Arsenal drew 0-0 with Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The clash at the Emirates was far from thrilling as Arsenal managed only three shots on target despite attempting 11 and having 64% possession.
Arsene Wenger’s side struggled to break down the Serbian team and despite an average pass success rate of 83%, couldn’t seem to pick out any of their teammates.
Despite this, Arsenal are through to the next round – the final 32 – with two games of the group stage left to play. Therefore, not scoring at home against Red Star isn’t the disaster you’d be forgiven for thinking it is. We did, after all, also keep a clean sheet and didn’t lose anyone through injury.
What’s more, the first team got a good rest ahead of the Gunners’ trip to Manchester City at the weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in the Premier League and have only drawn once. However, the Spaniard fielded a strong side in the Champions League against Napoli mid-week so hopefully they’ll be tired but I wouldn’t bank on it.
Anyway, here are five things we learned from Arsenal’s dull draw against Red Star.
No Wilshere, no party
Although Wilshere did get another full match under his belt for Arsenal, he wasn’t at the races at all in the first half.
After the break, he found his stride and the whole team kicked things up a notch, proving how instrumental the midfielder is to the Gunners’ flare.
Where did Giroud go?
Giroud’s not been great this season, which is worrying because the striker is usually one of Arsenal’s most consistent goal-scorers. In fact, he’s only netted three all season.
Against Red Star, he was completely isolated, which isn’t really his fault, but when he did get the chance to shoot, he struggled to hit the target.
Overall, he had four shots, two of which hit their mark.
Aaaaand breathe
Arsenal are through to the final 32 with two matches to spare. Therefore, no matter how poorly we play away to FC Cologne and at home to BATE Borisov, we’re safe.
We can all take a sigh of relief, Wenger can rest some people if they need it, and we can relax.
Theo Walcott’s Arsenal career could be over
Theo gave another uninspiring performance against Red Star. He completed just 76% of his passes and had two shots. One was off target and the other was blocked.
It looks as if the forward’s time in north London is coming to an end.
Arsenal fans are too entitled
Only Arsenal fans would stay until the 94th minute just to boo the under 19’s for getting the draw that got them through.
Awful fans.
— Mark (@_The12thMan) November 2, 2017
Booing because we drew 0-0 when we progressed to the next round? Have a word with yourselves. It may not have been the most exciting match but we did the job. Get some perspective.