In their last two visits to Arsenal, Porto lost 4-0 and 2-0. There was trepidation in some quarters that last night would see Arsenal struggle to overcome the 2-1 deficit we had from the first leg. No Fabregas, no Gallas, our fit striker having had a poor game on Saturday, some said everything pointed towards Arsenal struggling.
However this Arsenal side are putting distractions to one side and just getting on with playing football the way they want and, usually, winning. Despite fast starts, early goals have not been something we had seen this season; a lack of goals inside the opening 15 minutes has been oft commented on, but last night Nicklas Bendtner stepped up and fired home on 10 minutes following a header won by Arshavin then the Russian breaking with the ball. Nerves were settled and we took hold of the game. The attacking play we have come used to continued, chances were being created and had it not been for Porto ‘keeper Helton there would have been more goals early on. Bendtner was to provide our second on 25 minutes, redemption for him and a reward for fans’ patience on Saturday.
But at 2-0 up we knew that a goal for Porto would put the tie level again and our defence did at times look shaky, Sol in particular looked lost a few times and played some poor balls. But we weathered the storm, and going into the break two goals up was welcome tonic for all present.
The possibility of Porto being level in the tie was a little evident in the second half, we started slightly slower than in the first and Porto did seem to pick up play a bit better than we did. They attacked and had a few corners, the most worrying of which was a save on the line at the far post by Samir Nasri, who chested the ball down and Almunia gladly held the ball. This was not to be the only thing of note Nasri would do, shortly afterwards we broke down the Porto right. 3 defenders surrounded Nasri as he entered the box, some excellent footwork saw him round all three, then a shot past Helton into the far corner produced possibly one of the finest goals the home fans have seen in a while, certainly this season. 3-0 to Arsenal, the tie was ours.
Porto knew it, they sat back, but they still attacked. A counter attack from a corner, this time for Arsenal rather than against, was reminiscent of The Invincibles as Arshavin broke with the ball through the middle, he played the ball to substitute Eboue who rounded the keeper to fire home our fourth of the night. Eboue was again involved in the build up to our fifth goal, he was felled in the Porto area and Bendtner dispatched the resulting penalty to complete his first professional hattrick and complete the rout with virtually the last kick of the game.
Bendtner played as well as he did against Burnley, but this time the chances were converted and his 3 goals were good to see and will boost his confidence. I think the reception he got from the fans upon leaving the field on Saturday would have helped. Arshavin was excellent as well, he seems to excel in the European fixtures more so than he does in the Premier League, his trickery and footwork has more time in the European arena. Nasri, magnificent goal aside, was excellent in the “cesc” role and shows he can step into it when required.
So we are into the quarter finals of the Champions League, I hope we are not drawn against either English side (assuming they qualify) as I suspect they will not be beatable over the two legs given our recent performances against them, I also think it would hurt the team less to go out to a strong European side than it would to a domestic rival. I still think the Premier League is our more winnable trophy but am happy to see us progress further in the Champions League.
But we can revel in a demolition of Porto, 3 goals from Super Nic and a fine team performance. Come on you Gunners!!!!!
