It just doesn’t happen that often that we win 2-5 away from home, in the Champions League, yet I write about concerns but unfortunately, the scoreline can’t overshadow the vulnerability at the back. I don’t think we’ll ever see the Song-Silverstre duo again back there; if it wasn’t for Almunya, I’m not sure if we would have won this one.

The 2nd half wasn’t as full-packed of action as the 1st. In the 48th minute it was game-set-match to the Arsenal. Nasri wins a free-kick on the left which Fabregas delivers, the Ferenbahce back three fails to clear and Song blasts it home with a perfect volley. In the 57th minute, Alex goes for goal from free kick for the home side but Almunya was aware of the danger and catches easily.

In the 66th minute, Guiza beats the offside trap, or better, the offside trap is not played well but our backline but again finds Almunya to say no way amigo. The very vulnerable backline was punished minutes later. This time Guiza makes no mistake and gives a glimpse of hope to the home side. However, the match went on quietly, with Ramsey replacing Diaby and Vela replacing Adebayor. Ramsey, who was brilliant throughout, put the seal on the match in the 94th minute; Eboue did brilliantly well with his feet to dribble his marker, laid if off to Ramsey who didn’t hesitate a second to drive one home to the right of the keeper.

All-in-all, we have to be happy about today’s win but seriously, a different opponent would have punished us and punished us for good for the defensive mistakes we made. Arsene Wenger spoke of Diaby after the match:

He can do it. He can play nearly everywhere. From midfield going forward, he can play everywhere. He has been out for nearly three months now. It was his first start and he had a very good game. I think it was a good game because Fenerbahce were dangerous. Overall I believe our mobility, our technique, our pace was superior and that made a big difference tonight.

Now the table reads:

Arsenal: 7
Kiev: 5
Porto: 3
Ferenbahce: 1

I believe it will be 2 out of 2 at home against the Turkish and Ukrainian sides so we’ll make it through friends and we’ll also top the group. I hope Wenger we’ll be intelligent enough to rest some players in our remaining home matches.


Player Ratings

Almunia: 8,5 – If it wasn’t for him out there …
Clichy: 6,5 – Very solid performance from him, he rarely disappoints
Song: 5,5 – The ,5 is for the score goal. The rest was awful, especially the silly yellow card.
Silvestre: 5 – Once, twice, three times, way too many times he let Guiza get away easily and face Almunya.
Eboue: 6 – Not at his best, but did some nice moves, like the one in the Ramsey goal.
Denilson: 4,5 – Whatever he tried, failed. He had some defensive work to do but you can clearly see he’s not up to that.
Diaby: 7 – What a comeback from the Frenchman. He’s still a little bit selfish, especially in our own half, but his first half was simply magic.
Fabregas: 6,5 – Solid performance from the Spaniard but he needs to get rid of Denilson to have more breathing space.
Nasri: 6,5 – Not at his best but still very much in the action.
Walcott: 6,5 – Score one and trouble the Ferenbahce backline in more occassions.
Adebayor: 5,5 – Wasted one and scored another in the first half. Then? He vanished.

(Subs)
Ramsey: 7 – He’s got the confidence which Fabregas had at his age, not shy to challenge for the ball, not shy to shield it and not shy to shoot. If Cesc decides to leave, we may already have a replacemet.
Vela: No vote, only 5 minutes, unfortunately.
Djourou: No vote, not much to mention.