Arsenal 1-2 Dortmund: Late Robert Lewandowski Goal Earns Surprise Victory

by Crip Cooke

Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski scored late on to earn his side a surprise victory away to Arsenal, while the Gunners were left shell-shocked at how the game got away from them. The visitors took the lead through midfielder Henrik Mkhitaryan early on in the first half. After Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey dwelled on the ball on the edge of the area, the Welshman was dispossessed and Mkhitaryan, who was put through on goal, rifled his shot low and hard past Szczesny. The Gunners found a deserved equaliser for their efforts just before half-time. Striker Olivier Giroud capitalised on a error from Dortmund 'keeper Weidenfeller and volleyed home into an empty net after good work on the right hand side from Bacary Sagna. Both sides were tentative in the second half, and almost content with playing the game out for the draw as neither were over-committing to each attack. However, Dortmund right-back Grosskreutz was afforded more and more space on the right-hand side, and had a great opportunity to pick his teammates out in the box, but his tame pass into the six-yard area was met by Szczesny. Cazorla's introduction for Jack Wilshere in the second-half sparked some life into the Arsenal side - who started to look more likely of scoring. Robert Lewandowski was fortunate to remain on the pitch minutes later after elbowing Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny in the face. He was given a yellow card, but replays have suggested it should have been red. The Gunners then had a goal disallowed after the hour mark after the referee blew up for a foul in the box. Moments later, Santi Cazorla struck the bar with a long range bending effort following a swift attacking move from Arsenal. Against the run of play, a counter-attack from Borussia Dortmund saw Grosskreutz pick out Robert Lewandowki in the area, and the Polish international side-footed home to put Dortmund ahead with less than 10 minutes to go. The shock result sees Arsenal level on points with both Napoli and Dortmund (6) in Group F after three games played.

Contributor
Contributor

Crippy Cooke, 23, is a freelance Football Writer contributing to What Culture. He's had work featured on Zoo, MSN, London 24, The Telegraph, The Huffington Post, and was recently named Writer of the Year on FTBpro - while also a nominee for Best Male Blog in the Football Blogging Awards.