Old-timers Wilshere and Walcott drive young Gunners to Europa League victory in Belarus' tractor capital

In the tractor capital of Belarus, Jack Wilshere drove
Arsenal to victory but it wasn't an easy ride.
A quick-fire double from Theo Walcott and Oliver's
Giroud's 100th Gunners goal twice saw Arsene
Wenger's race into a three-goal lead.
But while Arsenal went smoothly through the gears in
attack, the defence stuttered and spluttered in a a
wide-open match which saw 34 shots – including 18
from the home club named after the local Borisov
Automobile and Tractor Electronics factory.
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Another home goal late on and Arsenal would have
been properly in reverse.
Arsene Wenger left 10 first-team starters back home
and gave a debut to 18-year-old Joe Willock and had
five other teenagers on the bench.
Yet it was three old-timers who gave the Gunners
their second win in Group H.
And Wilshere, a veteran at 25, purred around like a
Rolls Royce for most of his first European start since
2014 before he ran out of gas.
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“He had an outstanding first half and he fought until
the end,” Wenger said.
“He's on his way back to his best and showed that
tonight. He's at an age where a player normally gets
to the best of his career. He's on the way up. He's
only been stopped by a series of injuries.
Hopefully, I just pray, he is not hampered by any more
problems and that will see him getting stronger and
stronger. He's shown again tonight that he's not lost
his football."
Wilshere, 25, is out of contract at the end of the
season. Asked when it would be time to talk about a
new deal, Wenger smiled: “Not tonight”.
Walcott, who has not started a Premier League match
yet this season, is another contract drama waiting to
happen as his deal runs out in 2019.
But his double act with Wilshere was first on show
after eight minutes when the England forward hit the
post after a neat pass – and then saw his follow-up
shot headed clear by defender Nemanja Milunovic.
But Walcott did not miss a minute later when he
headed home a Wilshere cross from close range.
He doubled the lead after 22 minutes when he picked
up a terrible clearance by goalkeeper Denis
Scherbitski and drilled a low shot home for his third
goal of the season. He scored his England hat-trick in
Croatia in September 2008 and he was in the same
eastern European form last night.
Walcott turned provider three minutes later when his
corner was flicked on by Per Mertesacker and the ball
richochetted in off Rob Holding's shin for the ecstatic
centre-back's first Arsenal goal. At that point, if it had
been boxing, the Polish referee would have stepped in
to stop the fight.
But BATE finally got into the contest – and awakened
their fans – after 28 minutes when Mirko Ivanic
headed homa right-wing cross from Aleksei Rios.
As the home side pushed forward, Willock got an
unwanted welcome to the big time with an elbow in
the face Milunovic which infuriated Wenger.
Holding still had time to hit the post from another
corner before the break but Arsenal got the biggest
call from referee Daniel Stefanski after 48 minutes.
He gave a soft spot-kick for a shirt pull on Shkodran
Mustafi by Stanislav Dragun and Giroud ignored home
bemusement to send Scherbitski the wrong way.
Again the contest should have been over but after
Ospina beat away a free-kick, the Colombian keeper
could not hold a header from Ivanic and Mikhail
Gordeichuk crashed home the loose ball.

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