It might become a nightmare for the Arsenal fans if there was one more Goal at Emirates in the previous night. There was no real hope for Ostersunds to come at Emirates and produce such a great performance. But their performance was not enough for the team to move to the next round. But the spirited performance of the Ostersunds players is really admirable from the perspective of a neutral fan.
The Gunners had showed a real poor performance at Emirates against Ostersunds in the Europa League match. They had the advantage of having a lead of 3 away Goals before coming into this match. Arsene Wenger had given rest to most of his good players in this match due to overconfidence as if they had already won the match. They had to pay the price badly as they were two goals behind in the first half itself. This had become a learning experience for the Arsenal players. They had taken Ostersunds too much lightly keeping Aubameyang and Ozil out of the squad for the match. But somehow the goal of Sead Kolasinac had saved their day. Arsene Wenger will be too much relieved after coming from such a disgraceful defeat against Ostersunds in the Europa League.
This is how the teams have shaped up before the big occasion :
Ostersunds XI:
Aly Keita; Ronald Mukiibi, Sotiris Papagiannopulos, Tom Pettersson, Dennis Widgren; Hosam Aiesh, Curtis Edwards, Brwa Nouri, Ken Sema; Saman Ghoddos, Jamie Hopcutt.
Arsenal XI:
David Ospina; Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Sead Kolasinac; Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Mohamed Elneny; Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jack Wilshere, Alex Iwobi; Danny Welbeck.
Here are the talking points of the match :
1. Arsenal Were Two Goals Behind In The First Half :
Arsene Wenger and his players had taken the Ostersunds team too much lightly and they had to pay back heavily to the other side. Ostersunds had taken a lead of 2 goals within the first half and David Ospina had no clue to those Goals. Arsenal were showing a real poor performance in front of their home crowd at the Emirates Stadium. Ostersunds were in the mode of thrashing Arsenal out of the contention in the first half of the match but they were not able to replicate their performance in the second half.
2. Sead Kolasinac Saved The Day For Arsenal :
Arsene Wenger made one change to his side in the starting of the second half. It was a great move. Maitland-Niles was not having his day and he was taken off quite rightly. After some minutes from the beginning Sead Kolasinac put the ball into the Goal from the pass of Bellerin. It was the Goal , the Gunners needed badly. The Goal of Sead Kolasinac had saved the day for Arsene Wenger and the team in front of the home fans.
3. Tough Games Are Awaiting For Arsenal In The Next Few Days :
The Gunners have to play against AC Milan in the next round of the Europa League. They will also play against Manchester City on Sunday in the Carabao Cup Final of this season.
The north London giants will now face off against AC Milan in the next round of the cup competition, though with the way they played in the previous fixture, it would rather be better to pack the bags and go home. Unless, they can really pull off a miracle, even their winter signings won’t help their cause.
