EL: The State Of Play

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE THE STATE OF PLAY

Martyn Hindley gives a review of the recent UEFA Europa League group stage.

The Norwegian press breathed a collective sigh of relief after the first round of matches in the UEFA Europa League. Nettavision berated Molde for “a deplorable first half” away to Dundalk in Tallaght and stated that they had taken “a cold shower” before coach Erling Moe delivered a typically understated complaint about what had happened before his eyes and it had the desired effect, according to a Bergens Tidende report.

“I was far from happy with the first half,” Moe confirmed to Norwegian broadcaster TV2 after the Matchday 1 encounter. “We couldn’t find any rhythm and were cowardly, unable to exploit space on the field through the transitions. I am much more satisfied with what I saw in the second half where we took greater care and managed the game much better.”

Match-winning goalscorer Ohi Omoijuanfo agreed. “It tastes good with three points, but we were not very good in the first half and came under a lot of pressure. They pushed us at the end but that’s natural when we are looking to preserve a lead.”

Arteta respectful of Lilywhites

On matchday two at an empty Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta made several changes to his Arsenal side which would prove fruitful as the re-rotated selection went on to win 1-0 at Manchester United three days later. Despite having given youth a chance against Dundalk in a 3-0 win, the Spaniard demanded respect from his charges for their League of Ireland opponents in north London.

22 October 2020; Players of both sides await the delivery of a corner during the UEFA Europa League Group B match between Dundalk and Molde FK at Tallaght Stadium

29 October 2020; Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during the UEFA Europa League Group B match between Arsenal and Dundalk at the Emirates Stadium

“We made it look easy because we were very disciplined, we took it seriously and we were at it right from the beginning,” said the Gunners’ boss. The danger is when you are not 100 per cent and any team can cause you problems.

“We knew that they would be able to block again and again and we had to do better, we were very insistent in the way we attacked, we put the right balls in at the right positions and after that we managed the situation, overall we gave a chance to the players who have not had played many minutes this season and that’s really positive as they showed they are well prepared and able to play.

“I didn’t know how they would play, they have played a 4-3-3 all season and I knew they could come back after what we have seen over the last few weeks and play with five at the back, we were prepared for that but they were a really committed team, the way they go about their work and they tried hard in the last few months, I am happy to beat them.”

Rapid improvements sought by our Viennese group-mates

This column was scribed ahead of Thursday’s trip to the Austrian capital, but Rapid Vienna had already done enough over the first two matches to suggest that they could be a handful in this section.

Rapid stand only two points behind Red Bull Salzburg after six rounds of the Austrian Bundesliga but were unable to convert that form into points during two differing showings on the continental stage had given them the lead in the opener against Arsenal but David Luiz squared things up and then Mikel Arteta had the luxury of being able to bring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off the bench to land the winner four minutes later. In front of 600 people on the artificial turf in Norway, they then went down to another winner from Omoijuanfo

seven days later.

22 October 2020; Taxiarchis Fountas capitalised on Arsenal goalkeeperLeno’s error