What was David Ospina thinking? What is Arsene Wenger thinking?
Ospina, Arsenal’s goalkeeper, conceded a comical goal against his own team Tuesday in a UEFA Champions League group-stage game against Olympiakos, which won 3-2.
The score was tied at 1 in the 40th minute when Ospina decided against catching Konstantinos Fortounis’ corner kick. Instead, he dropped the ball, perhaps out of fear his momentum would carry him over the goal line if he held onto it. The problem is he already had crossed the line when he let go of the ball.
Some question whether the whole ball crossed the line. The referee didn’t think so, but one of his assistants convinced him it had.
Opsina’s error renewed questions over Wenger’s goalkeeper-rotation policy. Petr Cech, Wenger’s first-choice goalkeeper, has started in all seven of Arsenal’s Premier League games. Ospina, Cech’s backup, has played in Arsenal’s first two Champions League games.
Arsenal lost to Dinamo Zagreb in its Champions League opener earlier this month. The Gunners’ backs now are against the wall in the Champions League. Ospina isn’t wholly to blame for their current position, but he makes for a convenient scapegoat after mistakes like this.
Arsenal scored what appeared to be a coup this summer in signing Cech from domestic rival Chelsea. Why Wenger hasn’t used his best goalkeeper in European soccer’s elite competition is a mystery of the moment.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@lequipe
