Arsenal needed a victory over Group D leaders Borussia Dortmund to secure a place in the knockout round and they got just that. Yaya Sanogo
scored just two minutes into the game to put the Gunners in front and
Alexis Sanchez secured the result with a stunning strike in he second
half.
Arsenal went on the attack from
the opening kickoff and took a quick lead in the 2nd minute when Yaya
Sonogo was kept onside by Lukas Piszczek. The young striker jumped
behind his marker, getting on the end of Santi Carzola's short pass and
beat Roman Weidenfeller to give the Gunners a 1-0 lead.
Dortmund's best chance of the half came in the 38th when Henrikh Mkhitaryan
got on the end of a diagonal ball from Ilkay Gundogan. The midfielder's
shot look good to pull Dortmund even, but goalkeeper Damián Martinez
got across quickly and blocked the shot at the post to deny the goal.
Despite a good start from the
Germans to the second half it was Arsenal who came close to doubling the
lead in the 54th minute. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's dipping shot from
distance just missed getting down enough to get under the crossbar as
Weidnenfeller stood frozen.
Two minutes later the goal did
arrive when Alexi Sanchez beat Weidenfeller with a beautiful shot from
20-yards out that curled around a defender and went between the
goalkeeper's extended hands and the far post.
The only negatives for Arsene Wenger were new injuries suffered by Mikel Arteta and Sanogo in the second half. The striker appeared to injure his hamstring, while Arteta limped off all calling for a sub.
Arsenal: Martinez, Gibbs, Monreal, Mertesacker, Chambers, Ramsey, Arteta (Flamini 67'), Cazorla, Sánchez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanogo
Goals: Sanogo (2'), Sanchez (57')
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller,
Schmelzer, Ginter, Subotić, Piszczek, Gündoğan, Bender, Grosskreutz
(Jojić 78'), Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang (Ramos 61'), Immobile (Kagawa 61')
Goals:
3 Things
1. Group D is officially two team race - Dortmund are still in control of their fate in the group, but Arsenal's
win means they can't finish worse than second. The Germans are now two
points clear of the Gunners heading into the final match day and will
likely need just a single point against Anderlecht to take first. If
they were to lose though, Arsenal could leapfrog them with a win over
Galatasaray.
2. Alexis Sanchez is so good -
The Chilean gets criticized a lot for a variety of things but there's
no doubt he's a talent. Just look at his goal from this match. It didn't
look like a dangerous moment when he got the ball, Dortmund had
defenders back and appeared to have everything covered. Then Sanchez
curls a back past a defender and the goalkeeper. So sweet.
3. Maybe "League Dortmund" is the real Dortmund -
Jurgen Klopp's side has been a regular Jekyll and Hyde this season as
they'v struggled in the Bundesliga and looked like world beaters in the
Champions League. Wednesday was different though as Dortmund looked
poor, lacking any real ideas on the attack to challenge the Gunners. The
defense was solid -- both of Arsenal's goals were very good -- but they
didn't look like the team that had won four straight group matches.
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