Lokomotiv Moscow 0 - 0 Arsenal

UEFA Champions League Group Phase One
Matchday Two

A Point Earned, or Two Points Squandered?

Fulltime Score
Lokomotiv 0 - 0 Arsenal

A short-handed Arsenal took the pitch this afternoon in Moscow against Lokomotiv. The Russians seemed to have the upper-hand for much of the match, which is to be expected considering the Gunners are missing captain Patrick Vieira, defender Sol Campbell, mid-fielder Freddie Ljungberg, and the non-flying Dutchman, striker Dennis Bergkamp.

Arsenal did get their chances towards the end of each half, but the hero of the match was Jens Lehmann. The keeper stopped several Lokomotiv shots, thus keeping the Gunners in it.

So, the Gunners got their first point of this season’s Champions League, which could be viewed in two ways. On the one hand, given the key players who were missing, a point was well-earned tonight. The other viewpoint, and one that seems to be shared by Thierry Henry based on his reactions after the full-time whistle, was that this was a missed opportunity.

The next European match will be in Kiev against Dynamo in three weeks time. Of more pressing concern is this Saturday’s match against Liverpool at Anfield. Hopefully there will be some good news on the injury front, or we may be in for a long morning. This match starts at 7:30 AM ET here in the States, and is being shown live on PPV.