ARSENAL LOSE THE PLOT IN FRANCE
ARSENAL are in big trouble and only a remarkable salvage operation at the Emirates next week can keep their Europa League hopes alive.
The problem for manager Unai Emery is that Rennes are a team brimming with swagger and ability — and they look more than capable of finishing the job in the second leg.
Emery will back his team to reach the quarter-finals but on this evidence — despite playing with 10 men following Sokratis’s sending off just before half-time — overturning the deficit could well be beyond Arsenal.
It had all been going so well for a while. They went ahead in the third minute and were seemingly cruising. But by the end their European hopes were hanging by a thread.
Emery said: ‘We know it’s a bad result and it’s going to be tough. It’s not a good experience because we couldn’t do our work in difficult minutes with one less player.’
In France for the first time since leaving Paris Saint- Germain, Emery fielded a strong team that included Mesut Ozil, whose reintegration under the Spaniard appeared to be gathering pace until this showing.
Ozil reverted to type — crumbling at the first sight of difficulty. Emery feels he cannot trust Ozil on tough away days and it is easy to see why.
Rennes have their own maverick, of course. Hatem Ben Arfa, who fell out with Emery in the pair’s time together at PSG, started for the French side.
He said: ‘I saw the same Emery, as agitated as ever. I looked over at him a few times and that made me laugh. He hasn’t changed.’
But it was Ben Arfa’s team-mate, Benjamin Bourigeaud, who stole the show. He was untouchable at times and starred in the game that was billed as the biggest occasion in the French club’s 118- year history.
It did not take long, however, for Arsenal to silence the home crowd. Alex Iwobi will claim his measured effort that drifted past Tomas Koubek was deliberate, but it had more than an air of a cross about it.
This was the start Emery must have dreamed of. Little did he know his evening would turn into a nightmare.
Lucas Torreira, Shkodran Mustafi and Iwobi missed glorious chances to double Arsenal’s lead. Rennes seemed overawed by the weight of expectation put on them by the raucous crowd but then it all changed.
Having already been booked, Sokratis was sent off in the 42nd minute for catching Ismaila Sarr with his arm as he was about to bear down on goal. The Greek defender protested his innocence, arguing Sarr had fouled him, but he was not kidding anyone.
Arsenal have had three players sent off in as many weeks, although Emery was at pains to deny his team have disciplinary issues. Former Arsenal defender and
Sportsmail columnist Martin Keown begs to differ, though.
‘The ill- discipline seems to be creeping into the team and it needs to be sorted. It’s costing them,’ said Keown.
Bourigeaud’s effort from the resultant free-kick was struck straight at the wall but his followup was magnificent — the midfielder smashing a thunderbolt from the edge of the area past Petr Cech. Arsenal were shell-shocked. In the space of two minutes they had lost a man and their lead.
Rennes were ignited. Sarr missed from six yards before Bourigeaud wasted two gilt-edged chances to fire his side ahead.
Cech was working overtime against wave after wave of Rennes attacks. Arsenal finally cracked in the 65th minute — albeit in
unfortunate circumstances, Mehdi Zeffane’s cross ricocheting off nacho Monreal’s heel and flying past Cech.
The home crowd went wild but that was nothing compared to the noise after Sarr’s bullet header in the 88th minute capped a disastrous night for the Gunners.
RENNES (4-4-1-1): Koubek 6.5; Zeffane 7, Da Silva 7, Mexer 7, Bensebaini 8; BOURIGEAUD 9 (Lea Siliki 73min, 6), Andre 8, Grenier 8 (Gelin 90), Sarr 8; Ben Arfa 7.5; Hunou 7.
Subs not used: Badiashile, Doumbia, Johansson, Lauriente, Del Castillo. Scorers: Bourigeaud 42, Monreal 65 (og), Sarr 88. Booked: Bourigeaud, Zeffane. Manager: Julien Stephan 8. ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Cech 7.5; Mustafi 5, Sokratis 4, Koscielny 5, Monreal 4; Xhaka 5, Torreira 6; Mkhitaryan 5, Ozil 5 (Ramsey 70, 5), Iwobi 6.5 (Guendouzi 53, 5); Aubameyang 5 (Kolasinac 79). Subs not used: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Suarez, Nketiah. Scorer: Iwobi 3. Booked: Sokratis, Xhaka. Sent off: Sokratis. Manager: Unai Emery 6. Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia) 6.5. Attendance: 29,171.