So Arsenal became the first team to win at Celtic Park in Europe since The Eunuch Fusiliers in 1878. A 2-0 win leaves us in a very good position for the second leg.
Much was made of the famous atmosphere but when the TV cameras panned across the teams as they lined up on the pitch it was clear it was the home team who looked nervous. The pundits will say Arsenal got a bit lucky, in fact both the manager and Robin van Persie admitted as much, but overall I thought we deserved the win.
The same team that started against Everton began last night but there was never going to be a repeat of the scoreline. Celtic were committed, full-blooded and they made life very difficult for us, particularly in the first half hour. After that I felt they got a bit tired and if there was a foul to be made in midfield to ensure we didn’t get into any kind of rhythm then that foul was made.
You wouldn’t say it was a half of great chances. Although Andrei Arshavin had the ball in the net after about 10 minutes he was rightly ruled offside. Apart from that the next shot we had on target was a tame Arshavin effort after 40 minutes. Moments later Celtic had their only shot on goal, Almunia making an easy save after a shot came through a sea of legs.
We took the lead just before half-time. A clumsy Gary Caldwell tackle on Cesc provided us with a free kick about 30 yards out. Robin van Persie touched it to Cesc, his shot cannoned off the arse of William Gallas and left Boruc stranded. Lucky yes, but it shows what a clever manager Wenger is. If that had been the arse of Kolo Toure the ball would have rebounded out of the ground and smashed Bono right in the face over in Hampden Park (although that would also have been a good end result, albeit not from a football point of view).
1-0 at half-time and that kind of knocked the wind out of the Celtic sails. We started the second half very brightly. We had some shots on goal, Denilson curled one just wide, Robin van Persie chose to shoot when he might have played in either Gallas or Bendtner and any chances that were being made were being made by Arsenal. Celtic brought on McDonald and Fortuné for Samaras and the hapless Donati but it made little difference. Their tackling, particularly on Cesc Fabregas, became more cynical and the stand out player in their midfield, NGuemo will miss the second leg after picking up a yellow card for hacking down the captain.
We made it 2-0 when the recently introduced and rather more hairy than usual Abou Diaby won the ball in midfield, played it down our left to Gael Clichy and he fizzed in a cross which Caldwell could only turn into the back of his own net. To be fair to him it was a dangerous ball in, we’ve often seen own goals like that and Gallas had a similarly scary moment up our end at one stage.
Celtic had a little spell of possession as we sat back in the last 5-10 minutes but there was no threat. Almunia didn’t have a save to make and defensively we looked extremely good. The combination of Gallas and new boy Vermaelen (impressive again) seems to work well and with Alex Song having another good game in the midfield anchor position we were as solid as I’ve seen us for quite a while. The front three didn’t quite click but I thought Cesc Fabregas had a great game in midfield. He never, ever stopped running.
Overall a great result even if we do have to admit we got a bit lucky. All the same we’ve had plenty of games in recent times where we’ve deserved a little bit of good fortune (not Fortuné) and didn’t get it. Celtic fans will surely be disappointed, hoping for a big European night like those in the past their team didn’t reach those kind of heights at all, but I think that was as much to do with Arsenal playing well and not allowing them to play as anything else.
Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:
It was a big fight tonight and we needed a strong Arsenal side to win the game. We have a good advantage but it’s 180 minutes, we’re ahead after 90. When you want to go through you want to play well for 180 – that’s our purpose. We want to win the home game and of course qualify for the Group Stage. We are in a strong position and we now want to take advantage of that.
He also spoke about new boy Thomas Vermaelen, saying:
I believe he has a good mixture of physical, technical and it’s interesting to have a left-footed player because it gives you angles for the pass that are very important to the midfielders.
There was one moment in the first half when we had a corner or a free kick, Celtic broke and Vermaelen charged the length of the pitch to make a vital interception in our box. Absolutely fantastic defending and he’s a proactive defender. He doesn’t wait for the player to come to him, he goes to get the ball, whether it’s in the air or on the deck. He loves a tackle by the looks of him and so far all the signs are very encouraging. Of course it’s too early to start hailing him as the answer to our defensive problems but if he keeps this up he’ll become an integral part of the cure.
I think the new formation is helping as well. As I mentioned I don’t think the front three have quite clicked yet but we seem to building a good platform behind them while they get used to the new system. If it means a more solid defence and midfield then that’s fine by me, the goals up top will come.
The only slight worry is that last night we had no striker on the bench. According to the commentators Eduardo pulled out very late with an injury, you can only assume it was something in the warm up, and he was replaced on the bench by Jack Wilshere. With no sign of Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott injured also you wonder if the manager might just renew his interest in Marouane Chamakh – or at least expedite any move.
With the games coming thick and fast, we have Portsmouth, Celtic again and then United away in the space of seven days from this coming Saturday, maybe now is the time for the manager to spend some of the money he’s got available to him. We shall see.
So now we regroup, rest up those weary and battle-scarred shins and calves, and prepare ourselves for Portsmouth on Saturday.
I am enjoying the start to this season though. Yes, I am.
