What a bunch of LOSERS. What a cowardly, wet, spineless collapse that was from Arsenal. To be honest, they were never convincing tonight, despite racing into a 3-0 lead after 58 minutes. Anderlecht were always threatening and once they got one back, Arsenal caved in. It’s the same old story for Arsenal: the lack of leadership is painful and the failure to sign a commanding central midfielder and another centre-back in the summer continues to make Wenger look foolish. Credit to Anderlecht, though, because that was an astonishing comeback. They had to be good and they were. It means that Arsenal aren’t certain of going through yet - they are five points clear of Anderlecht with two games to go. They should do it but with Borussia Dortmund winning against Galatasaray tonight, it looks like Arsenal are going to have to settle for second place again. That’s Arsenal. Good old Arsenal! Thanks for reading. Night.
Full-time: Arsenal 3-3 Anderlecht
Well done, Arsenal. You’ve done it again. The world of comedy doffs its cap to you.
Updated
90 min+4: Now Praet takes out Cazorla on the right. Arsenal have a free-kick! Surely not? Surely they can’t nick it in Liverpool-v-Newcastle-1997 style. No. The free-kick is headed away, and...
90 min+3: Vanden Borre is booked for a hefty swipe at Sanchez.
90 min+2: The ball is pumped into the Anderlecht area. Cazorla makes a nuisance of himself. It runs to Podolski. He swipes wide.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-3 Anderlecht (Mitrovic, 90 min)
Never change, Arsenal. Never change. They were 3-0 up. It’s now 3-3. What a team. Mind you, what a goal this is. Najar curled a sumptuous cross in from the right and Mitrovic, who has been so good since coming on, flung himself in front of Mertesacker and belted a header past Szczesny. This is funny. Arsenal have disgraced themselves. That said, what a performance from Anderlecht.
Updated
89 min: Mitrovic is booked for gobbing off to the referee.
88 min: Ramsey’s free-kick is ... not ... good.
87 min: Kljestan is booked for blundering into the back of Rosicky. Arsenal have a free-kick 25 yards out.
85 min: Vanden Borre knocks a ball down the line and Mitrovic flicks a pass through, so Flamini volleys the Anderlecht attacker - I missed who it was - in the stomach. The referee fails to award a foul. Despite, y’know, Flamini volleying the bloke in the stomach.
84 min: Acheampong fizzes a shot just over from inside the Arsenal area. He was found by a cutback from Deschact and fired inches over with his left foot from 15 yards. The ball might even have clipped the bar. Arsenal are a sorry bag of nerves. What a team.
82 min: And Lukas Podolski replaces Danny Welbeck.
81 min: Arsenal introduce Tomas Rosicky for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
79 min: Arsenal are a shambles. Anderlecht could do this. Mitrovic turns on the left and clips a ball into the area, looking for Kawaya. Gibbs heads just over his own bar. It was almost an own-goal! The corner is a waste, though.
78 min: Tielemans takes it and manages to send a dipping, swerving effort through the goal, but Szczesny dives to his right to save it.
77 min: Let’s not sugarcoat this: Arsenal have been deeply unimpressive from a defensive point of view. Now Praet darts inside from the right and is brought down by Oxlade-Chamberlain. Anderlecht have a free-kick around 30 yards from goal.
76 min: Vanden Borre gives the ball away in his own half and Anderlecht are in trouble. Cazorla races into the area and arrows a shot towards the far corner but Proto saves and holds well. And Anderlecht pour forward.
75 min: Welbeck surges inside from the left, beating a couple of defenders, but can’t get his shot away. He’s tackled. The ball runs to Ramsey, whose shot is deflected over. The corner is cleared.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-2 Anderlecht (Vanden Borre pen, 73 min)
Who else but Anthony Vanden Borre? The right-back steps up and calmly scores his second goal of the match, stroking it into the bottom left corner as Szczesny dives the other way. This is on!
Updated
PENALTY TO ANDERLECHT!
72 min: Oh Arsenal! A ball over the top catches out Monreal, who slips and grabs Mitrovic! He could be off here and in his desperation he grabs the referee’s arm as he protests his innocence! That’s foolish. But he gets away with it. It’s merely a yellow card.
Updated
71 min: Arsenal finally up the tempo and go close to adding a fourth. Welbeck slid a ball into the area from the right and Oxlade-Chamberlain tried to backheel it to Sanchez, who couldn’t quite get there before the defender.
70 min: Acheampong whips a cross into the area from the left but Szczesny plunges at Mitrovic’s feet to relieve the pressure on Arsenal.
69 min: Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain combine to win a corner on the right. Although it looked like it should have been a goal-kick. Shall I have a rant about the extra officials behind the goals? No, I do not have the energy. Let’s focus on the corner instead. In it comes, to the near post, where Welbeck heads firmly at Proto. Save.
66 min: Anderlecht have their tails up here! Praet switches it from right to left. Kawaya finds the overlapping Acheampong and his low cross is importantly turned behind by Flamini.
65 min: The Anderlecht fans are roaring their side on. Surely a turnaround isn’t on the way?
62 min: Arsenal bring on Mathieu Flamini for Arteta, who’s clutching his hamstring, and Anderlecht bring on Aleksandar Mitrovic for Cyriac. And Mitrovic is immediately in the thick of it, engaged in a spat with Mertesacker after leaving a bit in on the German defender.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-1 Anderlecht (Vanden Borre, 61 min)
Anderlecht have one back and a glorious comeback is on! Pompey legend Vanden Borre bustled his way in from the left and the ball came to Kawaya on the left. He worked space for a cross and drilled a ball into the six-yard box where Pompey legend Vanden Borre turned it home. Admittedly he was around two yards offside but goals are fun, so I’m happy for it to stand.
Updated
59 min: Borussia Dortmund now lead Galatasaray 2-0.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-0 Anderlecht (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 58 min)
This is a wonderful goal. Anderlecht got themselves into a tangle in their own half and the moustachioed Sascha Kljestan had his pocket picked by the ever-eager Sanchez. The ball ran to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who sped past Vanden Borre on the left, opened up his body and guided a firm finish past Proto with his right foot.
Updated
55 min: Oh, this would have been a cracking goal. Ramsey looked like he had nowhere to go on the left but he made a mockery of those assumptions with a pirouette away from his marker, followed by a flicked pass to Gibbs. The left-back chipped a cross into the area but Welbeck, leaning back, headed wide from six yards.
54 min: Leander Dendoncker - what a name - replaces the injured Mbemba.
53 min: “Longtime USMNT fans are not baffled by Sacha’s stache,” says Tim Smith. “For better or worse, Sacha regularly sports hair on his upper lip.”
52 min: Mbemba is down receiving treatment. He’s feeling the back of his right calf. I’m not sure he’ll continue.
50 min: Have you ever tried to grow a moustache? How did it go? Also, when shaving, have you ever taken the opportunity to see what you look like with a Hitler moustache? It’s okay, I can ask that because I’m Jewish.
47 min: What a madcap minute. How to make sense of this? I’d better try. It’s my job. Arsenal attacked down the left and the ball fell to Welbeck in the area. He tried to turn. He couldn’t. Ramsey tried to get on to the loose ball but Mbemba took it away from him. But he couldn’t fully get it away. He looked like he was stomping through deep mud as he attempted to reach the ball and get it away. Eventually it was on the edge of the area, which led to a load of full-blooded challenges, the ball rattling all over the place. Eventually it span to the right side of the area, where Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shot is blocked by Acheampong.
Updated
46 min: Here we go again. Anderlecht have made a change at half-time, Andy Kawaya on for Ibrahima Conte. “As today is the fourth of Movember, that is a truly magnificent showing for four days of effort, and by the end of the month it will be gloriously handlebar-esque,” says Robin Hazlehurst. “If he is not growing it for Movember then it isn’t really either magnificent or ridiculous, just a bit baffling.”
“Please please please post a photo of the quite magnificent/ridiculous moustache”,” says Liam Young.
Half-time: Arsenal 2-0 Anderlecht
This is not a surprising scoreline. Alexis Sanchez is the man of the moment for Arsenal again, although Arsene Wenger is unlikely to be too happy with some of their defending.
Updated
45 min: A quick meeting with the physios and Ramsey is up on his feet again, although he’ll have to spend a few moments on the sidelines.
44 min: Ramsey is down after taking a knee in the bottom part of his back from Kljestan, who’s sporting a quite magnificent/ridiculous moustache by the way.
41 min: Sanchez chips a pass over the top of the Anderlecht defence to Welbeck. He takes it on his chest and looks to slide it past Proto but he’s denied by Mbemba at the crucial moment, the Anderlecht defender managing to concede a corner instead of a penalty this time. Nothing occurs from the corner.
40 min: Marco Reus has made it Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Galatasaray, which means that both Arsenal and Bundesliga strugglers Dortmund are going through tonight - as it stands.
Updated
39 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain shoots from 25 yards. Wide it goes.
37 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain zooms up the left and whacks a cross into the area. Welbeck throws himself at it in the six-yard box but he’s a millisecond too late. “As a long time Football Manager aficionado and Portsmouth fan, I was actually quite stoked when it was announced that we had signed Vanden Borre, given his status as potential world-beater in the early noughties,” says Matt Loten. “Needless to say, the boffins behind the game had slightly overestimated his future career and his performances for the mighty Pompey were, well, a bit rubbish. No doubt he’ll score a worldy to snatch a point for Anderlecht tonight, then.”
34 min: This is more like the Anderlecht of, well, roughly minute 10 to minute 22. Cyriac guides a subtle little ball through to Praet, Arsenal’s midfield and defence nowhere to be seen again, but he faffs around bringing the ball back on to his right foot when he could have just shot with his left. When he does shoot, it’s deflected wide. What a waste. Arsenal aren’t completely off the hook, mind you. There’s still a corner to deal with and Szczesny is fortunate Anderlecht can’t capitalise when he flaps haplessly at it.
31 min: Anderlecht will be so disappointed. Just when it looked like they were on top, they had to go and ruin their good work by giving away that penalty. It’s all been downhill since then and you fear for them now.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Anderlecht (Sanchez, 29 min)
What a signing Alexis Sanchez is turning out to be. After going on that stunning solo run, he had earned the right to take the free-kick. As it happened, his effort was a total nonsense, straight into the wall. But not to worry. The ball came back to him so he slammed a vicious volley through the bodies and past a flabberghasted Proto, who could do nothing to keep it out down by his left post. Arsenal are on their way.
Updated
28 min: Alexis Sanchez embarks on an electrifying run from the centre circle, right the way through the middle, but it comes to an end when he’s tripped by Vanden Borre 20 yards from goal. Not malicious, just clumsy, and Arsenal have a free-kick thanks to their Chilean star. And...
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Anderlecht (Arteta pen, 25 min)
Mikel Arteta coolly sends Silvio Proto the wrong way, clipping the ball high into the net with his right foot. Arsenal’s fans wake up.
Updated
PENALTY TO ARSENAL
24 min: Oh dear. Anderlecht have shot themselves in the foot. Sanchez slipped what wasn’t a great pass into the area for Welbeck but his pace took Mbemba by surprise, causing the Anderlecht defender to panic and experience a full body failure as he wrapped arms, legs and anything else that was hand to hand around Welbeck. That, my friends, is a penalty.
23 min: Portsmouth legend Vanden Borre hangs a cross into the area. Mertesacker sloppily heads it straight to Praet, whose volley from 20 yards is blocked.
21 min: Alexis Sanchez hits the post! Chambers breaks up the right and hooks a cross to the near post. Sanchez brings the ball under his spell, drops the shoulder to leave two defenders on their backsides and then thumps a shot against the outside of the post from the edge of the area.
20 min: Arsenal are all over the place in midfield. Ramsey carelessly loses the ball to Praet, who tries but fails to release Cyriac. He should have done better there.
19 min: Cyriac is a threat. He’s very quick and Arsenal are struggling to deal with him.
17 min: Szczesny makes a fine save to stop Kljestan from giving Anderlecht the lead! The chance came when the dangerous Cyriac popped up behind the Arsenal defence on the left and scooped a cross into the area. The clearance from Mertesacker was unconvincing and was seized upon by Kljestan, who chested it down, beat Gibbs and found himself one-on-one with Szczesny - but he couldn’t thread his finish underneath the Arsenal goalkeeper. Arsenal are being given a game here.
16 min: Cyriac flicks a ball into the area. Mertesacker dithers, almost allowing Praet in, but reacts just in time to stick out a telescopic leg and knock the ball out for a throw.
15 min: Arsenal have made 102 passes to Anderlecht’s 20. But, then again, Anderlecht have almost scored.
14 min: You’re all watching the Liverpool game, aren’t you.
12 min: This is a bright, open game. After those two scares up the other end, Arsenal attack and when Anderlecht fail to clear the ball properly, it ends up at the feet of Ramsey in the area, a tame shot from Chambers somehow squirming through to him. Ramsey turns sharply and shoots from six yards - but a wonderful saving block from Deschacts sends the ball inches over.
11 min: Suddenly Arsenal decide they’re playing without a midfield. Maybe they could have signed a midfielder in the summer? Again Anderlecht horribly expose them on the break. One ball was all it took to cut Arsenal open and leave one defender against two Anderlecht attackers but between them Cyric and Conte can’t make the most of the situation, allowing Mertesacker to mop up.
9 min: Anderlecht almost take the lead after a lightning counter-attack! Danny Welbeck lost the ball in the Anderlecht half and the Belgians sprung in a flash, Praet turning brilliantly away from Mertesacker and speeding down the left, the Arsenal defence chugging along behind him and Welbeck haring back in a bid to atone for his error. Praet, slightly running out of steam, looks for Cyriac in the middle. It doesn’t quite come off but the ball comes back to Praet, whose shot from the edge of the area takes a hefty deflection off Mertesacker, wrongfoots Szczesny and flies into the side-netting.
7 min: This is better from Oxlade-Chamberlain. He’s found on the right by a raking pass from the left, takes a touch and fizzes a low cross into the area. However it just evades the Arsenal attackers who were arriving at pace. An escape for Anderlecht - and soon they have more problems when Sanchez is running at them, but he slashes wide from 20 yards.
6 min: Cazorla dinks a pass to Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right of the Anderlecht area but here’s Acheampong carrying out his duties at the other end, nipping in to rob the Arsenal man just in time.
5 min: Anderlecht attack for the first time. They work the ball neatly between themselves on the edge of the area, Arsenal chasing shadows somewhat, and it comes to Acheampong in space on the left of the area. It’s a presentable opportunity for the left-back but he takes a heavy touch and allows Chambers to charge down his shot, the ball spinning behind for a corner. It comes to nothing.
4 min: Now they have a go down the left, Gibbs winning a challenge and bursting up the flank and firing a low cross into the area. It flicks off a defender’s heel and the ball runs back to Cazorla, whose shot is blocked. It may or may not have been goalbound. We’ll probably never know. Oh well.
3 min: Anderlecht haven’t been allowed much of a look yet. Arsenal have spent most of the past few minutes trying to make headway down the right flank. It’s not quite clicked yet, though.
2 min: It’s raining. Arsene Wenger has put a big coat on. There are plenty of empty seats, by the way.
And we’re off! Arsenal, in their red and white shirts, get the ball rolling. They’re kicking from right to left in the first half. Anderlecht are decked out in purple. It’s a good kit. It really is.
The teams are in the tunnel, Arsenal’s players lined up alongside Anderlecht’s bus . The Belgians really were very late. Will they be on their game from the off? There’s only way to find out! We’ll know soon enough, because the players have walked out into the bearpit that is the Emirates Stadium.
“Can I be the 1057th correspondent to say I expected Anderlecht to park the bus, but not until the game started,” says David Mooney. “Har har har, etc...”
Get out. I mean it.
Team news: the return
Arsenal: Szczesny; Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs;
Arteta, Ramsey; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Sanchez; Welbeck. Subs: Martinez, Rosicky, Podolski, Walcott, Flamini, Sanogo, Bellerin.
Anderlecht: Proto; Vanden Borre, Mbema, Deschacht, Acheampong; Tielemans, Kljestan; Najar, Praet, Conte; Cyriac. Subs: Roef, Colin, Heylen, Dendoncker, Kawaya, Kabasele, Mitrovic.
Referee: Clement Turpin (France)
Updated
I really don’t want this match to be delayed. Can’t they just give Arsenal the points now? I have an early train to catch tomorrow morning. This isn’t fair. The perfect ending to a great day!
Team news
Arsenal: Szczesny; Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs; Arteta, Ramsey; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Sanchez; Welbeck. Subs: Martinez, Bellerin, Flamini, Rosicky, Podolski, Walcott, Sanogo.
Anderlecht: The Anderlecht team bus is stuck in traffic. This has all the makings of a farce.
Preamble
Evening. So, Arsenal. Right. Arsenal. What can we say about Arsenal? What’s there to say about Arsenal? They’re managed by Arsene Wenger, they play at the Emirates Stadium, their derby is with Tottenham Hotspur, they are one of the biggest and most successful clubs and their mascot is a dinosaur. That’s Arsenal! Good old Arsenal. What else? What have they been up to this season? Well, they’ve had a few unconvincing results in some big matches, most notably against Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund. They’re out of the League Cup after they lost to Southampton at home. When they drew with Hull a few weeks ago, there was rancour inside the Emirates Stadium as fans wondered why they failed to learn their lesson and left themselves short in defence and midfield. But now, after some Alexis Sanchez inspiration in their past fortnight, the mood has calmed and Arsenal are fourth. Of course they are. That’s Arsenal! Good old Arsenal.
What’s more, they can qualify from their Champions League group tonight if results go their way, even though they’ve only played well in one of their three games so far. They were embarrassed by Dortmund, they embarrassed Galatasaray and they got out of jail against Anderlecht, their opponents tonight, scoring two late goals to beat the Belgians from a goal down. The memory of that scare means that Arsenal are unlikely to take the threat of Anderlecht lightly this time but you sense that Besnik Hasi’s side missed their chance two weeks ago. Arsenal have not made a habit of dropping points at home against this calibre of opposition in Europe. Which, really, leaves one thing to be cleared up in the next few weeks: can they win the group or are they going to have to settle for second place again? You know how that tends to play out: last-16 draw against Europe’s best, plucky but deserved defeat, questions over Wenger’s future, a slump in league form, a spirited comeback to finish fourth, so on and so forth, that’s Arsenal, good old Arsenal.
Kick-off: 7.45pm.
