Arsenal 1 Borussia Dortmund 2: This was not how Arsene Wenger had intended to celebrate his 64th birthday. Borussia Dortmund had been advertised as the acid test of Arsenal's recent prowess; the first team they have faced this season who are steeped in top-level know-how.
For much of a quietly compelling evening, Wenger’s players more than held their own against last season’s Champions League runners-up, and there was encouragement to be found in the way they recovered from a shaky start to stretch their visitors. Olivier Giroud was their star turn, gilding a muscular performance with the equaliser, and Arsenal nearly nicked it when the substitute Santi Cazorla rattled the woodwork in the 69th minute from Mesut Özil’s cut-back.
But Dortmund staged what could be described as the classic smash-and-grab when they floored Arsenal in the late stages with a vicious counter-punch. Wenger will wonder how his team could be so exposed when a point was looking like a decent enough result, but Robert Lewandowski did not stop to ask questions when, in yards of space, he guided a volley from Kevin Grosskreutz’s cross past Wojciech Szczesny. For the first time in 13 matches in all competitions, Arsenal tasted defeat.
Wenger might have wondered, to borrow from the Beatles, whether Arsenal would still need him when he was 64, but life had felt pretty dandy for him up to this point.
With two wins from two ties en route to this point, Wenger had sensed the opportunity to make a decisive statement. But it was quickly apparent that Dortmund would not roll. The German team passed with slickness, they countered sharply and in their attacking midfielders, they had latent menace.
They might have lost Mario Gotze over the summer, but they gained Henrikh Mkhitaryanfrom Shakhtar Donetsk. Mkhitaryan had already darted in behind Arsenal on one occasion when he shot Dortmund into the lead. What he lacks in vowels, he makes up for in quicksilver talent.
Calamity for Ramsey
The goal was a calamity for Aaron Ramsey, and arguably the first black spot on the Arsenal midfielder's season. After Marco Reus had given the ball away to Mikel Arteta on a forward Dortmund thrust, Ramsey took over. But he dwelled on the ball and was robbed by Reus, who had been inspired to make amends for the initial error. Reus found Lewandowski, who shifted the ball quickly to Mkhitaryan. The swerving, low finish from just inside the area deceived Szczesny.
Arsenal responded in style, with Giroud leading the charge. The centre-forward was in swashbuckling mood, barging over opponents and rampaging in behind Dortmund. He was crudely checked by Mats Hummels on the fringes of the area – the centre-half was booked – while, from the other flank, his cross was half-cleared by Marcel Schmelzer for Tomas Rosicky to lash in a shot. Roman Weidenfeller was beaten, but the covering Hummels cleared from the line.
There was a scare for Arsenal when Jack Wilshere needed lengthy treatment on his right foot after a heavy landing, but delight when Giroud scored the equaliser, his seventh goal of the season. Once again there was a defensive aberration when Neven Subotic lunged at Bacary Sagna’s right-wing cross only to succeed in confusing Weidenfeller, who fumbled the ball. Giroud profited and hammered it into the empty net.
Wenger had missed the defensive midfielder Mathieu Flamini because of concussion and he had chosen Rosicky, the former Dortmund player, instead of Cazorla.
The managers matched each other up with their formations and it became a battle of wits in midfield or, in Wilshere’s case, a fight against his threshold of pain. He absorbed a series of heavy challenges and seemed to be running off knocks for long spells. He was replaced before the hour.
One mistake or a moment of class would be decisive. Arsenal fashioned the latter when Özil exchanged passes with Ramsey to cut-back for Cazorla, whose rising first-time shot hit the angle of post and crossbar.
Cazorla had another shot blocked, too. Arsenal looked the likelier winners but Dortmund had not read the script.
Guardian Service
