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Arsene Wenger said his team lost their heads in losing to Monaco in the first-leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie at the Emirates. A 3-1 defeat left Arsenal with, said Wenger, an ‘extremely difficult task’ but they would ‘go for it’ in the second leg on March 17.
“It looks like we have lost our nerves and our rationality on the pitch,” he said. “The heart took over the head. Mentally we were not sharp enough to get into the game and we paid for it.
Wenger said the first goal, which was deflected, was ‘unlucky’, though he criticised the body shape of Per Mertesacker, off whom Geoffrey Kondogbia’s shot flew in. But he added: “You look at the second and third goals [both scored on the counter-attack], it is difficult to explain. We rushed our game. We were too impatient. This is a game of 180 minutes.”
Wenger added: “We missed chances. We were not at our best defensively. The balance was not right. When we lost the ball we were exposed.”
Show all 24 1 /24Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings David Ospina - 6/10 Diffiicult to overly criticise him for Monaco’s opener. Kondogbia’s shot took a wicked deflection that left him with no chance. Pulled off a good save to prevent Berbatov scoring a third.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Hector Bellerin - 5 Not his best game in an Arsenal shirt. When he did go forward he lost possession and Martial, who he was meant to be marking, too often beat the right-back to the byline. Good run and cross
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Per Mertesacker - 4 Unfortunate for Kondogbia’s shot to deflect off him before flying past Ospina. Was at fault for Monaco’s second goal. He allowed Martial too much space - the French winger passed to Berbatov who scored. He was very poor all night. His lack of pace constantly exposed.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Laurent Koscielny - 6 Didn’t have to do much to register a better performance than Mertesacker. He was effectively Arsenal’s rock when the German defender wandered into positions he wasn’t quick enough to return from.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Kieran Gibbs - 6 Arsenal’s most dangerous player in the opening minutes of the match. Toure, at right-back for Monaco, found it very difficult to keep up with the rapid left-back.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Francis Coquelin - 6 Alongside Cazorla in the two deep midfield roles again. He was a little exposed when the Spaniard decided to charge forward but the French midfielder never looked troubled. Substituted for Oxlade-Chamberlain in second as Arsenal chased the game.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Santi Cazorla - 6 Took advantage of space in the middle to surge forward from his role of deep-lying playmaker. Stifled in the second half as the opposition read what he was going to do effectively.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Mesut Ozil - 5 Too slow to progress play. The German midfielder was booed by the Arsenal on a night where he really should have done much more to unlock the Monaco defence.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Alexis Sanchez - 6 Struggled to get forward as much as he usually likes. In the first half he seemed frustrated that all of the play was going down the left flank totally cutting him out on the right. Made much more of an impact in the second half as Arsenal chased the game.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Danny Welbeck - 6 Very sharp in the first half but failed to carry out his defensive duties well enough. Indeed it was Welbeck who gave the ball away that led to Monaco’s opener. Caught out a few times in the second half.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Olivier Giroud - 4 Missed a very, very easy chance from close range in the second half. Posed relatively little threat to the Monaco defence. He was subbed for Walcott on 59 minutes.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Best off the bencj: Alex Oxlade Chamberlain - 7 Immediate impact when he came on for Coquelin with 20 minutes to go. It was his late strike that gave his given his side a glimmer of hope going into the second leg.
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Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Danijel Subasic - 7 Outstanding performance from the goalkeeper. His quick thinking helped his side stay in the lead on a number of occasions. Very quick to close down Walcott in second half. Distribution very good too.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Almamy Toure - 6 In the first half he found himself overrun by Gibbs but was given some respite in the second half as Arsenal attacked Monaco’s left side.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Wallace - 6 A very assured performance. He frustrated Giroud while also organising his defence with precision.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Aymen Abdennour - 6 Allowed the Arsenal attack to bypass him too often. He seemed to panic when the French striker got anywhere near the Monaco penalty area.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Elderson - 6 Playing at left-back, the Brazilian found himself out of position on so many occasions. For most of the night he was either dallying with the ball too far into the Arsenal half or chasing the heels of Welbeck.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Nabil Dirar - 6 Not as effective as Martial on the left but seemed confident when in control of the ball and always looked forward for the out ball.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Geoffrey Kondogbia - 8 Monaco’s best player. Along with Moutinho he was involved in almost all of his side’s attacks. It was his strike in the first half that took the lead for Monaco. Physically he is strong and was effective when confronted with challenges from Coquelin.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Fabinho - 7 Integral part of the midfield three that also included Moutinho and Kondogbia. He knew his role well and did nothing to endanger his defence behind him.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Joao Moutinho - 7 One of Monaco’s brighter players. He regularly dropped deep in midfield to start attacking moves. Assisted Kondogbia for Monaco’s opener.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Anthony Martial - 7 Utilised his pace effectively on the left side of the Monaco attack. He took advantage of Mertesacker’s bad positioning to assist Berbatov for his side’s second goal.
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Dimitar Berbatov - 7 Booed by the Arsenal fans because of his former connection with Spurs, but he was to have the last laugh when he smashed past Ospina in the Arsenal goal to send Monaco 2-0 up
Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 player ratings Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco - 7 What an impact he made when he replaced Berbatov with 15 minutes remaining. His pace, coupled with quick thinking, gave Gibbs hell at left-back. Ferreira-Carrasco added Monaco's third in stoppage time.
This looked, on paper, a good draw for Arsenal after facing Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Milan at this stage in recent years but he said, “Football is not down to paper, it is down to performance.”
Wenger, who said he hoped his side were not complacent, but it was possible, concluded: “Our task is extremely difficult in the second leg, but no matter how small the chance we will go for it.”
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