By Robert Deyzel
What can you say? The last 20 minutes was good! Okay maybe I am being a little harsh but Partizan are a team who would struggle in the English Championship and yet a far superior Gunners side failed to dominate as you would expect. The game was a pretty tepid affair. Arsenal were awarded a fairly soft penalty on the half hour mark when Van Persie was tripped in the area. The dutchman stepped up to score his first goal of the season and set what you would have thought a fairly comfortable game. Little did we realise the naivety of the young gunners still.
The second half started poorly when on 52 minutes Cleo equalized for Belgrade sending the “black army” into raptures. Arsenal fans were in for a nervy ending with Braga still in with a chance of qualifying. The relief was finally there for gunners fans with 17 minutes left on the clock when Theo Walcott (photo) finished with great placed shot, followed by Nasri finish with 13 minutes left.
With the possibility of facing the likes of Real Madrid in the next round can we really have any hope for Arsenal progressing any further in the competition. Arsenal started brilliantly in the opening games and looked unbeatable, and then suddenly imploded leaving gunners fans wondering if they were going to reach the knock out stage. Luckily for the gunners that with super spaniard Fabregas out the team injured that Nasri has stepped upto the plate and is really leading the front. Maybe I am over reacting as Arsenal always have a lull in form at some point in the season. But I do worry that a big team in the next round without a decent goalkeeper between the sticks could lead to an early disappointing exit for the north London team.
