Cologne was feisty, like their supporters, and delayed the Gunners' party, but they were no match for the rotated but still strong team AW put on the field. Koln's goal in the 8th minute was mostly Ospina's fault. Poor marking forced him to come out to deal with a through ball, and his clearance was dreadful, gifting possession back immediately to the visitors close enough for Ospina's Colombian teammate Cordoba to loft an excellent strike on the turn over our retreating keeper's head. It almost got a lot worse not long afterwards when Ospina took out a Koln attacker in the box, but the play had been whistled dead for an offsides. Holding was having an un-Cannavaro-like game and may have been our worst performer, though Walcott may have edged him out in that category.
Kolasinac came in for him in the second half, and the tide turned quickly, thanks to a superb volley from the sub in the first three minutes. We spurned some more chances, and then Alexis curled a beauty from 25 yds inside the far post with the keeper rooted to the line. Hector knocked in a rebound to seal the points in the final stages. But Koln had chances, and our defense was suspect.
We didn't learn a lot from this game. I'd like to see 90 minutes of urgency from this squad, like we showed in the FA Cup final. They played as though they expected Koln to roll over. Well, three points is three points. On to Stamford Bridge.
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