Arsenal are leaving Belgium with three points in hand, but they had to go down a strange road to do it. They were horrible for the first 85 minutes or so in their Champions League encounter against Anderlecht, then stomped on the accelerator in the dying minutes to create a couple of goals and snatch a 2-1 victory.
3 things we learned from Arsenal’s stunning late 2-1 comeback win over Anderlecht
Arsenal couldn’t have left it any later than they did, but they got the three points away to Anderlecht.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos
When Alexis Sanchez set up Santi Cazorla in the 3rd minute, with Cazorla firing high and wide, Gunners supporters probably thought it was a sign of things to come throughout the night. But they were fairly poor from then on, and struggled to create anything else of substance in the first half.
Sanchez was the only Arsenal player that looked dangerous and set up a couple of other great chances before Anderlecht got on the board. He created what should have been a goal for Aaron Ramsey in the 54th minute at the end of a great passing move, but the Welshman scuffed his shot. He was the provider yet again in the 63rd minute with a great through ball to Cazorla, but he got his feet tangled up.
Anderlecht’s stunning opener came in the 72nd minute, and off some pretty poor defending. Even though three players surrounded Dennis Praet, they couldn’t stop him from floating a cross to Andy Najar, who directed a header to the bottom corner that Emiliano Martinez couldn’t stop.
That same pair of Anderlecht attackers just about scored again in the 79th minute, taking advantage of some statuesque Arsenal defending. Praet hit the crossbar with a chipped shot and Najar couldn’t quite direct his shot off the rebound on target, hitting the side netting.
A second Anderlecht goal continued to look more likely than an Arsenal equalizer until the 89th minute, when Kieran Gibbs stunned the home fans. He got himself into the perfect spot to finish off a shot by Calum Chambers, firing his side level.
From there, Anderlecht fell apart mentally and let Arsenal bang in a winner. No one could stop Sanchez from getting a cross in or clear it after it took a deflection, allowing substitute Lukas Podolski to pounce and stick the winning goal into the back of the net.
Anderlecht: Proto, Acheampong, Deschacht, Mbemba, Vanden Borre, Defour, Tielemans, Conte, Praet (Dendoncker 88’), Najar, Cyriac (Suarez 83’)
Goals: Najar (71’)
Arsenal: Martinez, Gibbs, Monreal, Mertesacker, Chambers, Flamini (Oxlade-Chamberlain 75’), Wilshere (Podolski 84’), Ramsey, Cazorla, Welbeck (Campbell 75’), Sanchez
Goals: Gibbs (89’), Podolski (90’)
3 things
1. You’ll win nothing with kids - Anderlecht have some of world football’s great young talents, and they had some bright moments on Wednesday. But when Arsenal ramped up the pressure, they fell apart, and now look to have almost no chance of advancing in Champions League.
2. But Anderlecht’s kids are really good - The best midfield player for either side was Yoeri Tielemans. He’s 17. The most creative player not named Alexis Sanchez was Dennis Praet. He’s 20. The Anderlecht goal-scorer was Andy Najar. He’s 21. At no point did these players or anyone else on Anderlecht looked overmatched by a more experienced Arsenal side.
3. Arsenal struggled to beat a makeshift defense - Arsenal would have expected to score against Anderlecht’s first choice defense, but they didn’t even get that on Wednesday night. Left central defender Olivier Deschacht is usually a left back and left back Frank Acheampong is usually a winger. Right back Anthony Vanden Borre was a doubt for this match with an injury. How did Arsenal take so long to score against this group?
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