The whole Italy vs Spain vs England leagues is odd. For what it's worth , except for Arsenal being pasted by Inter, English teams have the number on Italian teams. Look at last seasons competition. Arsenal pasted Roma in Rome, Man Utd convincingly beat Juve (the CL finalists, lost on pens) in Turin, as well as beat them at OT (admittedly a flu hit - not an excuse for Turin though as most of their team had returned). Newcastle United also did well against their Italian opposition when required.
Italian teams' defensive, organised style of play makes it difficult for the Spanish sides, as Juve proved against Real Madrid last year, and again last night against Real Socieded (although Sociedad aren't as good as they were last season)
Spanish sides generally have the number on English clubs. Real Madrid vs Man Utd last year (although imo, the game was closer than many ABUs would have you believe - except for the 1st 50mins in Madrid where it was all Real Madrid and proved decisive). Valencia vs Arsenal last year.
Anyway, the game last night. I find it hard to say that Arsenal were unlucky not to get a point from the game as that would take away from Kiev's performance, although Arsenal played well enough to get a point, and probably all 3. They outplayed Kiev for the majority of the second half but couldn't get through some resolute, although messy at times, defending and on the occasions they did they missed the target or hit the post.
Kiev edged the first half however, imo. They had a lucky break for their goal but their passing, particularly long range, and running troubled the Arsenal back line, but left themselves open to Arsenal counter attacks but they managed to recover to prevent them.
Lehmann's error was of Barthez-esque proportions. Not content to let the ball reach him in his area he came out of it and contrived to pass the ball straight back to a Kiev player. Not happy enough to make the most of that opportunity Kiev must've felt sorry for the poor kick and tried to give Lehmann another chance to get it right. The Kiev player made a soft shot which barely raised above the ground straight at Lehmann. With a defender to his right as an outlet Lehmann tried to jink to the left around the oncoming Kiev attacker but his first touch was heavy, he tried to pull a foul but to no avail leaving another Kiev player in space with time to slot the ball into the empty net.
You have to be honest and say it leaves Arsenal with an uphill struggle to qualify for the next round and they realistically have to be looking to get 9pts from their remaining 3 games. As it progresses mind 2 wins and a draw may even prove to be enough, and the match in the San Siro may be a decider for them. First things first though, if Kiev beat Arsenal at Highbury (where Arsenal's recent European form has been at it's worst) and Inter beat Moscow in Milan then it's curtains to Arsenal.
