Arsenal 3-1 Olympiakos – Nervy night at the Emirates

Arsenal beat Olympiakos 3-1 on what was an uncomfortable night for the Gunners. Arsenal wanted to get back to winning ways after a disappointing display in the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at the weekend.

However, the home side were sloppy throughout the first half and five minutes into the game, Vito Mannone’s attempted pass to Thomas Vermaelen didn’t reach him, leading to a worrying moment for Arsenal, but thankfully nothing came of it.

Santi Cazorla then had a free kick tipped over the bar in what was probably Arsenal’s best chance until the eventually did score.

Per Mertesacker didn’t play against Chelsea and that decision was criticised when Laurent Koscielny had a bad game. The German defender reportedly had a virus so couldn’t play in this game. It would have been interesting if he was available as to whether he would have been picked. Koscielny and Vermaelen didn’t make themselves particularly popular when they both did things that could have cost their team. First of all, Koscielny was booked for a poor challenge that could have easily been a red on another day and a poor clearance from Vermaelen lead to a good chance for Olympiakos, which Mannone saved.

Paulo Machado saw his half-volley go over the bar as the visitors continued to pose Arsenal a threat and ask questions of the defence, in particular Koscielny and Vermaelen.

Despite Olympiakos’ pressure, it was the hosts that took the lead a few minutes before the break. Gervinho won the ball back after Mikel Arteta was dispossessed in the D and fired a low shot into the corner of the net. With this goal, the Ivorian international already has more goals this season than he did in his first season at the club.

Gervinho is getting his name on the scoresheet more often this season. His goal yesterday means he has already beaten his goal tally from last season.

Arsenal’s joy didn’t last long. Three minutes later, the Greeks levelled things up. Leandro Greco sent in a lovely cross from the left and Kostas Mitroglou rose highest to head past Mannone in the Arsenal goal.

Half Time. Arsenal were rattled. They’d been outplayed for a lot of the half and were lucky to even be level with the Greek side. They had to step it up in the second half, otherwise they could lose the game. Arsene Wenger was serving the second of his three game UEFA ban and he looked unhappy with how things were going.

Gervinho became more and more influential in the game, setting up Cazorla with a wonderful chance to give the Gunners the lead again, but the Spaniard sidefooted wide, without testing the goalkeeper.

Gervinho set up Arsenal’s second with just over 10 minutes played of the second half. He found Lukas Podolski at the near post, who saw his fierce shot go through Megyeri’s legs and into the net. Arsenal should have found the third goal moments later, with Koscielny heading over the bar from 6 yards out from a free kick.

Podolski celebrates giving Arsenal the lead.

Still there were some nervous moments even with Arsenal in the lead again. Steve Bould sent on Theo Walcott to try and add some pace to test those tired Olympiakos legs. Ten minutes later, French striker Olivier Giroud was sent on as well as Aaron Ramsey. Giroud nearly converted from a cross minutes after entering the action. The Frenchman then was desperately unlucky not to score in the 89th minute when his shot hit an Olympiakos defender and went wide. Giroud still only has the one goal to his name, a League Cup goal against Coventry, but he is getting in all the right positions and sooner or later he will score a few. He needs more than 10-20 minutes off the bench though, I say he should start at Upton Park on Saturday.

Arsenal made the score look a lot prettier than the performance was in the final minute when Aaron Ramsey clipped in the third goal after he was played in by Giroud, but it was a bit of an ‘off’ night for the Gunners and very sloppy by their high standards. They will need to be a lot better if they want to get three points at West Ham at the weekend.

Ramsey dinks in the third to make it safe.