Yesterday we accomplished a very hard task indeed. Some likened this game to our Bayern encounter in March, but I take the manager's side here: yesterday was even harder, because more was at stake. We had to beat Bayern comprehensively to qualify and, while we came close to doing so, it was very unlikely we'd accomplish such a thing before the game. Thus the Germans (from Munich) viewed the return fixture as something they don't necessarily had to win.
Last night, however, both teams needed these three points. Badly, knowing that a loss will greatly hamper their chances, that with Napoli playing Marseille. The pressure was at the hosts to deliver at their turf, though.
Arsene made no changes from the side, that smashed the Mugmashers four days ago. Gnabry was the only new face, recovering from his ankle injury in time.
Borussia started brightly, and though they didn't have much of the ball, their constant pressing high up the pitch (in our half, to be precise), prevented us from doing anything with the ball when we had it. They were constantly trying to catch us on a mistake, but our vigorous defending made it impossible for the Germans to capitalise on mis-hit passes or lost duels.
The first chance of the game fell to Borussia. Arteta, who fouled Lewandowski out wide, conceded a free-kick. Reus (I think) swung the ball in, Bender headed it down but Subotic blasted his chance.
Before the break, Borussia spurned another great chance. Some quick work from Reus saw Mkhitaryan clean trough, only for the Armenian to curl the ball wide of the far post. Arsenal, meanwhile, didn't come up with anything of note, other than a yellow for Arteta.
After the restart, Borussia looked more dangerous. First Reus saw his header palmed away by Szczesny, then Blaszczycowski (Jacob from now on) had a low shot parried. A change was desperately needed, cause our defense looked ready to give way at any moment. And then we scored.
Rosicky passed the ball to Ozil, who held the play up, waiting for Giroud to get into a good position and then crossed it towards the Frenchman, who headed it down for onrushing Ramsey. The Welshman sent the ball home.
Suddenly, the game was alive, with chances created at both ends. We got the better ones and in the 10 minutes that followed could have scored four times.
First Weidenfeller produced a save with his legs from a Ramsey shot following some brilliant play from Giroud. Then the Frenchman himself saw his goalbound effort cleared off the line from an ensuing corner.
The other two chances fell to Mertesacker. He first failed to get his head to the ball from a cross and then fired wide from a free-kick. Had he hit the target, it would have been game over.
But he hadn't. Borussia piled up the pressure, but our brilliant defending averted all the threats. Ozil stood out in the end, winning us a throw, a free-kick and a corner in the dying seconds. In the end, we saw it out.
Here's what Arsene had to say after the game, if you're interested.
Now, a few sidenotes. I really liked how disciplined we were defensively. We were switched on from the first minute to the last and when some genius (like Reus) broke through, Szczesny shored things up. Another well-deserved clean sheet.
Arteta is another guy, who stood out. Got a yellow for a professional foul, continued to defend high and wide despite this, made some really important tackles and interceptions and generally it's his personal accomplishment, that Lewandowski was useless up front. Flamini-esque performance.
And, naturally, Lewandowski. I only have unprintable words for him. There's been a lot of talk of his possible move to the Emirates, and after watching the Pole for two games, it is my sincere hope, he doesn't make this switch. Yes, he's a good striker, he scored an important goal, but his overall cheating behaviour is beyond all rhyme and reason. The ref should have given Lewandowski a second yellow for diving, in my opinion. And his attitude around Arteta (the Pole`s) is especially disgusting. Pity I didn't see his face after the final whistle. Hope he suffered. Hope he cried his eyes out.
Anyway, a great win, hugely important three points and another step towards qualification. Well done.
United is next.