FC Cologne 0-4 Arsenal – New signings make impressive debuts in easy win for Gunners

Arsenal cruised to a 4-0 win over German side FC Cologne on Sunday afternoon at the RheinEnergieStadion. Arsenal’s line-up included all three of the club’s summer signings for the first time. Lukas Podolski made his Arsenal debut against the club he joined Arsenal from and in his home town.

It didn’t take long for Arsenal to break down their opponents, with a Cazorla corner being flicked on by Per Mertesacker and then headed in by Thomas Vermaelen in the 5th minute. That was old school Arsenal from the George Graham days. It worked in the early 1990’s and it worked yesterday too. Arsenal are often criticised for not scoring from corners under Arsene Wenger, but I believe they could do more of that and have some success next year.

Olivier Giroud had a number of chances in the first half to score his first goal for the club, something he would have done but for some superb goalkeeping by Timo Horn in the Cologne goal. Santi Cazorla was also denied a debut goal after Theo Walcott’s cross was nodded down by Giroud, to be volleyed by the Spaniard, but his effort was blocked.

Ten minutes after Arsenal took the lead, they added to it. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain skipped past one defender before being brought down in the box by another. Arsenal penalty. Lukas Podolski, the man the fans called ‘Prince Poldi’ stepped up to take the spot kick. The majority of the stadium were wearing Podolski shirts, with a lot of Cologne fans still wearing last season’s shirts. Podolski made no mistake from the spot, but despite scoring his first Arsenal goal, he didn’t celebrate due to who it was against.

Cologne had a couple of chances of their own, their best of the game coming when they hit the crossbar from range with our goalie beaten. They tried a few shots from range that fired wide and didn’t play too badly, but they were clearly no match for Arsenal.

Just before half time, Podolski sent a delicious ball to Kieran Gibbs on the left hand side. Gibbs then cut the ball back to Podolski from the byline and the German striker found the net for the second time with a lovely finish.

Gervinho, who scored in this fixture twice last pre-season, came on as a half time substitute. Just after the hour mark, he continued his impressive record at the RheinEnergieStadion. After getting into space down the left hand side, Gervinho then beat two defenders before sneaking in a shot at the near post to round off an impressive day out for Arsenal and also a fantastic solo goal by the Ivorian.

Robin Van Persie came on with 20 minutes left in the game. There were some boos heard on the television, but what section of the crowd they came from is another question that’ll have to be answered. Podolski was taken off in the same minute and Arsenal’s new signing got a fantastic reception from everyone in the stadium. Everybody in the ground was up off their feet to applaud either their old player or their new one, dependant on what team you support.

My final note on this game is that all 3 of the new signings impressed me yesterday. Cazorla whipped in some lovely corners, hopefully he can keep that up for the new season. He also played some nice balls across the pitch, creating opportunities for the likes of Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Giroud had a number of chances and on another day he would have taken them. Perhaps he is lacking match sharpness due to a lack of playing time at the European Championships for France and also the fact he didn’t go to Asia on tour. He seemed to be creating enough chances though and also the Cologne goalkeeper played very well, so I credit him with a number of saves to keep the scoreline respectable. Podolski scored twice and impressed me throughout.

Arsenal look a better team with these 3 new signings. They all add something extra, that bit more creativity they were missing last season. It tells me that they might not be so reliant on one player like they were last season (Van Persie). He might not be there, he may be there. We don’t know. But I am positive going forward after this game. The defence still worries me a bit, but attacking wise, I feel we are set. Plus we have a number of players like Wilshere, Rosicky and Frimpong out injured, which will make competition in our midfield very tasty once they are all back. The return of Abou Diaby might prove influential this year. He has spent a lot of time on the sidelines, but when he is fit and playing well, he reminds me of Patrick Vieira. The Arsenal team of the first half really impressed me. A whole host of changes were made at the break (some first teamers on and some youngsters) and they didn’t play badly either. I appreciate that this wasn’t top quality opposition, but make no mistake about it, this could have been a higher scoreline.

Sunderland are up next. First game of our league campaign. Bring it on.