POISE 3 NOISE 1
Gunners stay calm to silence Germans
Arsenal, they have fallen a long way. And a bad night threatened to get even worse when Cologne went ahead. The opening goal came after another howler from David Ospina as Arsenal’s No.2 keeper has made a habit of dropping clangers in Europe. His latest shocker came on nine minutes when he rushed out of his box, made a poor clearance, the ball fell to Leonardo Bittercourt who controlled it before Jhon Cordoba smashed a dipping shot from 45 yards. Poor old Ospina was caught rushing back to his goalline when the ball sailed over him and Cologne fans – dotted all over the stadium – celebrated. Arsenal struggled to get back into the game, they looked disjointed and a real mess. On top of that, poor Rob Holding was struggling badly in defence as Bittercourt had the beating of him down Arsenal’s right. Not surprisingly, Arsenal were booed off at half time and Wenger responded by substituting Holding for Kolasinac. The Bosnian defender went to left-back, Arsenal switched to a flat back four and the tide began to turn. Theo Walcott chased down a ball in the 50th minute, his cross was deflected off Lukas Klunter and the ball fell to Kolasinac who smashed a brilliant left foot volley into the corner. If only Arsenal had 11 Kolasinacs in the team then they would not lack heart. But at least it fired them up for an impressive fight back. Arsenal went ahead after 67 minutes when Sanchez scored with a goal of the highest quality. Alex Iwobi’s long ball forward left Sanchez with a lot to do, he chased it down and then turned Cologne defender Jorge Mere inside out. Sanchez then cut inside and curled a stunning 20yard shot into the far corner. A world-class goal. That got a wonderful reception and shortly afterwards Jack Wilshere came on as a 68th minute substitute to a fantastic ovation, making his first appearance at the Emirates since May 2016. Arsenal completed the turnaround after 82 minutes when Walcott’s shot was charged down and Bellerin then slid home the rebound.