Arsenal Breeze Past Porto

Thursday 11th March 2010 - 10:12:46

Arsene Wenger’s side produced one of the performances of the season as Arsenal thumped five past Porto to book there place into the last eight of the Champions League.

Wenger needed his men to rise to the occasion, on a night when Arsenal were without there Spanish skipper, Cesc Fabregas,  and rise they did.

The stunning display was easily the side’s best performance of the season,  and will give the squad a much needed  boost following the horrific injury of Aaron Ramsey.

Andrei Arshavin ran rings round Porto’s left back, Fucile, in what was undoubtedly one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt

Arshavin has had to operate as a lone striker until recently with the club’s first choice striker, Robin Van Persie, on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

Whilst the Russian favoured fairly well, at times it was clear that he was somewhat out of his depth.

Last night he was in his favoured position, out wide on the left, one part of a deadly three pronged attack with Nasri on the right and Bendter leading the line.

Porto’s inadequacies were revealed within the 9th minute when the diminutive Arshavin was allowed to win a header he had no rights of winning.

Arshavin ran passed his marker and slid the ball to Bendtner, taking a deflection on the way before the Dane slid it home.

The home side continued to dominate with slick passing and skill that would make any samba fan proud.

In the 25th Arshavin displayed some sublime skill, somehow sliding between three defenders, who in fairness should and could have tackled him, before squaring it for another easy finish for Nicolas Bendtner.

Arshavin should have made it 3 after a delightful move involving Samir Nasri before half time but the ball flew above the bar and into the stands.

It was Nasri’s goal shortly into the second half stole the show and could easily end up as goal of the season. The French starlet has shown glimpses of his talent in his two seasons at the Emirates, but after last night’s superb individual effort it is easy to see why he has been hailed in some quarters as the new Zidane.

After picking the ball up near the corner flag, Nasri somehow managed to intricately weave through several Porto players as if the ball was glued to his feet before sprinting into the box and rifling past Porto’s Brazilian keeper, Helton.

The goal was reminiscent of something you would expect Lionel Messi to have scored, and to fault the Porto’s defending on this occasion would grant Nasri a huge disservice.

With the game wrapped up Wenger brought on Eboue for Thomas Rosicky in order to tighten things up and see the game out. Eboue must have had other plans when Arsenal quickly broke on the counter from a Porto corner.

Arshavin, still bristling with energy 80 minutes in, sprinted towards Porto’s goal before sliding a pass through to Eboue who had bombed forward, desperate to get in on the act. The Ivorian stepped round the keeper and calmly slid the ball into the net.

With the tie well and truly over, Arshavin and Nasri  were substituted in quick succession to a standing ovation.

In the 90th minute, Eboue was deemed to have been dragged down by Fucile and Bendtner coolly slotted the ball home to score the first hat trick of his career and to seal one of the most memorable Champions League games Arsenal fans have seen for some time.

Alarm bells will certainly be ringing from Europe’s elite after last nights performance. Manchester United and Chelsea will also be very weary of Arsenal hitting this kind of form at this point in the season, especially given Arsenal’s standing in the league.

All to often though in the last 5 years Arsenal have produced this kind of performance and then thrown it away the following week. Arsenal need to retain the momentum they have built, and if they manage to do that then they will the team that everyone will want to avoid.

FemaleFirst Kenny Lomas