- Arsenal suffered their first defeat of this season’s Europa League campaign in a disappointing 1-0 defeat to German club Cologne.
- The Gunners have still secured the top spot in Group H despite tonight’s loss.
- Danny Welbeck made a return to the Arsenal side but was replaced by Alex Iwobi at half-time.
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Arsenal slipped to a 1-0 defeat away to German side Cologne but still managed to secure top spot in their group with other results going their way.
The German side currently sit at the bottom of the Bundesliga and have the worst defensive record in their devision. However, they were more than capable in securing the three points against the Gunners this evening and managed to limit Arsenal’s attacking chances to very few.
Sehrou Guirassy went down in the 61st minute after being fouled by Arsenal’s Mathieu Debuchy in the Gunners’ box. The attacker stepped up to convert the penalty himself in the 62nd minute sending the Arsenal goalkeeper David Opsina to his right as the the the striker calmly slotted the ball down the middle of the goal.
The penalty was contentious to say the least with it appearing to be a tangling of legs rather than a foul from the French defender.
Regardless, it goes without saying that Arsenal are unlikely to be happy with tonight’s display with them still being able to secure the top spot in Group H as the only silver lining from tonight’s defeat.
Man of the match
Sehrou Guirassy was a constant threat down the left-side for the German side Cologne and the attacker cleverly drew the foul that earned the subsequent penalty that won the game. Guirassy cleverly lent in to the shoulder of French defender Debuchy to draw the foul before calmly slotting the penalty away himself.
Flop of the match
When you’ve been struggling to maintain consistent game time you need to take hold of any opportunity you are given. Tonight, Olivier Giroud did not do that. The Frenchman was presented with the opportunity to fill his boots with tonight’s opposition boasting the worst defensive record in the Bundesliga. However, Giroud could not capitalise on this with the star often left isolated up top with an unwillingness to run the channels like a teammate such as Alexis Sanchez may have.
Stat of the match
Not a good destination to travel for the Gunners…
4 – Arsenal have lost each of their last four away games against German opposition (twice v Bayern Munich and once v Borussia Dortmund and FC Koln), conceding 13 goals and scoring just two in return. Struggle. pic.twitter.com/mBha0qhC9J
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 23, 2017
Player ratings
Arsenal: Ospina 5, Debuchy 4, Mertesacker 5, Holding 6, Chambers 6, Coquelin 6, Elneny 6, Maitland-Niles 5, Wilshere 7, Welbeck 4, Giroud 4.
Subs: Iwobi 5, Nelson 5, Nketiah N/A.
Reaction
Pundits and fans had a lot to say regarding a more than disappointing performance from the Gunners tonight…
Arsenal have managed to lose to a fragrance that hasn’t smelt a single victory in the Bundesliga this season.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) November 23, 2017
We topped the group. Result irrelevant. All it does is prove that focus is an issue top to bottom at Arsenal.
— Le Grove (@LeGrove) November 23, 2017
Very arsenal-esque to have a world-class performance against Tottenham and have a shitty performance against koln…#COYG
— Ntu2K.O (@ntumnisi23) November 23, 2017
Arsenal fans had all the jokes and laughed at Man Utd for losing to a spice.
Now they went to Germany, just to lose to a men’s fragrance.
Eau de toilet.
— Oluwacloutinho (@Nigerianscamsss) November 23, 2017