ARSENAL DONE FOUR
Champions League hopes are up in smoke... for now
LIFE after Arsene Wenger was never going to be easy. Ther e wer e no guarantees the end of an era would bring the best of times rolling back to Arsenal.
But yesterday evening, as glum-looking players trudged around a sparsely-populated Emirates Stadium to offer their appreciation after the final home game of the first post-Wenger campaign, this felt like a club lost at sea.
Vital connections have been frayed since absent owner Stan Kroenke completed his takeover last year and wiped out the minority shareholders amid far-reaching change behind the scenes.
Unai Emery cannot or does not have the will to communicate with fans, his players barely utter a word in public and chairman Chips Keswick was jeered as he made his way on to the pitch to make some presentations.
Dropped points, of course, fuelled the dissatisfaction. A home win would have cranked up pressure on neighbours Tottenham, who are also wilting at an alarming rate.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang deliv-delivered an e a rr ll yy nerve-settler when he con- verted a disputed penalty, but Brighton fought back to equalise in the s e c o nd hal f through Glenn Murray, a l s oo from the spot.
Purely in terms ms of points, Arsenal enal are already four better off than last seasonason with one game to play at Burnley, and yet this Premier League campaign will be filed away as a missed opportunity.
Emery’s team have taken only this point from the last four games against opposition they expect to beat — Crystal Palace, Leicester, Wolves and Brighton.
Before that, they clung on to beat a Watford team who played for 80 minutes with 10 men, and surrendered feebly to defeat at Everton.
The capitulation has been masked by the stumbling form of their closest rivals and progress in the Europa League, which remains their one realistic chance of a ticket to the Champions League. They are 3-1 up in the semi-final against Valencia with the second leg in Spain on Thursday.
To finish in the top four, Emery’s side r equire t he unlikely combination of a win at Burnley and hoping Spurs lose at home to Everton by a large enough margin to force an eight-goal swing. Little wonder few were buying the ppost-match propaganda as ArseArsenal’s titlewinniwinning women’s team were paraded and a disconsoll atea guard of hhonour formed ffor the departing Danny Welbeck, Petr Cech and Aaron Ramsey. Welbeck is ii nnj ured, a nd alalthough many assassumed his contracttract would not be renewrenewed, there had been no public confirmation from the club until the announcer said ‘his presence will be missed’. There was warm applause for Cech, who will retire, and a rapturous ovation for Ramsey, a bona fide legend who does not want to leave but is heading to Juventus because Arsenal made such a shambles of his contract negotiations. Ramsey (below) wiped tears from his eyes as fans sang his name. He represents precisely the type of individual they need in t hese t r ansitional times, a player with heart and desire and who knows the Arsenal way, and he has been driven out against his will. What a mess they are making of it all off the pitch and yesterday they made a mess of t hings on the pitch, too. They had gone in front on nine minutes, with Alireza Jahanbakhsh adjudged to have tripped Nacho Monreal, although replays showed the Iranian touched the ball before the full back went over his leg. Aubameyang converted the 20th goal of his first full Premier League season.
Brighton, safe from relegation thanks to Crystal Palace’s win at Cardiff on Saturday, went close when Murray’s header was saved by Bernd Leno.
Mat Ryan made excellent saves to deny Shkodran Mustafi, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan, and Lewis Dunk headed clear from Alexandre Lacazette.
Solly March was Brighton’s best outlet and was rewarded with a penalty when he dashed into the penalty box, eased away from Granit Xhaka and hit the ground. Again, contact appeared minimal but Xhaka did not stop to complain and Murray beat Leno with the spot-kick.
Arsenal threw players forward and Aubameyang wasted the best of their late chances, slicing wide when he ought to have hit the target and they could have lost it on the break.
Bernardo and Yves Bissouma whistled shots wide and Leno made a terrific late save from March to ensure the day did not end in a fourth straight defeat. ARSENAL (4-3-1-2): Leno 7; Lichtsteiner 4.5 (Kolasinac 76 min, 5), Sokratis 5.5, Mustafi 6, Monreal 6; Torreira 6, Xhaka 5, (Iwobi 76), Mkhitaryan 6.5 (Guendouzi 76); Ozil 6; Lacazette 6.5, Aubameyang 6. Subs not used: Cech, Elneny, Koscielny, Nketiah. Scorer: Aubameyang 9 (pen). Booked: Sokratis, Xhaka, Lichtsteiner, Guendouzi. Manager: Unai Emery 6. BRIGHTON (4-1-4-1): Ryan 7.5; Bruno 6.5, DUFFY 8, Dunk 7, Bernardo 6; Stephens 6.5; Jahanbakhsh 4.5 (Knockaert 46, 7), Gross 6 (Kayal 90), Bissouma 6, March 7.5; Murray 6.5 (Andone 77). Subs not used: Button, Bong, Locadia, Burn. Scorer: Murray 61 (pen). Booked: Gross, Dunk. Manager: Chris Hughton 7. Referee: Anthony Taylor 5. Attendance: 59,965.