Arsenal, Man U draws in UEFA Champions Cup play

The English Premier League entrants in UEFA Champions Cup play both earned a draw in their respective games on Wednesday. Arsenal traveled to Russia to play Dynamo Kiev, finishing all level at 1-1. Back in England, Manchester United hosted Villarreal and sleepwalked to a 0-0 scoreless tie. Man U’s performance, in particular, was disappointing as they won last year’s Champions Cup competition.

From the “glass half full” perspective, Arsenal was happy to escape their Russian trip with a single point. They’d had a disastrous run of late on their visits to the former Soviet Union, losing 4 straight. On the other hand, they were facing a vastly overmatched Dynamo Kiev team that hadn’t won a Champions League game in three years.

Though Arsenal didn’t do themselves any favors with missed chances on the offensive end and sketchy play on the defensive end, they were put in a hole by crooked officiating who awarded Kiev a penalty at the 64 minute mark. Though it was clearly a case where both players were going for possession of the ball, the officials whistled Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna for pushing over Ognjen Vukojevic. Ismael Bangoura took the penalty and easily scored on Gunners’ goaltender Manuel Almunia. In reality, the Kiev striker “took a dive” to draw the penalty—and was booked for such later in the contest.

Fortunately for Arsenal, they were able to salvage the draw when team captain William Gallas tapped in a corner kick to even the score in the 88th minute. Though clearly superior in terms of talent to their host, the team appeared to lack focus as they missed easy opportunities on the offensive end and carelessly gave the ball away on the defensive end.

Back in the UK at Old Trafford, Manchester United dominated their Spanish opponents Villerreal but couldn’t put the ball in the next. The stat sheet reflected a Man U rout—they outshot Villerreal 20-5 and held a lopsided 57% to 43% time of possession edge. Unfortunately, a number of missed opportunities on the offensive end left all of that hard work for naught as the two teams finished in a scoreless draw.

Both Arsenal and Manchester United play away games this weekend as their Premier League schedule continues. Arsenal will travel to Reebok Stadium to play the Bolton Wanderers, while Man U heads to Stamford Bridge for a big game against Chelsea.