Cologne 1-0 Arsenal player ratings, stats and reaction: Embarrassing Gunners flop as Giroud and Wilshere fail to impress Wenger

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Arsenal slipped to a 1-0 defeat away to German side Cologne but still managed to secure top spot in their group with other results going their way.

The German side currently sit at the bottom of the Bundesliga and have the worst defensive record in their devision. However, they were more than capable in securing the three points against the Gunners this evening and managed to limit Arsenal’s attacking chances to very few.

Sehrou Guirassy went down in the 61st minute after being fouled by Arsenal’s Mathieu Debuchy in the Gunners’ box. The attacker stepped up to convert the penalty himself in the 62nd minute sending the Arsenal goalkeeper David Opsina to his right as the the the striker calmly slotted the ball down the middle of the goal.

The penalty was contentious to say the least with it appearing to be a tangling of legs rather than a foul from the French defender.

Regardless, it goes without saying that Arsenal are unlikely to be happy with tonight’s display with them still being able to secure the top spot in Group H as the only silver lining from tonight’s defeat.

Man of the match

Sehrou Guirassy was a constant threat down the left-side for the German side Cologne and the attacker cleverly drew the foul that earned the subsequent penalty that won the game. Guirassy cleverly lent in to the shoulder of French defender Debuchy to draw the foul before calmly slotting the penalty away himself.

Flop of the match

When you’ve been struggling to maintain consistent game time you need to take hold of any opportunity you are given. Tonight, Olivier Giroud did not do that. The Frenchman was presented with the opportunity to fill his boots with tonight’s opposition boasting the worst defensive record in the Bundesliga. However, Giroud could not capitalise on this with the star often left isolated up top with an unwillingness to run the channels like a teammate such as Alexis Sanchez may have.

Stat of the match

Not a good destination to travel for the Gunners…

Player ratings

Arsenal: Ospina 5, Debuchy 4, Mertesacker 5, Holding 6, Chambers 6, Coquelin 6, Elneny 6, Maitland-Niles 5, Wilshere 7, Welbeck 4, Giroud 4.

Subs: Iwobi 5, Nelson 5, Nketiah N/A.

Reaction

Pundits and fans had a lot to say regarding a more than disappointing performance from the Gunners tonight…

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