Published: 30 September, 2015
By PAUL COWLING at the Emirates Stadium 

Uefa Champions League: Group F
ARSENAL 2, OLYMPIACOS 3

ARSENE Wenger insists that his Arsenal team can still qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League despite suffering a shock defeat against Olympiacos last night (Tuesday).

The 3-2 home loss leaves the Gunners pointless and stranded at the bottom of Group F, with tough back-to-back matches against Bayern Munich up next.

Wenger revealed that he felt “guilty” following Arsenal’s latest European disappointment, but was still confident they could turn things around. 

“This leaves us in a bad position, but we are still in it,” he said. “We have got to get a result at home against Bayern Munich.

“Some aspects of our game were quite good but I thought we lacked quality defensive concentration. I believe we had a bit of bad luck as well because they had four shots on target and scored three goals and that happens once in 100 Champions League games.

“We gave a lot and had 65 per cent possession, but we feel guilty because we gave easy goals away.”

The Gunners played the better football, and bossed possession against the Greek champions. Goals from Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez looked to have put the Gunners back in the game, after they had twice fallen behind. But concentration at the back ultimately cost them dearly as Olympiacos grabbed what proved to be the winner on 66 minutes.

The visitors’ first goal of the night came on 33 minutes when Felipe Pardo’s volley took a deflection off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and crashed into the net. The goal was wiped out within minutes as Alexis Sanchez fed Theo Walcott, who drove in from close range to level the scores.

David Ospina, who had replaced Petr Cech between the sticks, then gifted Olympiacos another lead as he flapped at a corner, and allowed the ball to sneak over the line.

Sanchez brought the Gunners back on level terms on 64 minutes when he headed home Walcott’s cross, but the Greek side restored their lead minutes later when Icelandic international Alfred Finnbogason popped up to score what proved to be the winner.

“The turning point was 2-2,” said Wenger afterwards. “We were back in the game, but gave them the lead again. It leaves us with a lot to do. We have to think we can deal with Zagreb and Olympiacos when we play them again, and we need a result in our next game away from home against Bayern Munich.”

ARSENAL: Ospina, Bellerin (Campbell, 86), Gabriel, Koscielny (Mertesacker, 56), Gibbs, Sanchez, Ozil, Coquelin (Ramsey, 59), Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott.
Substitutes not used: Cech, Debuchy, Monreal, Chambers.
Attendance: 59,428