A One-Sided Night In North London

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It felt like roll camera and action as things fell into place for Arsenal the way they wanted it to, as they ended their group stage plight in the Europa League campaign against BATE which ended in a six-nil thrashing to our opposition.
A well-rounded starting XI Wenger put out, showing the full strength of our second XI and squad depth to this team as a whole. David Ospina, Mathieu Debuchy, Rob Holding, Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Francis Coquelin, Mohammed Elneny, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, all proved worth for this encounter.
Things got off to a bright start for the host, as they took the lead through an unlikely goal scorer in Mathieu Debuchy – this is the Frenchman’s first goal for the club in three years. A fierce shot left the boot of the Frenchman who pulled the trigger as the BATE defence made a mess of the ball in their penalty area. Debuchy was excited about his goal and the delight was well written on his face.
The BATE defence was shaky once more, yet gifting Arsenal and Theo Walcott the ball in their own penalty area. The ball fell nicely to Walcott after Danny Welbeck had a touch too many in the opposition penalty area which was cleared but fell nicely to Walcott, who just returned from injury and thumbed in Arsenal’s second of the night.
Arsenal’s third came from an Arsenal favourite, as Jack Wilshere wrote his name on the score sheet with an intelligent goal in two and a half years. Wilshere did well to sweep aside a BATE player in the penalty area with a deft touch, and found space to line up a shot which the goalkeeper couldn’t do anything about – sending the ball beyond the keepers’ reach.
Theo Walcott was a constant menace to this BATE side and it was evident as he assisted an own goal six minutes after the restart. A lovely through ball from Wilshere to Walcott, who saw the run of Welbeck and played in a low cross for his fellow Englishman to provide the tap-in, but was beaten to it as the opposition did the damage himself.
Back in Belarus, Giroud scored against this opposition from the spot kick when we won 4-2 and at the Emirates, he did the same, although it was quite nervy. The referee had to spot Giroud’s initial celebration from the spot and ordered it be retaken. The Frenchman went the same direction as his initial penalty with the keeper going the right way and having a touch on the ball but was beaten by the speed of the ball as Arsenal claimed their fifth of the night.
It wasn’t over yet, as Elneny produced the best goal of the night with an adept one-touch beauty, which was so delightful to the eyes. Jack Wilshere once again in the heartbeat of Arsenal’s attack, as he was able to pick out Elneny who was lurking at the edge of the penalty area as he produced a nice curl in the top corner.
The Gunners rounded off their Europa League group campaign in style, as we wait whom we’d play against in the Round of 32 where the serious business of Europa begins. I certainly do hope we lift this trophy in 2018.