And here’s Dominic Fifield’s match report:
Full-time: Arsenal 6-0 Ludogorets
Ludogorets’ defence disintegrated in the second half, and their keeper was brittle all game, but the visitors still showed enough here to confirm they are a decentish team, especially going forward. Beating them 6-0 should not be sniffed at it, and beating them away will not be straightforward.
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GOAL! Arsenal 6-0 Ludogorets (Ozil 87)
Ozil completes his hat-trick with another smart finish past the incorrigibly rubbish keeper. Lucas was again the provider, picking out the Germain with a dainty cross from the right. Ozil swung a languid foot at it and volleyed it low and hard past Stoyanov.
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86 min: Cafu tries to sell Mustafi a few lollipops but the centreback just stares him down and then ushers him out the door.
GOAL! Arsenal 5-0 Ludogorets (Ozil 83)
Devastating simplicity from Arsenal. Oxlde-Chamberlain dug out a shrewd pass from the centre circle. Lucas collected on the left and delivered an inviting centre for Ozil, who sidefooted first time into the net from 14 yards. The keeper again seemed to disappear as the ball approached him, but it was still a nicely created goal.
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Ludogorets substitution: Lukoki on, Wanderson off.
77 min: Koscielny steps in to break up a Ludogorets attack in the manner of a teacher in a kindergarten. He then knocks the ball to Bellerin, who scorches 50 yards forward before he’s finally dispossessed.
73 min: Mustafi flings himself at a cross to prevent it entering the box. His commitment to a clean sheet is most encouraging.
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Arsenal substitution: Iwobi on, Sanchez off.
71 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain lopes on to a ball into the left-hand channel. With a swagger in his stride he takes on a defender and then curls the ball towards Lucas at the edge of the six-yard box. Palomino makes an important tackle to stop the striker from turning it into the net.
68 min: Beauty denied! Ozil dinked a gorgeous pass over the defence and on to the foot of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who swept it towards goals from 10 yards and wheeled away on the verge of joy ... but the keeper foiled him with a brilliant save! Stoyanov has looked dodgy for most of the game but that was a tip-top stop.
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66 min: Sanchez is sent running free towards the Ludogorets box. He cuts in front of the last retreating defender, Palomino, and hits the turf, seemingly because of a shunt from behind. The crowd want a penalty but the ref won’t oblige.
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63 min: Ozil is allowd to carry the ball 20 yards forward and into the Bulgarian box. He then slips it wide to the overlapping Gibbs, who clips a cross into the danger zone. Ludogorets whack the ball away. That is about all they’re aiming to do now. They came with big ideas and looked capable of implementing them for a while, but now they are an utterly defeated side.
Arsenal substitution: Perez on, Walcott off. Is that a sign of Walcott’s new importance to Arsenal?
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58 min: Cazorla is having his right foot strapped up, which suggests his substitution was motivated by a slight injury. Perhaps now would be a good time to take Sanchez and Ozil off, too, just in case.
Arsenal substitution: Elneny on, Cazorla off.
Arsenal 4-0 Ludogorets (Ozil 55)
Koscielny makes a crucial tackle at one end, then Cazorla lofts a fine pass over the Bulgarian defence. Ozil canters on to it and then sidefoots the ball into the huge space left by the keeper, who has struggled to find his bearings all night.
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52 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain chips the ball over the top for Walcott to chase. Even Walcott is not fast enough to catch it but the sight of him drawing near gives the Stoyanov the jitters and the keeper shanks a clearance into the stand. Good ol’ mean and intimidating Walcott.
48 min: Victory is practically certain but it will take some doing for Arsenal to keep a clean sheet. The visitors are still being allowed too much time on the ball in midfield despite having demonstrated their ability to use it to send their nippy forwards clear on goal.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-0 Arsenal (Oxlade-Chamberlain 46)
Thirty-nine seconds into the second period Arsenal seal victory! Gibbs’ low cross from the left was deviated. Oxlade-Chamerlain pounced on the loose ball and kept his cool to slot it past sprawled bodies and into the bottom corner of the net from 12 yards.
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46 min: The sides remain the same.
Half-time: Arsenal 2-0 Ludogorets
Two wonderful finishes have given Arsenal the lead against dangerous opponents. Ludogorets have threatened with their sharpness and speed. Arsenal will need at least one more goal before they can relax.
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GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Ludogorets (Walcott 43)
You never doubted, did you? Ozil collected the ball down the left, then looked up and saw that Walcott had snuck into space just outside the box while everyone was expecting a delivery into it. Ozil rewarded that smartness with a precise pass, and Walcott provided an impeccable finish, sweeping a curling shot into the net from over 20 yards while the keeper dived as if trying to save an entirely different shot. Then he turns to the crowd with arms outstretched and expression that says “see, nothing to worry about”.
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38 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain has generally been good so far. Sharp and full of enterprise. He and Sanchez have been the best of the Arsenal forwards so far. Ludogorets, meanwhile, are showing similar qualities, especially Wanderson, Cafu and Misidjan: their speed is really stretching Arsenal, who could do with a second goal, at least.
35 min: This is a really open game, and we’re not done with the scoring, that’s for sure. It’s not certain, however, that Walcott will be gracing the scoreboard. He should have got his name on it just now after Coquelin played him in. He had a free shot from 16 yards and the keeper was showing him the whole right-hand side of the goal. Instead Walcott banged the ball with all his might straight at Stoyanov, who batted it away.
33 min: Ospina to the rescue again! Another pass from midfield exposed Arsenal’s high line, as Misidjan darted in behind it and tried to take the ball around the keeper. Ospina was quick on the scene and hit the ball away with his hand as it pounced. Ludogorets regained possession and worked it back to Wanderson, who sent a low shot from 16 yards just wide.
30 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain receives a pass behind the defence. All he has to do is square the ball to Walcott for a tap in - but he fails to execute that elementary task, offering the ball to a grateful keeper instead. Ludogorets have shown enough danger on the counter-attack to suggest Arsenal could end up regretting such slovenliness.
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28 min: Ludogorets go close again! Misidjan raced away from Mustafi in a bid to collect an incisive pass from deep, but he was foiled by Ospina, who flew off his line quickly to make a timely intervention.
26 min: Lovely pass from Koscielny. It finds Coquelin in a perfect crossing positioning, with team-mates awaiting a good delivery. But Coquelin chooses to shoot from a ridiculous angle. The keeper makes a predictable save.
23 min: Ludogorets reeled for a few minutes after falling behind but they’ve pulled themselves together and are showing that the contest is far from over. Cafu is very sharp up front, where he’s playing off the shoulders of Mustafi and Koscielny. He raced on to a through-ball a moment ago and almost dashed around Ospina but Gibbs did just enough to force him wide and into a hasty shot.
20 min: Sanchez wins the ball in midfield and then scurries forward. Three opponents give frantic chase and eventually trip him up. Cazorla over-hits the freekick, presenting the ball for a simple catch by the keeper .... who choses to perform a flying punch instead.
18 min: Wanderson serves a warning to Arsenal not to nod off. Ludogorets built nicely and Gibbs was drawn inside. The ball was played quickly out to Wanderson on the right and he had a blast from a difficult angle. He struck it powerfully but Ospina batted it away without trouble.
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15 min: Arsenal are oozing confidence now. The visitors defence don’t quite know what to do about Sanchez, who is roaming where he pleases. Gaps are opening up all over the visiting defence. If Arsenal keep this up, they should win comfortably.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Ludogorets (Sanchez 12)
What a marvellous finish! Oxlade-Chamberlain played a quick pass through to Sanchez, who had escaped the defenders’ attention by peeling away to the left. The Chilean shuffled into the box at the left-hand corner as the defence retreated in blind panic, then he arced a superb lob over the keeper and into the far corner.
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9 min: Oh Theo! Sanchez presented the striker/winger/frustrater with a great chance to prolong his hot scoring streak but Walcott squandered it. HIs first shot was blocked and when the rebound fell nicely to him, he decided not to have another go, even though he was only 1 yards out, and instead shirked responsibility and went for a pass into a thicket of bodies. That allowed the defence to clear.
7 min: Arsenal have established territorial domination. Ludogorets are defending en masse and deep, hoping for a counter-attack.
5 min: Ludogorets have succeeded in their first aim:silencing the home crowd. Yes, yes, that’s not very difficult at the Emirates, but the visitors have still made a good early impression to deflate anyone who came expecting a goalfest. The Bulgarian champions are an accomplished side and breaking them down will be tough.
3 min: Arsenal move forward for the first time, but Ozil’s attempted cross from the left is too close to the keeper. In other news, I mentioned earlier that Ludogorets’ kit is all green: that is not quite true, because they have a a sponsors logo in white lettering in the middle. The sponsor, in fact, is the company run by Peter Coates. A new twist, then, in the Arsenal-Stoke rivalry.
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2 min: Did I saw ‘hang on’? Ludogorets have started as if they intend to do much more than that. They’re bright, ambitious and full of tricks. Careful, Arsenal ...
1 min: We have kickoff! Arsenal get the game going. Only 90 more minutes for Ludogorets to hang on ...
The players file out on to the pitch. In fact, Ludogorets’ almost blend into it, as their kit is entirely green. Will camouflage help them elude Arsenal’s defenders?
Speaking on TV just now, Wenger has given a prematch assessment of Ludogorets: “They are a very physical team, very quick on the break. They have four or five Brazilian players who are very tricky. We have to dominate the game and penetrate their defence. But we have to find a good balance. Sometimes we open ourselves up by attacking too much. I have rotated a little bit without destroying the balance of the team.”
“No Giroud this evening? Have I missed something?” asks Gary Price-Hunt. He’s injured. Also, he hasn’t scored yet this season and got himself sent off against Paris Saint-Germain, so maybe a spell out will do him good.
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Teams:
Arsenal: Ospina; Bellerin, Koscielny, Mustafi, Gibbs; Coquelin, Cazorla; Walcott, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanchez
Subs: Cech, Gabriel, Xhaka, Monreal, Iwobi, Elneny, Lucas
Ludogorets: Stoyanov; Minev, Moti, Palomino, Natanael; Dyakov, Abel; Wanderson, Marcelinho, Misidjan, Cafu
Subs: Borjan, Cicinho, Sasha, Quixada, Keseru, Plastun, Lukoki
Ref: A Dias (Portugal)
Preamble
Hello and welcome. Apart from that freakish defeat to Liverpool in the first game of the campaign, everything’s gone pretty swell for Arsenal so far this season. They’re unbeaten in 10 matches since then, having won the last six, and they’re purring in all sectors. Hector Bellerin is confirming he’s one of the best right-backs around, Shkodran Mustafi is looking good alongside Laurent Koscielny, Granit Xhaka has helped solidify midfield, Alex Iwobi is boss, and the crack predator in the Theo Walcott mask just keeps scoring, except when he’s blazing wide so as not blow his cover. It’s all starting to feel quite odd.
Arsenal fans must be wondering whether this, finally, is the season when all of Arsene Wenger’s carefully laid plans will bear fruit or is this just a cruel set-up to another let-down? I’m saying the former because I’m a blue sky kind of guy. But we all know that Arsenal are just one bad result away from a mushroom cloud of crisis talk. Ludogorets are in town to trigger exactly that.
“We’re not scared by Arsenal, I think they should be afraid of us, we can surprise any team,” warned the Bulgarian champions’ Dutch winger, Virgil Misidjan. It’s a Brazilian that Arsenal will be most concerned about, because Jonathan Cafu has been in spectacular form so far this season and, if his highlights reel is anything to go by, has enough trickery to ridicule any defence. Ludogorets have not disgraced themselves in the group so far, taking the lead in both matches before drawing 1-1 with Basel 3-1 to PSG. And on their only previous visit to England they were on the verge of taking a point away from Anfield until their goalkeeper, had a stoppage time meltdown (Milan Borjan is still at the club but has been replaced as first-choice by Vladislav Stoyanov). Today’s visitors, then, are no lambs to the slaughter. But Arsenal should be able to make mince meat out of them, all the same, and stay in charge of this Champions League group.
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