A brace from Jack Wilshere was enough to give Arsenal a comfortable 2-0 victory against a poor Marseille side tonight at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League.
The Gunners were far from their best, but the 90-minutes was more like an extended training match rather than a competitive Champions League group stage clash, and that is probably why the French side have no points from their five games.
Marseille’s performance was summed up within 30-seconds as that’s all it took for Wilshere to give the hosts a 1-0 lead, but boy he did it in style.
After being released down the line by Bacary Sagna, the Englishman made a dash for the penalty area, before cutting back onto his left and delightfully curling the ball into the far corner over the Marseille goalkeeper.
Despite the domination from Arsenal, they didn’t really create many chances, but a man who you think would score a one-one-one opportunity is Aaron Ramsey after the season he is having, but after getting on the end of a Wilshere cross, the Welshman was denied by a solid save from Mandanda in the Marseille goal.
There was then a call for a penalty for Arsene Wenger’s men and replays show it was a clear-cut penalty which the referee didn’t give.
A free-kick was swung in by Mesut Ozil and striker Olivier Giroud was tugged to the ground, but the five officials seemed to miss the collision and the decision was given the other way.
However, Arsenal didn’t have to wait long for a penalty as a few moments later, Ramsey was brought down just inside the area, but German international Mesut Ozil missed the spot-kick after taking a short run-up.
After the interval, it was the same-old from Arsenal and the game was wrapped up in the 65th minute as Wilshere tapped home his second from a Ozil cross.
Chances for Giroud and Santi Cazorla fell after but no more goals came from the Emirates Stadium.
The win means Wenger are all-but through with 12-points as they just have to avoid a heavy defeat in Italy to go through to the knockout stages.
MATCH REACTION:
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere speaking to ITV: “It was strange because we didn’t start well in the first 10 seconds because we lost the ball, and they had a chance. Playing on the right you can cut in on your left and the first one went in and it was nice. We created a lot of chances tonight… we got in behind them, hopefully on another night we’ll put more away but we’re happy with a win.
“At the start of the season I said [I’d like to score] 10 goals. I’ve never scored four in a season so we’ll see. I’m feeling good at the moment.”
On Napoli: “It’s a tough game. At home they’re a very good team they’ve got great fans. We’re not through yet. We’ve got to regroup again.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger speaking to ITV: “We were in control and it looked, at times, that we lacked a bit of sharpness to finish the game off but overall we were always in control of the game and the only regret is that we couldn’t score more goals. We have 12 points in five games overall, it’s a good number of points, and I’m confident we can take another point or three in Naples if we play well.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
