Freddie fails to find an instant solution to Gunners’ woes as keeper Leno rescues visitors with a string of superb saves
NEW manager, same old problems.
Any notion that Freddie Ljungberg could breeze in, wave a magic wand, and make a fairy-tale return was quickly put into stark perspective.
In fact, Arsenal were lucky not to lose at Carrow Road after a performance which was not much of an upgrade on Unai Emery.
They were still a shambles in defence, the line-up looked lopsided, still relied on PierreEmerick Aubameyang for goals, record £72million signing Nicolas Pepe still cannot get a game, and goalkeeper Bernd Leno rescued a point with a string of top saves.
As auditions went, caretaker boss Ljungberg’s was not the most convincing in front of the Arsenal board and director Josh Kroenke, who had flown in from the US. It was a long way from the instant lift which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave Manchester United.
In fairness, it was always going to take more than two training sessions to make a mark after Emery’s miserable reign, but at least
Paul Tierney 27,067
Arsenal did play with more freedom, were better going forward, and abandoned playing out from the back.
But can you imagine if Emery had picked Shkodran Mustafi, Granit Xhaka, Sead Kolasinac and left Pepe on the bench? Instead, the 2,500 travelling fans gave Ljungberg and his hastilyappointed assistant Per Mertesacker a great reception.
You could immediately sense the mood had changed in the players as Arsenal started well, Mesut Ozil bright on the left and relegation-threatened Norwich holding on.
Onel Hernandez cleared Mustafi’s goal-bound header off the line and Alexandre Lacazette wasted a big chance for the visitors.
But after Arsenal failed to make a breakthrough, Norwich exposed their defence after 21 minutes. Kenny McLean led a counter-attack, Teemu Pukki’s clever movement made enough space to shoot, and the ball was deflected off Mustafi and flew past Leno.
The lead was short-lived as referee Paul Tierney spotted Christoph Zimmermann’s stray arm in a goalmouth scramble, gave a penalty for
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