‘Wenger does what he does best’, ‘Back to reality’ Arsenal Fans Vent Out Their Frustration After Shock Loss To Koln

Match Report: FC Koln 1-0 Arsenal

Arsenal were handed a 1-0 defeat by German club FC Koln, in their Group H fixture at the Rhein Energie Stadion on Thursday night.  

Considering that the Gunners had already sealed a spot in the knockout stages, there were wholesale changes made to the line-up by manager Arsene Wenger, as he handed starts to fringe players like Calum Chambers, Mathieu Debuchy while injured striker Olivier Giroud returned to action, with Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck operating in behind him. 

The home side started off threatening the Arsenal goal, with Jhon Cordoba testing David Ospina in as early as the 6th minute. But it was the North Londoners all the way from thereon, as they controlled the proceedings and created a number of chances, but failed to find the back of the net.  

Francis Coquelin saw a strike whiz past the post, while Jack Wilshere headed straight at the Koln goalkeeper from a Danny Welbeck pass. Coquelin had another chance to break the deadlock around the half-hour mark, but his left-footed effort bounced off the post, whereas Welbeck’s beautiful curled effort, narrowly missed the net as half-time arrived with the score at 0-0. 

The Gunners began the second period in a similar fashion but found it difficult to breakdown Koln and the home side even began to throw men forward themselves. And this ended up paying dividends for them as, in the 62nd minute, Sehrou Guirassy converted from the penalty spot, after having been nudged inside the box by Debuchy.  

Arsenal threw numbers forward in large as they went about chasing the leveller in the final half hour of the game and had some chances to reinstate the stalemate with Giroud being thwarted by Timo Horn and substitute Eddie Nketiah and Wilshere wasting good opportunities, as Koln held on for an important win. 

The result did not have any bearing on Arsenal’s top position in the Group H, as Red Star Belgrade and BATE Borisov played out a goalless draw in the other fixture of the group, allowing the Gunners to hold on to their spot despite the loss. However, Wenger will be annoyed with the result, considering how his side controlled and dominated most of the game. 

And here’s how the fans reacted to Thursday night’s loss in Germany: