Bayern Munich Eliminate Arsenal From UCL

 3-1agg. 

Arenal were always going to have a tough task overcoming a two goal deficit against Bayern Munich.  Today the second leg of the Champions League fixture was played in Germany as the Gunners hoped to avoid elimination.

The Allianz Arena was indeed rocking as Bayern Munich hosted the English club, and as expected featured the always dangerous tandem of Robben and Ribery in the winger positions.  Because the two wingers are so effective, the fullbacks of Arsenal were given almost no chances to push forward and provide support in the attack.  This inability to pressure to Bayern's defense allowed the German club to dominate possession and dictate the tempo of the match.

By the end of the first-half neither club scored which played into the hands of Munich.  After half-time though Bayern managed to extend their lead when Schweinsteiger was left alone in front of the Arsenal goal.  Ribery picked him out in the box and Schweinsteiger had enough time to control the pass before firing off the shot (54').

Now down by three goals on aggregate, Arsenal were in serious trouble with time running out.  Soon after the goal by Bayern, Lukas Podolski managed to get one back for the Gunners when he was able to take the ball off defender Philipp Lahm.  Once he had the ball, Podolski went for power on the shot and slipped the ball inside the near-post to beat keeper Neuer (57').

Unfortunately for Arsenal the goal by Podolski was the only goal they could produce.  Munich even had a chance to add another goal when a penalty was awarded following a soft foul on Robben in the box.  Several times over the course of the match Robben went down quite easily and late in the match he finally fooled the referee.  The football Gods were not fooled however, and Arsenal keeper Fabianski blocked the penalty.

This is the second year in a row Arsenal have been eliminated from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich.  The German giants have been nearly unbeatable in the Champions League as well as the Bundesliga.  Bayern Munich have all but secure a league title and are in good shape to win the Champions League for a second straight year.

Liverpool Crush Arsenal; Sturridge, Streling, Skrtel Score

 5-1 

Liverpool hosted Arsenal today for a wild Premier League match-up.  Arsenal came into the match at the top of the table with Liverpool eight points behind.  Playing at Anfield, Liverpool had a very danger attack and had the Gunners on their heels all day.

Liverpool could not have gotten off to a better start and scored in the first minute of the game.  An early set-piece allowed centerback Martin Skrtel to get forward.  Gerrard delivered the free-kick into the box and Skrtel was able to score with a volley off his shin (1').  The centerback scored again off a set-piece just minutes later.  This time from a corner-kick, Gerrard delivered the cross and Skrtel scored a well placed header floated to the back-post (10').

Liverpool then scored two more quick goals to stretch the lead.  Jordan Henderson tackled the ball off Özil in midfield and got the ball to Suarez pushing forward.  Suarez then played the ball across the face of goal for Raheem Sterling crashing the far-post.  Sterling finished with an easy tap-in to put Liverpool up three goals (17').

Daniel Sturridge scored the final goal of the first-half shortly after when Coutinho played him in-on-goal.  Coutinho's through-ball was weighted perfectly to allow Sturridge to split two defenders and beat the keeper with a first-touch finish (20').

Liverpool added one more goal in the second-half when Sterling scored his second of the match.  A long ball from the back by Cissokho put Sterling behind the Arsenal defense.  His first shot was stopped by keeper Szczesny, but the rebound came right back to him and Sterling finished with the extra chance (52').

After an hour of play, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger made all three substitutions at once, likely to save some players for the midweek match against United coming up.  The five goal deficit was obviously too much to overcome, but Arsenal did manage to get one back.  Gerrard missed his tackle on Oxlade-Chamberlain in the box to give Arsenal a penalty.  Mikel Arteta scored from the spot for the last goal of the match (69').  Aside from winning the penalty, Oxlade-Chamberlain was essentially non-existant though.  Fellow winger Santi Cazorla was also not a factor today in one of Arsenal's worst performances all year.

Today's win could be the most important match all season for Liverpool who still have a chance at the league title.  If they can continue to score goals at the current rate, very few teams will be able to keep up.  Arsenal are starting to show signs of slowing down and will look to bounce back against Manchester United on Wednesday.  Liverpool travel to Fulham next as the battle at the top of the table heats up.

Arsenal Lose to Napoli, Survive Group F

 2-0 

Arsenal came into today's Champions League match against Napoli on top of Group F with just one match left in group-play.  Napoli was even with Borussia Dortmund and needed a big win to pull ahead of the German club.  Arsenal won the previous match against Napoli two-nil in London back in October, so the pressure was all on the Neapolitan club.

Napoli was not particularly good in the first-half and starting center-forward Gonzalo Higuaín did not get involved.  Arsenal were not much better and the half ended scoreless.  Shortly into the second-half Napoli manager Rafa Benítez introduced Lorenzo Insigne which pushed up José Maria Callejón next to Higuaín in the attack.

Together Callejón and Higuaín were more effective and managed to break Arsenal's defense.  Higuaín scored the first goal of the match when he linked up with Callejón around the Arsenal penalty box.  Higuaín was able to turn away from defender Mertesacker to get the shot away that beat the keeper (73').

Arsenal went deeper into the hole when captain Mikel Arteta was shown a second yellow card following a tackle from behind.  Arteta had to pass on the armband and Arsenal had to play the last fifteen minutes down a man.

Unfortunately for Napoli the other match between Dortmund and Marseille did not play out in their favor, and now they had to win by three goals.  Napoli got one more in stoppage-time when Callejón was able to float a shot over the keeper, but there simply was not enough time for a third (90 +3').

Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund advance to the knockout rounds, along with Chelsea who finish on top of their group with a win today over the Romanian team from Bucharest.

Özil, Deulofeu Score in Arsenal-Everton Draw

 1-1 

League leaders Arsenal were back at the Emirats Stadium today as Everton came for the last match in the fifteenth round of the Premier League.  The Gunners won their last three league matches while Everton have gone unbeaten since early October.

Shots were scarce in the first-half and fouls outnumbered the shots 13-8.  Possession was heavily in favor of Everton, but the better chances went to Arsenal.  Only two shots tested keeper Tim Howard and the first-half ended scoreless.

It was obvious Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was unhappy with his team as the second-half continued and he made all three changes at once replacing Cazorla, Ramsey, and Wilshere for Walcott, Rosicky, and Flamini with about twenty minutes remaining.

Everton boss Roberto Martínez also made changes to his squad, one proving to be an important change.  Just after Gerard Deulofeu entered the match Arsenal scored the first goal of the match.  Rosicky played a ball into the box that Walcott headed down for Giroud in front of goal.  Giroud completely whiffed his shot, but fortunately Mesut Özil was right behind him and finished from close range to break the dead-lock (80').

The late-goal was not a heart-breaker for Everton though, and the visitors responded moments later.  Substitute Deulofeu also benefited from a whiffed shot, Lukaku's attempted bike-kick, that set him up in front of goal.  Deulofeu did well to separate himself from defender Gibbs before scoring the equalizer (84').

The game ended in a 1-1 draw with each team earning one point.  Arsenal remain in first place and Everton stay just outside the top-four of the league standings.  Everton host Fulham next weekend while Arsenal travel to Italy for a Champions League match before a crucial league game at Manchester City.

Arsenal Keep Winning, Beat Southampton

 2-0 

The English Premier League returned this weekend after a week off for World Cup Qualifiers.  League leader Arsenal hosted a surprising third-place Southampton at the Emirates Stadium in London.  Earlier Liverpool and Everton ended the Merseyside Derby in a 3-3 draw giving Southampton a chance to take second place with a win.  However it was Arsenal that would take three points and stretch their lead in the table.

Southampton were pressing high up the pitch to pressure Arsenal's defense with their keeper often coming out to play sweeper.  On one occasion in the first-half keeper Artur Boruc was caught trying to do too much and had the ball stolen off him by Olivier Giroud.  Boruc had two chances to clear the ball, but instead he twice cut the ball back to his other foot and the Arsenal striker picked his pocket and scored easily (22').

Arsenal created more chances overall, but offsides were a problem for Giroud and Mesut Özil throughout the match.  Southampton struggled to create chances but saw good things from Jay Rodriguez and substitute Osvaldo, though the two could not find the equalizer.

Late in the match another mistake by the Southampton defense ensured Arsenal's victory.  José Fonte was caught pulling the jersey of Per Mertesacker during an Arsenal corner-kick.  Fonte was given a yellow card for the offense and a Penalty was awarded.  Giroud scored from the spot for his second goal of the match (86').

Arsenal remain the team to beat in the Premier League who sit on a four point cushion over Liverpool.  Up next the Gunners host Marseille in a Champions League matchup before playing Cardiff next weekend in Wales.  Southampton have another tough test ahead as they travel to Stanford Bridge to play Chelsea.