Hleb in action against CSKACSKA MOSCOW 1-0 ARSENAL FC
Scorers: CSKA- Daniel Carvalho 24'
Russia is the coldest country in the world. The summers in Russia are equivalent to the winters in England. The mid-annual temperature is -5.5 degrees celsius!Keeping these things in mind and fully prepared, Arsenal FC paid a visit to the Lokomotiv Stadium. Honestly, even with their preparations, they would have anticipated that they were in for a tough time. Never easy playing in those conditions. And also considering the fact that a number of Arsenal players were away on international duty, got back to London and flew all the way to Moscow,in the space of a few days one can only think that the tired and fatigued legs had to give in sometime.
Arsenal’s run of six successive wins came to a juddering, shivering halt at CSKA Moscow on Tuesday.
Unfortunately (I mean,fortunately) enough, I wasn't able to watch this game on TV to actually analyse the players and Arsenal's style of football. But it was a 4-5-1 formation, which had worked so well last season for Arsenal in the champions league. This time however, things were different. Thierry Henry looked an isolated figure upfront and Arsenal lacked that cutting edge.
And when Arsenal did manage to get the ball into the back of the net, not once but twice, the referee disallowed both the goals - one for handball (which clearly wasn't) and the other for offside. Thierry Henry rarely loses his cool. But this time I guess he had no option but to publicly criticise the referee, in the post-match conference. "My goal was disallowed simply because we aren't a big club",he said. Its a disgrace. I asked the referee what he saw and he couldn't tell me. Even the goalkeeper saw me and had a giggle about it. The centreback clapped the ref and was taking the p*** out of him.He said at the end he didn't talk about it anymore."
To give me a yellow straight away for arguing-please look at the replay," he added.
The conditions in Moscow,Arsenal's jet-lagged players or the (blind) referee's decisions cannot be termed as an excuse for their lacklustre performance. CSKA Moscow definitely deserve some credit. They outclassed the Gunners on the night (can't say that, for eternity) and limited Arsenal to a few chances. Vagner Love (CSKA) was a constant threat to the Gunners down the left flank and quite simply, they were the better team.
This loss does not affect Arsenal in any way, though. With CSKA Moscow on 7 points, Arsenal on 6, Porto on 4 they are still in a strong position to finish on top of the group, that too with two of their remaining three games at the Emirates stadium where they've settled in so well.Arsenal's next fixture is in the Premiership against newcomers Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday.
