Arsene Wenger’s side was too sluggish, too naïve, and too feeble to overcome an indomitable collective effort from Monaco. Arsenal undoubtedly holds superior individual talent, but on a cold winter night at the Emirates, they lacked ideas in possession, and were once again exposed without the ball in a European competition.
Realistically, Leonardo Jardim’s approach was simplistic: Monaco dropped into two banks of four, and oddly left gaps of space that Arsenal’s attacking players occasionally surged into. The problem with Wenger’s side, however, was their non-existent urgency in possession and natural width.
Francois Coquelin and Santi Cazorla formed a double-pivot in Arsenal’s midfield, but mainly operated in deeper positions, playing conservative passes at a slow tempo. Likewise, the attacking trio of Mesut Ozil, Danny Welbeck and Sanchez all tended to drift into congested central positions against a narrow Monaco back-line. Monaco encountered limited issues when Arsenal attempted to break them down with long spells of safe, laboured passing moves. They were led by the impressive Geoffrey Kondogbia and it was he who powerfully broke up play in midfield whilst scoring a fortuitous opener.
Arsenal were at their utmost best when they played direct, and a simple Coquelin ball into Welbeck in the opening minute saw the 24-year-old turn his defender into right half-space and fire his shot over the net. While Welbeck’s presence stretched Monaco’s backline and forced Elderson Echiejile into a booking in the opening half, the penetrating runs of Arsenal’s diminutive attackers created chaos.
Nonetheless, It was peculiar that Wenger was reluctant to alter his approach at half time. Arsenal, though, occasionally received width from their fullbacks with both Hector Bellerin and Kieran Gibbs creating chances that Olivier Giroud squandered.
On the other hand, Monaco’s threat in possession was equally underwhelming, with Dimitar Berbatov deprived of runners and support in midfield. Both Kondogbia and Moutinho also drifted goal side of Arsenal’s double-pivot, which resulted in the former’s opener and the latter dragging a shot wide of the net.
The pattern of the match slightly shifted in the second half with Arsenal pushing for an equalizer. Theo Walcott replaced the misfiring Giroud near the hour mark, and although the England international adopted a narrow position, Echiejile was oblivious to his diagonal runs into the box. Ironically, Walcott’s best chance was saved from this identical move before he inadvertently blocked Welbeck’s free shot from point-blank range.
Wenger persisted with dynamic substitutions, introducing Tomas Rosicky and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and apart from the latter’s goal — which gives Arsenal optimism in the return leg – the duo failed to impact the match.
But for all of Arsenal’s deficiencies on both ends, the away side were superb in the second half, led by Moutinho, who passed his way through the home side’s midfield. More importantly, Monaco broke intelligently on the counter and exploited the Gunners on several occasions by surging into space down the flanks.
First, Per Mertesacker, who was covering space for the advanced Bellerin, gambled and stepped to the ball instead of following Anthony Martial, and the lively winger played in Berbatov to double Monaco’s lead. Then, Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco stormed into space behind Gibbs, firing a tame effort at Ospina, and subsequently claiming a third away goal from an initial Bernardo Silva pass.
Although Monaco deserve plaudits for a historical European triumph, it’s difficult to ignore Arsenal’s languid passing in the first half which enabled Jardim’s plans to be executed efficiently, while their adventurous attacking mentality led to devastating counter attacks in the second.
This could be the nail in Wenger’s coffin at the Emirates after another night of European embarrassment for Arsenal.
