Arsenal suffered a shock 2-1 defeat in the hands of Ostersunds in the reverse fixture of the UEFA Europa league round of 32 yesterday though progressed thanks to Sead Kolasinac’s goal. The Gunners defeated the Swedish club 3-0 in the previous fixture in Sweden but were surprisingly down by 2 goals before the half-hour mark with the second goal coming 70 seconds after the first goal but were able to get a consolation goal that was enough.
Arsene Wenger considering his Carabao finals with Manchester city on Sunday, decided to give some rest to his key players with the introduction of fringe players though the Frenchman selected a strong team featuring Alex Iwobi, Hector Bellerin and Jack Wilshere. The defensive pair of Rob Holding and Calum Chambers justified why they were relegated to the bench with a below par performance.Rob Holding’s misplaced pass to an Ostersunds player in the early on in the game provided early proofs that Arsenal were going to have rough night at the Emirates.
Calum Chambers’s nightmare outing in the first interval was capped with putting the ball into his own net 22 minutes into the game. It was barely 70 seconds later before the away side doubled their lead with Chambers beaten too easily by Ken Sema en-route to the goal. Arsenal suddenly looked in danger of possible elimination with the deficit reduced to 1 goal barely before the half-hour mark and this generated boos from the host supporters. Kolasinac was able to calm tensions for the host as he scored early on in the second interval to extend the Aggregate lead of Arsenal to 4-2 but Ostersunds went on to condemn Arsenal to their second defeat at the Emirates. Arsenal prior to this have only lost once this season at the Emirates against Manchester united in a game the London side heavily dominated.
Arsenal who made Champions League final in 2006. Fast forward to 2018 have failed to live up to expectation due to lack of consistency which have prevented the North London outfit from mountain a credible bid for the Premier League and Continental trophy. Sundayafford the Frenchman a chances to pick the only trophy that have eluded him in his Arsenal era. With his future hanging by the crack, the trophy will be a perfect mid-season bargain chip as he looks at the Europa League.