Borussia Dortmund are in control of Group D of the UEFA Champions League after a very impressive performance on Tuesday. They were better than Arsenal from start to finish, coasting to a 2-0 win.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Arsenal final score: 3 things from BVB’s 2-0 UEFA Champions League win
Arsenal were a step off the pace from the start in Borussia Dortmund’s win.
Martin Rose
More from our team sites
Dortmund should have had a penalty just five minutes in, but caught an unlucky break. Henrikh Mkhitaryan was tripped by Mikel Arteta on the edge of the box, but the referee showed BVB's Armenian attacker a yellow card for a dive.
Arsenal struggled to create chances and relieve pressure for most of the half, with Dortmund keeping the ball in the Gunners' defensive end pretty easily. Wojciech Szczesny had to come up with a couple of big saves just before the half-hour mark, and did well to keep Arsenal in the game. He denied Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang from point-blank range in the 27th minute, then tipped away a square ball by Ciro Immobile just two minutes later. Mkhitaryan looked set to score on the rebound, but Jack Wilshere made an excellent last-ditch tackle to deny him.
The Gunners' first big chance of the game came in the 31st minute off a cross by Kieran Gibbs, but Danny Welbeck couldn't apply a finish. Arsenal's new striker was in a similar situation 10 minutes later when Aaron Ramsey provided him with a perfect cutback pass, putting him in a one-on-one with Roman Weidenfeller, but his effort trickled wide of the far post.
It looked like the half would end without a goal until Dortmund pulled off a surprise counter in the last minute of regular time. BVB had been struggling to attack with pace, but they caught Arsenal out with a direct ball to Immobile, who went on an impressive 50-yard run before shooting across his body to beat Szczesny. Arteta and Laurent Koscielny did little to slow him down.
Whatever Arsene Wenger told his team at halftime didn’t work. It took less than three minutes of play in the second half for Dortmund to double their lead, and once again, it came on a very direct counter. Aubameyang and Kevin Großkreutz set it up, with PEA starting the move before taking off towards goal. Großkreutz found him with a perfect ball and Szczesny came off his line too early, allowing Aubameyang to go around him and finish into an empty net.
That triggered a bit of a sense of urgency in Arsenal, though it didn't lead to goals. Aubemayang had the best chance between the goal and the hour mark, hitting the crossbar in the 57th minute. A lack of chances led Wenger to make two changes, bringing on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla for Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Özil.
Dortmund were unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions just after the 70 minute mark. Aubameyang blocked a botched clearance by Szczesny in the 71st minute, with the ball dribbling just wide, and Mkhitaryan hit a great chance over the bar two minutes later. Welbeck had yet another chance to pull one back for Arsenal in the 76th minute, but matched Mkhitaryan in striking a great chance well high.
The Gunners never really threatened much after that, with Dortmund holding onto their lead comfortably. Perhaps the result will be a bit of a wake-up call for Wenger going forward.
Arsenal: Szczesny, Gibbs, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Bellerin, Arteta (Podolski 77’), Özil (Cazorla 62’), Wilshere, Ramsey (Oxlade-Chamberlain 62’), Sanchez, Welbeck
Goals:
Dortmund: Weidenfeller, Durm, Papastathopoulos, Subotic, Schmelzer (Jojic 79’), Bender, Kehl (Ginter 46’), Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Großkreutz, Immobile (Ramos 86’)
Goals: Immobile (45’), Aubameyang (48’)
3 things
Arsenal’s formation is nonsensical - Arsene Wenger doesn’t want to bench Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere or Mesut Özil, so he’s come up with a formation that uses all three of them. Problem is, it doesn’t work very well. Mikel Arteta isn’t good as a lone holder and Özil is terrible out wide. Wenger needs to suck it up and drop a good player for the benefit of the rest of the team.
Dortmund's forward depth might equal a Robert Lewandowski - Generally, signing a huge group of players to replace one star doesn't work. But in Dortmund's case, their forward depth and improvement both on the wings and at central attacking midfield might make up for it. Adrian Ramos has been on fire in the Bundesliga and he didn't even start today. Instead, Ciro Immobile and Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang started -- and both scored. None of those three players are as good as Lewandowski, but Dortmund have more threats than they had last season.
Danny Welbeck needs to start scoring - Hold-up play and getting into dangerous positions is nice, but Arsenal need their center forward to score goals. On Tuesday, just like he did against Manchester City on the weekend, Danny Welbeck got himself into good spots and botched all of his finishes. If he doesn't figure out how to score, the Gunners will struggle.
See More:
