Montpellier 1 – 2 Arsenal, A undeserved win is the best of them all! by KJ
Our first Champions League game was never going to be an easy fixture. Even with a bad run, Montpellier are always going to cause any team a problem. They have players like Belhanda and Cabella who can make a difference.
The game started off quite sloppy for the Gunners. They seemed to misplay passes that they really shouldn’t against lower opposition. I must admit that Montpellier’s pressure was immense in the opening 10 minutes and there was very little space to pass but Arsenal should be able to get out of those situations with ease. It’s our bread and butter.
Eventually, Montpellier’s pressure in the first 10 minutes paid off when Belhanda had the ball just inside the box before Vermaelan rashly tackled him. I thought the decision was harsh but ultimately, correct. Belhanda took the penalty with such ease as he chipped it over Mannone. 1-0 to Montpellier.
This really rattled our cages and long before you knew it, Podolski was through and side-footed the ball into the net. It was a sublime pass from Giroud under so much pressure to get Podolski onside. 1-1.
Then immediately after, Gervinho scored our second to put us in front. It was some good work from the Ivorian initially. He passed it to Giroud who under immense pressure managed to get it to Jenkinson on the wings. He manages to cross it Gervinho who has an easy side foot. 2-1 to Arsenal.
During the second half, there really wasn’t much to be said about the Gunners. It was all Montpellier. They completely dominated us and we were lucky to not concede. We just sat back and absorbed pressure. Diaby was extremely poor at distributing the ball and Cazorla was misplacing passes that he normally would make all the time. There was no outlet and hence we just invited pressure.
We were fortunate to win but there were elements of good defending. It was an ugly win but a win nonetheless. It’s always important to see how a team cope when they are tired, not at their best. Arsenal managed to get the win.
It will build their confidence for the Man City game. The Blues managed to lose against Madrid in the worst way possible after being 2-1 up. Their morale should be low and Arsenal can exploit that. On to the Etihad!
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