as the hosts had done in two previous ECL group encounters, they scored first, in the 12th minute. Unlike the other times, they also scored second, just three minutes later. Both goals were well set up and taken, and both exposed our defense. On the first, a questionable handball call gave Ludogorets a free kick, which was sent exactly where it was meant to go. No Gunner touched it, and it traveled all the way to the far post knee high, where it was tucked away expertly into the opposite corner where Ospina had no chance. I think more than one Arsenal player should have dealth with it, though admittedly it's awkward for defenders to try to clear a ball in their six yard box while they're running towards their own goal. Could Ospina have come out and snagged it? As it turned out, yes, but had anyone touched it as he did so, it would have bounced into an empty net. So I don't fault him. The second goal was off a counter; the attacker sat Gibbs on his ass and picked out a nice, short cutback to an unmarked onrushing teammate who made no mistake, and it was 2-0, with the crowd going wild.
It could have been worse, believe it or not. Ludogorets got some corners, and Arsenal never handled them well. This is Ospina's weakest skill, and without Per in there, the ball more often than not bounced in the six yard box, where it could have been poked into the goal. We've been very lucky this year that more such chances have not been put away. Steve Bould needs to get to work on these guys, because they certainly are equipped to win aerial duels reliably.
The bellowing Bulgarians had just five minutes of unalloyed joy before Ozil cut a ball back to Xhaka, whose crisp finish into the corner made it 2-1. The crowd was nervous after that. And a few minutes before the half, Ramsey (who was playing right wing but was mostly in the center of the pitch) crossed delightfully to Giroud, who nodded it bravely into the net just before the onrushing keeper could punch it. The crowd was really nervous now.
A word about the personnel: Ospina was in goal, and the backs were Gibbs-Kos-Mustafi-Jenkinson. Jenko was rusty, and got less help from Ramsey than he should have. Gibbs was positive but was involved in both Ludogorets goals. The center backs were less assured than usual. I don't know how much that has to do with Ospina being in the net rather than Cech. Xhaka and Coquelin played in front of the defense, Ozil was the #10. Alexis was wide left and Ramsey wide right, with Giroud up top. I thought it worked pretty well, but we were taken by surprise (though we shouldn't have been) by the hosts' flying start and lightning counters. Ludogorets was playing very well most of the game. One potential problem was Xhaka's overexuberant tackles, three or four of which could have been yellows--though only one was. Enough players were in unaccustomed roles that the timing was a bit off. In the second half, Ox came in for Ramsey and Elneny for Xhaka. They were good too.
The second half had a lot less drama but much of it was still played at speed. Ospina made a top-class save on a breakaway, and Ludogorets missed a couple other good chances. Our finishing was off as well. It started to look as though it was going to end 2-2, but then a swift sequence of three plays, each more sublime than the last, won us the three points. Giroud came racing back to poke the ball away from behind from a Ludogorets player in our half. Elneny picked up that loose ball, and a touch or two later, launched a long pass to Ozil, who...well, click on that link above to see the whole thing. I just watched it a dozen times. It's hypnotic.
Can someone explain why Wenger can't break the terrible habit some of our guys have of whinig at the ref after every adverse decision? Coquelin got a yellow for dissent today, and a couple more could have. Giroud and Alexis are insufferable whiners. You don't see Koscielny acting like a crybaby when a call goes against him. We lost Giroud in Zagreb last year because he got yellow for dissent (then another for a mistimed high boot). It almost cost us the privilege of being knocked out in the first round following.
PSG won their game late as well, leaving us tied on ten points before our showdown at the Emirates. the winner will win the group no matter what happens in the 6th game, due to the ECL's tiebreaker rules. A draw makes it more complicated.
Spurs Sunday morning. They flamed out at Wembley today. Leverkusen made them look bad, winning 1-0. Dembele had to come out too. They will not be confident Sunday, but studying film of our defensive lapses should give their coaching staff an idea or two. I expect we'll come out as we have for most league games, with Alexis up top again. We'll see. From the game today, some speed up there should really unsettle them.
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