I found it incredible that Unai Emery put out nearly a full Arsenal team to play the Ukranian minnows Vorskla, and I seriously expected to see a cricket score with players like Aubameyang, Iwobi and Welbeck up front. And so it seemed from the beginning with Arsenal keeping the ball for 75% of the time and Alex Iwobi looks desperate to impress, but sadly despite many many chances he failed to find the net.
So it was sensible that, on the half hour, he was again in another scoring position but he instead decided to pass it to Aubameyang who made no mistake and put it into the bottom left corner. Arsenal were 1-0 up but we should really have been 3 or 4 up by then. It is unbelievable that we disn’t add to it by half time but Vorskla are defending like Champions but surely they will have to tire in second half….
And so it proved as after just three minutes of the second half Arsenal had doubled their lead thanks to Danny Welbeck-s head and ten minutes later Aubameyang placed a brilliant long range shot to make it three! Maybe that cricket score could still be coming….
With 30 minutes remaining Emery takes Torreira and Aubameyang off for Ozil and Guendouzi, and ten mins later the youngster Smith/Rowe replaces Iwobi, who has probably been the man of the match. The Gunners fresh legs counted straight away as Mesut Ozil made it four with a tap in from a pass by Lichtsteiner. Yet again Arsenal looked like they wwere going to have their first clean sheet of the season, but Vorskla find a way through and Leno is beaten by a good shot inside the box. We simply can’t get a clean sheet for love or money.
It has been a very comfortable win but I’m not so sure it was such a good idea to play so many first-teamers with Everton on Sunday, but perhaps Emery (like me!) thinks that professional footballers on 100,000 plus a week should be able to play two games at least without tiring. But how on earth did they let Voskla score a second in the last minute!
But I think our reserves could have handled these minnows just as easily, if not easier, and maybe they wouldn’t have conceded! Perhaps Emery is thinking that he can play all the reserves after we have 9 points on the board…
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