Pathetic Arsenal Embarrassed in Europa League by Stade Rennais

Arsenal were embarrassed in the Europa League by Rennes on Thursday in France, in an extremely poor performance that the Gunners could eventually regret.

This was a performance from Arsenal that perhaps you wouldn’t predict, but one that you can’t really be too surprised by. The Gunners travelled to Rennes on Thursday evening to play in front of a jam-packed 30,000 capacity stadium, with high expectations in the Europa League, with it being one of the only 2 ways in which the Gunners can get back into the Champions League next season. Although they were heavy favourites in this match, Arsenal are notorious for slipping up in away matches, and even in the last round of this competition they fell 1-0 to BATE Borisov. Petr Cech notably made his return to Rennes in this match, after leaving them for Chelsea 15 years ago.

Arsenal started the match well, after Alex Iwobi’s cross wasn’t dealt with by the goalkeeper, who allowed it to bounce once and find the far corner for the opening goal. It seemed like Arsenal had this match in the bag, but it was Sokratis Papastathopoulos who was the shakiest part of the XI, as he continued to mistime his tackles and put his team in danger. He eventually did exactly that, when the electric Ismaila Sarr managed to get goal-side on Sokratis, leading the defender to pull him back with his arm, although it seemed soft. This earned him a second yellow, which would define the match. One the ensuing free-kick, Benjamin Bourigeaud scored a brilliant volley on the stroke of half-time after his initial attempt went into the wall. From there on out, you had to favour Rennes to take this match with the fantastic crowd behind their back.

Although Arsenal had some opportunities to take the lead, it would inevitably be Rennes who took control of the match following a Monreal own-goal in the 65th minute. Although a 2-1 loss would have been acceptable for Arsenal to go home with, a late goal from Ismaila Sarr allowed the hosts to take a 3-1 lead, which could prove to be fatal to Arsenal’s hopes in the competition. For some reason, Arsenal left-back Nacho Monreal was taking a throw-in deep into Rennes’ half, which allowed them the space to hit Arsenal on the counter after Monreal’s poor attempts at tracking back.

Hatem Ben Arfa and Unai Emery had a famous feud when the pair were at PSG, and Ben Arfa got the last laugh here, as he played a brilliant match while Unai Emery stumbled with his tactics following the Sokratis sending-off. There were poor performances all-round for the Gunners, but the ones of Nacho Monreal and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang truly stood out.

With a 3-1 lead, Stade Rennais have a fantastic opportunity to win this tie at the Emirates, in what would be a massive upset victory. You still have to give Arsenal an opportunity though, as they are a far better side at the Emirates.