A misty night, in Belgrade, Serbia inside the Rajko Mitic Stadium, a famous red star with huge banners and red smoke. The gunners had arrived from North London to prove a point, to hit back, to bounce back from the defeat at Watford. Europa league group stage, match day 3, a tricky visit on the cards.
The acoustic support for the Red star was really eminent, a brilliant set up to test the young blood in our ranks, and evaluate the grit of the gunners in this trip. For the majority of the game, the support from the home crowd didn't go dull, it was constant, like the equalizer of a music player, the fans were seen jumping up and down in unison. The stadium was packed, and the gooners were set in their assigned seats hoping to see the boys not let them down , not a major gathering, but loud enough to stun the stadium in silence. For any debutante, or young performer, a veracious set up to be nervous.
The game started with a flurry of opportunities and chances for both sides, Red Star a bit wasteful in their final shots , but to the heroics of Petr Cech and the make-shift defense line with Elneny, did its job truly and remarkably well. Arsenal had some good opportunities with Jack creating the most of it, Nelson got to the right flank, and forced Borjan to make a conscientious save. Teenagers seemed to be full of confidence and not influenced by the acoustic of the stadium, didn't make foolish mistakes but did run with a lot of adrenaline.
With a stalemate at half time, it was more up to Wilshere to carve the Red star defense and make space for either of the strikers to put the ball home. And after a long wait of 85 minutes , the moment came, Wilshere left two midfielders to lay, before making a wide pass to Theo on the right flank, who pushed it back to wilshere in the box who flicked it back to Walcott's head, Theo then jumped to loop the ball into the path of an observant Giroud, who adjusted his body and went for an acrobatic and spectacular overhead kick which looped over Borjan in the top corner of the far left hand side of the goal. 1-0 to the Arsenal , was sung and the Red star Belgrade were stunned to silence. Shortly before the goal,Rodic was given his marching orders after a bookable second offence.
The game was marked with a lot of flux of attacks in home fray, but the strikers got a bit too excited to keep calmness to convert an chance to an opportunity then to a goal. Petr Cech made comprehensive saves to deny the home team, and gave Wenger's men a major advantage in the campaign. With a 100% record in the group stages, at the end of matchday 3, Arsenal are sitting on top of the group, with two home games and a trip to Koln.
Wishing Arsene Wenger today a happy birthday, with his selection squad, let us just hope he makes less mistakes, and we will put all our belief in his men.
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