Arsenal 3 Anderlecht 3
Arsenal do not do comfort against Anderlecht. After the high drama of the first meeting between the teams in Brussels a fortnight ago, when Arsenal came alive to nick victory with two last-minute goals, it had looked like being an altogether smoother ride for Arsène Wenger and his players.
Inspired by the man-of-the-moment, Alexis Sánchez, they had surged into a three-goal lead and that appeared to be that. But if there had been a looseness at the start from Arsenal, they lapsed in catastrophic fashion from a position of strength. It had been impossible to foresee as Sánchez called the tune and Arsenal looked to confirm their 15th consecutive qualification from the Champions League group phase.
But as Arsenal went to pieces, Anderlecht found strength. They gave themselves a puncher's chance with a pair of goals from the one-time Portsmouth right-back Anthony Vanden Borre, who seemed like the unlikeliest of heroes, and at the very end, the substitute, Aleksander Mitrovic plunged to head the equaliser and spark delirium among the Anderlecht fans. Arsenal are still heavily favoured to advance, but as the runners-up. This was an opportunity wasted and Wenger stormed straight off down the tunnel at full-time. Arsenal's Champions League record is the epitome of consistency and it is remarkable to think that only twice since Wenger came to the club have they fallen at the first group stage – on his first two campaigns, in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. They lost at the second group phase, when that sort of thing existed – in 2001-02 and 2002-03 – but, other than that, it has been the knockouts all the way.
The achievement has come to be taken for granted in some ways and the expectation levels were such that nobody with red and white in their hearts could see anything other than a home win here – and the latest step towards the last 16. It was manifested in the atmosphere at the outset – a little like the Burnley game on Saturday – except that Anderlecht are rather tidier than the Premier League’s bottom club.
The Belgian champions had showcased their threat in the fixture two weeks ago, particularly their pace on the counterattack, and Wenger was right to warn that it could come to the fore for them in an away tie. Anderlecht were the more threatening team in the opening 20 minutes, when they broke on several occasions and Arsenal looked both sloppy and a little vulnerable. Cyriac went close with a deflected effort while Sacha Kljestan created a chance for himself with a bold sprint around Kieran Gibbs. Wojciech Szczesny blocked the shot and it felt like a big moment.
Anderlecht promptly shot themselves in the foot. Aaron Ramsey found Alexis Sánchez and he asked Danny Welbeck to chase a ball that he put in behind Chancel Mbemba. Welbeck did just that, muscling in on Mbemba's shoulder.
What happened next, though, represented a present for Arsenal. Mbemba basically fell on top of Welbeck. Mikel Arteta chipped home the ensuing stonewall penalty to bring up the club's 500th goal at the Emirates Stadium.
Sánchez had earlier skimmed the outside of the post after buying himself a yard inside the area and flicking on the afterburners and Arsenal’s second was all his own work. He blasted forward and when he was fouled by Anthony Vanden Borre on the edge of the box he picked himself up to take the free-kick. The initial effort was poor, hit straight into the wall, but Sánchez took out his anger on the rebound, lashing it through the wall on the volley and past Silvio Proto.
Dennis Praet had squandered a half-chance at the end of the first-half and Arsenal took charge at beginning of the second period. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had gone close after an incisive pass from Kieran Gibbs when Sánchez – who else? – pestered Kljestan and robbed him.
Oxlade-Chamberlain had too much pace for Vanden Borre and he raced clear before finishing with a low, curling shot.Game over? Not at all. Anderlecht looked dangerous whenever they went forward and they got the break they deserved when the substitute Andy Kawaya crossed for Vanden Borre and he tapped home, albeit from an offside position.
Anderlecht strove to make the most of their fortune. The travelling fans roared their encouragement and the manager, Besnik Hasi, saw Mitrovic cause problems. He spun away from Nacho Monreal and the makeshift Arsenal centre-half responded with a makeshift challenge, pulling him down to concede a penalty. Vanden Borre scored.
The closing stages were fraught. Hasi did not stop believing that Anderlecht could salvage something and his tactical tweaks were underpinned by boldness. Then, it happened. Andy Najar crossed from the right and Mitrovic muscled in to plant a firm, downward header past Szczesny. Arsenal knew how Anderlecht had felt in Brussels.
