Champions League - Arsenal dispatch Porto

Eurosport - Wed, 01 Oct 10:16:00 2008

Arsenal survived a couple of early scares at home to Porto in Champions League Group G to run out comfortable 4-0 winners.

FOOTBALL 2008/2008 Arsenal Adebayor - 0

Robin Van Persie scored the first from close range following a good move down the right and Emmanuel Adebayor added a second before half-time with a header from a corner.

Van Persie finished a third immediately after the restart and Adebayor made it four from the penalty spot when substitute Nicklas Bendtner was fouled in the box.

It could have been very different as the 2004 European champions missed a glorious chance on 13 minutes.

Porto cleared an Arsenal corner and Raul Meireles combined with Lisandro Lopez to send Tomas Costa galloping down the right. His cross was between Manuel Almunia in the Arsenal goal and the retreating defence, where Cristian Rodriguez dived to head downwards.

The ball flew up off the ground and bounced off the crossbar, giving Arsenal a nightmarish remainder of their home Premier league loss to Hull at the weekend.

The Gunners had enjoyed space on the right and gone close themselves but were again undone on 26 minutes, Lisandro poking towards goal following an excellent header down from Rolando. The ball beat Spaniard Almunia, but France left-back Gael Clichy was on the line to block.

Five minutes later the supporters were relieved to see Arsenal take the lead. Fabregas slid in Adebayor down the right side of the box - where Theo Walcott was repeatedly causing mayhem - and the big striker pulled back to the arriving Van Persie, who got in front of the defender to finish at the near post.

Porto, despite their chances, had not looked likely to create much and the game was more or less put beyond them when Adebayor rose to nod down a Van Persie corner. The ball looped back up and over the despairing defenders on the line to double the lead five minutes before the break.

Arsenal were elegant in the second half after receiving a further boost in its earliest moments. Shocking defending by Porto, and Bruno Alves in particular, allowed Walcott to pass inside and Netherlands man Van Persie scored his second inside the far post.

They were his first European goals in a year and he was denied the chance of a hat-trick when Bendtner replaced him on 65 minutes, with Samir Nasri also making way for Emmanuel Eboue.

Cesc Fabregas had been at the heart of Arsenal's best work, pulling the strings in midfield, but it was Walcott who grabbed the eye in front of watching England manager Fabio Capello.

The hat-trick hero from Croatia could not apply the finishing touch to any of his speedy forages behind Porto's defence however and caused the Italian boss to chuckle when on 53 minutes he missed from inside the six-yard box with the goal gaping.

It was far from the only chance of its ilk as Arsenal attacked the flanks with gusto; Walcott's evening though was ended prematurely when Arsene Wenger - smiling on the touchline again after the 'physically sickening' loss to Hull - replaced him with Carlos Vela.

The Gunners' enthusiasm was rewarded in the moments before that change when Freddy Guarin clattered unceremoniously into Dane Bendtner and Adebayor sent Helton the wrong way from the spot.

Vela, who bagged a hat-trick against Sheffield United in the League Cup a week before, dazzled with a pair of runs into the box but there were no more goals for a rampant Arsenal side.

Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira will think back to those early misses and wonder what might have been as Wenger delights in the ability of his young charges to bounce back from crushing defeat.

It was Arsenal's first win in this season's competition after they drew their opening match against Dynamo Kiev, while Porto tasted defeat for the first time following their opening win over Fenerbahce.

Fenerbahce 0-0 Dynamo Kiev

Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kiev shared a lacklustre goalless draw in Istanbul.

Fener playmaker Alex worked to create chances up front with Daniel Guiza but the home side gave the ball away easily and Dynamo comfortably absorbed the pressure.

The result piled fresh pressure on Fenerbahce's Spanish coach Luis Aragones. Last season's Champions League quarter-finalists are 10th in the domestic league.

Fenerbahce, losers at Porto in their opening match, burst into life after half-time when Alex fired a shot just wide from the edge of the box in the 48th minute.

A minute later Dynamo keeper Stanislav Bogush saved efforts from Guiza and former Newcastle man Emre, who worked hard in midfield for the home side.

Fenerbahce pressed hard for a goal in the final stages. Selcuk Sahin fired straight at the goalkeeper from the edge of the penalty area and Kazim Kazim shot wide with a long-range effort.

But the Ukrainian side, who drew with Arsenal in their opening match, held firm in defence.

Jonathan Symcox / Reuters

Comment 30 - 49 of 49

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  1. I think we should allow the manager to do his job. ­ What is important is to win the game. It does not­ matter who came off or who play. Adebayor may not­ score but always work for the team. On this occasion,­ I congratulate the team. It help to forget 'bad­ sturf' of last week.

    From 'Tunde, on Thu 2 Oct 5:51AM
  2. ARSENAL ALL THE WAY. ONE GUN TO GUN THEM ALL DOWN, ONE­ GUN TO RULE THEM ALL, ARSENAL ALL THE WAY.

    From Wilson-M, on Wed 1 Oct 11:07PM
  3. arsenal can beat any team good macth arsena;

    From R, on Wed 1 Oct 8:48PM
  4. arsenal should reall buy yaya toure then our team will­ be unstop albe

    From R, on Wed 1 Oct 8:47PM
  5. What did I say huh? They play the beatifull game­ beautifully. Give Eboue a chance,he used to do what­ Sagna and Walcott is doing before they were there,he­ has a new role now and deserves a chance to learn it.

    From ruggers, on Wed 1 Oct 5:54PM
  6. Great win 4 us last night. It`s early days yet. But I`m­ confident THE MIGHTY ARSENAL WILL QUALIFY FOR THE NEXT­ STAGE. Word up. Tre

    From Marco D, on Wed 1 Oct 4:05PM
  7. Thank you Gunners, that was beautiful, what an­ entertaining game to watch, but please try to take most­ of your chances and no mess about. Consistency,­ Consistency please. Don't ever under rate the­ little teams, that is where the points are, not Man U,­ Chelsea nor Liverpool, beat these three, and loose to­ little teams and you will be in trouble. Like i said,­ CONSISTENCY, BEAT THEM ALL and shut the critics in­ their traps. Go Gunners.

    From Quarshie24, on Wed 1 Oct 2:59PM
  8. Arsenal # 25 and the so called Captain won't please­ my in what so ever they do is 0.5% of what we aspect­ from the, then why should we keep on hold those guys in­ Emerates.

    I remember the truth I hold 4Arsenal # 25­ would have been the scorer last seasion with averrage­ of 40 t0 45 clear goals; Wenger believes him to a­ striker but for I don't see any thing in him based­ on that so he should be marketed b'cse he's­ making Arsenal not productive, he's been train for­ three seaso as to now but Oopssssssss!

    From Itoo, on Wed 1 Oct 12:30PM
  9. What a game that I missed, no the matter Wenger and the­ chaps should always learn from the past b'cse u­ guys do the some mistakes all the seasion in most of­ the leagues.

    We can't change the past but we can­ change the future. I didn't wnt to spare my time­ for the urgilly true football u pay always, buy now I­ got 2 think it agait.

    Says, John Itoo.

    From Itoo, on Wed 1 Oct 12:14PM
  10. ADEBAYOR SCORES TO MAKE IT FOUR!! He sends Helton the­ wrong way as the goalie dives to his right.

    From Yen, on Wed 1 Oct 12:01PM
  11. COME ON U GUNNERS...........ITS GOOD TO C V.PERSIE­ SCORING FREQUENTLY AGAIN, BET U HE GETS INJURED AT SOME­ STAGE OF SEASON THOUGH.
    WILFYBOY

    From wilfyboy, on Wed 1 Oct 11:42AM
  12. As an Arsenal fan, I am relieved that the confidence is­ still there.
    But am alarmed at the number of chances­ we failed to convert. Just hope Wenger will work on­ that gap. I see Arsenal as a team capable of­ consistently scoring upwards of 5 goals per­ game.

    Arsenal for life.

    From Chyiie, on Wed 1 Oct 10:11AM
  13. It's a show off of the defeat against Hull City.­ The GUNNERS played well, but the defenders are always­ overlapping not minding a counter can cause a­ problem
    GO! Arsenal GO

    From Adediran Abiola Alao, on Wed 1 Oct 9:56AM
  14. well done gunners that was a brilliant performance.­ Keep it up. From Chelsea fan.

    From Skippo, on Wed 1 Oct 9:36AM
  15. GO TELL THEM ALL THAT THE GUNNER'S ARE HEADING­ THEIR WAY WITH GUNS ON RAAAPID FIRE!!! BELIEVE IN THE­ GUNNER'S MAYBE YOU MIGHT BE SPARED-JUST­ MAYBE-BEWARE!!!!!!

    From Fube, on Wed 1 Oct 8:59AM
  16. Excellent job. There are few things to improve.­ Fabregas was completed exhausted in
    the last 10 mins­ (point to note).The 2 central defenders are moving­ upfront too often
    leaving space for dangerous­ counter-attack. Thanks porto was not so sharp in the­ counter-attack. Arsene must put some order there- only­ 1 to move upfront at a time. The lack of tall players­ in defence must be corrected. suggest start resting­ gallas
    and try djouroo.

    From ravin, on Wed 1 Oct 8:39AM
  17. Please,that was better coz the wasteful Eboue was not­ there,please Eboue lacks vision and Direction he is­ there to run with the ball thats all,Please be­ Substituting Adebayor also and bring in Ramsey or­ Wilshere.Its always V Parsie Even when Adebayor is not­ Doing it,Congs.
    Gero,Uganda

    From ghekinu, on Wed 1 Oct 8:07AM
  18. Please,that was better coz the wasteful Eboue was not­ there,please Eboue lacks vision and Direction he is­ there to run with the ball thats all,Please be­ Substituting Adebayor also and bring in Ramsey or­ Wilshere.Its always V Parsie Even when Adebayor is not­ Doing it,Congs.
    Gero,Uganda

    From ghekinu, on Wed 1 Oct 7:46AM
  19. Please,that was better coz the wasteful Eboue was not­ there,please Eboue lacks vision and Direction he is­ there to run with the ball thats all,Please be­ Substituting Adebayor also and bring in Ramsey or­ Wilshere.Its always V Parsie Even when Adebayor is not­ Doing it,Congs.
    Gero,Uganda

    From ghekinu, on Wed 1 Oct 7:34AM
  20. you did it again Arsenal well done

    From Harry, on Wed 1 Oct 7:00AM
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