RC Lens (1) 2 Arsenal (1) 1
UEFA Champions League Group B, Matchday 2 of 6
Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Av. Alfred Maes, 62300 Lens, France
Tuesday, 3rd October 2023. Kick-off time: 8.00pm
(4-3-3) David Raya;Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Kai Havertz; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, Cédric Soares, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Karl Hein
Scorers: Gabriel Jesus (14 mins)
Yellow Card: Gabriel Jesus
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 67%
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Meli (Italy), Giorgio Peretti (Italy)
Fourth Official: Matteo Marchetti (Italy)
UEFA Referee Observer: Vladimir Antonov (Moldova)
UEFA VAR Team in Geneva: VAR Paolo Valeri (Italy); AVAR Michael Fabbri (Italy)
Attendance: 38,223
Despite Arsenal’s chartered flight being grounded for almost five hours at Luton Airport because of bad weather, the group got to Lens okay and in good time, despite having to cancel their pre-match news conference due to travel delays. Bukayo Saka is available for tonight’s match, as is Thomas Partey, who has been unavailable for selection since August, as he was suffering with a groin injury, and is on the substitute’s bench this evening.
We kicked off this evening’s proceedings in an exciting, noisy atmosphere, one which we have come to expect with European competition at this level, of course.
The match started at a good, quick pace with action at both ends. We conceded an early corner, which was cleared fairly easily by our defenders, and although David Raya was tested early on in the game, mainly by an Adrien Thomasson header, the home side’s efforts did not amount to much.
After just fourteen minutes, we scored the first goal of the evening when Bukayo Saka pounced on an error by a defender; he quickly slotted the ball to Gabriel Jesus, who made no mistake in introducing the ball to the back of the net.
The goal certainly calmed the crowd down, and took the wind out of the sails of the FC Lens players, who were now very much on the back foot as we were slowly dominating the match. Oleksandr Zinchenko chipped the ball into the path of Kai Havertz and he volleyed it from a narrow angle towards the near post, as goalie Brice Samba managed to block his shot well.
On the twenty-fourth minute, the home side grabbed the equaliser with a clever shot from the left side of the penalty area by Adrien Thomasson, which obviously changed the dynamic of the game.
The match started to get more intense now, with heavier tackles taking place, and players of both sides going to the floor holding their limbs in pain.
An injured Bukayo Saka was replaced by Fábio Vieira after thirty-three minutes, and after a corner which was half-cleared by the FC Lens defence, we kept it in play and Gabriel tried to get in behind the home side’s defence but the flicked pass over the top of the defence rolled out harmlessly for a goal kick. Oleksandr Zinchenko carried the ball through the centre of the pitch, linking up with Leandro Trossard on the left, but the home side got numbers back quickly, so we switched the ball across the park via Declan Rice instead, but he had no luck either in trying to break down the FC Lens defence. Shortly afterwards, the referee blew the whistle for half-time, bringing first half matters to an end.
The home side kicked off the second half, and both teams showed their competitive edge early on, and Leandro Trossard was unlucky not to score when his effort from close range was saved by Brice Samba with his feet.
After Leandro Trossard was fouled out on the left-hand side, our captain took the free-kick, which looped into the penalty area, but it was cleared easily by the FC Lens defence. The home side broke quickly down the left wing and win a free-kick. It was whipped in quickly but Kai Havertz managed to head the ball away.
Elye Wahi ran in behind our defence, but Takehiro Tomiyasu was on hand to deal with the danger, but then Deiver Machado crossed the ball into our penalty area, but Adrien Thomasson’s shot went wide of David Raya’s goal.
Declan Rice slotted a lovely ball down the line for Gabriel Jesus but he was unable to keep it in play, but a minute or two later, after a loose ball, the home side capitalised on it and Abdul Samed’s shot went narrowly wide of David Raya’s post. A superb Martin Ødegaard corner went to the feet of Declan Rice who was desperately unlucky not to score when his low, left-footed shot was saved by Brice Samba’s feet again.
Shortly afterwards, the home side took the lead with a Elye Wahi first time shot from the centre of the penalty area. Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith-Rowe and Ben White replaced Leandro Trossard, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kai Havertz almost after the restart, in order to bring the game to FC Lens, and it has to be said that as it looks now, FC Lens are making life fairly difficult for us here tonight.
Eddie Nketiah replaced Martin Ødegaard (who passed the captain’s armband to Gabriel Jesus) with ten minutes of the match remaining, and then Gabriel pushed the ball over to Emile Smith-Rowe but it was headed away by an FC Lens defender.
Emile Smith-Rowe picked it up and hit the ball from the edge of the penalty area but it went straight at Brice Samba in the FC Lens goal. On the ninetieth minute, a ball was drilled in low from the right wing, which was struck first time by Reiss Nelson and it was cleared off the line by Jonathan Gradit, who scooped the ball away to prevent us scoring.
Sadly there was a bit of a scramble afterwards and Gabriel Jesus along with Salis Abdul Samed were booked for their troubles. In the four minutes injury time, despite a lot of pressure on the FC Lens goal, we were unable to grab the equalising goal, and it came to pass that we lost our first match of the season here in France tonight.
A bad night for us here in France. Not only did we lose this match by the odd goal in three, but we lost Bukayo Saka to an injury, which is a worry, especially with Manchester City visiting the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.
All in all, it was a very disappointing match tonight for us. We allowed FC Lens to get back into the match, and not only that, once they had grabbed the second goal, we looked like we tailed off. There were lots of lessons to be learned from tonight’s game, let us hope that we learn them quickly. And Bukayo Saka’s injury is not a serious one, either, as we do not need to go into the Manchester City game with him missing on Sunday afternoon.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Manchester City at the Emirates on Sunday, 8th October at 4.30pm(Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 