THRILL FOR WILLOCK
FRANKFURT 0 ARSENAL 3 — MATCH REPORT:
NO MESUT OZIL no problem. Eventually. Not that the final scoreline at the Commerz bankArena told anything like the full story of Arsenal’s Europa League opener.
In the surprise absence of the already rested Ozil, young guns Joe Willock and the especially impressive Bukayo Saka took centre stage before senior star Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang applied the gloss to get the Gunners off to a Group F flier.
As well as scoring his first for the club Saka also set up Arsenal’s two other goals on a breakthrough night to remember for the exciting winger.
The margin of victory, though, masked what for long spells was another Arsenal nerve- shredder and less than certain defensive display, despite the more-thanwelcome clean sheet.
For the second game running Arsenal allowed their opponents an abundance of attempts at their under-fire goal.
After Watford’s record 31 on Sunday, 10-man Frankfurt fashioned another 24 shots last night.
This time, unlike at Vicarage Road, Arsenal got away with it largely thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, whose shot-stopping and handling were excellent throughout his first appearance of the season.
He was so overworked at one stage during a frantic first-half spell he appeared to beg his teammates for greater protection.
With little defensive help coming from those in front of him Arsenal ended the night also hugely indebted to Frankfurt’s frankly awful finishing.
The Bundesliga side lost Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller and Ante Rebic — the trio dubbed the Buffalo Herd who fired them to last season’s semi-final against eventual winners Chelsea — during the summer.
Frankfurt attempted to replace them on the cheap having banked almost £100million from the sales of Jovic and Haller to Real Madrid and West Ham respectively.
As the Germans blew chance after chance, their cut- price replacements Bas Dost and Andre Silva — two of the biggest culprits along with Filip Kostic — underlined the theory that you get what you pay for.
Emery said afterwards: ‘We knew that tonight’s match was going to be difficult.
‘They are a very offensive team and defensively we needed to work but we did it well and they shoot a lot because they have a lot of players in the attacking third.
‘This competition is a big challenge we are excited to do something important. To start with a big result against a good team is important.’
As the opportunities came and went for the home side, the return of Tony Yeboah as Frankfurt’s pre-match pitchside guest was another painful reminder of the quality they once had up front.
Yeboah became a club legend during five years at Frankfurt before becoming a cult hero in the Premier League at Leeds.
How Yeboah in his pomp would have loved some of the chances that came his old side’s way, especially in the first half.
Kostic fired into the side netting, Granit Xhaka produced a last- ditch block to deny Silva, Dost fired wide and Martinez got down sharply to keep out efforts from Kostic and Makoto Hasebe.
Meanwhile Arsenal gave Frankfurt plenty of warnings on the break. Lucas Torreira and Willock both fired over before Kevin Trapp produced the first of a number of saves with his feet to frustrate Emile Smith Rowe.
With seven minutes of the first half left it was Arsenal who edged ahead in what had developed into a real see-saw tussle.
Saka sent Willock away and he found the net via a deflection and the underside of the bar after cutting inside two backtracking Frankfurt defenders.
The first-half pattern continued after the break — Frankfurt creating and missing chances, Arsenal looking to threaten on the counter.
That did not happen until after Dominik Kohr saw red having been shown his second yellow of the night in the 79th minute for tripping Saka.
Arsenal then took full advantage of having an extra man. Six minutes later Saka cut onto his favoured left foot and curled a delightful finish past Trapp to open his account for the club.
Then the 18-year- old showed excellent composure, awareness and quality to put Aubameyang through with a perfectly-timed pass and he made it 3-0. Praising Arsenal’s youngsters, Emery said: ‘Yes, I was impressed with Saka’s goal and performance during the match but also Emile.
‘After his injury he played for the first time with us this season and worked well.’ FRANKFURT (3-5-2): Trapp 7; Abraham 6, Hasebe 7, Hinteregger 6.5; Da Costa 6.5 (Chandler 74min, 6), Kamada 6, Kohr 6, Sow 7, Kostic 7; Dost 5 (Paciencia 67, 6), Silva 6.5.