Arsenal vs. Olympiakos: Winners and Losers from Champions League Game
Arsenal's UEFA Champions League campaign is in jeopardy following a 3-2 home loss to Olympiakos on Tuesday in Group F.
The hosts started brightly but fell behind in the 33rd minute as Felipe Pardo gave Olympiakos the lead. Theo Walcott equalized just two minutes later, but a David Ospina error—an own goal—restored the visitors' advantage five minutes before halftime.
Arsenal drew level a second time, through Alexis Sanchez in the 65th minute, but Olympiakos found the winner just one minute later via substitute Alfred Finnbogason.
Through two matches, Arsenal sit at the bottom of Group F with zero points. Up next, the Gunners face back-to-back games against group leaders Bayern Munich.
Here, B/R selects winners and losers from Tuesday's match.
Winner: Olympiakos' Record Against English Sides
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Before Tuesday, playing matches in England had been a nightmarish proposition for Olympiakos. As Opta noted ahead of kickoff, the Greek side had lost all 12 games to English opposition in European competitions.
That record changed rather dramatically at the Emirates Stadium, where the Piraeus-based club scored three goals in a single night to match their all-time output in those 12 previous games against English teams.
With back-to-back games against Dinamo Zagreb coming up, Olympiakos must be confident now in their chances to finish second in the group behind Bayern Munich.
Loser: Arsenal's Champions League Ambitions
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In recent seasons, Arsenal had made a frustrating habit of crashing out of the Champions League in the round of 16. After losing their first two matches of the current European campaign, the Gunners need a miracle just to make it that far again.
Four games remain for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger to turn around their fortunes, but the sobering truth is that the Gunners's next two games are both against Bayern Munich.
The group leaders dismantled Dinamo Zagreb—who beat Arsenal on Matchday 1—with a minimum of fuss on Tuesday and look more than capable of winning all six matches in this group.
For Arsenal, that means the very real possibility of zero points through their first four Group F matches.
Winner: Theo Walcott
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Few of Arsenal's players can be proud of the way they played Tuesday, but Theo Walcott will have taken positives from his performance. The English forward scored another goal and provided a lovely assist for Alexis Sanchez.
In the 35th minute, with Arsenal trailing 1-0, Walcott latched onto a pass from Sanchez on the left and fired the ball under Olympiakos goalkeeper Roberto. It wasn't Walcott's most skillful finish, but much like against Leicester, it was an important goal because it pulled the Gunners level after falling behind early.
According to Opta, Walcott has scored 16 goals in his last 20 starts at the club level.
Walcott created Arsenal's second goal—and second equalizer—in the 65th minute, delivering an accurate cross from the right flank for Sanchez to head in. With that, the England international showed his worth as a provider, a quality that complements his goalscoring abilities nicely.
Arsenal will have many regrets about Tuesday's result and performance, but Walcott was a rare bright spot for his side.
Loser: Arsenal's Defending
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In a word, Arsenal's defending against Olympiakos on Tuesday was atrocious. The Gunners constantly showed vulnerability on the counter and seemed completely unable to handle any set piece sent into or around their box.
Olympiakos' opener came from a well-worked corner, but nothing about the routine was complicated. Felipe Pardo was simply unmarked at the edge of the box and he beat David Ospina with a deflected shot.
Ospina committed an awful error on the second goal, misjudging a corner and knocking the ball down into his own goal. In the second half, the visitors scored the winner just one minute after Arsenal had equalized for a second time, catching the Gunners on the break after the hosts switched off.
All the talent in Arsenal's squad should have been enough to beat Olympiakos. But defending so poorly at this level will often lead to defeat, as it did on Tuesday.
After the match, manager Arsene Wenger told BBC Sport:
"It is still possible of course to qualify but it is difficult to swallow losing a game like that. We lost it on a lack of defensive concentration and bad luck. They had four shots on goal and we conceded three goals. The turning point at 2-2 is we give them a goal again straight away. If it stays 2-2 for five minutes we win the game.
"
Sadly, this is not an isolated issue for the Gunners. In the past year, Monaco and Anderlecht also scored three times in a Champions League match at the Emirates.
Wenger has defensive problems on his hands.
Loser: David Ospina
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Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina hardly could have embarrassed himself more. In the 40th minute, the Colombian conceded an own goal after misjudging a corner and knocking the ball over his own line.
What should have been an easy catch turned into a needlessly conceded goal. And although Arsenal as a whole were guilty of poor, disorganized defending, Ospina's clanger was simply unacceptable.
"The second goal isn't due to a handling error, it's a positioning error," tweeted The Twelfth Man. "Ospina was in no mans land and then was running backwards."
A club with Arsenal's ambitions should have a better player in goal during such a high-profile match. Ospina was not good enough on the night, and it's unclear whether he's good enough in general, even to serve as a backup to Petr Cech.
Loser: Arsene Wenger
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Tuesday's loss was the fourth in 10 competitive matches for Arsenal this season. That's not good enough, and manager Arsene Wenger must take the blame. The Gunners have played poorly too often this season, and on Tuesday, his questionable squad selection proved costly.
As noted in the previous slide, goalkeeper David Ospina conceded an own goal in embarrassing fashion. Ospina is not Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper, but Wenger decided to bench Petr Cech for the second straight Champions League match.
According to B/R's James McNicholas, Wenger confirmed before the match that Cech had suffered a "slight" calf injury. But the big stopper remained in the squad anyway, taking a place on the bench.
So the question has to be this: If Cech was fit enough to be on the bench, wasn't he fit enough to play?
It seems inconceivable that Wenger would sign a top-class goalkeeper like Cech in the summer and then neglect to play him in either of Arsenal's first two Champions League matches. If Cech really was injured, that makes some sense, but this feels more like another gamble that has backfired on the Frenchman.
At most other clubs, especially those competing for trophies at the elite level, Wenger's managerial performance this season would put him under intense pressure. That he remains completely comfortable in his post at Arsenal reveals something disturbing about the club's true ambitions at this point in time.
