The damage that was done last night to Arsenal’s Champions League hopes might not be irrevocable but the scars to the collective self-belief will surely be lasting.
Arsenal led 3-0 after an hour and their place in the last 16 of the Champions League for a 15th consecutive season seemed secure. A calamitous 30 minutes followed, with Anderlecht exploiting Arsenal’s painfully familiar weaknesses on the counter-attack to secure a remarkable draw.
Boos rang out around the Emirates Stadium on the final whistle, with frustrations not aimed so much at the result or the position now Arsenal find themselves in Group D but the infuriating sense of déjà vu.
Wenger’s team, they will recall, also let slip a 4-0 lead against Newcastle United back in 2011. Wenger’s team, they will recall, have been susceptible to fast counter-attacks for years but never seem to adjust their tactics. Wenger, they will recall, decided against adding another defender in the transfer window and is now being forced to field a left-back in Nacho Monreal in central defence. And Wenger, they will recall, also opted against recruiting a genuinely defence-minded holding midfielder in the summer to provide needed cover and competition to Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini.
All of those decisions and unresolved weaknesses came back to haunt Arsenal last night in the most chastening manner imaginable.
With the team 3-0 ahead, the players still pressed forward in search of a fourth and left huge defensive holes. Monreal was guilty of conceding a needless penalty for the second and, once Arteta had limped off with a hamstring injury, the defensive limitations of the other midfielders were again alarmingly evident.
Worst of all, though, was how Arsenal’s players simply stopped sufficiently pressing or tackling their opponents in the final 30 minutes of the match. The message of indulging people who pay insufficient attention to their defensive duties was screaming out.
Lukas Podolski is a prime example. He had only been on the pitch for eight minutes but his attempt to prevent Andy Najar from crossing for Aleksandar Mitrovic to score the late equaliser was simply feeble.
Yes, the other happier side of life under Wenger was also evident last night in how their attacking fluency, and specifically the brilliance of Alexis Sánchez, helped establish a 3-0 lead in the first place.
Arsenal also now need only one more point from two matches to qualify for the knockout phase but against better opposition, as both Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund have already proved this season, it is hard to see how they will progress.
What is so frustrating is that Wenger had spoken before the match about how every team tries to play Arsenal on the counter-attack with what he calls “runners”. Anderlecht had even done it in Brussels two weeks ago, when they were very unlucky not to win, but still Arsenal focused almost entirely on how they would create.
For all the flaws in that approach, it did make for a hugely open and entertaining match. With Aaron Ramsey back alongside Arteta in central midfield, Wenger’s team had an initial edge to their attacking play that has been only rarely evident this season.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s pace down the right provoked an immediate chance, with his cross falling to Ramsey, who was denied only by a challenge from Chancel Mbemba.
Calum Chambers was overlapping with regularity down the right and, from his cross, Sánchez brilliantly brought the ball under control and smashed the outside of the post with his shot.
With Chambers and Kieran Gibbs continuing to push forward from full-back, Arsenal were also constantly vulnerable defensively.
Danny Welbeck’s sloppy loss of possession allowed Dennis Praet to sprint into space and exchange passes with Cyriac who had his shot deflected narrowly wide.
From another counter, Cyriac created a second chance for Anderlecht, with Sacha Kljestan forcing a fine low save from Wojciech Szczesny.
Arsenal were riding their luck but creating enough chances to continue taking risks and were rewarded for their adventure in the 25th minute.
Ramsey passed to Sánchez who, in turn, released Welbeck. He was running away from goal but had got in front of Mbemba who attempted to recover his position but only succeeded in bundling the Arsenal striker to the floor. Referee Clément Tupin signalled for the penalty, with Arteta coolly waiting for goalkeeper Silvio Proto to commit himself before chipping a ‘panenka’ down the middle.
It was the 500th goal to be scored at the Emirates. It also spurred Arsenal and, four minutes later, Sánchez collected the ball deep inside his half and sprinted straight at the Anderlecht defence. Anthony Vanden Borre was unable to match the Chile striker for pace and, although subsequent contact was minimal, Sánchez went down for a free-kick.
He got up, shot his first effort straight into Cyriac but then, as the ball ballooned back, smashed a follow-up volley straight through the wall and inside Proto’s near post.
Comparisons with Luis Suárez become more convincing by the week, not just in the frequency of the goals – Sánchez has 11 in 13 games – but the relentless work-rate for the team.
Arsenal might then even have gone 3-0 clear by half-time when Ramsey released Welbeck but the former Manchester United was unable to lift the ball past Proto.
Arsenal retained their momentum at the start of the second half and further extended their lead when Sánchez pounced on a mistake by Kljestan and released Oxlade-Chamberlain. The former Southampton winger easily then outpaced Vanden Borre, a former Portsmouth full-back, to go one-on-one with Proto and guide his finish into the far corner.
Despite the three-goal cushion, Arsenal’s frailties remained glaringly evident. Chambers was too passive in allowing Andy Kawaya to get into position to cross and, while Vanden Borre was offside, he went unchallenged to tap in what should have been a consolation.
Yet still Anderlecht threatened and were themselves awarded a penalty when Monreal clumsily tangled with Mitrovic. Vanden Borre duly side-footed the spot-kick past Szczesny.
Arsenal’s nerves were further frayed by the loss of Arteta and the equaliser had been coming when, in the 90th minute, Mitrovic got in front of Per Mertesacker to head Najar’s cross past Szczesny.
Wenger marched into the tunnel without shaking the hand of Anderlecht manager Besnik Hasi. “It doesn’t hurt me,” shrugged Hasi. He was right. All the pain last night was being felt inside Arsenal. A missed opportunity. Even worse, though, was the lingering sense that something is broken and not being fixed.
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