Defeat leaves Wenger on brink of crisis

Arsenal 0 Schalke 2

The result, with late goals coming from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Affelay, may not end their qualification hopes, with the Gunners still sitting second in Group B having won their previous two ties; but it leaves manager Arsene Wenger on the verge of yet another crisis.

Should his side fail to beat QPR at home this weekend — with a trip to face Robin van Persie and Manchester United at Old Trafford a week after that and away tie in Schalke to deal with too — then the sense of disillusionment that haunted the Emirates last season is certain to return.

Memories of being booed off the pitch and angry protests in the stands seemed to be forgotten with the arrival of Santi Cazorla, who has lit up their early fixtures this season; but last night Schalke were worthy winners against a home team who barely created a clear-cut chance all night.

In fact they managed just one shot on target; and coming on top of Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at previously winless Norwich last weekend, it’s a hugely worrying statistic.

“I’m really disappointed,” admitted captain Thomas Vermaelen. “We lost on Saturday and we wanted to do better today. But it was a little bit the same story; we couldn’t create enough chances to score goals and then at the end we conceded. It is difficult to explain.”

With van Persie gone and Cesc Fabregas long gone there are now real question marks over whether they have been adequately replaced.

The frustrating Gervinho had two half-chances and missed both; firstly shooting wide from a Lukas Podolski cross and then wasting a wonderful through-ball from Cazorla but losing control as he reached the penalty area.

But the story of the opening 60 minutes was more about Schalke’s wasteful finishing than Arsenal’s attacking ambition. Huntelaar, of all people, shot embarrassingly wide when Atsuto Uchida’s square-pass left him with only goalkeeper Vito Mannone to beat; and after the break captain Benedikt Howedes was even more wasteful as he fired over the bar following good work on the right by the influential Jefferson Farfan, who had Andre Santos in massive trouble all night.

The Germans also had a legitimate penalty claim when Ibrahim Affelay appeared to be brought down by Mannone in the 15th minute but instead was booked for diving; a poor decision from Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson.

Gervinho suffered a similar fate in the second half but his tumble was deservedly punished with a yellow card, but that was a rare moment of excitement in the Schalke area and it was no great surprise when they scored at the other end.

Huntelaar reacted quickest to a header from team-mate Affelay as the ball looped high into the air — and smartly struck a low shot past Mannone in the 76th minute. The second arrived when substitute Serge Gnabry gave the ball away and Schalke surged forward; Farfan crossing cleverly to the far post for Affelay to sweep home and complete a convincing victory.

ARSENAL: Mannone 5, Jenkinson 6 (Gnabry 82), Mertesacker 7, Vermaelen 6, Andre Santos 6, Ramsey 5, Coquelin 7, Arteta 6, Podolski 6 (Arshavin 82), Cazorla 7, Gervinho 6 (Giroud 75).

SCHALKE: Unnerstall 6, Uchida 6, Howedes 6, Matip 7, Fuchs 7, Hoger 6 (Jones 46; 6), Neustadter 7, Holtby 6 (Barnetta 65; 6), Afellay 7, Farfan 8, Huntelaar 7 (Marica 88).

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)