Champions League - Bendtner fires Arsenal to win

Eurosport - Wed, 26 Nov 09:49:00 2008

Arsenal reached the last 16 of the Champions League as sub Nicklas Bendtner scored the only goal of the game against Dynamo Kiev at the Emirates Stadium.

Nicklas Bendtner goal v Kiev, FOOTBALL - 0

Following their 0-0 home draw against Fenerbahce, Arsene Wenger's side again struggled to find the net in Europe but the Dane struck three minutes from time after a raking pass from new skipper Cesc Fabregas.

Porto's 2-1 victory in Istanbul sees the Gunners go through with the Portuguese side and they will contest top spot in Group G in Oporto in a fortnight's time.

There was a hint of controversy to the goal as Kiev did not contest a drop ball and Fabregas picked out Bendtner who fired past visiting keeper Stanislav Bogush at the near post.

Bendtner was booked for removing his shirt in celebration after his first goal since September 23 and an irate Kiev were reduced to ten men shortly after as Olexandr Aliyev was shown a red card for pushing referee Alain Hamer from Luxembourg.

Fabregas led the side out but just as he has been for the past week, William Gallas was the central figure in proceedings for much of the match.

An awful mistake from the deposed skipper late in the first-half gifted Ismael Bangoura possession and Gallas was happy to see the Guinean striker's effort come off the outside of the post.

It was Kiev's only real effort of the first half which ended with Gallas turning the ball home only for the offside flag to correctly go up.

Bogush flapped at a corner and Alexandre Song headed the ball through to Gallas who flicked the ball into the net but Kiev were quick to clear their six-yard box and the goal was ruled out.

Clear cut chances were few and far between with a Robin van Persie shot bouncing off the chest off Bogush and Mikael Silvestre diverting a dangerously whipped free-kick from the Dutchman over the top.

Arsenal came closest to breaking the deadlock three minutes into the second-half when Bogush made a hash of a Fabregas free-kick. Van Persie's initial effort was blocked by Artem Milevskiy and then the rebound was cleared from in front of his own goal by Gallas with the French defender unable get out of the way of the goalbound shot in time.

Kiev had the better of the chances from there on in with Bangoura fizzing a shot wide and Almunia claiming Olexandr Aliyev's 25-yard shot at the second attempt.

And 12 minutes from time Almunia made a vital save to preserve the cleansheet. The Spaniard custodian was quick off his line to deny Milevskiy from close range after Arsenal's high line was exposed.

By that time Jack Wilshere had become Arsenal's youngest ever player in Europe, as the 16-year-old replaced Carlos Vela, and he watched Bendtner break his long barren streak in front of goal as Arsenal reached the knockout phase of Europe's premier competition for the sixth consecutive season.

Fenerbahce 1-2 Porto

Two goals from Lisandro Lopez earned Porto a 2-1 victory against Fenerbahce and a place inn the Champions League last 16, with a late goal from Colin Kazim-Richards not enough to rescue the home side.

Lisandro put the visitors ahead in the 19th minute after Fenerbahce failed to clear a corner, hooking in a shot from close range through the home side's defence.

He doubled the Portuguese side's lead after a throw-in 10 minutes later. Fenerbahce goalkeeper Volkan blocked his first shot on goal only for Lisandro to score with his second effort, despite claims of handball from Fenerbahce players.

Half-time substitute Kazim-Richards pulled a goal back for Fenerbahce in the 63rd minute with a long-range shot which deflected off Bruno Alves and went beyond the reach of Porto goalkeeper Helton.

Lee Walker / Eurosport

Comment 17 - 36 of 96

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  1. I THINK WE SHOULD ALL BELIEVE JOSE MORINHO WHEN HE SAID­ THE REASON WHY HE SOLD GALLAS WAS BECAUSE HE TREATHENED­ TO SORE AN OWN GOAL. HE IS NOTHING BUT LIABILTY.­ WENGER WATCH OUT!!!!!!

    From ola c, on Tue 25 Nov 12:36PM

  2. arsenal will lose against dynamo kiev...
    HAHAHAHA...

    From arif_isateenagerboy2625, on Tue 25 Nov 12:26PM

  3. yeh,,yeh,,,yeh,,,whatever.

    From dzidzidzi32, on Tue 25 Nov 12:05PM

  4. Right i tell you the problem. Chelsea got rid of Gallas­ cos he was a f**king liabilty, and Man U did the same­ with Silvestre.
    Wenger buys these players because he­ thinks he can mould them into model players. The common­ problem is the size of the egos of these players.­ Arsenal just hasn't got the room for these over­ sized heads. They never have and never will. The­ members of the team that haven't performed this­ season are usually the ones with this problem.­ Bendtner, Gallas, Silvestre, Senderos (who is on loan,­ surprise surprise) I say get rid of them in January and­ work more with the youth, who seem to run rings round­ most teams they played. Play Vela, Ramsey, Wilshere,­ Simpson and Freeman (watch this space) from the start­ for 75 minutes, give them the experience to play big­ games and show all the weary Arsenal fans they when you­ eliminate the ego we can get back to being great­ again.
    Fabragas for captain, damn straight. He'll­ give them a big kick up the arse(nal) This is a man who­ won the Euro with Spain. He knows how to create a­ winning mentality. I just hope he doesn't do a­ Henry and think the grass is greener.
    We dont play good­ football by buying out players from mid table clubs­ (Man U) or letting our Russian or Arab owners go on an­ unlimited spending spree (Man City & Chelsea) We­ build a youth team we can be proud of. Lets starts­ using them a bit more wenger.

    From ajbiscuitthief, on Tue 25 Nov 11:54AM

  5. nah actually I'm chatting s**t just like the­ article lol.

    From Big, on Tue 25 Nov 11:19AM

  6. cos we've already got 9 points so we just need 1­ more to qualify. A draw doesn't guarantee finishing­ top of the group tho.

    From Big, on Tue 25 Nov 11:10AM

  7. How is a draw against Dinamo Kiev going to guarantee­ qualification to the Knockout Stages ?

    From WILLIAM, on Tue 25 Nov 10:17AM

  8. oh and have any Arsenal fans on here looked at the­ predicted line up? Ramsay!!?? If he plays this could be­ a special night for him. That kid is immense. Well­ looking forward to seeing more of him.

    From Tom, on Tue 25 Nov 10:04AM

  9. Ronaldo gets too much respect! I say too much not­ because i dont think he deserves it but because­ unfortunately he believes his hype. You can see it in­ him. He deserves respect because he is great to watch,­ any player when they get on the ball and people crane­ their necks, arch their backs, and focus their eyes­ just to see what they will do next gets and deserves­ respect, but anyone who doesnt keep their ego in check­ needs to be taken down a peg or two. Saying that­ Ronaldo has matured alot in the past two seasons (a­ nice hate campaign against him after the World cup­ helped) and stopped diving so much and is concentrating­ on his football rather than his accolades. Nani needs­ to learn from him because he's exactly the same as­ Ronaldo was. But Fergie has been the guy to shut that­ cheeky @#$% up recently. Good on Fergie.

    From Tom, on Tue 25 Nov 9:48AM

  10. zz

    From dosenjack, on Mon 24 Nov 1:00PM

  11. yeah!! probably praying 23 Park see you again!

    From dosenjack, on Mon 24 Nov 12:59PM

  12. Hi people ..
    Guess what TottallyTV i TOTTALLY AGREE­ WITH marklunt636 ... you are probably praying CR7 is­ gay besides hanging his poster over your bed you waste­ of time PUFF...go comment on something better and stop­ wasting your time here PUFF...
    ONE UNITED

    From Imad A, on Mon 24 Nov 6:25AM

  13. actually he had change.....but the best is alway also­ the same as tha most hated one......this call jealous,­ so guy plz give him a chance to change....to be fair to­ him....

    From ahheng_1983, on Sun 23 Nov 10:49PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    He deserve it....better than see diver playing. That­ what he get for to arrogane like what he did againts­ brasil. Only stupid one acknowlegde CR7. I agree he is­ the best in the world....the best diver

    From Marcus O, on Sun 23 Nov 8:08PM

  15. lol marklunt636,
    lol your funny!!
    and do you mind not­ fighting on the internet plz thankz
    and totallytv, calm­ down, no1 actually wanted to no your opinion about­ ronaldo and about how gay you think he is. just go and­ tell it to your cat

    From rooneyfriends, on Sun 23 Nov 7:43PM

  16. HEY TOTALLYTV. I THOUGHT THEY TURNED THE LIGHTS OUT IN­ MENTAL INSTITUTIONS WHEN IT WENT DARK, HURRY UP WITH­ YOU NEXT RETERDED REPLY BECAUSE THE GUARD WILL BE ALONG­ SOON TO "TUCK YOU IN"

    From marklunt636, on Sun 23 Nov 6:15PM

  17. HEY TOTALLYTV.

    From marklunt636, on Sun 23 Nov 6:13PM

  18. UNITED don't really need him and his ego give­ fletcher more games!!!

    Mike United fan.

    From MWN, on Sun 23 Nov 5:58PM

  19. HEY TOTALLYTV. THE ONLY NOB IS YOU, WHAT DOES THE­ "TV" STAND FOR? WOULD IT BE TRANSVESTITE BY­ ANY ANY CHANCE SO YOUR COMMENT ABOUT HIM BEING GAY IS­ PROBABLY WISHFUL THINKING ON YOUR PART, YOU HAVE­ PROBABLY GOT A POSTER OF HIM ON YOUR BEDROOM WALL AND­ GO TO SLEEP EVERY NIGHT DREAMING OF HUMPING HIM WITH­ YOUR HAND ON YOUR NOB. GO AWAY AND LOCK YOURSELF IN­ YOUR LITTLE DARK ROOM AND COME BACK WHEN YOU GROW UP­ AND HAVE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY WORTH READING YOU MONG

    From marklunt636, on Sun 23 Nov 5:43PM

  20. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP
    ALL MATCHES ON WEB: ­ PREMIER LEAGUE, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA AND CHAMPIONS­ LEAGUE - UEFA CUP
    ALL THE HIGH-LIGHTS OF PREMIER­ LEAGUE MATCHES

    From go to www.premiership.altervista.org, on Sun 23 Nov 5:29PM
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