Lawrenson: Arsenal’s full-backs were offered “no protection” against Bayern
Arsenal were without Hector Bellerin, Laurent
Koscielny, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron
Ramsey and Theo Walcott for the trip to
Germany, and their frailties were laid bare in
the Allianz arena.
”Arsenal’s full-backs had little or no
protection, that is where all the chances came
from,” Lawrenson said.
”That is where Bayern Munich got in. You
cannot give a team so much width and not
expect them to create so many chances.
Against the top teams, you cannot have one
weakness; they will keep exposing it.”
Arsenal were thoroughly outclassed by their
opponents, and they were not helped by
changes they had to make before the game.
Hector Bellerin was crucial for the Gunners in
the reverse fixture two weeks ago, which
Arsenal won 2-0. Instead they had to field
Mathieu Debuchy at right-back, who had
previously featured in just one Premier League
and one Champions League game this season.
Koscielny, who has played in every other game
in Europe for Arsenal this season, pulled out
hours before kick-off with a minor hip injury
(as per ESPN).
Bayern were not in the mood to take any
prisoners, taking a 10th-minute lead through
Robert Lewandowski. Goals from Thomas
Muller and David Alaba made sure of the three
points before half-time had arrived.
Substitute Arjen Robben added another after
the break before Olivier Giroud pulled one
back for the Gunners. Muller added his second
and made it five with one minute of normal
time remaining.
It leaves Arsenal bottom of Group F with two
games. They will have to beat Dinamo Zagreb
and Olympiacos (by more than one goal), and
hope Bayern beat them both, if they are to
qualify.
0 Comments :
COMMENT