Champions League - Dominant Arsenal win

Eurosport - Wed, 30 Sep 09:07:00 2009

Arsenal's utter domination of Olympiacos was rewarded with a 2-0 scoreline in their Champions League Group H clash at the Emirates Stadium.

FOOTBALL 2009-2010 Champions League Arsenal's Robin van Persie (centre) celebrates scoring the opening goal against Olympiacos with his team-mates. - 0

Having been held goalless for the majority of the game, Robin van Persie finally made the Gunners' superiority count with the opener on 78 minutes before Andrei Arshavin added a second with four minutes remaining.

Victory maintained Arsenal's 100 per cent record in the competition as Arsene Wenger's side went clear at the top of the group after AZ Alkmaar drew 1-1 with Standard Liege.

Quite how the Greek side's goal remained unbreached for so long in North London had a great deal to do with the performance of veteran goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis.

At times during the opening period, some of the Gunners' play was a joy to watch as the twinkle-toed Arshavin and his inspirational captain Cesc Fabregas pulled the strings and carved out chance after chance.

Yet try as they might, they could not find a way past Nikopolidis. The Euro 2004 winner was by far the busiest man on the pitch, and was called into action on numerous occasions to repel wave after wave of the rampant hosts' attacks.

Fabregas himself came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half with a barnstorming half-volley from the edge of the penalty box that he had teed up for himself with a lovely first touch. His effort cannoned back off the crossbar with Nikopolidis beaten when his skill deserved to be rewarded with a goal.

But for all his involvement in proceedings Arsenal failed to properly test Nikopolidis, more often than not sending their efforts straight at him.

Arshavin - twice - Fabregas, Van Persie and Tomas Rosicky all stung the keeper's hands before the break, but their efforts lacked sufficient direction to really make the keeper sweat.

The one-way traffic continued after the restart, as Arsenal maintained their forward press against opposition who had arrived at the Emirates with little attacking ambition themselves.

That said, the visitors twice managed to give Arsenal reminders that, while the scoreline remained 0-0, it was still anyone's game.

Vasilis Torosidis directed a header straight at Vito Mannone totally against the run of play on 34 minutes while Arsenal's stand-in keeper had to be brave early in the second half to beat away Olof Mellberg's header.

But those two saves proved to be the only action Mannone saw throughout the 90 minutes in an otherwise comfortable evening's work for the Italian.

At the other end Nikopolidis continued to stand up to the Arsenal forward line almost single-handedly, keeping out a Van Persie shot and header either side of a William Gallas close-range effort.

Wenger opted to send on Eduardo on 66 minutes, with Carlos Vela joining the fray 12 minutes later and with four strikers on the pitch, it was only a matter of time before Arsenal had a deserved lead.

The finishing touch came from Van Persie who had the simple task of tapping over the line after Eduardo, who had got through on the left-hand side, cut back instead of going for goal himself.

Arshavin then gave the scoreline a healthier hue with a cheeky backheel over the line from Fabregas's centre on 86 minutes. There was more than a hint of offside as the Russian struck, but the flag stayed down and Arsenal made it two wins from two outings in this season's competition.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport

Comment 51 - 70 of 70

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  1. Arsenal need to be a threat from long range... they­ need to prove they can score from outside the box.­ everybody expects the gunners to pass their way through­ even in the penalty area. the two goals last night were­ built up this way..... it's definetly great....but­ we need to see long distance strikes from Fab,­ Arshavin, Van Persie, Rosicky or Song.... just to­ stretch the defense and make them spread out so we can­ play our way....

    great win though....go Gunners!!!!!!

    From Laurent E, on Wed 30 Sep 1:14PM

  2. it was fabulous.who said arsenal is full of­ kids?yeah.they can.kip it fabregas,arsharvin,eduardo­ and persie.we know u can mek it.go arsenal go.
    patrick­ malile mutua from kenya

    From Patrick, on Wed 30 Sep 12:43PM

  3. Did Arsenal deserved the points against Olympiakos?­
    Yes(thumbs up)
    No (thumbs down)

    From Kah Wai, on Wed 30 Sep 12:29PM

  4. Go Gunners!!!

    From mikeayodele, on Wed 30 Sep 12:24PM

  5. oh and those sporting the 3 clean sheets as proof­ enough to earn a 1st team place...hmmm lets see who did­ he get clean sheets playing against? yeah exactly.

    From Tom, on Wed 30 Sep 11:52AM

  6. ahahaha people saying dont bring almunia back, and that­ mannone is better, ahahahaha. Hes got plenty to learn­ folks, hes done well since injuries have given him the­ chance but he aint any where near ready. He'd be­ good first choice for Wigan or Bolton but get real. A­ few good performances and consistency doesnt­ matter...??

    From Tom, on Wed 30 Sep 11:12AM

  7. missed the game last night,tv packed in,got a great­ deal at vouchercodeshoppingcom.new telly on way.

    From EDWARD, on Wed 30 Sep 11:01AM

  8. well done gunners and well done MR Mannone its so good­ to see the Arsenal getting two clean sheetsin a row its­ wonderfull please AW dont bring Almuniaa back he is not­ better then Manone and Almunia should have a hair cut­ it is a distraction for our defence.. gunnner4life.

    From Paulo, on Wed 30 Sep 9:46AM

  9. Arsenal should work harder and improve on their scoring­ technique some skill is missing there. Up Arsenal! ­ ­
    Prof T; Nigeria

    From taiwo, on Wed 30 Sep 9:23AM

  10. Good performance but Ars still lacks that killer punch.­ This was a good chance for goals gallo but look at how­ long supporters had to sweat before the goals came.­ Wenger has to spend in January otherwise this is a team­ of pretenders. Hands up to Eboue stirling performance­ and utility player.

    From echem3, on Wed 30 Sep 9:07AM

  11. CCS,it was the best insult i could come up with,no­ disrespect to real Liverpool fans

    From coolworld, on Wed 30 Sep 9:03AM

  12. Comment 60 - Spot on!
    Mannone is showing strength &­ character and hasnt had many games under his belt.­ Honestly, Almunia needs to know that he is dispensable­ and maybe he will play with much vigour and purpose.­ Lately he has just been off and has not shown any­ passion in keeping the goals out. Almunia needs to step­ up a notch. Come on Mannone - keep it up!

    From clayton.ericsson, on Wed 30 Sep 8:52AM

  13. wonderful comments coming in from every arsenal­ suporters. that is because the winning came with a very­ lovely display of football. this is exactly what the­ fans want and also what the wenger loves but it has to­ come with consistency. the only reason why i support­ arsenal is because of lovely football. the way they­ pass ball makes it look a lot more easier and delight­ to watch. please give us this kind of football weekly­ and we will be happy. comments 60 (yomia), you have­ said it all. if the mahonne's first performance­ against wigan was mere luck, i am not sure the second­ against fulham was anything luck and the third one as­ well. let us also assume that the performances has­ elements of luck in them, then we need such lucks­ because the young goalkeeper has so much needed lucks­ in him. since his threatened debut for the senior team,­ he has giving arsenal what they hadly get - clean­ sheets and three in a row for that matter. gunners for­ life.......................

    From chima, on Wed 30 Sep 8:50AM

  14. Their cutting passes could not be any crisper. GO­ GUNNERS! From South Africa.

    From kruis321, on Wed 30 Sep 8:28AM

  15. I strongly believe that the remaining missing link in­ the current Arsenal defence is the goalkeeper. Since­ Lehman left, Alumnia has become complacent as he felt­ there is no quality challenge from the bench this is­ further attested to by the cheeky goals he conceded­ against Everton and Manchester United. Fabianski is far­ from convincingly showing that he is a world class­ keeper. The coming of Vito Mannone has shown that there­ is much more to be offered by the young gunners in the­ reserves. If Iker Casillas is celebrating his tenth­ year in Madrid, I don' t see any reason why Mannone­ should not start challenging for the number one shirt.­ 3 straight clean sheets with the same defence that­ Alumnia has had is a testimony of how good the boy is.­ I believe that if the defenders would be asked for­ their preference, they are surely going to give their­ nods to Mannone. Wenger needs to be brave and show­ further believe in this keeper.

    From yomia, on Wed 30 Sep 8:21AM

  16. When T.Welchot gointg to play???

    From HairilM, on Wed 30 Sep 8:20AM

  17. Well done Arsenal!!!!!!

    From billa.simpsona, on Wed 30 Sep 7:44AM

  18. arsenal were sooo dominating last night,i dnt even cn­ remember when olympakos possesed ball at arsenal's­ half.but im worried by a lot of chnce nt converted to a­ goal,its a win but arsenal left it late,im wondering­ bout the past two season,what i saw last night its­ exactly similar.huh

    From emir_radyo6, on Wed 30 Sep 7:38AM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Well done ARSE NILL!!! Always coming from the REAR!!!­ go gunners go, you gave them 2 late ones up the BUM!!

    From And-you-Would-like-to-join-our-ELITE--EPL!, on Wed 30 Sep 7:22AM

  20. Wenger, u r not just a coach but a confidence builder.­ The confidence u v instil in Mannone has turned him­ overnight to a world class goal keeper. He has got­ three consecutive clean sheets. Please, don't drop­ him for any other person just because, the person has­ recovered from injury. For d entire team, stick to it,­ it is made up of world class players. Another season of­ silverwareless is allowed by us. We love u.

    From Otiki G, on Wed 30 Sep 7:05AM
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