Arsenal Draw

Arsenal took a 2-0 lead halfway through the first half at Schalke and then have them both back, settling for a draw that means they are no longer in control of winning the group. It was yet another disappointing performance from the Gunners, who looked better offensively but gave up a needless goal just before halftime and the equalizer in the 66th minute. The first was a fine finish from Huntelaar after Cazorla gave the ball up with only 30 seconds to go to halftime. His dropoff in form is a point of real concern and one wonders if he needs a little break. The other goal, which to be fair seemed fair given the number of chances Schalke created, fell to poor clearance and yet another defensive stumble from Vermaelen who was nowhere near the ball on the far corner and then kicked it in when it may very well have been going just wide. The good news was Walcott scored again, after Giroud had made a mess of a one-on-one with the goalie and then the Frenchman scored himself on a lovely cross from Podolski, which he headed in with power. Giroud had a couple other chances, which he didn't do much with, but Arsenal must again feel aggrieved at the refereeing as he inexplicably blew the whistle when Podolski was about to shoot from a strong position in the box and noone in front of him. There was a Schalke player down, but no chance that it was a head injury. A truly horrible call, but one can't guarantee that Pod would have done anything with the shot. 

The problems with the club continue to be glaring.  We are giving up possession too easily, getting stuck in the middle too often, playing questionable defense, not clearing our lines well and not creating enough chances (though they certainly looked better here than in the past three weeks (barring the Capital One Cup miracle). With a two nil leading in injury time of the first half, a Gunner team should just hold possession, but we gave it up three times in those short two minutes and the third cost us the momentum and ultimately two points. The good news is we did hold out for the draw, but to reiterate my point from earlier, even if me beat Montpellier and Olympiakos, we must hope that Schalke is at least drawn by one of those two. We should qualify for the knockout stage, but will have to play better and hope we don't find ourselves going out in the quarters yet again. We head to Fulham next and really need a victory to stop the rot and get some momentum going into the Tottenham fixture and winter break. Right now this team just isn't good enough, as anyone watching can clearly see.