Schalke 04 vs. Arsenal

2-2, Champions League, Veltins Arena, 2012-11-06
Walcott 18,
Giroud 26

We were ruthlessly efficient in the first half of this vital game and it looked as though we would grab those three, very important, points. Unfortunately we did not manage to hold onto the lead and had to settle for just the one point..

Schalke had a much stronger start, yet suddenly we found ourselves ahead in the eighteenth minute! Giroud was released down the centre (from an offside position) and when he was brought down in the box Theo Walcott popped up to pick up the ball and put it in the back of the net! The young Englishman has had quite some success up front recently, last week he scored a hat-trick against Reading in the Capital One Cup and then he opened the scoring for us in this game!
Our new French striker may have failed at scoring when Theo succeeded, but he got his chance to redeem missing out on that one. Olivier Giroud provided a powerful header to score from Podolski's cross less than ten minutes later!
The rest of the first half showcased chances for both sides, Giroud had another decent header towards the end of the half and Schalke had a shot that went just over the bar, before disaster struck in the very last of the added minutes. Huntelaar pulled one back for Schalke and our cushion was gone.

The second half started with another good chance for Giroud, but unfortunately his shot ended up next to the goal rather than in the goal. The pace of the game slowed down significantly in the second half, yet things heated up on the pitch when the ref decided to blow the whistle for an injury when we had a golden opportunity to score and Podolski even received a booking for his objections. Not long after that Vermaelen scored an own goal and those vital three points suddenly seemed very far away. Walcott had the chance to win us the game in the last minute, but unfortunately his shot was saved and we had to settle for the one point.

It is obviously disappointing for us to drop a 2-0 lead, especially when those three points could have ensured a top place in the group. Now we will most likely end up as runners-up, if we can get our act together and win the last games! Fingers crossed for that and a good ending to this group stage.

Injury Update;
- Ramsey picked up a slight injury ahead of this game and was therefore not involved this evening.