Antoine Griezmann’s late equaliser against the run of play cancelled out Alexandre Lacazette’s second half header and means that Atletico will head back to Madrid next week with an away goal that puts them in the ascendancy. It will come as some frustration to Arsenal, who had chances to bury the game before Griezmann capitalised on some comic defending.
All the more so when you consider that Arsenal played 80 minutes of the game against 10 men. Sime Vrsaljko saw red for two yellow cards in the opening ten minutes of the game, both for late challenges for which he could have little complaint.
It went from bad to worse for the ‘rojiblancos’ three minutes later when Diego Simeone was sent to the stand after angrily reacting to a foul by Hector Bellerin. Lacazette had already hit the post by this point and Arsenal must have been licking their lips.
They came forward in wave after wave of attack but could not break down the stubborn defence of the extremely well drilled Spanish side. Half time came and the game remained goalless, and there was a sense of unease beginning to creep in.
That was broken on 61 minutes after Lacazette rose like a salmon to meet Jack Wilshere’s cross at the back post, nodding the ball into the bottom corner past the helpless Oblak. Atleti owe a great deal to Oblak who kept them in the game with a string of superb saves - Aaron Ramsey in particular had numerous efforts kept out by the ‘keeper.
26 April 2018
And with eight minutes to go, having already settled for only the one goal loss and bringing on defenders in an act of damage limitation, Griezmann got his chance. He’d been kept quiet all night but a comedy of errors saw him find the back of the net. Nacho Monreal was slow coming out of defence and played him onside. The long ball over the top was initially controlled by Koscielny, who then kicked it at his own face when trying to clear.
Griezmann still had work to do though, picking up a rebound off Ospina before firing past Mustafi who might have gotten to the ball if he hadn’t fallen over half a second earlier. 1-1 and an away goal to Atletico that actually puts them ahead in the tie.
It is a draw that feels like a loss for Arsenal, for whom the clean sheet was of paramount importance. They will now travel to Madrid next week needing to score - against an Atletico side that will have strengthened as players such as Diego Costa and Juanfran return to fitness.
26 April 2018