Dortmund spoil Wenger party

Arsenal 1 Borussia Dortmund 2

The Arsenal manager had steered his side to great heights since their opening day defeat by Aston Villa, but last season’s Champions League runners-up proved too much for them last night.

Wenger will not be too down in the dumps as his side still top their group, level on six points with Dortmund and Napoli. They will probably have to win in Germany and/or Italy now to get through, but the Arsenal crowd still love Wenger now he’s 64.

The Arsenal manager said: “It was a game of high intensity, but very few chances. Dortmund were well organised to stop us playing.

“We started hesitantly and gave them confidence. Our fluent football was not quick enough. We put ourselves on the back foot for the first goal, and [were] naive for the second goal.”

“The group is tight and difficult for us, but possible. We need a result away from home.

“Disappointment is part of how a team grows. Some players are a bit jaded.”

Arsenal came from behind after a poor start and looked poised to win the game before Robert Lewandowski volleyed a deserved late Dortmund winner.

At times it appeared Arsenal would be humiliated as they were so sloppy in the opening 10 minutes, with Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky and even the previously unimpeachable Mesut Ozil all conceding possession and allowing Dortmund to settle on the ball.

Arsenal still looked to get forward at every opportunity though, but ran the risk of getting caught on the break by the German team.

And just that happened when Marco Reus broke clear and hit a right-foot shot which was close enough to have Wojciech Szczesny anxiously diving at full-stretch, happy to see the ball whistle past his right-hand post.

The Polish keeper was not so fortunate in the 16th minute when Ramsey foolishly tried to dribble out of trouble on the edge of his own area and lost the ball to Lewandowski, who slipped in Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The Armenian then showed just why he has been lighting up the Bundesliga this season since his €25 million summer move from Shakhtar Donetsk by scoring with a low first-time shot from 12 yards.

Dortmund continued to press and prevent Arsenal from getting into their preferred rhythm, but there were few clear-cut chances until the home side’s first meaningful attack.

Olivier Giroud turned and ran at goal from the right only to be tripped on the edge of the area by Mats Hummels, who was booked by Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson. Laurent Koscielny headed over the bar from Ozil’s ensuing free-kick.

Arsenal continued to look slightly off the pace without being out of the game and threatened again on the half-hour when Rosicky released Jack Wilshere, only for keeper Roman Weidenfeller to dash out of goal and block his shot.

Arsenal gained some degree of confidence approaching half-time and Giroud laid on a chance for Rosicky, who struck a sweet shot from 18 yards which Hummels cleared off the goal line.

Wenger’s players looked like they believed in themselves now and the Arsenal fans found their voice too against a magnificent loud band of travelling Dortmund supporters.

And the noise levels rose a few decibels when Giroud forced home a 40th-minute equaliser. Bacary Sagna clipped in a cross from the right which created confusion between Weidenfeller and Hummels with Giroud bearing down on them and the French forward blasted the loose ball into the net from close range.

The two teams cancelled each other out at the start of the second half and although Dortmund looked a touch superior, Arsenal played like a team that believed they could win.

Wenger clearly thought his players could go for it too and he made the positive substitution of sending on Santi Cazorla for a weary Wilshere — who Wenger later admitted looked off his game — in the 58th minute.

Manager Jurgen Klopp was serving a touchline ban in the stands so it was down his assistant Zeljko Buvac to send on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Jonas Hofmann with 25 minutes to go to counter Arsenal’s growing threat.

But still Arsenal pushed forward. Ramsey put the ball in the back of the net seconds after the referee had blown up for a foul by Per Mertesacker at a corner and Cazorla then hit the German woodwork with a shot from distance.

As it was, Dortmund were happy to suck up the pressure and eventually caught Arsenal on the break with eight minutes to go.

Right-back Kevin Grosskreutz broke down the wing and swung a cross to the far post which sucked everyone in apart from Lewandowski, who timed a perfect far-post run which allowed him to steel in unmarked to steer home side-footed.

ARSENAL 4-2-3-1: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Ramsey (Bendtner 86), Arteta; Wilshere (Cazorla 58), Ozil, Rosicky; Giroud.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND 4-2-3-1: Weidenfeller; Grosskreutz, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Bender, Sahin; Blaszczykowski, Mkhitaryan 7 (Hofmann 66, 6) Reus 7; Lewandowski 7.

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden).