Alexandre Lacazette sent off as sloppy Arsenal see Bate Borisov seize Europa League first-leg advantage
Bate Borisov 1 Arsenal 0
On a pitch that reminded Arsenal how far they have fallen from the glamour of the Champions League, Unai Emery’s side produced a performance that showed just how far they still have to go before they are ready to return to European football’s top table.
Winning the Europa League may well be Arsenal’s best hope of qualifying for the Champions League but, after this dreary day in eastern Europe, the more pressing concern will be qualifying for the competition’s round of 16. They will have to come from behind to do so, thanks to a first-half header from BATE Borisov’s Stanislav Dragun and their own everlasting defensive inadequacies.
Sloppy at the back for that solitary goal, Arsenal were agonisingly wasteful in attack. They shredded BATE at times in the first half here but continued to squander clear openings before the frustration set it. It all got too much for Alexandre Lacazette, who will not be available for next week’s second leg after he was shown a straight red card for a petulant swing of his elbow in the dying moments.
The red mist had clearly descended for Lacazette, increasingly isolated in attack, and the sorry truth for Arsenal was that his elbow on Aleksandar Filipovic marked the first time they had made a real dent on BATE in the second half. The Belarusians put most of their players behind the ball, stuck out their chins and asked Arsenal what they had. The answer was feeble, and the response will need to be swift and devastating next week.
Of course, the playing surface had an impact. It must have done, so poor was Arsenal’s passing. The difficulties of the night ahead would have been clear to Emery and his players from the moment they arrived at the Borisov Arena and first laid eyes on a pitch more suited to the second round of the FA Cup than the knockout stages of a European competition.
As is the way of the Belarusian football calendar, BATE had not played a match since December 13. Such was the muddy patchiness of the surface, though, that they appeared to have spent their entire pre-season either performing shuttle runs on their own turf or allowing the local livestock to graze on it. The grass was flecked by streaks of brown long before kick-off, and balls were bouncing of it at all angles during a warm-up that would have prompted more than a few grimaces from Arsenal’s players.
Within the first nine minutes of the match, two of the visitors had horribly sliced clearances into the distance, Shkodran Mustafi had fallen over in the mud and Matteo Guendouzi had tripped over a wickedly bobbling pass. After one foray forward, Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be seen peeling the clumps of mud away from his studs. Any plans for slick, one-touch football were forcibly abandoned, then, although Arsenal did have more than enough quality to slice through the BATE defence early on.
The first big chance fell to Mkhitaryan in the second minute, when the Armenian’s close-range shot was somehow saved after fine work by Alex Iwobi and Sead Kolasinac down the left. Iwobi then went close after another incisive move on his flank, before Lacazette headed over at the back post from a Kolasinac cross.
Their dominance meant that it was a largely positive start for Arsenal, despite their profligacy. Yet BATE soon adapted to the danger, which primarily came down the left, and before long the home side were posing a threat of their own. Arsenal’s defensive efforts were not helped by Kolasinac, who was proving in this first half to be both their most effective attacker and least reliable defender. Nemanja Milic turned a low cross against the outside of Petr Cech’s post before Dragun rose above the Arsenal wing-back, just before the half-time break, to head home Igor Stasevich’s free kick.
Emery’s side continued to push after the break, with Lacazette turning in Kolasinac’s cross before the linesman’s flag denied Arsenal the equaliser. It was hardly an onslaught, though, with BATE now content to park the metaphorical tractor on the edge of their own churned-up penalty box. It was certainly no longer the occasion for Aleksandr Hleb, the former Arsenal midfielder still tip-toeing around the Belarusian league at the age of 37, who was substituted to great applause before the hour mark.
By this stage Arsenal appeared to be getting worse. Passes were overhit and set pieces were botched. Emery had to act and he did so by summoning Lucas Torreira and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the bench, changing the shape and hoping for a reaction. It did not come, with Arsenal instead becoming more and more exasperated before Lacazette made a gruelling night even worse.
FULL TIME
And that's it! A brilliant result for BATE - one of the club's all time greatest - and an uninspired, slow, complacent performance from Arsenal has allowed it.
90 mins +2 - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Arsenal players' heads are down, they know they're beaten and it's a terrible result. Where is the invention? The drive? The spark? They've spent the entire half facing BATE, not getting the ball through them or into dangerous areas.
89 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Suarez wins a corner... it's headed away. BATE break on the counter... slow it down as they wait for the referee to award a foul. It doesn't come... and then they speed up. Arsenal still can't get close.
86 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Lacazette is held back by Filipovic, Lacazette is frustrated and lashes out with an elbow, catching him in the face. The referee sends him off and Arsenal's night gets even worse.
RED CARD!
LACAZETTE IS OFF!
85 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Aubameyang drops into midfield to get on the ball - that's not his job. Emery looks so frustrated on the sideline and he'll be even more annoyed now. The ball is pumped forward, the striker chases... Monreal manages to deal with the danger.
83 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
BATE getting two vs one every time an Arsenal player goes forward, they've executed their game plan perfectly. And now here's the counter! It's good! A couple of neat little one-twos and flicks and the cross comes into the box.. CECH HAS TO SAVE! He does. BATE created the best chance of the half there.
Now Arsenal have another corner. Will anyone attack this one? No. It's another corner.
80 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Arsenal win another corner. Cleared at the near post. Mkhitaryan has been... not awful... but just terribly medium.
Iwobi beats his man to the line, hits a ball into the box... but that's awful. The pass is to nobody. Then he fouls someone.
77 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Iwobi's pass inside is loose, it doesn't matter because BATE don't have anyone ahead of the ball. Still, Arsenal have four or five players sitting deep - why?!
This is so poor from Arsenal. They have both Lacazette and Aubameyang on the pitch and neither is in a centre-forward position to get on the end of crosses. BATE just sitting, not finding it too tough to block passing options.
74 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Kolasinac tries a snap shot from wide left on the volley and gets nowhere the goal. It's still a little slow from Arsenal.
71 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Arsenal haven't changed their shape as far as I can tell. Dubajic is just on as a sub and earned himself a tasty yellow card.
68 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
#YoPierre#TimeForTorreira#UELpic.twitter.com/h9x02pw1qq
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) February 14, 2019
Emery makes the changes!
65 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Still nothing of any danger from Arsenal. How much longer is Emery going to wait?
62 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Stasevich gets another shot at goal, Cech parries it towards Mustafi, BATE keep up the pressure.
No signs of a change of approach for Arsenal, they're still sticking with three centre-backs even though they have all of the ball. Surely they can put another striker or midfielder on, take Kolasinac off, go to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 and offer more attacking threat.
59 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Hleb is subbed off. Not sure I've mentioned him even once during the game but he's off the pitch now anyway. There are giant flags with 'Belarus Arsenal fan club' and similar around the stadium - Hleb inspired a lot of people from the country to support Arsenal when he moved there. He played in the Champions League final too.
GOAL DISALLOWED
ARSENAL GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLL but Lacazette's effort is ruled out! Iwobi feeds in Kolasinac on the left, he hits a low cross into the six yard box and Lacazette finishes. He is marginally offside. I also feel like I was harsh on Iwobi earlier, he's making things happen but just isn't the type of player to get stuck in or annoy defenders with aggression.
54 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Lacazette, Mkhitaryan and Iwobi are playing with all the drive and desire of someone going to Tesco while on a walk just to see what they have. The kind of shop where you come back with a £1 share bag of crisps because it has a flavour you haven't tried, and you've even bought a mango. A mango! That mango sits on the side for a long time before you eat it one night purely to make sure it isn't wasted. You don't enjoy the mango.
51 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Iwobi chips a decent ball into the area but again BATE don't struggle to defend against it. It's attack vs defence in this half, the home side look like they fancy trying to block everything sent their way. Can they last an entire half doing it? Based on the first 45 minutes you'd have to say yeh!
48 mins - BATE 1 Arsenal 0
Arsenal get forward, BATE put nine players behind the ball and the striker level with it... no change here.
Iwobi finds Kolasinac on the left again but his cross is blocked. Again.
The corner is near post... and dealt with.
KICK OFF 2
We're back! We need to see a lot more from Arsenal in this half.
Interesting Arsenal stat
Arsenal have conceded seven goals in the final five minutes of Premier League games this season, more than anyone else. BATE's goal was the first they've conceded during that time period in the EL though.
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HALF TIME
And that's that! What a time to score. Arsenal may not have played the reserves but those on the pitch aren't playing like it.
GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!
BATE HAVE THE LEAD!
BATE 1 (Dragun 45') Arsenal 0
Dragun leaps highest and heads past Cech into the back of the net, meeting the cross brilliantly.
45 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
Mustafi yells "but he touched it!" at the linesman, who has somehow managed to award a goalkick to BATE despite Mustafi having a cross blocked and deflected behind.
Monreal gives away a free-kick as Skavysh comes inside from the right wing and tricks his way past the tackle. BATE have a chance to curl the ball into the box before half-time now. Stasevich stands over it...
42 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
BATE are given a free-kick because one of their defenders stretches trying to clear the ball... must be a new rule I'm not familiar with. Still no sign of Arsenal breaking this defence down. Or is there? They attack down the right, Mustafi (!!!) swings a cross in from wide right, the centre-backs don't control or clear and Kolasinac fires a powerful shot at the far post. He misses.
39 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
Arsenal try to get a pass into the box but there are nine BATE players defending that area. Short of duct-taping them to the goal, there's not really a more defensive approach they could take in that situation. It's working though and Arsenal aren't showing the kind of determination needed to chase lost balls.
36 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
The reason the pitch is in such bad condition is because the temperature is so low the grass doesn't get enough heat - or light - to repair. So even though nobody's been playing on this pitch for ages, it still looks like an expensive Sunday League pitch.
33 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
Maitland-Niles carries the ball forward up the right, BATE get back into their defensive shape and Arsenal's attack fizzles out again. Emery's side aren't playing well here, there's a lack of cohesion and it's proving difficult to unlock the BATE defence.
30 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
BIG CHANCE! Milic is desperately close to turning a cross past Cech at the near post as Guendouzi is easily beaten defending the left wing. Skavysh is causing trouble on BATE's right.
27 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
Iwobi starts the counter, launches a ball over the top to Mkhitaryan... but the defender heads back. Nobody's back! Mkhitaryan runs on and watches as the ball goes out for a throw. Maitland-Niles sprints to get in on the action but can't control and the move breaks down. M-N has not had a good night so far.
24 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
LACAZETTTTEEEEE misses a header 10 yards out. It's a quick counter, Iwobi forces a shot, Kolasinac crosses to Lacazette, who doesn't take his chance.
And now BATE have a chance to get forward. A bad touch from Maitland-Niles gives them the ball high up the pitch, the winger Stasevich turns his man inside out and fires a low ball into the area that Milic almost turns past Cech! BATE are here to play after all.
21 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
BATE win the ball back, ping three passes together and then launch a ball over the top. Arsenal are handed possession, BATE drop behind the ball in a 4-1-4-1, which changes to a 5-4-1 once Arsenal get to the final third and have the ball wide.
Guendouzi is in the box on the right and fires a a low cross in. The defender slides in and the ball comes off his arm... but there's no way you can give that as a penalty. Play on.
18 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
It's all a bit scrappy in the final third. Arsenal players are finding that dribbling's slightly difficult when the ball doesn't roll the way you expect and BATE have so many men back that there aren't any spaces to hit passes into.
15 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
BATE counter from that corner as Iwobi doesn't do enough and Guendouzi is beaten in the tackle. Cech has to be brave and come off his line to cut out the danger inside his box.
BATE struggling to get out of their own defensive third because all their players are there.
12 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
It looks like BATE have switched to straight 5-4-1 to stop that Kolasinac overlap. Arsenal controlling the play, Iwobi wins a corner.
9 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
It feels like a matter of time before Arsenal score here. Kolasinac is able to overlap Iwobi as a left winger and is constantly getting in behind, Borisov's shape is a 5-1-2-1-1 (I think) and the midfield is far too narrow. The pitch is like a 12th man though and Xhaka is booked for fouling Skavysh as Guendouzi slipped and allowed him away.
Free-kick wide right.
6 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
Arsenal finding lots of space wide left and are taking the game to BATE early on, breaking forward in numbers. A short corner is curled in by Mkhitaryan, the ball is great... it needs a touch! So close again! Koscielny doesn't throw himself at the ball at the back post and Mkhitaryan's cross flies just wide.
3 mins - BATE 0 Arsenal 0
The pitch isn't in great shape and the temperature is -1. It's not ideal and the ball seems to be bobbling a bit early on as Arsenal try to pass along the floor. Arsenal play out from teh back - which isn't easy - and Iwobi threads a stunning through-ball into Kolasinac on the left! He's in behind! The cross comes in, low to Mkhitaryan 10 yards out... and he shoots straight at the goalkeeper! Mkhitaryan had to score there.
KICK OFF
A minute's silence for Emiliano Sala turns into a minute's applause. Then it's time for kick-off.
The Europa League theme
It's not great. The Champions League theme is amazing, classical, draws you in... the Europa League one sounds like some lads going 'woh oh oh woh oh' a bunch of times. It's a far too Saturday night gameshow hosted by Phillip Schofield for me, Clive.
BATE might have to shake off some metaphorical football rust
The last competitive fixture BATE played was on the 13th December 2018. That's 63 days of rest and preparation for the Belarusian champions. Will it count tonight?
Petr Cech and Unai Emery pre-match
Petr Cech
It would be a great ending to a career but it's a long journey, you've got to take it step by step. We want to put in a good performance and we want to win.
YOu DoN't saY!!!
They will be very motivated and want to show they can do better than last season. We have to be ready for it.
Unai Emery
He has experience and quality, his commitment is good. He can show us he is well now.
I think he means that Cech is good enough to play. And then a question on Mesut Ozil:
Today the focus is on the players who are here, the best thing is to speak about the players who are ready to play today.
Mesut Ozil's social media profile
He posted this yesterday:
A post shared by Mesut Özil (@m10_official) on Feb 13, 2019 at 9:52am PST
A photo of him training. Is he making a statement? Or just trying to get lots of likes from all his followers? What is your game, Mesut? Michael Owen has just suggested that Emery might be fed up of him always missing training for various reasons. The latest reason was illness, which isn't really his fault. That's assuming he really was ill, of course.
Something you don't need to know
For no reason at all, last night I had a dream that Bernd Leno was sent off for Arsenal in this game (was it this game?) for falling over the advertising boards and then punching an opposition player in the nose with a little jab. I don't know what this means.
How can Emery improve his defence?
This by Dan Zeqiri is a great read, I thoroughly recommend you give it a look through while waiting for The Big Game:
It explains how individual defenders don't necessarily make a defence better - it's all about how the defensive unit works together.
West Brom kept the most clean sheets in the Premier League with 17. Would anyone seriously argue they had the best collection of defenders? Were clubs bashing down the door to sign Craig Dawson and Gareth McAuley?
That article is free to read by the way. If you often find that the stuff you want to read is Premium, there's a Sport Premium subscription you can do for £1 a week. That's it. For absolutely all the sport coverage we do on Telegraph Sport. In context, Netflix is £7.99 a month and Spotify Premium is £9.99 a month.
If you're interested, you can find out a bit more here. There's a free trial too btw.
Absolutely no messing about
Emery is taking this match dead seriously - Arsenal's starting XI is a first choice one. Is that wise? Emery won three Europa League trophies in a row when in charge at Sevilla, who were similar in league positioning to Arsenal right now. If you underestimate the opponent, you give them a chance. To win a competition like this it's important the players take it seriously at every stage and that Champions League place prize at the end of the tournament is one worth taking risks for.
Starting lineups
�� TEAM NEWS
�� Cech starts in goal
�� Xhaka back from injury
�� Lacazette leads the line#UEL— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) February 14, 2019
Happy Valentine's Day
To all you football lovers! Welcome to our first Europa League liveblog of the night, starring the mighty BATE Borisov vs a team from London that some of you might know. Arsenal is what they are called and doing goals is their bag - but will they do some goals this evening? I believe... yes.
Arsenal won 4-2 the last time they played BATE in Belarus and managed a fairly comfortable 6-0 win at the Emirates. BATE haven't really improved much since then and tonight should be another nice run out for Unai Emery's reserve/youth team with a few seniors included to make sure complacency doesn't seep in.
Speaking of that...
Mesut Ozil trained today but he has not been included in the #AFC squad for the BATE Borisov game tomorrow.
— Sam Dean (@SamJDean) February 13, 2019
Sokratis is also back in training and hasn't been selected either.
Tonight should be a good opportunity to watch the likes of Denis Suarez and some of the younger players prove their worth against BATE's star man: Alexander Hleb. That's 37 year old Alexander Hleb. Still truckin'.
Team news should be with us relatively shortly so hang about for all the news, analysis and coverage of the game you could ever want.
