Backs to the Yellow Wall: How Arsenal suffocated Dortmund on their own turf

Arsenal successfully avenged their defeat to Dortmund at the Emirates a fortnight ago with a narrow 1-0 victory on Wednesday, ascending to the summit of Group F in the process alongside Napoli on nine points. The Gunners struggled to create chances for much of the encounter and were put under plenty of pressure by Jurgen Klopp’s typically tenacious men, but ultimately proved to be masters of efficiency when Aaron Ramsey netted the winner against the run of play midway through the second half.

Key Stats:

Possession was distributed evenly between the two sides over the course of the 90 minutes at 50% apiece, whilst the clubs attempted an almost identical number over passes, 525 for the hosts and 533 for the visitors.

The intense pressing tactics of both managers ensured that there was never too much space or abundantly clear passing lanes, leading Arsenal to complete 79% of their passes and Dortmund 77%, with the London outfit coming up with 26 interceptions for their efforts and Die Schwarzgelben making 21 of their own.

Despite facing similar obstacles in attack, however, the Germans were able to create far more chances in playing 11 key passes and taking 15 shots, figures dwarfing the Gunners’ tallies of five and four in the same regard.

Man of the Match

The hulking Hannover native had an imperious outing back in his homeland to ensure Arsenal emerged with a clean sheet under duress, finishing the evening with a Squawka Performance Score of 53.

His nine clearances throughout do well to illustrate his no-nonsense approach at the back, as the 29-year-old never risked presenting an unnecessary opportunity to the opposition’s talented front men.

Mertesacker added two tackles, one of which was a crucial intervention on Robert Lewandowski in the heart of the penalty area, and four interceptions, all of which occurred around the half-way line, highlighting his willingness to assist in breaking up attacks in their formative stages.

The Germany international completed his entire body of work without needing to commit even a single foul, further demonstrating the secure nature of his presence, a key element in the victory that allowed Arsenal to keep generally irresistible Dortmund off the scoresheet.

Performance Score:

The two sides remained relatively on par in terms of Performance Score through the entirety of the first half as they battled for supremacy in the middle of the park amidst limited space, with Dortmund holding a 90-75 advantage at the break, having quashed all of the Gunners’ attempts at getting into scoring positions.

Klopp’s men began to pull away at the outset of the second half as they started to trouble Wojciech Szczesny’s goal with increasing regularity and looked ever the more likely to break the deadlock, leading 149-102 at the hour mark.

Yet just two minutes later it was Ramsey that struck the killer blow, from close range, to send Arsenal soaring into the ascendancy as they continued to climb in Performance Score until the final whistle.

All told, Wenger’s charges finished with a tally of 250 to the hosts’ 127, Dortmund witnessing a slight uptick over the final 10 minutes as they fruitlessly looked for an equaliser with the visitors holding firm.

Key Observations

Perhaps the most shocking feature of the match was the fact the Ramsey’s goal came on Arsenal’s first shot, arriving so late in the day and at a time when it appeared Dortmund were on the brink of finally unlocking the Gunners’ defence.

Mesut Ozil had failed to influence proceedings until that point, a notable factor, but was able to find a moment of clarity to play in the key pass, his only throughout, that allowed Olivier Giroud to provide the assist for the Welshman’s second goal of the Champions League campaign.

Dortmund had been having most of their joy down the right in their own attacking pursuits through Kevin Grosskreutz and Jakub Blaszczykowski, as can be seen from their heat map, partly the product of an effort to circumvent the massed Arsenal ranks in the middle.

The positions from which Die Schwarzgelben’s key passes were played further display their attacking bias to the right, and whilst they were able to identify this point of entry, simply could not finish under pressure from Arsenal’s men at the back and duly paid the price against an efficient opponent.