Adebayor is an instinct striker, he can flick the ball up and smash it past Paul Robinson but let him run through on goal with time to think about his finish and he misses
An away draw in the Champions League is never really a bad result as long as you win your home matches. It was difficult to work out what team Arsene Wenger would assemble before the game as we thought he would rotate the squad a little due to the amount of games played in a short time period.
The only changes made from the Blackburn game was the inclusion of Alex Song who came on against Blackburn and looked impressive. Emmanuel Eboue who was passed fit before the game took his place on the bench which was a surprise for me.
Robin Van Persie started out on the left wing as he has done many times for Wenger in European matches.
It took Arsenal a mere 3 minutes to crave out the first chance of the game, Van Persie ghosted into the box and latched onto a pass from Walcott, Van Persie smashed it low right footed onto the goalkeepers legs.
Walcott looked bright and lively, Song looked assured and protected his back four well.
On the 18th minute Arsenal should have gone 1-0 up. Eremenko gave the ball away in a very dangerous area which allowed Adebayor to run through on goal, A simple side foot finish would have been enough but Adebayor curled it wide of the far post.
Adebayor is an instinct striker, he can flick the ball up and smash it past Paul Robinson but let him run through on goal with time to think about his finish and he misses.
Dynamo Kyiv started getting into the game and keeping possession which helped their confidence, there final ball let them down on a number of occasions.
Arsenal’s next clear cut chance fell to Van Persie on the 40th minute, Sagna crossed for the Dutchman who hit into the side netting.
Cesc Fabregas is clearly not at his best at the moment, and looks like he is currently going through pre season.
Kyiv were first to create in the second half and it was their closest to opening the deadlock. Bangoura slipped in Eremenko who controlled and drilled low past Almunia, luckily the post came to Arsenal’s aid and Almunia gratefully clutched on it.
Robin Van Persie should have looked for Adebayor on 52 minutes, Walcott found the Dutchman on the left side of the box and Van Persie blasted over the bar.
Van Persie is not a left winger and will never be a left winger. He is not the type of player to run past players, he is not physically mobile enough to do that. Van Persie is a player who can play in tight spaces not with big spaces ahead of him.
Just after the hour the game was turned on its head by a dubious penalty. Sagna was pulled down by the Kyiv player very cleverly to look like Sagna pushed him over. Bangoura tucked the penalty away well.
Bendtner and Vela came on the later stages of the game in search of the equaliser which left huge gaps at the back of the Arsenal defence.
Dynamo Kyiv could and should have scored the second goal in the 87th minute. Bangoura should have exploited a 2 on 1 situation but his pass to Eremenko who was unmarked was terrible.
A minute later Walcott found space on the right of the penalty area and crossed a superb ball low into the area where Gallas and Adebayor scrambled to get the final touch. It was captain Gallas who got the goal.
If you were told that we would get 4 points out of Ewood Park and Kyiv you probably would have taken it but missed chances make you feel differently towards the result.
3 points against Bolton would make us Gooners feel much better.
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