RC Lens pulled a comeback in the second half against Arsenal who faced their first defeat of the season. Following a 4-0 win in the opening Champions League fixture at home, Mikel Arteta’s side flew to Lens, France for the second fixture.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry shared his perspective on the Gunners’ recent 2-1 away defeat against RC Lens in the second matchday of the UEFA Champions League and also named Arsenal’s main man.
Thierry Henry not surprsied with Arsenal’s UCL result
The former French star Thierry Henry was not surprised by his former club’s recent Champions League loss against RC Lens on Tuesday. Despite being just above the relegation zone in the Ligue 1 table, the French side pulled off a major upset.
The English had an early lead through Gabriel Jesus in the 14th minute, but home side Adrien Thomasson leveled the scoreline ten minutes later. In the 2nd half, Elye Wahi scored the winner for the hosts, handing Arsenal their first defeat of the season.
According to Henry, Lens is a tough venue to play and it is always tough for the Champions to play in the away fixtures.
Thierry Henry said, “Lens is a tough place “They created a lot for their wing-backs, they put pressure on their wing-backs, they don’t allow you to play inside, and when the atmosphere is rocking it’s a tough place to go, and win”
“That’s exactly what happened to Arsenal tonight. Away from home in Europe, nothing is easy. These guys that you see on the screen had a hell of a finish on the second goal”, he added further.
An away defeat means the Gunners slide down to the second place in the UCL group B table. RC lens sits on top with four points, and Sevilla and PSV Eindhoven at third and fourth spots respectively.
Thierry Henry names Arsenal’s main man in Lens game
Arsenal’s undefeated streak came to an end with their first defeat of the season. Additionally, the team faced a setback with the injury of their star winger, Bukayo Saka, who was forced to be substituted in the 34th minute of the first half due to hamstring discomfort.
Speaking of Saka, Henry lauded the player, “The only thing you can say about Bukayo is he’s been playing everything and at some point you are going to hit the wall and it’s going to be too much.”
“I don’t know what happened tonight but obviously he is going to be missed. How long it will be I don’t know, but we need to find a way to beat City because we haven’t done that for a very long time in the league.”
Henry named Saka as the main man for Arsenal. The 22-year-old started the match, providing an assist to Jesus for the opener and displaying his liveliness at the right flank. However, he had to leave the pitch after a backheel attempt, and Saka was replaced by Fabio Vieira.
Without their star winger, Arsenal had tough challenges to face in the coming weeks. Remains to be seen if the Gunners can live up to the lofty expectations surrounding Mikel Arteta’s team.
