Arsenal vs. Olympiakos: Observations from the First Half

Two seasons after facing the Greek side in Champions League play (one win, one loss), Arsenal once again welcome Olympiakos to the comfortable confines of the Emirates.

With an eye toward the crucial North London derby this weekend, Arsene Wenger rested first 11 mainstays Robin van Persie, Aaron Ramsey, and Kieran Gibbs, who nonetheless were in the substitution list.

That gave a full Champions League debut to newly-signed teenage winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who slotted into Theo Walcott's customary role on the right wing. Andrei Arshavin started ahead of the (also) injured Gervinho on the left, and Marouane Chamakh was the point man in attack.

With Alex Song starting alongside Per Mertesacker in central defense after Laurent Koscielny picked up a knock over the weekend, Emmauel Frimpong started in the central defensive midfield role. Tomas Rosicky and Mikel Arteta were the advanced central midfielders.

OK, got all the changes? Phew. Let's look at some quick hitters from the first half.

— Oxlade-Chamberlain opened the scoring for Arsenal as early as the eighth minute, when a diagonal ball from Song found the young winger atop the Greek penalty area. "AOC"'s first touch off his chest, was a bit heavy, but he maintained possession, darted past a defender and finished expertly into the bottom left corner of the net. It was a classy goal and a definite statement by Oxlade-Chamberlain that he is ready to play on a consistent basis.

— Andre Santos, starting at left-back ahead of Gibbs, notched Arsenal's second, when his run down the left flank ended with his pass toward Chamakh being deflected back to him. Undeterred, the Brazilian simply opened up his right foot and slotted home from a tight angle. 2-0.

—If Olympiakos were waiting for a kick in the behind to spur them on, they responded brilliantly after the second goal. They had Arsenal on the back foot for most of the first half, using their own passing technique to craft well-honed collective movements around the Arsenal penalty area. They finally took advantage of Arsenal's shoddy marking on a short corner in the 27th minute. David Fuster had a free header just past the six-yard box that he directed past a helpless Wojciech Szczesny.

—There was desperate defending at time from Arsenal; Arshavin and Oxlade-Chamberlain's defensive work rate has got to improve, lest Olympiakos continue to enjoy their almost uninterrupted possession in the Arsenal third.

—Oxlade-Chamberlain had a wonderful start. He lacks the pace of Walcott, but is a wily customer on the flanks, putting Olympiakos under pressure with his skill and deceptive pace.

—Chamakh looks likely to cede to Park Chu-Young in the second half. To my mind, the Korean is a much better overall player than the Moroccan, who likely got the start because of his experience from last year in the competition.

—Francis Coquelin, so bright in last week's match against Shrewsbury, is also on the bench and could feature in the second half.

So it's 2-1 at the break. There were well-taken goals from Arsenal, but the defensive woe is worrisome, to say the least. I would not be surprised at all if Olympiakos grabbed a second or third in the last 45 minutes of this one.