Wilshere ‘relieved’ after seizing chance
There are times, when the Arsenal passing machine whirrs into motion and the full-backs fly forward with purring ease, that watching Arsene Wenger’s side can feel like sitting in on one of their training sessions.
Usually, this is testament to the slick football on show, to the creativity and daring that makes this team one of the most watchable in Europe. At the Emirates last night, the training-ground feel was instead a reflection of the performance of BATE Borisov, the Belarusian champions very much playing up to their role as yellow training cones, and also to the thinness of the crowd, with less than 30,000 fans in the stadium for this dead rubber.
With Arsenal’s qualification as group leaders already secure, there was no surprise at how few fans had made the trip on this cold night, even though the club said almost 55,000 tickets had been sold.
“It is true that you prefer the ground to be full,” said Wenger. “But there was not much at stake tonight. However many sit in the stand, you have to give them what they expect.”
Arsenal certainly did that, and those fans who braved the winter chill were treated to an exhibition of smooth attacking football, with the trio of Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud all impressing again in Europe.
They have are 150 international caps between them, but not one Premier League start this season. All three found the net, and have more to offer this side than the occasional midweek appearance.
“The boss told us to enjoy ourselves,” Walcott said. “We are doing our best to give the manager a headache to pick us for the team.”
Wilshere, who ended the night with the captain’s armband, added that it was a “relief” to score his first Arsenal goal since May 2015. His strike, a blasted finish after a neat touch away from a pair of static BATE defenders, was Arsenal’s third before half-time.
“We can say the opponent was not at the level of the Premier League, but you can only do your job and that is what we did in a convincing way,” said Wenger.
The goals began pouring in after little more than 10 minutes. Mathieu Debuchy scored the first, lashing in a fierce strike, his first since December 2014.
The second was soon added by Walcott, converting after a Danny Welbeck run had caused chaos in the BATE box. Then came Wilshere’s third, slammed home before the break. “Jack is moving forward,” said Wenger. “He is sharp and quick and incisive.”
The fourth, after half-time, was the most comical of the lot, as Denis Polyakov slashed Walcott’s teasing cross into his own net.
Walcott then won a penalty by tempting Nemanja Milunovic into a foolish challenge. Giroud scored to the goalkeeper’s left, but had to retake. No matter, he finished the second attempt just as comfortably, in the same corner.
Midfielder Mohamed Elneny had enough time to join in the scoring fun, curling home a beautiful finish after more work from Wilshere.