Magnificent Arsenal Don’t Come Acropolis Time!
Dec 9th, 2015 by 'holic
Arsene Wenger admitted that starting Theo Walcott was something of a risk. The England international replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with his manager confessing he didn’t think he would last ninety minutes. News that Mesut Ozil had worked off a tight calf in the warm up didn’t help the nerves.
We had wondered long and hard before kick-off what Arsenal’s approach to their most important match of the season so far would be. The selection hinted at looking to win it in the opening seventy minutes. The cagey start suggested something different.
In the eighth minute Hector Bellerin was probably fortunate not to see yellow for hacking down Seba just outside the box, but the card was rightly brandished when Fortounis threw himself to the floor in the box in the ensuing action. Ten minutes later Aaron Ramsey was also a recipient, ironically for bringing down the breaking Fortounis.
The first effort of any note came from the hosts a couple of minutes later, but Seba hit a rising drive over Petr Cech’s crossbar. It provoked a reponse. Joel Campbell, starting brightly, cut a cross back for Mathieu Flamini to crash an effort against the bar. That was followed by Olivier Giroud heading straight at ‘keeper Roberto.
We grabbed the lead just before the half hour with a beautifully crafted goal. Not surprisingly Ozil was involved, freeing Ramsey on the left flank with a delicious pass. Rambo’s cross with his standing leg landed straight on Giroud’s head and his effort had too much power for Roberto who could only help it into his own net.
Olympiacos 0-1 Arsenal
The general consensus beforehand demanded that we needed to score first. Credit to the Gunners for doing exactly that. As half-time approached Theo cut in from the left, beat a couple of defenders, and drove just wide of Roberto’s right hand post. It was a throwback to his days at Southampton.
Laurent Koscielny superbly cleared a cross at the near post as Olympiacos sought a leveller. Masuako attempted an ambitious long range strike that Cech saved comfortably. Elabdellaoui also attempted the outrageous but sliced it high and wide.
The whistle that signalled the break wasn’t really wanted by the visitors, halfway to their target at the midpoint. Whatever would follow they had done their job well in the opening half. And what followed!
Four minutes after the break Joel Campbell fed Olivier Giroud with a superb reverse pass and the big Frenchman delivered again, finding the bottom right corner with the inside of his left foot for his, and Arsenal’s, oh so important second goal.
Olympiacos 0-2 Arsenal
In response Siovas powered a header straight at the solid Cech. In the 56th Minute Theo’s effort was deflected just wide of the far post, but Olympiacos went down the other end and Fortounis drew the best out of Cech.
The closing half hour promised to be a test of Arsenal’s defensive discipline. Mertesacker had to be alert to clear the ball at point blank range. The goalscoring hero can consider himself a little unlucky to pick up a booking when Pardo threw himself theatrically to the floor. Diving was becoming a preferred tactic of the home side.
The Frenchman got his revenge and clinched Arsenal’s passage into the last sixteen from the penalty spot after Elabdellaoui had blocked Nacho Monreal’s cross with an arm. A cool sidefoot finish as Roberto dived the wrong way meant Olympiacos now needed three goals to deny the rampant Gunners. The defender was also carded for his troubles.
Olympiacos 0-3 Arsenal
Both sides made substitutions. Significantly Kieran Gibbs came on for Theo who got another 72 minutes under his belt as he seeks full match fitness again.
With less than ten minutes to go Roberto curiously punched an Ozil free-kick free at the near post and Joel Campbell, excellent on the evening, was denied in the second phase.
In truth the home side were spent. As they had recorded their first win in England to create tonight’s showdown so we managed to defeat them on their own patch for the first time, and with some style.
It may be harsh to single anyone out, but the hat-trick surely earned Giroud the man of the match honours, and not far behind in the voting would have been Joel Campbell, clearly enjoying his return to the club where he played on loan a couple of years ago. Both sets of fans gave him a standing ovation when he was substituted in the 91st minute. Good management by Arsene, that. The boy’s confidence will be sky high after tonight.
This was some night and will go down in our history as another of our fine away perfomances in Europe down the years. For the sixteenth year running we are through to the knockout stage of the Champions League.
Job done.
82 Responses to “Magnificent Arsenal Don’t Come Acropolis Time!”
Fucking deep joy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and all the time playing in the god awful kit. It really does not get any easier on the eye. At all.
What a night! Thank you Arsenal.
I’m eating my hat, Campbell is getting better and better, could yet be a valuable part of the squad. Special mentions to Kos who defended like a monster and Monreal who never stops.
Great report H,and Great Title.!!
It’s nights like this that make it all worthwhile.
All the grumbles after a draw with the Neighbours,defeat at West Brom, a draw at Norwich,and a less than impressive win against Sunderland,are all forgotten in the euphoria of comprehensive win,that even the most stout hearted of Gooners couldn’t have anticipated.
And accomplished with an injury hit squad.
What that does of course, is give the squad a fantastic boost in confidence,that could carry us to who knows where come May next year.
fabulous fabulous win.
And BTM got to see it all in person.
Jammy Scottish Kilt lifter. !!!
Fuck the Kit color Esso.
It’s what beats inside it that counts.
Had worse nights…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger speaks in his news conference: “In the last three weeks we lost Coquelin, Cazorla and Sanchez. With all the other injuries not many people gave us a chance. But we are a real team and you could see that today. To score without conceding a goal is not easy. It is a special night for us. We needed something special and when you can deliver that you can create a positive memory for the rest of the season.
“Maybe it is a lucky year for us in the Champions League, you never know.”
————-
😀
holic, great report, it was indeed a great game. a shot of arthur’s wisniowska on the bar for you.
as bath said, ernie’s chuckling up there…
A night to remember, I’m a nervous wreck but wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
What a great team effort, PER and Kos making heroic interceptions and clearances, Campbell putting on his best show to date and the divine Ozil looking more and more like the top contender for Footballer of the Year.
With the HFB taking his chances, Cech keeping a clean sheet, there was nothing to complain about and credit must go to Arsene for getting the side’s tactics spot on.
I trust all our fans make it back without any problems and the HFB’s ankle is OK for Sunday.
Wolfsburg in the next round would probably suit!
COYRS
A bow to that headline !
Acropolis time ….. Outrageous ! ?????
Excellent summary, H. Love the headline.
Well, that was very good indeed.
On the second bottle of Porcupine Ridge now.
Slainte Arsenal. You make me proud.
And if there’s a paradise, Ernie will be smiling.
Well said H.
It was really a piece of masterclass from a lot of key individuals. Each of them in their respective duties. Of course Girouds hatrick is remarkable but so were Joel, Ramsey, Özil, Kos, Flam, BFG and even Cech. Literally each one of them. Thanks to Wenger they had the right attitude and fighting spirit.
They all really showed tonight what they’re made of. So proud of all of em.
Lovely report of a night I followed by text. I will enjoy curling up and watching it at home in a few minutes. Zenit or Wolfsburg will do nicely in the next round.
Bath @12
There is- we visit it every fortnight?
Would have expected no less for the headline, ‘Holic; Parthenon the course.
Great team performance tonight. Props to Cech, for the reasons Clive outlined in the previous drinks. Ozil is just Ozil. If we didn’t realise how much we lacked a world-class keeper until Cech arrived, so we won’t truly appreciate Ozil until he is gone.
Campbell is like Welbeck; works hard and there is a very good footballer in there somewhere who probably only AW will be able to extract. Also shows what a run of games can do for a player.
Giroud’s header for the first goal, like his one at the weekend, was top-drawer. He made both look a lot easier than they were. Glad he got a hat-trick. Puts him in the same elite group of Arsenal CL hat-trick scorers as, er, TGSTL.
Yep, well done Ernie – if you’re pulling a few strings up there …. ???
Only downer was the lack of a Walcott goal, which meant my bet epically failed.
Not me, Ned. I appreciate Mesut right now. Oh yes.
brilliant
?
cheers ‘hol and cheers ‘hols
THE ARSENAL
o fuckin yes ???
ned@16, it’s pretty ionic he’d have that as the title of his column today. capital, i say!
Cheers Holic – another top headline – your new career at the Sun awaits you 😉
What another amazing night to be a gooner – who’d a thought it!! Brilliant performance by the whole team – no team selection issues here.
Hopefully OG will get the nay sayers off his back – he should now be ouzo ing confidence 😉
Great description of the match guvnor. English guests supply Greek drama. 🙂
3-1, 3-0 – meh, the futures market isn’t what it used to be.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter – Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Thales, Retsina, Demis Roussos, Nana Mouskouri, Onassis – we gave your boys one hell of a beating.
Right, I’m off for a kebab and a look at tomorrow’s horoscope.
Come on you mighty reds.
Teach me to dance, will you?
Dance?… Did you say… dance?
Come on, my boy….
https://youtu.be/2AzpHvLWFUM
…and we can only get better with the return of Santi, Coq and Alexis and a fully fit Theo.
Congrats to JC for a performance I didn’t think him capable of. Hopefully it wasn’t simply the result of playing in front of his old ‘home’ crowd and that he can prove me completely wrong long-term.
Also delighted to see Theo on the wing, if clearly in need of the run. I was concerned he had an ‘understanding’ with AW that he only played CF in future before signing da t’ing.
Let’s hope we get Zenit in the next round! No, wait, let’s smash RM and wipe the supercilious grin of the face of that Portuguese prick who poses like he’s peeing in a urinal…
Oskar
We had the emergency squad ready for me at halftime, but the lads came through.
Prediction: Arsenal will be top of the league going into the Citeh fixture, as the clock will strike twelve on Cinderella (aka the Foxes) this Monday eve.
trev, check out their rating of kg is here…I swear I didn’t write it!
http://www.espnfc.us/club/arsenal/359/blog/post/2746365/arsenal-led-by-giroud-koscielny-campbell-in-olympiakos-win
scg@21: 🙂
Ned….headline is Monk fired – what’s one of them been up to? 😉
It was a great show of class and character. We needed to dig deep and rescue our season. Kudos to the team. Giroud was in the rare mood to play, Campbell was repaying the managers trust in him, Ozil was magnificent….
How did we get to this point at the first place?
Let’s not over celebrate and forget that we only qualify for the knockout stage as a runner up in our group waiting to be devoured by superior fire power of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, Athletico Madrid and Zenith St Petersburg. If u are familiar with our ways of shooting ourselves in the leg in first leg then u will know that none of this team is going to be an easy draw.
Cheers Holic
Everyone pining for Zenit or Wolfsburg – as we all did for Monaco last season.
I’ll be happy to avoid Barca – the rest?
Bring it on.
Not for the first time this season the team has rallied around to come up winners, beating the opposition and the odds, despite several members not being available. Kudos team, great job. This Campbell kid seems to be settling into his role. Cech keeps proving why he was a fantastic buy, and the rest play their part beautifully, esp.Ozil and the usual suspects. Great work. COYG! Let’s kick everybody’s ass.
Acropolis Dudes !
Any other Turbonegro fans on here ?…Just me then.
Fantastic performance and night all round …Would be happy to avoid Real and Barca in the draw…All the others we are very capable of beating over two legs.
After a nervous first 20, the combo of Campbell and Flame showed what could be done, and it all flowed from there. The old Arsenal one, two straight after the break closed it out but I will confess that I was watching the penalty from behind the sofa. Has there been a more important pen since Villareal and Jen’s save? We could even enjoy the last 10 minutes with the cigars on (though I was screaming for Ozil and Ramsey to be subbed). Superb performance all round – this will surely bring much confidence as we go into Villa and then City before Christmas.
A thought on the Europa. I was in a hotel on business a few weeks ago on a Thursday night and wandered into the bar to get a pint and some supper. They were showing the Liverpool game (6pm KO). I texted my son to ask him if he was watching. With supreme Gooner arrogance he replied “Dad, I don’t watch Football on Thursdays (unless I have to)”.
Son, for another year, you can do other things on a Thursday.
An “Acropolis” pun? Only a pillar of the community could get away with that. Or someone who’s lost his marbles. Philosophically speaking, anyway.
(Sorry, those were the best puns I could come up with!)
Great performance but I am not the least bit surprised. Several people can testify that I said before the game that many overestimated Olympiakos and underestimated us. We are still a pretty good team even with the players we have missing right now. Really pleased for Giroud who was a large part of putting us in this tricky situation, worked hard all through the game and deserved his goals.
Right then, back to this “work” thingamabob…
Heh, Lars @36 🙂
Brilliant Lars 🙂
I wouldn’t pretend a lisp just to get a good headline. 😉
Or maybe I would if I had thought of it. 😀
Pretty good odds we might draw Madrid one way or the other. It could be just the opportunity we have been wanting to fry some squid. 😀
http://es.wikihow.com/preparar-calamares-fritos
What a night, apologies for the non belief that we wont qualify but then i did say we will win, hahha. What a fabulous team effort.
Accolades and headlines will be duly for Giroud/Ozil and Ramsey and each one truly deserves but spare a generous round of superlatives for Monreal, campbell(blimey), Kos and Cech. All these guys were fantastic and it just shows that this is a team and not a group of individuals.
I dont care who we draw, for all we know it will be barca. I am not perturbed if it is them or anyone else, just want to enjoy the moment and say proudly that we defied the odds and played with the brilliance that makes youfeel proud.
Last note to the great man, Arsene doesnt do tactics does he, well if he doesnt and still has got us 16 times to the knockouts, he must be a magician. Thank you boss.
I said yestaday on ‘naija gooners’dat Arsenal was abt to shock d footballing world in Athens;dat exactly was wat AW nd his troops did in amazing style.Congrats Arsenal World,players,backroom staff nd of course De Boss himself who minded d scintilating ultra performance,tanks to u all for disappointing ur pessimistic critics;its clear to all those fringe Gunners who express such abominable criticisms wit every little mishap of d team, now dey kno Wenger knos his onions nd is d BEST! Intelligent, talented, mentally balanced, determined nd real professionls these Arsenal buffs;am luking forward to seeing d demolition of subsequent oppositions weda in d EPL, CL or FA CUP; no more playing below par; C’omon U Gunners let’s go on demolition mission henceforth, u hve attained dat maximum threshold required of demolition squads U must sustain d momentum of d ATHENIAN Miracle so ur critics will b silenced permanently;B A R V O !!!
Anyone think this result could kickstart a nice run of playing convincingly as these things sometimes do for Arsenal?
Also I may have missed it bcz that pesky work thing keeps getting in the way, but has there been any analysis of Campbell’s contributions of late and his recent rise from ineffectual squad player to serious participator? What’s he done recently? Assist last night, opening goal against Sunderland, another goal or assist was it, not long before that?
Is he quietly becoming a bit good or is it just my perception?
As for the game-based puns, I just don’t get them. You might even say it’s all Greek to me…
*backs unnoticed out the fire escape, quietly taking his coat with him*
Campbell contributed a delicious reverse ball assist, very similar to last night, for Sanchez to score in front of the North Bank vs Dynamo Zagreb.
This is good on Campbell
http://bet.unibet.co.uk/football/premier-league/joel-campbells-messi-moment-means-he-finally-being-accepted-arsenal
Uply@30: Doubt it was one of ours. We discourage self-immolation at Castle Ned.
Shame about Monk. He deserved better I think.
No thanks to Fox Sports for choosing not to televise yesterday’s Arsenal game on their principal channel. FIE FOX FIE MURDOCH.
Agreed, ‘holic. I was surprised and had thought Swansea were a better run club than the sacking of Monk would indicate.
Cheers Boss.
Clive at five. No-one predicted 3-0 you say?
A great performance. A wonderful night.
Campbell is settling down and my only gripe with H’s post is the underselling of his contribution to goal number 2. Control. Awareness of the run. Shifting the ball to keep possession and wait for the runner. Then an in perfect pass. If God had done that it would be on even his showreel. I hope it was a moment of true quality which will convince some of those who have doubted whether he has sort of thing in his locker. He just needs to start doing it regularly and show it is not a one-off thing. I think he earns the benefit of the doubt through his hard work personally. He was clapped off by all and sundry for good reason and it was nice to see. Also, Giroud was immense.
Now let’s see who we get next. No-one wants to play us as a runner-up!
Swansea need lessons from NBN.
He knows how you get the best from a Monk…
ned
how’s yer monk’s tonsures ?
standard ?
or
the irish ?
which some think a lawnmower swathe
one ear
over the top o the head
to the other
.
one is just tidying up nature and lying
the other
a whole different kettle o ball games
.
GSD
Am i missing something. ??
If you did as your post alludes,peer into Alice’s Looking Glass and through the mists of time,see a 3 zip,then i applaud your prediction.
You madly optimistic,never say die nutter. !!
primetime telly 🙁
i’d monk-qualcast chris evans bonce
bbc still hires the hackneyed arsehole
hate him
this is the state of music now
bbc1
sweet livin mother o fuck
Cheers for the review H.
I was in Rotterdam last night meetings and appointments that were taking place in cubs and bars and not one of them had a tv, wierd. Luckily there was enough alcohol to keep me occupied while I was worrying about the result. I decided to turn off the wifi on my telephone oterwise I would of been staring at it during the meetings.
Around 23:00, lubricated enough to not feel (too much) pain if the result was not favorable, I allowed myself to have a quick butchers at the blower. Patrons in this quazi chic watering hole all looked up startled when they heard what must of sounded like a little girl shriek, “Get the Fuck IN!!!!!!”
Well played you Gunners.
cba@53: To know that, you have to peek under the hood…
I was behind the sofa with you, countryman (#35). With the 2-0 lead they only had to score one to steal the tie. But at 3-0 they had to score three times, and that wasn’t going to happen. Problem was I couldn’t remember the last time OG was entrusted with a crucial pen. Ned?
Oskar
Oskar: Giroud took (and scored) a penalty in our Champions Lge Qualifying Round win away at Fenerbahce at the beginning of the 2013-14. Since then, he’s always been behind Arteta/Cazorla/Ozil in the pecking order (although I think Ozil has been ‘removed’ since those 2 shocking pens against Marseille and Bayern a couple of seasons back)….
Perhaps we might see more Ollie penalties over the coming weeks/months with Arteta and Santi’s crocked statuses?
Quite a butchers at the blower (whatever that means). Well done, H2H. 😀
I have still only managed to watch the last 15 minutes of the match and subsequently, the goals so greatly appreciated the write up. Another night when the result was all important. The last two results just show you how very poor we were in the first two games.
We have got out of jail and we know it. However, at this stage, who actually cares?
It was nice to hear the “experts” waxing lyrical about our performance. From what I have seen and heard it was all very much deserved.
I’m still not convinced that JC is good enough to play regularly but credit where it’s due. His touch and delicate pass for the second were superb. I’m also really pleased for Ollie G. I am a big fan of OG. He gets loads of unfair criticism in my opinion. Last weekend he had a poor game. He score Sunderland’s equaliser. But his head and work rate never drops. Last night I hope was just rewards for all of that effort. Well played sir.
Very much looking forward to the draw. I’m with Zico. Anyone will do, although I would like to stay away from Barca until the semis.
Otd: we haven’t scored from the penalty spot since Santi’s against Palace in the league last February. And Santi has been the regular penalty taker for a couple of seasons, and before that it was Arteta. OG scored a penalty in the league against Southampton in November 2013, which I think was the previous one he took. The penalty against Fernebahce was in August in a CL qualifier.
Hi everyone,
Holic your wrap up jives with what I heard on Player. Very nice indeed. Can’t wait to see all the goodness for myself! 🙂
Re penalty kick takers: OG was third in line of the four who successfully connected in the FA Cup semifinal in April 2014. The others were 1) Arteta, 2) Kallstrom (!!),and Santi hit the clincher.
As to who would have been fifth up to the spot, rumor has it that it was going to be Sagna, which I find hard to fathom.
hey, nurse!! long time! I miss sharing games here with you 🙂
Clive @54.
That last line of yours may be going on my gravestone!
Indeed scruz,
Lovely to see you in here, abb. 🙂
A very interesting article in the Times today that touches on StatDNA, the Arsenal-owned stat company that gathers all our data and how it is used.
What a stupid name for a company. Expect Fabregas to get a job there when he retires.
“I’ve always been interested in numbers, my home is full of ring binders with details of all my opponents and their abilities. I have always had stats in my DNA”.
Spanish cunt.
Excuse my French at this time of the morning.
ou est la bibliotheque , cynique ?
et plus une a 67 ‘holique
pour le retour de l’infirmiere
*obtient son manteau*
je parle like a native
like a fuckin native
🙂
zut alors !
regarder l’heure !
il est l’heure du dejeuner !
a plus tard
Les chevrons sont manquants.
ah , ned de la banque du nord
chevrons francaises typicale
surly
bien sur
anyhoo
je ne peux plus be arsed
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
(French chevrons point the wrong bloody way)
Zoot alors!
VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Interesting to hear Philip Auclair suggest that we were very likely to make early purchases in the window especially at DM. He tends to speak less rubbish than the average journo and is close to Wenger. I remember him confirm that we were signing Giroud a week before we signed him
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