Flat Gunners limp over line

ARSENAL limped rather than marched into a top seeding position for the knockout stage as the euphoria of the north London derby was washed away on a damp Cologne night.

The Gunners failed to secure the single point they needed to top the group and guarantee a more favourable draw next month, but were still handed first place in Group H and spared a nervous final game thanks to a goalless draw in between BATE Borisov and Red Star Belgrade.

But two nights after Tottenham came away from Germany with a win in Dortmund, this lacklustre capitulation again suggested Arsenal could learn a thing or two from their rivals about blooding young talent.

Arsene Wenger was always going to make wholesale changes, and perhaps that is where he is going wrong. Without the skeleton of a senior side that Mauricio Pochettino insists on to guide the kids, too much weight of expectation is put on young shoulders.

Yes, this is supposed to be a learning process, but too many of the lessons last night were negative ones. Danny Welbeck, right, we discovered, is still only good for 45 minutes. There were glimpses of his effortless acceleration, but all the while he cannot manage longer in such a slow-paced encounter, he remains too fragile for Gareth Southgate even to consider.

“It was planned he would only play 45 minutes,” said Wenger. “He is coming back from injury and we IN COLOGNE into the back of the net. Belatedly, Arsenal showed a sense of urgency. Wilshere had a shot saved then headed over from close range. Olivier Giroud, clear on goal, took an age to bring the ball down off his chest and was all too quickly thwarted by a pair of Horns, Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn and defender Jannes Horn. It was only the introduction of Reiss Nelson that sparked real life into Arsenal, his running at players mirrored only by Ainsley MaitlandNiles and Eddie Nketiah. Wenger said: “Maitland-Niles was very good in the first half and Nelson looked dangerous going forward, the really young players did well on that front. “We had a lot of possession and lost a game when Cologne had one shot on goal. We missed a bit in the final third, some accuracy in our passing to score. We had plenty of danger situations but lacked something. “You feel you have done the job to top the group,” Wenger said without enthusiasm. “Now we play the final game with not much at stake beyond wanting to win the game. What does finishing top mean? I won’t know until the draw.”

COLOGNE Booked: ARSENAL (3-4-3): Referee: (4-1-3-2): Booked: Goal: