• Champions League

Vermaelen baffled by shot-shy Gunners

Lukas Podolski failed to make an impact as Arsenal produced one shot on target against Schalke © PA Photos

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Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen pointed to a lack of a cutting edge in the final third after his side were beaten 2-0 at home by Schalke in the Champions League.

It was the Gunners' first home loss in the tournament since 2009 and, although they are still expected to progress from the group stages, it was not the performance they needed after a dismal defeat at Norwich on Saturday.

They were toothless at Carrow Road and a response was expected against Schalke but it never arrived. "We are really disappointed,'' Vermaelen told Sky Sports. "We lost on Saturday and wanted to be better today but it was the same story. We didn't create enough chances to score goals. They got one and then got more.''

Asked why Arsenal were unable to right the wrongs of the weekend, the Belgium international added: "It's difficult to explain, we wanted to put it right. We gave 100% but it's difficult at the moment because we're not creating enough chances to score goals.''

Arsenal had just one shot on target while Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Afellay showed them how it was done. "Teams come here with strong organisation, technical ability and sometimes it is difficult to get through,'' Vermaelen said.

Huntelaar, who again proved his enduring class on the European stage, said: "We are very pleased, we played well. We had our chances and scored two goals.

"We now have seven points and it is looking really well. We have three matches left. We had some good defence, played close to each other, then we countered. Arsenal are a good team so we had to take our chances.''

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.