Showing posts with label Champions League. Show all posts

Fenerbahce 0 Arsenal 3 - Match Highlights and Post Match Reaction

Published 23rd August 2013 by @ArsenalTrend


Aaron Ramsey scored one goal and set up another to inspire Arsenal to a 3-0 thrashing of Fenerbahce in their Champions League first leg play-off on Wednesday.

The North London club now stand on the brink of a 17th straight qualification for the lucrative pool stages after a dreadful start to their Premier League campaign with defeat to Aston Villa.

A potential banana skin in the Turkish capital instead ended up as a smooth ride for the 2006 finalists as Aaron Gibbs and Oliver Giroud with a late penalty joined Ramsey on the score sheet.

The breakthrough after a dull opening half arrived in the 51st minute when Ramsey played in Theo Walcott down the right wing and the winger's cross was allowed to reach Gibbs who crashed the ball into the roof of the net.



Arsenal were trying to bounce back from a disappointing debut to their domestic season when they crashed 3-1 at home to Villa and endured the wrath of their fans who are growing increasingly impatient with the club's lack of activity in the transfer market.

Ramsey then scored a fortunate second goal with 24 minutes left when Fenerbahce 'keeper Volkan Demirel inexplicably allowed a routine shot from outside the box slip under his hands for a mistake that will haunt him for the rest of his career.

Giroud then planted a confident penalty in the top left hand corner after Michal Kadlec brought down Walcott on 77 minutes that has virtually put the tie beyond doubt.


The 'Gunners' have a proud record of having qualified for the group stages of every Champions League competition since 1998 but they laboured during a lacklustre first half that featured no goals and few chances.

Fenerbahce meanwhile were looking to reach the pool stages despite a potential ban looming over them for match fixing that has gone to appeal and will be decided on the eve of the draw.

The odds were stacked against them having beaten English opposition only once in European Cup history dating back to 1969 when they eliminated Manchester City 2-1 on aggregate.

The Istanbul club rarely threatened the Arsenal goal throughout the match and Arsene Wenger's team were able to take a firm stranglehold on the tie with three unanswered second half goals that will silence the critics at least temporarily.

The second leg is set for next Tuesday at the Emirates Stadium.

Team Line Ups

Fenerbahce : Demirel Irtegun  Yobo , Alves , Kadlec 5; Topal 4 (Gokhan, 46, ), Meireles (Potuk, 82), Belozoglu ; Kuyt , Sow , Webo 5 (Emenike, 62,).

Arsenal : Szczesny ; Sagna , Mertesacker , Koscielny  (Jenkinson, 33,), Gibbs ; Ramsey , Wilshere , Rosicky ; Walcott  (Monreal, 87), Cazorla , Giroud  (Podolski, 82).

Theo Walcott & MOTM Aaron Ramsey Post Match Reaction 


Arsene Wenger Match Reaction


Kieran Gibbs Post Match Quotes Via Arsenal.com
"In terms of putting us in a good position, it [the win] has given us a bit of togetherness," said Gibbs. "I think people have seen tonight what the team is capable of and we have to take this now into the [rest] of the season.
"It [the goal] was a good moment for me. To be honest I felt we deserved to be up in the first half. I knew that to get an away goal tonight would put us in a strong position and we were desperate for that goal. I felt we deserved it and we got our rewards in the end after a good performance. 
"I thought we were playing well from the start of the game and to be honest I thought we were better in the first half - we got a little bit apprehensive in the second half because we really wanted to get the goal. But we knew that the chances were going to come and it was a case of taking them when we got the opportunity. 
"We know what we're capable of so we don't need to prove it to anyone. But we need to prove to ourselves that we can be consistent and start producing results week-in, week-out. That's down us and that's purely what we're focused on."
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Match Highlights 

Lessons For Our Game With The Devils...

23rd April 2013 By Misterspruce


After our somewhat lackluster performance against Fulham, I only hope our boys would go into the match against the devils on Sunday bearing the following points in mind:

1. Do not NOT take advantage of a team less one man before the 1st half ends. Do a Mortal Kombat fatality move and finish it.

2. Do not play a high defence and commit more men forward than you would like and therefore struggle to tame the opposing team on the counter. We're lucky that was Fulham; of-course a team like Man-U, Chelsea and City, even Tottenham (like they did when we met them last) would have made us suffer for it.

3. Do not allow a team less one man play like they have thirteen (13) and press the sh*! out of you. In most of the 2nd half, we were on the back foot, even worse after pretty boy Giroud got sent off.

4. Do not make tackling an opposing team player an afterthought like Giroud did, it could painfully earn you a red card; something we cannot afford to do against the devils under the auspices of Sorcerer Ferguman.

5. Do remember that we actually do need Champions League football next season, not because we want to save face but because most of the players we hope would come to Drayton Park would only come if they can get Champions League football. If you mess up, nothing for you, Nada, zip, zilch! Capice?

6. Do not frolic about the pitch on Sunday boys, stop trying to top the table for the most passes in a game in the EPL, just shoot the friggin' ball into the friggin' net! *venting*

7. Do settle for at least a draw at Old Trafford. It's not impossible.

8. Put 'Judas-the-glass knees' (you know who I'm talking about) in his place, make him invisible, let people wonder if he's on the pitch at all. Scum.

The devils would want to finish up the job in front of their home fans, let's not give them the pleasure. Let's make life difficult for them. Bloody difficult.

Thanks for reading! Please comment on this post, subscribe by email, share with friends and follow me on twitter (@Misterspruce1).

Bayern Munich 0 Arsenal 2 Extended Match Highlights

14 March 2013 By Jeff @ArsenalTrend


It was an unstoppable chant of "we love you Arsenal, we do" from the Arsenal fans inside the Allianz Arena in Munich after the final whistle. Pride is the key word, everyone including the manager was proud of the Arsenal performance on a memorable night. Arsenal became the last English club to bow out of the Champions League on Wednesday despite a 2-0 second-leg win at Bayern Munich as the Gunners lost their last-16 tie on away goals, but the Gunners did so on a high.

Having beaten Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg in London three weeks ago, Bayern had been odds on favorites to finish the Gunners off in the Bavarian capital to go into Friday's quarter-final draw. Arsenal took the fight to their German hosts with striker Olivier Giroud giving the Gunners an early lead before center back Laurent Koscielny netted with 86 minutes on the clock to set up a frantic finish, but the 3-3 aggregate score saw Bayern sneak through.


Much had been made in the build-up of Arsenal's "Mission Impossible in Munich" with the Gunners needing three goals at Bayern's fortress-like Allianz Arena, but Arsenal quickly dismissed any notion this tie was already decided. The game was just three minutes old when Tomas Rosicky found space, Theo Walcott fired in a cross and Giroud drilled his shot into the roof of the net, seized the ball and sprinted back to the halfway line. It was the first time Bayern had conceded a goal inside the first 15 minutes this season and there were plenty of blank expressions in the Munich ranks. Bayern responded by playing predominantly in Arsenal's half, but Rosicky, who took the place of the injured Jack Wilshere behind Giroud, was at the centre of everything the Gunners did with the hosts clearly rattled by the opening goal.

The patience and composure which has left Jupp Heynckes' side 20 points clear in the Bundesliga suddenly seemed to desert them. Bayern did begin the second half with intent as both Arjen Robben and Toni Kroos fired wide, while right-winger Thomas Mueller twice forced Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski into diving saves. Munich controlled possesion, but poor final passes kept offering Arsenal some hope with Bayern missing injured France star Franck Ribery on the left wing while suspension meant Bastian Schweinsteiger was absent in midfield. Robben let a golden chance go begging with 67 minutes gone when he got in behind the Arsenal defence, but he fired straight at Fabianski. With 10 minutes left substitute Gervinho came perilously close to adding Arsenal's second, but the ball harmlessly rolled out of play for a goal-kick.

The second goal finally came when Santi Cazorla's corner fell to Koscielny, who beat Bayern's Javi Martinez to head into the bottom right corner. There was plenty of pushing and shoving in the Bayern goal when goalkeeper Manuel Neuer briefly laid on the ball to eat up a few seconds with the Arsenal players desperate to kick-off again, but the third goal ultimately eluded them. Very key fact that Arsenal seemed more organised, certainly when defending and Bayern were pretty much reduced to taking long shots at the goal, most of which went high or wide.


Fabianksi was called upon a few times and I don't think anyone will be too disappointed with his performance, he looked confident, much more confident than he used to and a couple of saves were quality. It was the first time in 37 matches this season that Bayern failed to score. That clearly shows Arsenal are better than the side that lost 1-3 at home against a brilliant Bavarian unit. All attention now towards another crucial away game at Swansea, where the Gunners must triumph to brighten their chances of a top 4 finish.

Match Report from FlittsTheGooner Click Here
More Match Pictures Click Here
Arsene Wenger Post Match Press Conference Click Here

Match Report - Bayern Munich 0-2 Arsenal - A bitter sweet performance

14th March 2014 By FlittsTheGooner


A bitter sweet performance and the positives we can take from Bayern Munich in our defense. Although Arsenal didn't qualify we can certainly come out of the game with our heads held high. Most Arsenal fans went into the game not giving ourselves a chance of the ‘Miracle In Munich’ and before the game we would have taken the result (0-2) any day as a springboard for our race for TOP 4. Furthermore there were fears of a 2nd string team being played but contrary to rumors it was as full strength team as possible.

Onto the game and mainly our defensive performance; Vermaelen was dropped which was always beckoning after his torrid season and his frequent defensive lapses which have cost us important goals and games. In addition Szczesny was dropped and Fabianski replaced despite this sounding a ludicrous decision Fabianski was worthy of his place and certainly stepped up to the plate. In my opinion this was our best defensive display of the season and there are many reasons behind this.

1. We held a deep line like the Invincible’s rather than pushing up and getting caught out. (Very similar to how Tottenham scored their 2 goals in the North London Derby)

2. Laurent Koscielny was outstanding and replaced Vermaelen’s dire performances and was always touch-tight’ to the attackers not giving them anywhere near enough room.

3. We limited them to shoots outside the box meaning it would have to be something special to score.

4. Kierian Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson were terrific and were constantly bombing up and down the left and right flanks proving difficult to handle for Bayern and resilient in defense.

Although we didn't manage to progress to the quarter finals, I feel that this could be a springboard for the rest of our season much like Milan (3-0) last season pushed on our 4th place prospects. On to Swansea! UP THE ARSENAL!

Match report from ArsenalTrend and Match Highlights Click Here
Carl Jenkinson & Mikel Arteta Post Match Reaction
Match Pictures

Bayern 0 Arsenal 2 - Carl Jenkinson & Mikel Arteta Post Match Reaction

By ArsenalSupremo


So close as the mission impossible in Germany nearly game possible as Arsenal defeated Bayern Munich 2 0. Match report and match highlights will be up as soon as possible so subscribe via email on the left hand side to get live updates as soon it is up on the site.

Carl Jenkinson & Mikel Arteta Post Match Reaction to the game in which they made the Arsenal fans proud with the team's performance. I thought Carl was magnificent on the right and defended well against the tricky Arjen Robben.

What do you think of the game and who was your MOTM? It was a proud day to be a gunner today and hopefully we can take this into the next game which is against Swansea away. Should we keep the same back 5 as we did today as they didn't put a foot wrong.

Arsene Wenger Post Match Press Conference Click Here

Match Pictures
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