Arsenal 0 - 0 MiddlesbroughArsenal celebrate Wenger’s birthday but ride luck to hold Middlesbrough
Arsène Wenger’s having a party; bring your vodka and your DVD of Fortuna Köln versus Paderborn. The Arsenal manager is no hell-raiser and he has long had his leg pulled about his idea of a big night, which – according to legend – has to feature German third division football. One thing was plain after this anti-climatic comedown from Wednesday’s 6-0 Champions League win over Ludogorets. His 67th birthday bash would have been the dampest of squibs.
Wenger’s moods are entirely dependent on the results of his team and this was one of those that they throw in every now and then – sometimes, when they are least expected. Arsenal had entered the game as the form team in England while Middlesbrough had never had so few Premier League points after the first eight matches of a season.
But Arsenal simply could not get it together and it was Middlesbrough who distinguished themselves. If anybody deserved to win, it was them. Aitor Karanka, the manager, got this counterattacking tactics spot on and, with the right winger, Adama Traoré, in blistering form, they had the chances to take more than one point.
Petr Cech saved Arsenal three times in the first half and he would be worked again by Traoré in the second period. For Arsenal, there was a glaring shortage of gilt-edged chances. Their run of seven straight victories in all competitions is over.
Karanka had tweaked his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, asking Adam Clayton to anchor a central midfield trio. The idea was to have Adam Forshaw and Marten de Roon, who were to the sides of Clayton and slightly further forward, pressing as hard as possible in order to deny Arsenal the space to impose their passing rhythms. In the absence of a No10, Gaston Ramírez started off the left.
Middlesbrough’s problems had been well-documented – the dismal run of results, the lack of creativity and goals – but they made light of them. If nobody could have predicted how disjointed Arsenal would have looked, then it was a sight for sore eyes to see the visitors as the more dangerous team, particularly in the first half.
They had chances and they were glorious ones – particularly the third, when Traoré crossed, Alvaro Negredo and Laurent Koscielny challenged for the ball and it looped up to the unmarked Ramírez at the far post. His header packed a punch but it was too close to Cech, who blocked instinctively.
Karanka’s team had first carved Arsenal open in the 19th minute, following Negredo’s flick from Daniel Ayala’s high ball forward. Koscielny moved across to deal with the loose ball but he was robbed by Traoré, who blasted away from him and made for the area. His pace and power were a feature of his team’s performance. Confronted by Cech, Traoré’s shot was saved and, when the ball broke to Negredo, the goalkeeper saved again. Negredo ought to have done better.
Middlesbrough could also point to Ramírez’s free-kick moments later. His technique to whip the left-footed effort around the wall and towards the near, top corner of Cech’s goal was eye-catching. Unfortunately for him, the ball crashed against the crossbar and it came back too quickly to Negredo for him to be able to direct the header on the rebound.
Alexis Sánchez worked Victor Valdes with a free-kick on 23 minutes but there were precious few moments of alarm for Middlesbrough. Arsenal had plenty of the ball but they laboured for incision. The absence of their midfield tone-setter, Santi Cazorla, who had an achilles injury, felt like an issue.
The pattern after half-time remained the same. Arsenal hogged the ball and they pushed; Middlesbrough wanted to play on the counterattack, and they did. Karanka ordered his wide men – Traoré and Ramírez – to drop back to make a midfield five when they did not have the ball. Middlesbrough were a tough nut to crack.
Traoré had plenty of joy up the right flank and whenever he tore forward, there was worry among the home support. He went close on 59 minutes, after a surging run and low shot at the far corner; Cech tipped it behind for a corner. There was jitteriness in the Arsenal team, at times, and when Shkodran Mustafi played a pass out of defence straight to Ramírez, it seemed to reflect it. Mustafi responded by charging at Ramírez and rugby-tackling him down. He was booked.
Arsenal flickered at the start of the second half. Valdes failed to claim a high ball and when Sánchez chipped it back into the middle, Koscielny could not stretch to convert. Sánchez went close with another free-kick and he also forced Valdes to save from a low shot from the edge of the area.
Wenger introduced a second striker in Lucas Pérez and he moved Mesut Özil to the left but the home team could not make the difference. Sánchez was denied by Valdes on 67 minutes but Middlesbrough almost nicked it when Traoré fed Negredo on the break, only for Koscielny to stretch into a saving challenge. At the very end, Özil had the ball in the net but he was correctly flagged for offside.
Guardian
