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Arsenal players shocked by Arsene Wenger's decision to play David Ospina over Petr Cech

The Gunners fell to a disastrous defeat which leaves their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread

Thursday 01 October 2015 12:50 BST

David Ospina scores an own goal for Arsenal (Getty Images)

Arsenal players including Petr Cech were reportedly surprised at Arsene Wenger’s decision to start with second choice goalkeeper David Ospina against Olympiakos in the Champions League.

The Gunners were humbled by their Greek visitors, falling to a disastrous 3-2 defeat which leaves them bottom of Group F after two matches, with the Columbian dropping a corner into his own net at 1-1.

According to the Daily Telegraph, it is believed that Wenger was fulfilling a promise he had made to Opsina to play him in a host of prominent matches over the season in the days which followed the signing of Cech from Chelsea for £11m in the summer.

The Arsenal manager responded furiously to questions about his controversial decision on Tuesday night, referring to “things you don’t know about” before citing a “slight alert” for Cech before the Premier League match against Leicester City on Saturday.

Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

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1/11Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

David Ospina: 3 out of 10

Managed to drop the ball into his net under no pressure whatsoever. Wenger may have taken an unneccesary gamble promoting the keeper to his starting XI but he would hardly have expected such an abysmal response, though Ospina couldn’t have done much about the first.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Hector Bellerin: 6 out of 10

Salino struggled to keep up with the pacey Spaniard who attacked with verve when Oxlade-Chamberlain cut in. That thrust was allied with more dependable defending than a great many of his colleagues provided.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Gabriel: 5 out of 10

A foolish yellow card on the stroke of half-time left the Brazilian walking an unnecessary knife-edge in the second 45 minutes. His commitment and passion is all well and good, except playing at a constant boiling point tends to leave you in those situations too often.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Laurent Koscielny: 6 out of 10

On several occasions the defender was the last line between Arsenal’s porous midfield and Brown Ideye. His interceptions kept the hosts in the game throughout the first half.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Kieran Gibbs: 5 out of 10

Too often he and Alexis Sanchez seemed to be operating on entirely different wave lengths, with the reserve left-back earning a berating from his teammate for one particularly sloppy pass. He was also guilty of switching off for the visitor’s third.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Santi Cazorla: 5 out 10

His defensive deficiencies were on display for Olympiakos opening goal. Converted attacker or not he should have known to close down the opponent on the edge of the box. As a leader he was perhaps worse, remonstrating with the referee and letting the occasion get the better of him in a way that could have spread to his colleagues.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Francis Coquelin: 5 out 10

Played like a man rushed back from an injury, though of course Wenger had no choice. He struggled to stem the tide of runners from deep and could not keep up with the likes of Pardo. This was not Coquelin at his authoritative best and it was little wonder he was removed early.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 5 out of 10

It turns out if you say a player has no confidence he will play as if that is the case. His running was as purposeful and direct as ever, but when opportunities came he seemed to lose faith in his abilities.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Mesut Ozil: 6 out of 10

On more than one occasion he pulled off the sort of beautiful pass only he is capable of, and his willingness to come deep helped Arsenal start many of their best counters. However in the second half he faded when faced with the massed ranks of Olympiakos defenders, struggling to conjure a way past.

Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Alexis Sanchez: 8 out of 10

On this kind of form you would expect him to dribble past every player on the pitch. Then go round them again just for fun. An irresistible performance from the Chilean, who on nights like tonight is simply a joy to behold.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Theo Walcott: 7 out of 10

With every passing game Walcott looks more and more a centre-forward. His runs are intelligent enough to find space and he is showing less of the profligacy that has dogged him in the past. He had one chance in the first half; he took it.

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Wenger is now under intense pressure from supporters to start the Czech goalkeeper against Bayern Munich later this month while the 33-year-old is expected to return for the visit of Manchester United on Sunday.

Meanwhile the North London outfit are also wary that each loss in Europe sees them lose out on €1.5m (£1.11m) per match.

Clubs are guaranteed €12m (£8.84m) for reaching the group stage of the competition but Arsenal’s inconsistent form has already cost them £2.22m with a further £4.05m at stake.

Merely reaching the round-of-16, a path Wenger has successfully chartered in each of the past 15 years, is then worth at least €5.5m (£4.05m), with the bounty rising through the knock-out phases all the way up to €15m (£11.06m) for the eventual winners.

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