Careless, incapable, lethargic. Just some words that are applicable to Arsenal’s horror 2-1 loss against Östersunds FK on Thursday night.
3-0 up from the first leg, a much-changed Gunners side clambered onto the pitch at the Emirates Stadium in a complacent mood. They were made to pay immediately.
69 seconds after Hosam Aiesh had opened the scoring with a wonderful finish, Ken Sema evaded Calum Chambers’ haphazard challenge to rifle into David Ospina’s far corner.
One of the great European upsets beckoned in a first half that had the home support raucously booing their own team.
Barely a minute into the second half, their blushes were spared. Sead Kolašinac capitalised on an error from Ronald Mukiibi to smash in a killer goal. The tie and the spectacle died in a stadium riddled with apathy.
In a game that will hardly inspire confidence going into the League Cup final on Sunday, here are five things we learned.