By Ian Grant
Although Freddie Ljungberg is going big advertising Calvin Klein undies tomorrow, Arsenal’s Champion’s League Obsession, is now far less.
It was a good old fashioned knock-down in the box, and someone following up that enabled Arsenal to win their first Champions League game in seven, and give them a fighting chance of going through to the knock-out stages.
It wasn’t a good Arsenal performance by any means.Maybe they were trying to relax in fear of being too uptight, but it was pretty passionless in the first half.
Admittedly Ljungberg was unlucky that the Kiev goalkeeper stuck out a trailing foot to deny him. And that his looping header was cleared off the line.
Arsenal really needed a Tony Adams, screwing his face up and thumping his fist against his palm, pumping up the performance level. But it was all nice and very one dimensional – narrow balls down the middle, which the shrewd Kiev defenders lapped up.
The tempo increased in the second half. And soon enough Arsenal were fashioning chances.
Henry headed a perfect ball down to Bergkamp, who with the goalie to beat shot too near him. The Dutchman is off form, and had a stinker. It would be wise for him not to pontificate about Europe, seeing as he doesn’t travel to the majority of away games.
Kiev could have scored with a couple of chances. Toure came in with a goal-saving tackle with one of them.
But then Henry managed to turn a tight ball back. And Pires with the whole goal to head at, aimed it very wide.
Toure turned stiker for the last few minutes – and could easily have been given a penalty with a tackle from behind, which also got the ball.
But just as thoughts of dread – and another failure in Europe were settling, Wiltord dinked a ball in with two minutes left, Henry beat Federov, who’d been trying to shackle him all evening, and knocked it into space.
For once, an Arsenal player was in the box gambling – ex-striker and left winger Ashley Cole, who dived, guiding it into the net.
It was as if someone had pricked a massive hot air balloon.
Arsenal have hope. But only if Arsene sits up and takes note that a way to succeed in Europe is by playing a target man. Teams can play to either flanks, and midfield runners come in and pick up the scraps.
Celtic blasted Anderlecht aside, using Hartson, either to power crosses goalward, or to spread the ball wide, or to get dangerous flick-ons.
Monaco, who broke the Champions League scoring record, used Prso’s aerial ability with Guily’s speed and guile to puncture the Deportivo defence time and time again. Even the perennial under-achievers PSV, won through via the aerial route this evening.
But Arsene has a Germanic stubborness, aligned to a romantic ideal of how football should be played.
Henry acted as an efficient target man at times tonight, winning important knock-downs. He may well have to for two more games, until the January transfer window, gives Arsene an opportunity to change his ways.