Arsenal have drawn 1-1 with German side Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with a late Ivan Perisic goal denying the Gunners all three points.

Robin van Persie opened the scoring for the away side in the first-half, which looked to have given the Emirates outfit a winning start to their European campaign, but a wonder-goal from Perisic late in the day ensured spoils were shared.

Despite not getting all three points, Arsenal assistant Pat Rice, who stood in for the suspended Arsene Wenger, feels that things are looking up

“It feels from our, and definitely from my point of view that the season is just starting. Things are quieting down, there is a buzz in the dressing room, because there was uncertainty beforehand. The players are looking forward to playing," he told Sky Sports after the game.

Rice felt that The Gunners could have kept possession better, but was full of praise for Dortmund and their equalising goal.

"We had to be a little bit better in the middle of the park, we gave the ball away a little bit too much which is unusual for us. But the goal that they got, it was similar to the boy (Danny) Rose’s at Tottenham, you could hit that shot 50 times and 50 times it would go over the bar. It was a great goal.

“You can’t be a bad side if you win the German national league, no chance, and Dortmund proved that this evening. Even when they were a goal down they kept coming and coming, and of course, it’s a high quality skill to be able to hold them off and thankfully all of our boys did that.

“It would have been better if Mr. Wenger had have been there because obviously he’s the boss and he’s better at it than me anyway. I’m just good at backing him up," he concluded.

Arsenal will see the result as positive against a good Dortmund side, and now travel to Ewood Park to take on Blackburn in the Premier League on Saturday.

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