Alexis Sanchez scored twice for Arsenal in Tuesday’s vital 3-0 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb but it was something he did a long way from goal in the first half which summed up their never-say-die attitude. When everybody is back, I believe we have the squad to compete in those domains.
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Petr Cech was briefly called into action as Arsenal frantically attempted to clear from their own six-yard box and El Arbi Hillel Soudani had the ball in the back of the net before the final whistle, but Dinamo were denied a consolation by the offside flag as they crashed out of the competition.
Even that tricky task will seem like a welcome assignment for Arsenal after they successfully navigated what could have been a nerve-jangling experience against Dinamo, whose shock 2-1 win over Wenger’s men in September had played a large role in their perilous predicament.
Arsenal produced another European disappointment, with Arsène Wenger failing to bring on JEFF despite Arsenal being 3-0 up against, with all due respect, a team that is not very good.
Ozil, Sanchez and Santi Cazorla were totally dominant in midfield and the Germany midfielder made the breakthrough when he scored with a stooped header after Sanchez had run more than 50 metres with the ball after an Arsenal break.
Among the positives for the home side on a night where they cruised to victory came in the form of Ozil, who was involved in his 11th goal in his last nine appearances to put the hosts ahead with a fine header.
There was disappointment for the team in the Premier League at the weekend though as Arsenal let a lead slip in their 2-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion. It gives us a chance but how big the chance is I don’t know. Arsenal has three loses, one win and one draw in their last five matches. The Gunners have not had the best Champions League season so far as they have lost 3 games out of four in their group stage matches.
“We had 10 people on Friday to control us”.
With the three points safe attention turned to Munich, where Bayern beat Olympiakos 4-0 in the other game in Group F.
“The speed of our passing and movement gave Zagreb a problem”.
Dinamo’s manager Zoran Mamic said it was fair that the win should count.
There have been major problems concerning crowd trouble in Greece of late, with last Saturday’s derby between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos abandoned after home fans clashed with police beforehand and threw flares at the visiting Olympiakos players as they walked out onto the pitch.
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“I expected them and Bayern to lead the group”.
