Gone is the 15 game losing streak in group stage of Champions League
To be perfectly honest, I don’t think even the most optimistic Dinamo fans could have predicted a 2-1 win against the mighty Arsenal.
We all wished for it, but most of us thought it was just a pipe dream. Well’ the whole team proved us wrong, providing one of the biggest upsets in recent Champions League history.
Arsene Wenger can talk from here till Sunday that the first goal was an offside and that the send-off of Olivier Giroud was too harsh, but it’s the final score that counts and it was 2-1 for Dinamo Zagreb. First goal was recorded as own goal from Alex Oxlade – Chamberlain but it was after Josip Pivalic’s shot, while the second was a header from Junior Fernandez. Theo Wallcot scored Arsenal’s consolation goal.
So, while England’s track record in Champions League got worse (losses by Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United, only Chelsea secured a win against Maccabi), Dinamo Zagreb has finally lifted the Champions League group stage curse since they had a string of 15 losses and never made it out of the group stage. Further more, before tonight, boys in blue never won against a Premier League team.
Here are the comments by Arsene Wenger: “We had good possession of the ball and we had our early chances and I think we were a bit unlucky tonight but we have to look at ourselves as well because the second goal killed our game. We’re also guilty of not defending the corners but overall I think we held up well against 11. It’s to early for any conclusions so soon after the game. Tonight there were a lot of special circumstances and Dinamo gave absolutely everything. But let’s see where we stand after 6 games”.
Dinamo’s manager Zoran Mamić was understandably and deservingly ecstatic: “Of course I am delighted – we have beaten Arsenal in our opening match. We have won a Champions league game for the first time in a long time. I was secretly hopeful we could perform a miracle as I knew how my boys had been working, living and concentrating on the task. I was not afraid it would be a catastrophe for us as I knew we would be physically up to their level.
This is a huge reason for us to celebrate. At half-time we agreed in the dressing room that we would not change our style of play despite being in front and having an extra man. The red card made the job easier for us, but Arsenal are a top-quality team and all their players can inflict damage”.
