Arsenal’s 29 Minutes Of Madness Against Anderlecht

It was yet another night of despair and much from a shambolic end to a spineless Wenger shape up, the referee's whistle at the end of 90 minutes at the Emirate stadium was received with clamorous joy to the travelling 3000 fans of Belgian side. Anderlecht but to utter disbelief for the Gunners faithful; even for some who had left early headed home with thoughts that the 3-0 lead, was three points in the bag and safe qualification to the next round.

A fourth night ago Arsenal had indeed comeback late from a goal down to snatch that 2-1 win in Belgium over their opponents, but Anderlecht would soon return to give the Gunners a taste of their own medicine. Wenger's side though did much of the attacking but looked vulnerable on the break and failed to re-gain control in the final 29 minutes of the second period.

It took 25 minutes for Arsene Wenger's men to get in front when Captain Mikel Arteta chipped home from the penalty spot after defender Chancel Mbemba had fouled Danny Welbeck in the box. Four minutes later Arsenal's man of the moment – Alexis Sanchez volleyed in their second goal from 20 yards, off a rebound from a free-kick he took and in the second half the Gunners looked to have sealed their passage to the knockout phase with an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain drilled-in shot following a fine a run in the 58th minute to put Arsenal 3 -0 up.

All that was thrown into bin within the remaining 32 minutes of the game, for the Gunners unfortunately it was one perilous defending. Anthony Vanden Borre appeared to be in an offside position when he scored from close range to reduce the deficit for Anderlecht in the 61st minute, he then got his brace 12 minutes later from a spot kick to make it 3-2 following Nacho Monreal's clumsy challenge on substitute Aleksandar Mitrovicwho completed the comeback heading home Andy Najar's 90th-minute cross past Wojciech Szczesny to spark wild celebrations from the visitors.

It was a remarkable comeback for the Belgian champions but a shameful display of capitulation by the Gunners in front of their home fans, mirroring much of the team's mental frailness, especially at the back where Nacho Monreal played catch-up in central defense for the injured Laurent Koscienly and right-backMathieu Debuchy also out on the long term leaving 19 year-oldCallum Chambers in his place which shouldn't come as a surprise since Wenger only had 6 defenders in the squad after close of business from the summer transfer window - A worrying prospect which took little time to reveal the consequences.

But it's not the first time the Gunners have been guilty of squandering three goals leads;

The last time Arsenal threw away a three goal lead was against Newcastle in the Premier League, a game that finished 4-4 in February 2011 even then, Wenger's men were 4 nil to the good. This latest gaffe, the result of an injury woe or a lack of spine at back and the show of a major crisis of confidence will not be the last we would see in the course of their season.

Tuesday night's draw leaves the North Londoners with 7 points from 4 games and needing just a point from their next two group D games – at home to Borussia Dortmund on 26 November and a visit to Galatasaray on 9 December to advance to the second round. But with Dortmund already through the next round and 5 points clear following their emphatic 4-1 win in Turkey, the Gunners hopes of a top place finish in the group and being seeded in the draws for the knock-out stage have all gone sour.