FOOTBALL: SAME OLD,SAME OLD GUNNERS; ARSENAL FALL SHORT

Arsenal fans have been here before. Promise of so much, but fall short when it matters most. Seeming so close, yet so far off. On a day when manager, Arsene Wenger celebrated his 67^th birthday, no doubt, the celebrations would have been muted as the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Wenger’s men was fully on display. The sharp, crisp movement, and swaggering fluidity that have characterized their play in recent weeks, seemed so elusive.

 Bar some wasteful finishing, and a fair slice of luck, the gunners would have been at least two goals down by half time. Such was their lack of creativity. At the end though, a point was more reflective of the efforts of both sides. Arsene Wenger’s lads only got going in the latter stages of the second half, as the visitors seemed to be tiring out, but there was to be no last gasp winner, like that over Burnley at Turf Moor, a couple of weeks back. Arsenal still remain joint top though, only, separated from Manchester city by goal difference.. But considering other results on Saturday, with Tottenham being held to a goalless draw at Bournemouth and Liverpool dispatching West brom later in the day, this was an opportunity missed for Arsene Wenger’s Gunners. 

 

Arsenal Goalkeeper Peter Cech makes a great reaction save to deny Middlesbrough, at the Emirates Stadium

In many respects, it was a tale of two points lost, rather than a point gained. Middlesbrough were there for the taking, but Wenger’s men never obliged. They were slow out of the blocks, lethargic, and starved of much needed creativity in the absence of talisman Santi Cazorla. The gunner’s toiled in the bright afternoon at the emirates. Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez have been nothing short of spectacular in recent weeks, but here they could not conjure up something magical. The latter in particular uncharacteristically, was guilty of some wasteful finishing.

 

Alexis Sanchez was uncharacteristically guilty of some wasteful finishing

Nil nil  it ended, as Arsenal fans will surely begin to ponder if their team can go all the way, on their hunt for the title that has eluded them for a decade—the premier league. They have been here before, when hopes held quickly begin to dissipate, but they will hope the familiar demons that have haunted their beloved team in the past, have been exorcised.