Arsenal qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League for the 15th successive season as Yaya Sanogo’s first goal for the club and a gem from Alexis Sanchez clinched a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
Arsene Wenger’s side were desperately in need of a morale-boosting European victory after back-to-back defeats against Swansea and Manchester United left them well adrift in the Premier League title race.
Those dispiriting losses prompted a section of Arsenal’s support to call for Wenger to be fired, while stinging criticism of the Gunners boss from the club’s second-largest shareholder Alisher Usmanov added to the impression of a season spiralling out of control.
However, Sanogo took less than two minutes to notch his first goal for Arsenal, in his 18th appearances since his free transfer from Auxerre in 2013, and a majestic second-half strike from Sanchez ensured the north Londoners, who had needed a point to go through from Group D, once again advanced to the knock-out stages of Europe’s elite club competition.
Their spirits lifted by a dominant display at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal could still snatch top spot from Dortmund with a victory in their final group fixture at Galatasaray on Dec. 9, providing the out-of-form Germans lose against Anderlecht.
“We are a team that likes to go forward but sometimes we dominate the game and we maybe forget to take precautions to defend. We did that better tonight,” Wenger said.
“We can play much better than tonight. We weren’t courageous enough,” Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp added. “It could have been much more difficult for Arsenal, but we didn’t close them down enough.”
With Danny Welbeck ruled out with a knee injury and Olivier Giroud ineligible, Wenger gambled on the inexperienced Sanogo as his lone striker instead of Germany international Lukas Podolski.
A poor performance would have given the critics more ammunition to attack Wenger, but it proved an inspired move as Sanogo put Arsenal ahead after just 73 seconds.
The France Under-21 forward received possession with his back to his marker and showed tremendous confidence to juggle the ball and then flick it into Santi Cazorla’s path
Sanogo then turned and ran on to Cazorla’s return pass before guiding a cool finish under Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.
Dortmund held a training session on pitches normally used by part-time players in London’s Regent’s Park earlier in the day and Klopp’s team were guilty of some fairly amateurish defending.
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