Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GROUP H WENGER CLAIMS ALL IS WEL
Half-time switch ‘all part of the plan’
DANNY WELBECK saw his comeback cut short as Arsenal clinched top spot in Group H, despite defeat in Cologne.
Arsene Wenger admitted Welbeck was “frustrated” to come off at half-time, but insisted that was always the plan on the striker’s first start in over a month.
It also ended in disappointment for an experienced-looking Arsenal side against the German strugglers, who have yet to manage a win in the Bundesliga this season.
Cologne striker Sehrou
Guirassy (right) fired a 62nd-minute penalty after going down very easily under Mathieu
Debuchy’s challenge
– and Arsenal just could not find an equaliser. But they still came out on top because BATE Borisov drew with Red Star Belgrade, meaning Wenger’s men can’t be caught, with one game left.
The Gunners boss said: “The situation with Danny is that it was planned before the game he’d play 45 minutes. He is coming back from injury. And we have three more games this week – Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday.
“And, medically, the risk was a bit too high to play him for longer. But he has no problem. He was ready to stay on and frustrated to come
off, but he’s in good shape. I believe that we had a lot of possession and we lost a game where Cologne had one shot on goal, which was a penalty.
“Overall, it was not a penalty at all and we missed a little bit in the final third, a little bit of accuracy in our passing to score more goals.
“There were plenty of dangerous situations, but we always missed a little something to finish our chances. I must say as well that Cologne defended with spirit, commitment and the crowd was absolutely fantastic for them.”
The 45,300 fans were rocking, but Arsenal dominated the first half. And it was Francis Coquelin, who has never scored for the Gunners, who twice went close.
Welbeck’s half-time exit saw the introduction of Alex Iwobi, who gave more zip through midfield.
Debuchy played well, Calum Chambers got a chance at right wing-back and Jack Wilshere ran himself into the ground.
But Cologne got their break when Russian referee Vladislav Bezborodov bought Guirassy’s acrobatics as he took a dive from Debuchy’s challenge. Guirassy drove his penalty down the middle to beat David Ospina.
Gunners substitute Reiss Nelson and Olivier Giroud both went close to equalising before Wilshere’s piledriver was tipped over by Cologne keeper Timo Horn as Arsenal’s night ended in defeat.