After the run of form we’ve been on as of late, a draw against a strong team away from home is probably what most fans would have expected. But after 45 minutes of the game, a draw became far more disappointing.
Worrying early signals
After 15 minutes of the game I was expecting another dismal performance from the Gunners. Schalke had three good chances that they really should have done better with and it was a really scary period.
Once we’d found our feet in the first half this fear faded and I felt we began to play a quality of football I hadn’t seen for a few games. Although this quality was short lived.
A chance to top the table
A somewhat fortuitous Walcott goal after a mishit by Giroud gave us a platform to build from. We did this successfully with a superb Giroud diving header to capitalise on some very weak Schalke defending.
At 45 minutes we were top of the group looking like the Arsenal of old winning the group stage with minor hassle, playing good football and looking promising, if only there hadn’t been two minutes of added time.
Misery begins
Huntelaar’s goal had a depressing sense of inevitability about it that I have come to expect from this Arsenal team. Some sleepy defending allowed the quality striker to place an impressive finish past Mannone.
At this point statistically we still held all the cards but it has to be said, if we’d gone in at half time 2-0 up, I think we would have won the game. The late goal in the first half was the clear turning point in the game and probably the key turning point in this group.
Lucky to get the draw?
It’s certainly fair to say that, although the second half was fairly balanced, Schalke had more chances. Vermaelen’s failure to smash a ball clear for a second consecutive match have led some to question his form this season. Despite this our options for replacing him in the starting line up are virtually nil until Gibbs is fit.
Some will point towards the ref stopping play for no particular reason when a Schalke player went down with a sprained ankle, I would point those people towards a Mertesacker handball that could well have delivered a penalty against us.
There’s also the fact that Giroud was almost certainly offside in the run up to the first goal. My point being that there’s no use blaming the ref, if anything we were luckier than they were.
Lack of depth
At 80 minutes, it suddenly occurred to me that Wenger was yet to make his customary 65th minute substitution. It then occurred to me that the reason for this was simply sheer lack of quality.
Our bench consisted of Shea, Santos, Djourou, Jenkinson, Chamakh, Arshavin and Coquelin. There was no point making a substitution, no one on that bench has the potential to turn an average game into a win.
Key performances
I have singled out two performances this evening that I felt are in need of a mention. Firstly, only one player truly had what I would define as a good game, our much-questioned Italian keeper Vito. Mannone made at least two very impressive saves and didn’t put a foot wrong all night. He could hardly be blamed for the goals and his frustration with the defence was evident after both.
The other performance that I felt deserved a comment was Theo’s. It seems to me that he plays well on the wing; he scores goals on the wing and is an asset on the wing. In the last minute of the game he was bearing down on goal in a more central role. Although it’s true that against Reading he put away a similar chance, tonight was not a good advert for his centre forward case.
Take the positives
In the end Schalke’s team this year is certainly a strong one and a draw at their place in front of what can only be described as incredible support should be seen as a vast improvement on some of the results of recent weeks.
If we win both of our remaining games we still have a chance of topping the group, albeit a slim one. I just really hope we don’t go to Greece needing a win.
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