So a two-nil win SHOULD be enough to see us through. I stress the word ‘SHOULD’ because if we get complacent at the Emirates then an early goal for Twente would change the whole complexion of the tie.

Match Review – FC Twente 0 Arsenal 2 – Champions League Qualifier

I admit it. Before the game I was very nervous. Possibly as nervous as I’ve been since Paris in 2006. But this wasn’t a nervousness like that: Paris was nerves mixed with excitement, this was nerves mixed with impending doom. Even at the best of times these games are treacherous, never mind with a depleted side. There would be little chance of seeing a full-flowing four-nil performance; the best we could hope for was a cagey victory and clean sheet. And that is exactly what we got.

During the day there had been a fair bit of speculation on the Interweb as to how the team would line up. This baffled me. The defence and attack would contain no surprises, and as there were only four senior – and I use that term very loosely – midfielders available, the team picked itself. So we lined up with a first-choice strikeforce, a near first-choice defence (actually, that would be my preferred defensive quartet, more on which later), and a very makeshift midfield consisting of a striker, a full-back and two kids. As Mean Lean mentioned in his blog yesterday, the missing midfield of Cesc, Diaby, Nasri and Tomas is probably a stronger one than the quartet that took to the field last night.

When the draw was made, I wasn’t happy about facing Twente. With the Brolly Wally in charge, I figured he’d know from past experience how to stop us and would try to do a Bolton on us. But I was wrong as the home side gave a good account of themselves, making the majority of the running in the first period. The first chance of the game arrived when Denneboom headed over at the back post. He caused us a few problems throughout the night. Decent player, great name.

The midfield wasn’t functioning. This could be attributed to a lack of experience, lack familiarity, and Twente pressing well. We were barely stringing five passes together. Particularly quiet was Theo Walcott out on the left. I wish him and Eboue had swapped wings more often as Theo is twice as dangerous on the right flank. Theo is still not adept at receiving the ball with his back to goal and in the 19th minute he tried to twist his way out of trouble but got caught in possession. Twente broke down the left through Elia but Manuel was quick off the mark to diffuse the danger. Twente also forged the next chance of the game five minutes later as Denneboom ran through the midfield and defence. Gael and Denilson seemed to leave the task of tackling him to each other as he ghosted through the pair of them but thankfully fired over. We desperately needed to awake from our slumber.

Our first shot in anger came just after the half-hour as a corner was poorly cleared by Twente and fell to Aaron Ramsey outside the box. He unleashed a swerving drive but it sailed over. The boy Rambo had been overshadowed by his midfielder partner Denilson thus far. Rambo seemed to be the deeper of the two but his passes often went astray whilst the Brazilian was our biggest driving force in the first period as he made a couple of decent surging runs with the ball. Up-front Ade was anonymous and although Robin saw more of the ball, his effectiveness was limited.

Our biggest nightmare nearly became a grim reality in the 35th minute. Cap’n Willy was ill-advised in trying to play for offside and Arnautovic had a clear run on goal. Luckily for us his touch was a heavy one and all he could muster was a weak prod that Almunia smothered. Straight down the other end came our brightest offensive moment of the half as Robin got clear on the right of the box and sent in a dangerous cross that Twente were forced to clear from under their own crossbar. Robin got clattered by the onrushing Twente keeper for his troubles and, as is always the case when Robin goes down (and Rosicky/Diaby for that matter), immediately we fear the worst. Fortunately it wasn’t serious. During the time he was off the pitch, Denilson’s corner was cleared to Clichy on the halfway line. The Frenchman – yet to score for us – dropped a shoulder and let rip with a piledriver that was too hot to handle for the Twente keeper. Fellow full-back Sagna was following up but sliced his shot into the side-netting with his weaker left foot.

The second-half began and although we looked a bit more at ease, clear-cut chances were still few and far between. After impressing in the friendly against Real Madrid, Ade and Robin’s interplay had gone missing during the first period. It rediscovered itself at the start of the half as a long-ball was played to Ade and he chested it down for Robin to latch on to. The Dutchman fired in a half-volley but it was blocked before it could test the keeper. Better. During the half-time break I remarked to my dad how we should think of bypassing the ineffective midfield and going longer from the back, and it nearly worked here.

Eboue went on a few rampaging runs but failed to get a shot away. He seems to have a case of the Hlebs – no matter how good a situation he is in, he will always take one touch too many or look to pass the ball. There was an instance in the first-half when he came in from the left and was in a perfect position to shoot but spurned the opportunity and opted to lay it back to Denilson. In the second period he again came in from the left but dithered and was eventually tackled. Speaking of Hleb, it was noticeable how we missed a player like him in midfield. Eboue and Theo weren’t great at linking up with the central midfield and keeping possession. This problem should be solved once Nasri and/or Rosicky return to fitness. In my mind, Theo and Eboue are fighting it out for a spot on the right as the speedy winger that can whip a cross in, whilst Rosicky and Nasri should duel it out for the berth on the left as the more creative wide-midfielder in the mould of a Pires.

Just after the hour, my phone rang. It was my mate DJ who had the (mis)fortune of not being able to watch the game. He asked me the score and how we were doing. Here was my succinct answer:

“It’s still 0-0, we’re playing shit, we’ve barely had a chance. But we’ve got a free-kick right now, stay on the line…”

Robin whipped the free-kick in from the right and Gallas bundled it home. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The only word to describe that goal is ‘scrappy’, but to be honest it was the only way we were going to break the deadlock.

The goal settled us down. We stroked the ball around with more confidence and seemed more assured all over the park. But we couldn’t manufacture a chance to expand our lead and the longer it stayed one-nil, the more Twente would come back into it. The home side were on the wrong end of a couple of close offside calls. In the 80th minute, for once we didn’t apply the offside trap and Elia slipped in Arnautovic. Under pressure from the impressive Djourou, all he could do was poke the ball into the side-netting with the outside of his right peg. A let off.

Barely two minutes later we sealed the match – and hopefully the tie as well. A raking diagonal ball from Clichy caught the Twente defence unawares as it bounced beyond them and into the path of Theo, who had been restored to his favoured right flank. He was clean through and once again displayed a coolness under pressure that belies his age as he simply squared the ball for Ade to tap it in from six-yards. The combination that had slain Milan and nearly sucked the life of out of Liverpool in Europe last season had once again done the trick as it well and truly punctured Twente. That was Theo’s last touch and although the doom and gloom merchants will justifiably bemoan his all-round performance, there is no doubting his tangible contribution. I compared him with Hleb earlier: while Hleb would have certainly retained possession more times than Theo, would he have been lurking on the shoulder of the last defender to set up a goal like that? That’s what you sometimes will get from Theo: 89 minutes of dross and then one killer moment.

Robin – who had already been booked for a petulant challenge – came off for Bendtner and the Great Dane nearly got in on the act with his first touch. He was sent clear down the inside-left channel but couldn’t get it past the keeper. After three minutes of injury time during which I begged us not to make a stupid error and make life hard for ourselves, the final whistle blew. And despite the result, the Twente fans never stopped singing.

A couple of players stood out of for me. The first was Denilson, who had started every single pre-season game, and it showed. He was right on the money. Whether he can regularly partner Cesc is another issue, but for now, he is on his way to fulfilling the promise he showed in his debut season. The second – and my undisputed Top Gun for the night – was Johan Djourou. I might have only mentioned him once during this report, but he really was solid and commanding at the back. Any time the ball was tossed up, he would win it. There was a moment towards the end of the first-half where Twente had a goal-kick and hoofed it long. The ball was going to land in between the halfway line and our box. The likes of Toure and Gallas – both reactive defenders – would most probably have let it bounce before attempting to deal with it, a risky ploy. But Djourou was proactive and he strode forward ten yards to leap and meet the ball head-on, averting the danger before it manifested. He wasn’t tested much on the deck as the Twente forwards didn’t run at him a lot, but he looked very comfortable in possession as he strode out from defence on more than one occasion to launch an attack. I daresay it was like having a Rio Ferdinand at the back for us, which made for a refreshing change.

In fact, it was so refreshing that I would give him a run of games at the back, regardless of whether Kolo is fit or not. Willy and Kolo doesn’t work as we all know, so we’re going to have to bite the bullet at some stage. When better than at the start of the season where our fixtures are relatively straightforward? A string of clean sheets will do him the world of good and can give him the confidence required when coming up against the likes of Drogba, Torres and Rooney later in the season. I would also accommodate Kolo in the starting XI by playing him alongside Cesc. Regular readers of this website will know that I think Kolo can be for us what Essien is for Chelsea. What better way to protect our defence than having a naturally defensive-minded player shielding the back four? But I digress, that is a discussion for another day.

So a two-nil win SHOULD be enough to see us through. I stress the word ‘SHOULD’ because if we get complacent at the Emirates then an early goal for Twente would change the whole complexion of the tie. Hopefully by then we have a few more bodies available to choose from.

All in all, a very good result. At least we have two priceless away goals in the bag, unlike our Scouse counterparts who by all accounts were lucky to escape without a defeat. Our performance barely warranted the two-goal cushion, but in games like this it is not the performance that matters – the result is the be-all and end-all.