Arsenal take command after brilliance finally outweighs buffoonery
One day, Arsenal might make it easy for themselves. They might play a match without giving a goal to the opposition, or continuously playing themselves into trouble at the back, or missing a series of clear chances. Maybe that will be the point when they “go bang”, as Mikel Arteta promised this week.
We can only guess as to when that time might arrive. For now, what is clear is that Arsenal remain as erratic and unpredictable as ever.
Arteta’s side are capable of sensational moments of attacking play, but they are still a constant danger to themselves at the other end.
Each match comes down to whether the brilliance can outweigh the buffoonery. On this occasion, to the huge relief of Arteta and his players, it did. Against an Olympiacos side evidently inferior in every department, Arsenal offered up one goal but ultimately struck three of their own to take control of the tie.
It was almost inevitable that the night would be made far more complicated than it should have been by Arsenal’s own defensive mistakes.
This time it was Bernd Leno and Dani Ceballos combining to shoot themselves in the foot, with possession surrendered in a terrible area when Arsenal were leading by a single goal. Youssef El-arabi pounced for the Greek team, to cancel out Martin Odegaard’s exceptional opener, but Arsenal eventually fought back to claim some revenge for last year’s defeat by the same opponents.
Not many would have expected Gabriel, the Brazilian centre-back, and Mohamed Elneny to be the goalscoring heroes, but only a fool would dare to guess the outcome of one of Arsenal’s matches these days.
Gabriel’s late header was a glorious individual effort, all neck power and bravery, before Elneny lashed in a fine effort from range.
“The goals that we have conceded, the chances that we have conceded, they are coming from ourselves,” said Arteta. “That is really positive because the moment we stop it, obviously we are going to be even stronger. But the reality is that we have to stop it immediately.
“We have to get better at that, because if not it creates tension and insecurity, and it creates belief in the opponent. It is unnecessary.
“If we want to go to the next level we have to stop doing that and be more ruthless.”
There was revenge on the mind, with Arsenal looking to make amends for their gruelling defeat by these opponents one year ago.
The job is not yet done, but this was as encouraging a result as they could have realistically hoped for from the first leg. Not least because Olympiacos took only one of the clear chances that Arsenal gave to them.
Had the home side been able to punish Arsenal’s other errors, they might have been the side taking a lead to north London. As it was, three away goals made it a successful night for the visitors.
They were all superb goals, too, with Odegaard scoring his first for the club with a wonderfully vicious effort from range. The on-loan Real Madrid midfielder had missed a clear chance early on, and then watched as Pierre-emerick Aubameyang failed to convert his pass, so his finish felt like a venting of his frustration.
Arsenal were comfortable at this point, cruising towards victory. But Leno and Ceballos, on as a substitute, had other ideas after the break. As was the case at Burnley last weekend, when Granit Xhaka was to blame, the midfielder was caught in possession after receiving the ball from his goalkeeper. El-arabi curled in a straightforward finish.
The goal appeared to rattle Arsenal for a while. They needed something to jar them back into life, and it came from Gabriel. It was a remarkable header, from Willian’s cross, that somehow had enough power to loop into the far corner.
There was time for more for the visitors, with Elneny taking responsibility by charging forward through the midfield and unleashing a fierce strike from range. It made the scoreline look comfortable, despite Arsenal’s own attempts to make this as difficult a night as possible.
Olympiacos (4-4-1-1) Sa 5; Lala 5, Sokratis 6, M’vila 5, Reabciuk 5 (Holebas 45); Bruma 5 (Randjelovic 59), Bouchalakis 6, Camara 6, Masouras 5 (Androutsos 86); Valbuena 5 (Fortounis 45); El-arabi 7 (Mahgoub 77).
Subs Kouka, Drager, Karargyris, Tzolakis, Sourlis.
Booked M’vila, Bouchalaki
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Leno 5; Bellerin 6, Luiz 5, Gabriel 7, Tierney 6; Partey 6 (Ceballos 56), Xhaka 6; Saka 6 (Pepe 82), Odegaard 7 (Smith Rowe 82), Willian 6 (Elneny 82); Aubameyang 6 (Lacazette 88). Subs Holding, Cedric, Pepe, Chambers, Pablo Mari, Ryan, Martinelli, Hein.
Booked Gabriel.
Referee Daniel Siebert (Germany).