Ludogorets vs Arsenal match report: Mesut Özil sends Gunners into last-16 after overcoming November nerves
Ludogorets 2 Arsenal 3: Özil's late goal sealed a spirited comeback to confirm Arsenal's path to the knockout stage of the Champions League
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Your support makes all the difference.The record book will not show this as an off-night for Arsenal, but anyone watching after 15 minutes will have feared that Arsene Wenger’s side were experiencing another case of the November nerves. That they rallied back from two goals down to beat Ludogorets 3-2 once again proves their new resolute attitude, and maintains their stint at the top of Group A.
It would be Mesut Özil who once again haunted the Bulgarian side, his hat-trick at the Emirates two weeks’ ago still fresh in their memory. His late goal secured Arsenal’s place in the last-16 with two matches to spare, but Paris Saint-Germain’s late winner against Basle means the two clubs remain on a collision course to take top spot.
But Arsenal’s Halloween hangover proved to be one of the worst they’ve experienced, and having fought back from what would’ve been one of the most humiliating defeats in the club’s history, it must be asked how much it took out of the players with the north London derby against Tottenham up next on Sunday.
It took three minutes and eight seconds for Arsenal to self-destruct and transform into the side that has finished runners-up in their Champions League group for the past five years.
Wenger spoke of his fear of a fast start ahead of the match in Sofia – four hours away from the Ludogorets Stadium in Razgrad where the Bulgarian champions play their domestic matches – but he will not have expected to have been 2-0 down after 15 minutes.
Arsenal showed four changes to the side that emphatically dispatched Ludogorets 6-0 a fortnight ago, with Carl Jenkinson, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud coming into the side, but even though Wenger was able to leave the unfit Hector Bellerin, Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla at home, they made the worst start possible.
Arsenal should have been ahead as early as in the eighth minute, had it not been for Özil’s hit-and-miss finishing costing the German playmaker early on. Özil missed a glaring opportunity at Sunderland on Saturday when a weak shot allowed the goalkeeper to gather, and it was the same case again tonight when his feeble effort was saved by Milan Borjan – who replaced the hapless Vladislav Stoyanov after he conceded six at the Emirates.
Four minutes later, the unthinkable happened. Referee Bas Nijhuis penalised Xhaka for a handball in midfield, and it allowed his Brazilian compatriot Wanderson to curl a delightful free-kick from the right into the heart of the Arsenal area that was left untouched by the visiting defence.
Neither Shkodran Mustafi nor Carl Jenkinson, the former putting in his worst display in an Arsenal shirt and the latter in his first Champions League appearance for nearly three years, could muscle their way in front of Jonathan Cafu, and he tapped the ball home on the volley to put the home side ahead.
Worse was to follow. Cafu was the man to watch again as he dazzled Kieran Gibbs with two stopovers to leave the left-back on his backside. Gibbs had been isolated on the left after both Mustafi and Koscielny stepped up to play offside, only for Gibbs to track back.
Cafu’s flash across the goal mouth found Ludogorets’ top goalscorer this season, Claudiu Keseru, and the striker needed no second invitation to direct the ball first time past a helpless David Ospina to register the Romanian’s 14th goal in 19 matches this season.
Arsenal hit back just five minutes later, with the recalled Xhaka somewhat luckily receiving a whipped cut-back from Özil to hit the ball into the back of the net from just inside the area. Alexis Sanchez, redeployed on the left to accommodate Giroud, played Özil in on the left flank with a disguised ball, and the German waited until the last second to cut the ball back from the byline with a pass that appeared to be aimed at the French striker.
The ball went behind Giroud, only to find an unmarked Xhaka – having missed Arsenal’s last three matches through suspension – who duly slotted the ball right-footed beyond the outstretched hand of Borjan.
The goal settled Arsenal, and they were able build on Xhaka’s second goal in Europe this season to equalise four minutes from half-time. Less than a minute after Özil saw a goalbound volley from the edge of the area well blocked by Natanael, Ramsey floated a cross into the box from the right wing that landed on the head of an unmarked Giroud, and the striker steered the ball past an onrushing Borjan to score his third goal in four days.
The first notable action of the second half took nearly 15 minutes to come, and it saw Coquelin booked after conceding three fouls in quick succession before berating Nijhuis and talking himself into a yellow card. He reacted by sliding into a tackle less than 10 seconds later, though crucially he cleanly won the ball.
Sanchez was given a golden chance to put Arsenal ahead for the first time with a free-kick after Jose Luis Palomino was harshly penalised for a handball, but his effort was deflected over by the wall and the ensuing corner led to a rapid counter-attack from Ludogorets. Keseru drove through the middle of the pitch before feeding Wanderson on the left, but his rather tame effort was parried by Ospina before the Colombian jumped on the loose ball.
Wanderson then caught the Arsenal defence napping just two minutes later when he sprang the offside trap, this time on the right, but a poor first touch allowed Ospina to rush out and block the shot from close range.
Again, Arsenal were rattled after the game had gone to sleep for 15 minutes, and Wanderson’s two chances had riled the home fans and reinvigorated the Ludogorets players. Both Xhaka and Jenkinson followed Coquelin into the referee’s book, and perhaps the former was lucky not to suffer a second red card of the season as his raised foot caught Marcelino high on the thigh, studs first.
Arsenal should have gone ahead in the 73rd minute when Xhaka displayed the finer side of his attributes to cut out three Ludogorets defenders with a low pass into Sanchez’s feet. Trying to turn while getting the ball out from beneath him proved too much even for the magical Chilean though, with his first touch pushing the ball into the grasp of Borjan when more control would have gifted Sanchez a simple chance to score.
But Arsenal would not be denied, and once again it was Özil, the man who killed off Ludogorets at the Emirates, who broke free to run onto a Mohamed Elneny through pass after good defensive work from Giroud, chip the ball over Borjan’s head, control the bounce and dummy his way past two defenders before sliding the ball home and booking Arsenal’s place in the last-16.
Teams
Ludogorets (4-2-3-1): Borjan; Minev, Palomino, Moti, Natanael; Anicet Abel, Dyakov; Cafu, Marcelinho, Wanderson; Keseru (Misidjan, 80).
Subs not used: Stoyanov, Cicinho, Sasha, Junior Quixada, Plastun, Lukoki.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Jenkinson, Mustafi, Koscielny, Gibbs; Coquelin, Xhaka (Elneny, 87); Ramsey (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 75), Özil, Sanchez (Iwobi, 90); Giroud.
Subs not used: Cech, Maitland-Niles, Gabriel, Holding.
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