FC Cologne 1 – 2 Arsenal

And so Arsenal come out of their German friendly with their two new summer signings scoring all the goals in a 2-1 scoreline, thanks to a Gervinho brace and a Carl Jenkinson own goal.

The match started with Koscielny conceding the first chance as he cut down Podolski outside the box, only for Milivoje Novakovic to blaze it over the bar. In the 7th minute however, Wilshere sent a delightful 30 yard lofted pass from the centre circle over the Cologne defense and right into the path of Gervinho, who’s first touch of the game was to lob the ball over the outstretched Rensing and into the back of the net.  And with that Gervinho announced himself to the rabid Arsenal supporters in the best possible way.

But he wouldn’t stop there, as in the 15 minute Arsenal would expose a very frail Cologne defense again. Wilshere sent a pass out to the right flank where the Cologne defender stood watching it pass his foot instead of kicking it away, and onto the path of Walcott, and he strolled into the box and sent a low cross across the goal and into Gervinho’s path, who guided it into the net as he bundled over Rensing. A very un-Arsenal like goal. Rensing would leave the pitch with an injury, with Gervinho leaving slightly later, replaced by Miyachi. After the game, Wenger said it was only a minor injury to Gervinho, so nothing to be worried about.

Arsenal remained threatening all half, with Walcott most notably spurning a semi two-on-one with Chamakh, sending his outside footed pass too far ahead of the Moroccan. Cologne had their chances as well, however. They were mainly dangerous on the break, as Arsenal threw men forward on the break leaving the back line sorely exposed, and forcing Szczesny in a number of fine saves. The half was played at a good pace, with plenty of defensive errors by both clubs, both club’s midfield seemingly content to allow spaces behind them. But there was surely no error as unlucky and humorous as the final kick of the first half when Carl Jenkinson would mis-kick a clearance from 35 yards out and up and over his own keeper and into his net. With a gentle and kind touch, Jenkinson could be seen being consoled off the pitch by both Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna.

The second half started with the whole Arsenal squad changed except for Gibbs, and the back line was exposed even more to balls over the top of their high line, only they had to deal with the slow Sebastian Squillaci defending it. There were plenty of mistakes and the ’second squad’ of Arsenal seem to truly view this as a training match, rather than a competitive game. Anyone who missed the 2nd half will have been glad to do something else. The positives gleaned from the half though would be a good showing from Tomas Rosicky in central midfield, with Arshavin causing the Cologne defenders much grief, without every really coming close to a fine finish. Samir Nasri played the ‘Cesc’ role and disappointed, and seems ill-fitted for that role with Arsenal. The game sheet will show Vela played a full 45 minutes, but I truly forgot he was on the pitch. Van Persie strolled about the pitch, never really looking to put a full shift in himself.

The biggest incident of note in the 2nd half was in the 89th minute when Conor Henderson, who had come on at left back for Gibbs despite not being a left back, twisted his knee in a tackle and needed to be stretchered off. Wenger sounds concerned that it may be a serious injury, which is never a good thing and lets hope for some good news.

Arsenal played a decent game going forward, as they tend to always do. Gervinho looked great in his brief debut so no doubt look for him to be massively hyped. Wilshere was active while Ramsey had a terrible game in all faucets. Andrei Arshavin looked very lively, even tracking back which is a surprise for most in games that matter, let alone a friendly. The pressing game I was looking for was not very evident, but this is still preseason and we cannot take too much from these sorts of game. Arsenal will now head back to London where they will begin ’stage two’ of preseason with  2-a-day training sessions until Thursday to prepare for the Emirates Cup.

Hopefully all transfer sagas will be ended by then, but don’t hold your breath.

colexthlts2 by arsenalist

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Category: Arsenal News