Conceding late on only to a wonder-goal from Borussia Dortmund yesterday, Arsenal showed a new-found defensive solidity in their opening Champions League game of the season, and what might be the hardest of this group.
It’s easy to forget that, with their nine-year absence from the competition, Dortmund are actually in it as German champions this year, and were never going to be easy to play away from home, with German grounds usually providing the best atmosphere in Europe. And yet, Arsenal, without being at their best, lead for most of the game last night and did not look particularly troubled defensively until that volley flew in with minutes to go.
It is a little worrying that we are still visibly struggling from a creativity point of view without Fabregas (and of course the injured Jack Wilshere) and failed to create much that might lead to the all-important second goal. Still, as new signings such as Gervinho, Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun find their feet it is not all that surprising that we don’t look at our fluent best just yet.
What I was pleased to see from Benayoun, though, was a strong work ethic and willingness to track back and close down the Dortmund players; a breath of fresh air after watching the likes of Denilson and Diaby over the last few years.
But the main man defensively for Arsenal would have to be Alex Song, who last night played the DM role almost perfectly. I say almost because he does tend to foul a little too much and it was his push that lead to the free kick that lead to the goal last night. Still, an improvement on some of his displays last season where he got into the habit of playing a little too far forward for whatever reason.
At the end of the day, it’s always a little heart-breaking to concede late on, but we’ve got away with a point from probably the toughest fixture in the group at a time when we’re, for many reasons, not at the top of our game. What I saw last night has given me some confidence that we’ll be able to grind out a few more results this season even when not at our best.
Another thing to get excited about is that by scoring last night Robin van Persie is now on 98 goals for the club and we are probably not too far away from another centurians DVD! It’s easy to forget that with our lack of silverware in recent times, we have seen one of our best ever strikers at the club. With his favourite whipping boys Blackburn coming up next, we could well see him reach 100 this weekend.
Oh dear, is it a bad sign that I’m getting Spurs-like excitement about the possibility of a DVD release? Don’t answer that.
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