SC Neusiedl 1919 0-4 Arsenal

By Aashish Siwan

 

Scorers: Walcott 28, Emmanuel-Thomas 30, Chamakh 51 (pen), Vela 65

The second and last match of the Austrian tour kicked off at 5 am this morning at the Sportzentrum Neusiedl. Arsenal started with Manuel Almunia (captain) in goal. Harvard Nordtveit started at right back again and Kieran Gibbs got in at left back. Wenger opted to start Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou at centre half. Midfield was once again marshaled by young Jack Wilshere who was flanked by Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Frimpong. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas got the nod at centre forward with Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin in support.

This was supposed to be the easier of the two Austrian fixtures with SC Neusiedl 1919 currently competing in the third tier of the Austrian League which is equivalent to the English Conference League and some Gooners (me included) can be forgiven for thinking that this would be a high scoring affair with the Gunners getting most of the goals. But Neusiedl put in a performance equivalent of a lower table Premier League side that put as many men as they could behind the ball defending and a keeper (or in this case two) who were in decent form. All credit to Neusiedl, they did defend well and did create a few opportunities without resorting to tactics we’ve seen from some of the lower table Premier League sides.

Walcott however did fashion himself a chance in as early as the second minute with a lovely turn down the right channel but the Neusiedl defenders were quick to react before Almunia was called into action to gather a Neusiedl free kick at the other end. Jack Wilshere had a penalty claim in the fifth minute when he managed to make his way past a few defenders with some nifty footwork only to be fouled. Play was waived on by the referee for an Arsenal corner. Nasri was on hand to take the corner which Neusiedl cleared comfortably. Arshavin then created himself some space but his tame effort was no trouble for the Neusiedl keeper Adolf Kaiser. Nasri did well to put Wilshere through just before the tenth minute with Wilshere being brought down again in the Neusiedl box. The referee waived play on again.

 

Emmanuel-Thomas’ tame shot, after some impressive footwork from the big man, was all too comfortable for Kaiser while his counterpart gathered comfortably from a cross at the other end. Some slack defending nearly lead to Neusiedl taking the lead when Markus Dombi’s header from a Michael Koller corner was cleared off the line by a switched on Nasri with Almunia well beaten. Young Gibbs the guilty party being caught ball watching.

 

Kaiser did well to save from Walcott who was setup by Arshavin before Nasri’s cross come shot nearly curled in from the right-hand channel. Kaiser came to the rescue again saving from Arshavin while Walcott’s follow up was well dealt with by the Neusiedl defenders all before Koscielny got in well to head away a Neusiedl counter. Walcott’s persistence was rewarded when he put Arsenal ahead on the 28^th minute. Emmanuel-Thomas’ driving run was dummied by the ever impressive Wilshere and met by Walcott who shot low and hard past Kaiser. 1-0 to the Arsenal but Walcott looked a bit confused and unsure on whether he’d scored or not. No worries Walcott. As long as they go in and count.

 

Thomas Vermaelen was subbed in for Djourou who was seen hobbling off nursing an injury just before the half hour mark. Let’s hope his injury is not too serious. Walcott was at it again soon after, combining well with Wilshere but shooting wide under pressure. With the Gunner’s piling on the pressure, Emmanuel-Thomas doubled Arsenal’s lead on the half hour mark. If Gibbs was guilty of ball watching when Neusiedl nearly took the lead, he more than made up for it doing well to cut back from the by-line to tee up Emmanuel-Thomas to score from a well taken effort.

 

Kaiser was again called into action to first foil Wilshere, who was setup by Nasri, and then Arshavin who had been in and out of the match. The first 45 ended with Arsenal 0-2 up and not the avalanche of goals that I expected. Lesson Learnt.

 

The Second 45 saw Vito Mannone coming in for Almunia, Bacary Sagna coming in at right back (replacing Wilshere) and Harvard Nordtveit moving into midfield (yet another unfamiliar position for the young Norwegian to play in). Gale Clichy replaced Gibbs at left back while Emmanuel Eboue came on for Walcott, Carlos Vela replaced Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh replaced Emmanuel-Thomas.  Wenger opting to give a few of the World Cup returnees a chance to get back into the groove of things.

 

Poor finishing let Vela down early in the second 45 before Chamakh was brought down in the Neusiedl box by Dombi. This time the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot. Chamakh stepped up and sent Rene Summer, Neusiedl’s replacement keeper, the wrong way to open his Arsenal account.  Summer did try to redeem himself however with saves off Vermaelen and Vela just before Vela pulled off a Carlos Vela special. Now, I haven’t seen too many Vela goals for Arsenal, but the once I have seen have been truly spectacular. His effort in the 65^th minute was goal of the match where he pulled off another magnificent chip that left Summer with no hope. Vela’s chance was created by Nasri who put in another impressive shift.

 

Then came the chance Neusiedl needed to pull a goal back in the 66^th minute. The referee pointed to the spot from a Neusiedl corner to a bemusement of almost all of the Gunners and a fair few Gooners (me included). Replays vindicated the referee showing that Chamakh had clearly handled Dominik Silberbauer’s header. Juray Skripec stepped up but Mannone was equal to Skripec’s spot kick, saving comfortably. In all fairness, Skripec’s shot was not the greatest penalty ever taken but full credit to Mannone for stepping up, keeping focus and at the end of it all, helping keep a clean sheet.

 

With 20 minutes to go, Nasri and Koscielny were taken off and replaced by Wilshere and Emmanuel-Thomas. Wenger must be impressed by what he’s seen of the two young Englishmen to give them an extended run. Nordtveit, by the way, finally got his chance to take up position at centre half, his preferred spot, even though he hasn’t done himself any disservice with his performances in all the different positions Wenger has deployed him in. Mannone pulled off another impressive save in the 84^th minute before Summer saved an effort off Vela as the 90 minutes came to a close.

 

Samir Nasri put in another man of the match performance, always willing to get involved in play, being industrious, helping out defending, keeping and making most of possession and most importantly, setting up goals for Walcott and Vela. Mannone also did well in the 45 minutes he featured and Wilshere also impressed. The powerful duo of Emmanuel-Thomas and Frimpong would have left positive impressions on Wenger and Nordtveit’s ability to fit in well in a few positions across the field will also come in handy in the new season.

 

The final scoreline was a bit below what was expected but 0-4 away win is noting to complain about.

 

 

Up next, the Gunners head back to the Emirates to host the 2010 edition of the Emirates cup. Up first, Arsenal take on AC Milan at 3:20 am on Sunday morning (1^st August) and then Celtic at 3:20 am on Monday morning (2^nd August). Expect the gunners to get a good work out in both those matches.

Watch all the goals courtesy of Arsenalist.