Arsenal vs. Olympique De Marseille: 5 Positive Takeaways for Arsenal Fans

In a somewhat scrappy encounter, Arsenal secured a valuable 1-0 away win in their Champions League game against Olympique de Marseille.

A last-minute goal from substitute Aaron Ramsey was enough to take the spoils back to London and enable the Gunners to leapfrog their opponents to the top of group F.

With seven points in the bag already and only one road game still to play, Arsenal are, dare I say it, looking nearly certain to reach the knockout stages.

Having been under intense pressure back home to overturn their worst start in recent memory, the European triumph will be a welcome relief for manager Arsène Wenger and a real confidence booster for his new-look squad. 

Read on for five more reasons why Arsenal fans may start to see the first inklings of light at the end of the tunnel.

Arsenal Weren't at Their Best, but Still Took 3 Points Away from Home

Often criticized for trying to play beautiful football at the expense of simply getting points on the board, one could argue the opposite was true in last night’s match.

For a home side, Marseille were decidedly lackluster.

But, Arsenal—struggling for confidence and fluency themselves—had to show real patience and resilience to keep up the pressure right until the final whistle and eventually grabbed a last-gasp goal.

The Defence Largely Put in a Much More Assured Display

There were some rather worrying moments in the early stages for Arsenal’s defence, as they seemed intent on putting themselves under unnecessary pressure with sloppy play and poor communication.

If Arsenal had gone on to lose the game thanks to a few gifted opportunities to the opposition, you would have been forgiven for saying the writing had been on the wall—a near repeat of last season’s Carling Cup mix-up between Wojciech Szczesny and Laurent Koscielny certainly springs to mind.

Fortunately, this wasn’t the outcome the football gods had in mind.

As the game wore on, both Mertesacker and man of the match Koscielny rose in stature, barely allowing their opponents a look-in during the second half.

No Major Injury Concerns

Carl Jenkinson showed a lot of energy but little end product in his appearance on the right.

Clearly a player of some promise, he nevertheless struggles to shake off the look of a player desperately out of his depth at the top level.

As it was, a knee injury signalled the end of his night—the extent of which is set to be assessed by Arsenal medical staff later today.

That aside, the squad have, touch wood, come back to London Colney seemingly unscathed on the injury front.

Mikel Arteta Played Well in a Deeper Role

The role of Arsenal new boy Mikel Arteta has been a little lost in translation in recent games.

Is he a defensive midfielder sitting alongside Song?

Is he a Cesc Fabregas like-for-like replacement?

Should he have a free role behind the forward line?

In last night’s configuration, perhaps for the first time, his role seemed a lot clearer to the onlooking fan.

Indeed, he turned out a very competent performance shielding the back four and balancing his forays forward well with Alex Song.

Arsenal Have Strength in Depth

Many have sought to belittle Arsenal’s squad strength this season, especially when compared to the superstar substitutes the likes of Manchester City are able to call upon in a tight game.

Yet, even with three first-choice defenders and a star midfielder (Jack Wilshere) in the injury room, Arsenal were able make three telling substitutions to turn the game around.

Johann Djourou came on for Carl Jenkinson to fill in at right-back, Aaron Ramsey took over from Tomas Rosicky in the midfield role and Gervinho replaced Theo Walcott in attack.

All three subsequently combined for what was to be the winning goal.

There’s still a big mountain to climb, but Arsenal have surely made an important step in the right direction.