Champions League Recap: Bendter, Arshavin lead Arsenal to quarterfinals over Porto

Published by William | Filed under Champions League, Football (aka soccer)

Bendtner (left) and Nasri had plenty to cheer about as the Gunners destroyed Porto 5-0.

Arsenal 5 – 0 Porto (Arsenal advances 6-2 on aggregate)


Goals: Arsenal – Bendtner (10′, 25′, 90′), Nasri (63′), Eboué (66′)


All I can say is wow… We witnessed an absolute different team here on Tuesday night than we did 3 weeks ago when the Gunners lost 2-1 in arguably one of their worst performances of the season. Does playing at home truly make that much of a difference? I don’t understand. Albeit, Arsenal has played exceptionally well since losing to Porto in the first leg but this was just night and day compared to that match. And even more mind blowing is they played like this without their captain and leading scorer Cesc Fabregas! Please, somebody. Am I missing something?


The truth is football is a game of ebbs and flows and right now, Arsenal appears to be surfing the wave of good form. Maybe that’s just what people need from time to time is a good kick in the ass like they did at Porto. It all started Tuesday night when Nicklas Bendtner kicked off the scoring in the 10th after Andrey Arshavin nearly scored on a beautiful through ball from Samir Nasri only for the Danish international to clean up the trash. Those three right there really led the attack all night and showed that when they are on, they might be one of the most dangerous teams in all of Europe. Bendtner caught a lot of heat after missing several golden opportunities to score against Burnley this weekend and undoubtedly put the haters to rest as he turned in his first career hat trick.


Although Bendtner scored the second goal in the 25th, the goal was made possible by some nifty craftsmanship by Arshavin. The Russian international received a ball from a poor clearance by Porto defender Fucile and squeezed through two defenders, dribbled to the touch line, and put in an easy, tap-in cross for Bendtner to put them up 2-0. Arshavin appears to have fully recovered from his injury and is clicking on all cylinders. He also looks far more comfortable on the wing as opposed to the central attacking role where he has attempted to fill in for the injured Robin van Persie many times this season.


Hands down, the goal of the night goals to Nasri who showed some moves I was unaware the Frenchman had as he juked and jived three defenders on the right side of the box before putting one in on the inside of the far post in the 63rd. That just capped off what was already a truly impressive performance by Nasri, who was filling in for the injured Fabregas. Many Arsenal fans have been calling for him to be deployed in the middle more often and after tonight, I must say I agree. He looked truly comfortable and fluid in controlling and distributing the ball. Along with Nasri, I was also impressed by Song who did a great job pushing the ball forward with force as well as attending to messes in the back.


Ahhh, yes. Lest I forget the mess in the back…


Despite putting together what was extremely well-rounded performance, the Gunners, much like they are prone to doing, still looked vulnerable in the back. Overall, I cannot complain about them too much because they got the victory along with the clean sheet. However, had this been against legitimate powerhouses Real Madrid, Barcelona, or English rivals Chelsea and United, the result could have been much different. Clearly, Brazilian striker Hulk was not his usual self and that is likely to be contributed to his lack of match fitness as he serves a 4 month suspension in Portugal for a post match controversy with a steward. Even so, he along with Falcao made the Gunner defense seem very uncomfortable and there were a few muffed clearances that very well could have resulted in goals had it been anyone else. Sagna put in a pretty solid performance as usual, especially pushing the ball forward on the wing, but had some problems in the second half when Christian Rodriguez was deployed. Clichy was so-so as well. He did a great job when pushing the ball forward but was shaky in critical moments and failed to clear the ball with authority. Almunia, overall had a pretty good performance and surely showed his superiority to backup keeper Fabanski. Tomas Vermaelen proved once again to be the heart and soul of the defense and anchored the line which leaves me to the true subject of my concerns. Sol Campbell. I know he’s a veteran but he truly seems to be lacking the confidence you would expect of a seasoned player like himself. Hopefully the more he plays, the better he will get. Until then, I think Wenger shouldn’t get too ahead of himself, calling out the English clubs they have had so little success against this season.

Wenger: “I don’t know [about the quarter-finals] but have a funny feeling that it would be good for us to play an English team. We haven’t done well against Chelsea and Man United this year and it would be a good opportunity to put that right.”

I’m all for feeling confident, especially after a match like that, but I’m not sure you guys are quite ready for that type of smack talk. Keep your act going in league play and maybe you guys can start chirping….


Men of the Match:


Manuel Almunia: Any time there is a clean sheet, credit needs go where credit is due. Nice game keeper.


Nicklas Bendtner: First career hat-trick. Need I say more?


Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri: Did an excellent job leading the 5 goal demolishing of the Portuguese champions.