Europa League Group Stage
Emirates Stadium, 2nd November 2017
That was dull.
Was it a lack of urgency? Or that we didn’t think we needed to win this?
It seems odd to ask, but then we are through to the next round.
And Red Star didn’t offer much either.
The first half had few chances for either side. Giroud went close, and Macey did well to save from their striker.
Macey has looked pretty capable, and it’s pretty much his reflexes that kept us in the game.
The first half was a bit subdued.
But the second half wasn’t much different.
Wilshere and Coquelin looked good, and the new hero Nketiah came on also
But little else could be done to get the win. The second half to be better was more purposeful, and we did try and cross the ball to Giroud. However, there was still a lack of energy there.
Perhaps the team were tired out seeing our “good friends” beat the European Champions/World player of the year 3-1, even though we’ve had many great one-off results in the Champions League and failing very soon after that. Note the 2-0 win vs. Bayern, and the first of three reprehensible 5-1 defeats to them soon after….
Impressions/player ratings
Not many players stood out, but in the end it was good to see the young players come on.
Red Star’s fans were better behaved than Koln’s. However, their players were falling all over the place, in a pathetic attempt to buy time.
Coquelin had a reasonable game, though overall the performance was pretty flat.
I think we can win the Europa League, and possibly this game is just a blip.
FC Koln away and BATE at home are winnable games.
Macey 6, Holding 6, Elneny 5, Debuchy 6
Willock 5, Nelson 5, Coquelin 5, Mailtand-Niles 5
Wilshere 5, Walcott 4, Giroud 5, Nketiah 5