Dortmund open Champions League with convincing win over Arsenal
Arsenal were reduced to chasing shadows on Tuesday night at the Westfalenstadion as Borussia Dortmund raced right round the Gunners en route to a 2-0 victory.
Ciro Immobile scored one of the goals of the round, a solo, streaking effort from midfield that ended with him splitting the defense and burying the ball far post at the stroke of halftime. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would add the insurance right after the restart after some comical Arsenal defending.
The result leaves Arsenal at the bottom of Group D as Anderlecht earned a 1-1 in Turkey against Galatasaray in the other game in the group. It also leaves Arsene Wenger with more than a few questions to answer. Simply put, his team wasn't close to the competition on Tuesday.
Dortmund's dominance was apparent from the opening whistle, with Arsenal largely penned back in their own half. In fact, the Londoners would not have a true chance on net until very late in the first half -- and that was after Dortmund had squandered a hatful of chances. The same old failings were in evidence again for the Gunners; a queasy, under-manned defense, a callow midfield, and the continued absence of Mesut Ozil as a defining force in the game. Arsenal have been widely and rightly criticized for allowing several defenders to leave the club without getting reinforcements, and anyone who doubted those critics got an object lesson.
That defense was simply ripped apart. Aubameyang was the focal point of much of Dortmund's attack, as they smartly targeted young Hector Bellerin -- a late replacement after Mathieu Debuchy's injury and the loss of Callum Chambers to tonsillitis. They consistently torched him. Time and time again, Aubameyang isolated defenders and then raced right round them.
Aubameyang was first stopped point blank after 20 minutes, and then was involved when Henrikh Mkhitaryan was unleashed only to shoot into the stands with the net gaping. Immobile, beating Bellerin, then sent in a cross that Wojciech Szczesny was forced to parry but could not hold, and with Jack Wilshere desperately flying in, Mkhitaryan tossed his half-volley over the bar when it would have been easier to sidefoot home.
Aubameyang would then be stopped near post by Szczesny before Immobile finally broke the game open with a lung-busting, 65-yard run that saw him leave young Bellerin for dead, and fox the far more experienced Laurent Koscielny to boot. It was no less than Dortmund deserved, either. They had out-muscled, out-hustled and out-thought Arsenal throughout the match, consistently finding space behind the midfielders and then forcing turnovers when they lost possession -- which wasn't very often at all in truth.
Danny Welbeck was largely reduced to the role of spectator, starved for service as Ozil again disappeared from the field of play. His only real look came late in the first half when he was able to leave Neven Subotic and skate out right to receive a slick pass from Aaron Ramsey. But with Roman Weidenfeller off his line and beat, the new Gunner pushed his shot wide of the entire net.
Aubameyang then put the dagger into Arsenal's hopes right after the break, collecting a ball from Kevin Grosskreutz and putting Szczesny on the floor. With Per Mertesacker and Szczesny both left looking at the ball, Aubameyang simply skipped through, and then scooped the ball at the far post past a despairing Koscielny. It was sickeningly poor defending against a top-class attacking side, and it killed the match off.
Aubameyang would then hit the crossbar on a classic bit of route one football, latching on to a long outlet from Weidenfeller, and then sprinting past Koscielny to uncork a shot that had Szczesny beat. Mkhitaryan would also spurn a gift from Mikel Arteta with 15 to play, punting the ball into the cheap seats after sitting down Szczesny.
Arsenal now must recover to face Aston Villa in the league on Saturday; and will next host Galatasary at the Emirates on the first of October. But how they will answer some very apparent weaknesses between now and then is an open question. They will be without Debuchy for a long spell. They are already missing Olivier Giroud up top until the new year. This very threadbare squad depends too much on too many young faces -- and continues to fall short as a result.
But Dortmund? They look to be a team making a big statement. They have a point to prove to a certain team in Munich after all, and on one game's evidence, they will be a side few wish to face.
