Surface tensions play major part in Arsenal humbling
On a pitch that reminded Arsenal how far they have fallen from the glamour of the Champions League, Unai Emery’s side produced a performance that showed just how far they still have to go before they are ready to return to European football’s top table.
Winning the Europa League may well be Arsenal’s best hope of qualifying for the Champions League but, after this dreary day in eastern Europe, the more pressing concern will be qualifying for the competition’s round of 16.
They will have to come from behind to do so, thanks to a firsthalf header from Bate Borisov’s Stanislav Dragun and their own ever-lasting defensive inadequacies. Sloppy at the back for that solitary goal, Arsenal were agonisingly wasteful in attack.
They shredded Bate at times in the first half, but continued to squander clear openings before the frustration set in. It all got too much for Alexandre Lacazette, who will be unavailable for next week’s second leg after he was shown a straight red card for a swing of his elbow in the dying moments.
The red mist had clearly descended for Lacazette, increasingly isolated in attack, and the sorry truth for Arsenal was that his elbow on Aleksandar Filipovic marked the first time they had made a real dent on Bate in the second half. The Belarussians put most of their team behind the ball, stuck out their chins and asked Arsenal what they had. The answer was feeble, and the response will need to be swift and devastating next week.
Of course, the playing surface had an impact. It must have done, so poor was Arsenal’s passing. The difficulties of the night ahead would have been clear to Emery and his players from the moment they arrived at the Borisov Arena and first laid eyes on a pitch more suited to the second round of the FA Cup than the knockout stages of a European competition.
As is the way of the Belarussian football calendar, Bate had not played a match since Dec 13. Such was the muddy patchiness of the surface, though, that they appeared to have spent their entire preseason either performing shuttle runs on their own turf or allowing the local livestock to graze on it. The grass was flecked by streaks of brown before kick-off, and balls were bouncing off it at all angles during a warm-up that would have prompted more than a few grimaces from Arsenal’s players.
Any plans for slick, one-touch football were forcibly abandoned, then, although Arsenal did have more than enough quality to slice through the Bate defence early on. Before long, though, the home side were posing a threat of their own. Nemanja Milic struck a post before Dragun rose high to head home Igor Stasevich’s free-kick.
Arsenal appeared to get worse after the break, with Bate content to park the metaphorical tractor on the edge of their own churned-up penalty box. Passes were over-hit and set-pieces were botched – then Lacazette’s wild elbow made a gruelling night even worse.