Wenger’s men flick the switch
CLASSY GUNNERS ROUT RUSSIANS
SECONDLEG: THURSDAY, 8.05 pm
For a while, it was a toss- up who was going to score more last night. Arsenal, or Sergio Garcia on the 15th at Augusta.
In the end, Garcia won that contest having put five shots in the water to card 13. Arsenal could only manage four shots in the CSKA Moscow goal, all scored before half-time, with the remainder of the match panning out as a training exercise, as is often the case.
Alexandre Lacazette scored twice, as did Aaron ramsey, who should have got his second hat-trick of 2018. To be fair, he could have got two hat-tricks on the night itself.
As well as two goals, he hit a post, missed one from 10 yards and sent a couple of efforts wide. Mesut ozil was equally culpable and had CSKA got a second it could have made the trip to Moscow a little tense. As it is, Arsenal appear to have the tie won.
The journey east will be the biggest challenge, with long hours on the plane and travelling at each end. At least they have little to play for domestically. The Europa League is their season now, four matches separating them from a place in the Champions League next season. Three, if we make presumptions about the quarter-final, second leg. CSKA need to win 3-0 and the chance of Arsenal not scoring if required against a creaking, aging defence is minimal.
If they did not win by a greater margin it was only because the job was done inside 35 minutes. If ramsey and others were wasteful, it was probably only because they were convinced another chance would come along shortly. And it did, but they missed that one as well. They had so much in hand.
Barring a defensive disaster in Moscow, this goose is cooked. CSKA showed occasional promise going forward and scored a cracking free-kick, but the defence showed its age, all 139 years of it.
CSKA were last here in 2006, earning a creditable draw in the Champions League group stage and, incredibly, the back four — three defenders, plus the goalkeeper — were unchanged from that day. Arsenal’s back line that night comprised Jens Lehmann, Justin Hoyte, Kolo Toure, William Gallas and Gael Clichy. It is fair to say they have moved on.
It was four after 34 minutes and could have been more. This was Arsenal at their fluid best. They cut through CSKA with ease, like young things playing a veterans’ XI, which was pretty much how it was. They skipped down the flanks, played neat, short passes through the middle and ramsey ran riot in the forward midfield role.
The mood felt quite strange, having witnessed the sound and fury at Anfield on Wednesday. The ferocity Liverpool summoned to defeat Manchester City was not needed, or present, here. Arsenal did not need to be superhuman, just themselves.
Then again, perhaps the subdued atmosphere at the Emirates influences perceptions these days. Had there been a full-throated full house roaring them on, maybe it would have appeared more impressive. It is a shame that not even a match of this magnitude can inspire the locals these days. Given what is on offer, this was a huge game for them, really.
And they started well. Arsenal could have been a goal up after four minutes when ozil picked out Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who hit one of those shots into the sidenetting that deceives the eye and imitates a goal. It wasn’t the only early disappointment. Soon after, ramsey had the ball in the net, but a tight offside call went against provider ozil. Was it to be one of those nights?
No, it wasn’t. Just eight minutes in, Arsenal took the lead. A lovely build-up of short passes ended with Jack Wilshere feeding Hector Bellerin on the right. His cross picked out ramsey, whose firsttime shot gave Akinfeev no chance. From that moment, a rout seemed entirely probable.
First, this being Arsenal, an alarm. Some ordinary defensive work ended with Laurent Koscielny conceding a free-kick in a central position five yards outside the area. Aleksandr Golovin stood over it and launched the most exquisite shot, curling the ball into the top corner, Petr Cech utterly defeated. Having got level,
Moscow could have gone ahead. Georgi Schennikov pulled the ball back for Ahmed Musa, late of Leicester, who shot just wide. Moscow were dangerous at times but, from there, Arsenal were unstoppable.
In the 23rd minute, Ozil burst into the box under pressure from Schennikov. He looked to be losing his balance, maybe the ball too, but just to make sure Schennikov lunged in and sent him tumbling in front of one of the goal-line assistants.
Referee Pavel Kralovec could not spot it, but his colleague could hardly miss it and, belatedly, the Czech official pointed to the spot. Flushed with success from his generously donated penalty against Stoke on Sunday, Lacazette stepped up and buried it low to the left. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should get an assist on that one.
By now, Arsenal were hitting their straps and the third goal, five minutes later, was the work of a side brimming with confidence.
Ozil’s dink into the box was delightful but Ramsey’s finish had a touch of Messi about it. He had lost CSKA’s defence — or maybe they had simply lost him — and was in space with only Akinfeev to beat. He pirouetted in the air, took the ball on the volley and clipped it with the outside of his right foot, up and over the goalkeeper, somewhere between a flying mule kick and a back-heel. It was beautiful, and Ramsey’s joyful celebration suggested he knew that.
CSKA had the occasional swing at a revival, but nothing too troubling, and in the 34th minute Lacazette put the game — and probably the tie — beyond doubt. Ozil cut the ball back from the left, a cumbersome 30- something defender failed to cut it out, Lacazette finished with a flourish.
Arsenal’s total should have doubled before the end, but the job was done. Unlike Garcia, they did not want to make a scene.