Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiacos: Two early goals enough for Arsenal

This game was actually overshadowed by the North London derby on Sunday. Still, off the back of a good win at home to Botlon, the feeling going into this one was much more positive than it has been this season.

Defensive problems... again
Arsenal's passing and attacking was very good in the first 15-20 minutes. The players were positive with their play with and without the ball and deservedly Arsenal took the lead just seven minutes. Alex Song's long pass found Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had made an intelligent run from his spot on the right flank, and the talented winger controlled well and finished confidently with his left.

The second goal also resulted from some good, positive play. This time, it was Rosicky who managed to find himself in space before playing in Andre Santos. The Brazillian payed it across goal, but Chamakh couldn't reach it. The ball came back out to Santos and he maneuvered it onto his right foot before slotting home. It was Santos' initial run forward that really created his goal, and had Chamakh been a little sharper he probably would have had an assist instead of a goal.

From then on, though, Arsenal experienced a multitude of problems.

Olympiacos were pressing very well and getting quite tight to Arsenal's midfield. When they won the ball back, they commited men forward and caused problems with their movement. Most noticeably, their wide men drifted into the space between midfield and defence and put Arsenal's not-so-solid backline under pressure. When Arsenal did get the ball back, they gave it away far too often. Olympiacos had become the better side in the first half.

Then, of course, we had problems with set-pieces. Olympiacos constantly played short corners and balls to the edge of the penalty area and near enough each time they caught Arsenal napping. The lack of concentration and subsequent poor marking really was quite shocking. Olympiacos scored via this method. A short ball to a player and suddenly they had a two-on-one against one of our players. When we started to move to close them down, gaps appeared everywhere in the box and Fuster had a completely free header.

Really, Arsenal were a bit fortunate to go in 2-1 up at half time. Defensively the performance wasn't good enough, while offensively we couldn't keep the ball in the Olympiacos half. We really needed half-time to regroup.

Tighter defensive display in second half
Thankfully, Arsenal sorted some of these issues out in the second half. The strategy seemed to be to see the game out and not try and kill the game off and it worked.

Most tellingly, both full backs rarely went forward and Frimpong played deeper in a more traditional holding role and opposed to the ball-winning CM role he had in the first half. The gaps between defence and midfield that were their in the first weren't present in the second, and Olympiacos' threat was lessened.

There were still problems from set-pieces, but baring those and one outstanding shot from Tosoridis, the second half was relatively comfortable. Szczesny didn't have to make a save.

Arsenal did had have a couple of opportunities to wrap the game up, but failed to make the most of them.

Good win considering state of team
It wasn't the most convincing of wins and inevitably the media vultures are going to try and make it seem like we played worse than we actually did, but all things considering it's a good win.

There were only four players out there who'd we consider to be actual first choice players, which were Szczesny, Sagna, Song and Arteta. Santos is still bedding in and the left back spot is a toss up between him and Gibbs, while we can't say that Mertesacker is first choice with Vermaelen and Koscielny both injured. Frimpong, Rosicky, Arshavin, Chamberlain and Chamakh are all fringe/back-up/rotation players.

So we can't really judge how well we'll perform from here on based on this performance.

Fact: We were the only English club to win this week. City got thumped while Chelsea and United both blew leads.

Another fact: We have more points at this stage in the Champions League than City and United combined.

And this is our third win on the bounce, fourth at home.

So how much can we really criticise the performance tonight?

Player Ratings
Wojceich Szczesny - 6. Did not have much to do, however one could argue that our poor concentration and organisation at the back may be attribtued to Szczesny.

Per Mertesacker - 7. His best game as an Arsenal player so far. Was composed at the back and did something that not many Arsenal defenders do; he hoofed up the field to relieve pressure. I really enjoyed that about his performance tonight. No fuss. Just got rid.

Alex Song - 7. Looked like he had been playing centre back all his career. Didn't put a foot wrong. We should actually realise that Song actually is good defensively when he's playing purely defensive roles in the team.

Bacary Sagna - 6. I thought he was a bit off his game tonight. Looked a little lathargic and gave the ball away one too many times.

Andre Santos - 7. Good all-round display, capped off with a goal.

Emmanuel Frimpong - 6. Typically energetic, but did give the ball away a few times. Otherwise pretty good.

Mikel Arteta - 7. Very good all round performance. Passing typically accurate, and he was more than useful defensively. Also cleared a shot off the line.

Tomas Rosicky - 7. A bit of a mixed performance, but he was actually good.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 7. Took his goal well and looked promising on the night. Forced to do too much defending, however.

Andrey Arshavin - 6. Decent showing.

Marouane Chamakh - 6. Again, a decent showing. Better than what we have seen recently.

Great start, but typical Arsenal play later, getting pounded and had we played a better team, we surely would have lost.

First post updated.