Tuesday September 30, 2008 Finished Emirates Stadium
-
Live Commentary
Time:90'- Arsenal
- Porto
90' Almunia makes a late save before Fandel continues the trend of blowing up on the whistle to put Jesualdo Ferreira out of his misery. The coach will hark back to those early chances... they seem so long ago.- 88' Another low cross is missed by Eboue as Arsenal struggle to add a fifth goal, but the fans are enjoying themselves nonetheless.
- 87' Bendtner runs inside from the right, showing some pace... from his pass Adebayor shoots wide of the far post. A hat-trick chance goes begging.
83' Costa becomes the second man on the night and the first in a Porto shirt to get booked. He wouldn't give the ball to Clichy as he sought to take a throw-in.
79' Porto change: Candeias on for Rodriguez.- 76' Arsenal still using the ball well, only with slightly less urgency now.
73' I wasn't that impressed when he was on loan at Osasuna last season but he again shows what I know about football by dancing through three defenders and into the box before feeding Bendtner, who cannot quite apply a finish. He's not bad, this kid.- 72' Arsenal's last change: Carlos Vela, who scored a hat-trick against Sheffield United in the League Cup, on for Walcott.
71' ADEBAYOR SCORES TO MAKE IT FOUR!! He sends Helton the wrong way as the goalie dives to his right.- 70' PENALTY TO ARSENAL!! Bendtner received the ball and Guarin came across and fouled him - simple as that.
- 67' Adebayor should have done better with a recound but there is no power in his shot.
- 66' Hulk with his first touch, tackled in Arsenal's half. It used to be a nickname - but he liked it so much he took it officially, at least in football terms.
- 65' Arsenal also making changes: Nasri and RVP replaced to acclaim by Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Eboue.
- 65' Porto change: the incredible Hulk is on for Meireles.
- 60' Nasri hits a sweet strike that dips just before Helton, but the Brazilian keeper tips round the post. Good save.
- 59' Lucho feeds a ball through to Costa on the left side of the area... his shot is far too high.
- 56' Walcott on his bike again on the right to the byline but his cross is blocked... the ball comes back out and he tries again, this time finding Nasri... the young Frenchman fires well wide!! Arsenal having fun out there.
- 54' Fabio Capello in the stands had a chuckle at that one and a minute later Walcott dances through again, but it is not his night in the final third!!
- 53' WALCOTT MISSES THE TARGET WITH THE GOAL GAPING FROM A FEW YARDS OUT!! Arsenal stringing together passes and creating chances at will.
- 51' Arsenal all over Porto and will hammer them at this rate.
- 48' A THIRD GOAL FOR ARSENAL!!! Van Persie, who had not scored a Champions League goal for a year prior to tonight, has his second when he pokes into the far corner. An excellent finish following poor defending from Bruno Alves and a touch inside from Walcott.
46' The second half begins in North London: Porto change: Lucho has replaced Fernando.- 45' Half-time on the 45-minute mark. Porto have had their chances without looking especially capable of creating any. Had they converted one of them, it could have been a different story... but Arsenal lead 2-0 at the break.
- 42' Guarin on the left hooks in a cross that Clichy chests back to Almunia.
- 40' A SECOND GOAL FOR ARSENAL!! ADEBAYOR HEADS HOME FROM A VAN PERSIE CORNER!! He nodded the ball down from a central position and the ball crept under the crossbar with Porto men craning to get to it on the line.
- 37' Costa runs at goal from the right and slaps a low shot towards the near post, wide of the mark. Referee Herbert Fandel gives Porto a corner for some reason... he also gave another incorrect corner at the other end earlier on.
- 36' Van Persie curls a free-kick in from the left, but it is too high for Kolo Toure and runs out for a goal-kick.
- 34' Arsenal knocking it around now, comfortable in possession. They stand a couple of crosses into the area, where they are cleared.
- 31' GOAL FOR ARSENAL!! VAN PERSIE!! Fabregas slid in Adebayor, who was level with the Porto defence on this right side... he turned the ball back to the arriving Dutchman, who finished ahead of a defender. 1-0.
- 28' The home fans find their voice as the Gunners win a corner... nothing doing though as a concerned Wenger looks on.
- 27' ARSENAL SURVIVE AS CLICHY CLEARS OFF THE LINE!! Rolando headed the corner towards goal and Lisandro helped it on - but after it beat Almunia, the Frenchman was there to block and hack clear.
- 26' LISANDRO BANGS A SHOT FROM DISTANCE... GREAT SAVE TO TIP THE BALL AROUND THE POST BY MANUEL ALMUNIA!!
- 26' Adebayor lays the ball into the path of Walcott as he sprints on the inside this time, but it is just behind him.
- 22' Walcott pings the ball to the feet of Fabregas and he returns it through the gap on the right again - once more Walcott cannot quite find the final pass. However he is the danger man.
- 21' Adebayor heads a corner at goal that Helton claims with ease.
- 19' Nasri plays in Walcott, who is lively on the right tonight, but he cannot find the finish.
- 19' The visiting fans are in good voice and bouncing up and down. They will remember that Champions League triumph with Jose Mourinho at the helm in 2004...
- 17' A beautiful pass from Fabregas splits the Porto defence and Van Persie volleys weakly into the ground... the ball ends up on top of the net. A poor connection from close in.
- 13' Porto counter following a clearance, Raul Meireles and Lisandro combining to send Tomas Costa galloping down the right... his cross is dangerous and CRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ HEADS DOWN AND ON TO THE BAR! Goal-kick, Arsenal survive.
- 12' Fabregas finds Van Persie, who gets the ball out of his feet and whips a shot towards the bottom corner - saved by Helton! Corner to Arsenal.
- 11' Arsenal with all the ball on this slippy pitch so far. Walcott bottles a hanging cross after good work by his team-mates.
- 8' Van Persie feeds Nasri and he helps it across the box to Adebayor, who plays it to the right and Walcott... the nippy England star cracks a hard shot into the side-netting! A positive move.
- 5' Colombian Freddy Guarin takes advantage of some hesitant play and advances for Porto, but cannot find a killer pass.
- 3' Arsenal are kicking from left to right and passing the ball about. Porto in blue and white stripes.
1' The game kicks off. Lucho Gonzalez is on the bench for Porto, while the main threat will come from striker Lisandro Lopez.- - The teams emerge. There is a cracking atmosphere inside the ground tonight.
- - Ricardo Quaresma has left for Internazionale of course, a loss that makes Porto less effective according to Wenger.
- - The Arsenal team is in: Weng is going with Denilson and Cesc Fabregas in the middle of midfield, with Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri on the flanks. Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor are up front while the defence is as you would expect.
- - Arsenal lost at home to Hull at the weekend and manager Arsene Wenger has called for a reaction: "We are more solid than ever when we are completely switched on, but I am not sure we can focus when we think the game will be easy. When you have a bang on the head like this you have to understand the need to be consistent. It is a different situation in the Champions League because you are playing against teams who are at the top of their league. They take a responsibility to play; Hull's first responsibility was not to lose."
- - Porto began with a bang, defeating Fenerbahce 3-1 at home, and are unbeaten after four matches of the domestic season. They sit fourth in the Portuguese table.
- - Arsenal drew 1-1 in their opening encounter against Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine. They will be keen to get their qualification bandwagon on track at The Emirates.
- Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE text commentary on Arsenal's home match against Porto in Champions League Group G.
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Team Stats
Arsenal Stats Porto 61% Possession 38% 24 Shots 13 10 Shots on target 4 1 Saves 3 15 Corners 4 7 Fouls 9 7 Offsides 1 1 Yellow cards 1 0 Red cards 0 11 Tackles 30 460 Accurate passes 246 88 Bad passes 28 -
Player Stats
- G =
- Goals
- S =
- Shots
- SoT =
- Shot on Target
- F =
- Fouls
- FW =
- Fouls Won
- O =
- Offsides
- A =
- Assists
- AP =
- Accurate Passes
- BP =
- Bad Passes
- T =
- Tackles
-
Arsenal G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T 1 Manuel Almunia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 5 Kolo Toure 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 32 0 0 22 Gaël Clichy 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 46 18 3 3 Bacary Sagna 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 49 1 1 10 William Gallas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 39 7 0 4 Francesc Fabregas 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 69 10 4 15 Denilson Pereira Neves 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 65 12 2 14 Theo Walcott 0 4 1 0 1 3 1 16 0 1 8 Samir Nasri 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 38 14 0 25 Emmanuel Adebayor 2 7 4 1 1 3 1 31 12 0 11 Robin Van Persie 2 4 3 0 0 0 1 25 5 0 18 Mikael Silvestre 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 Emmanuel Eboue 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 16 Aaron Ramsey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 Nicklas Bendtner 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 10 3 0 12 Carlos Vela 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 6 0 21 Lukasz Fabianski 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 Johan Djourou 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Porto G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T 1 Helton Helton 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 9 2 0 2 Bruno Eduardo Regufe Alves 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 1 1 5 Nelson Benitez 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 17 7 6 21 Cristian Sapunaru 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 27 1 5 14 Rolando Da Fonseca 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 4 16 Raúl Meireles 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 27 1 0 25 Fernando Francisco Reges 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 1 1 20 Tomás Costa 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 35 3 5 6 Freddy Guarin 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 26 2 4 10 Cristian Rodriguez 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 15 4 0 9 Lisandro López 0 3 2 1 1 0 0 20 2 1 8 Luis González 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 18 4 3 33 Nuno Simões do Espírito Santo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Milan Stepanov 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 Daniel Candeias 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 Pedro Emanuel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Dorvalino Maciel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 Givanildo Vieira de Souza 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
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Summary
- 73' I wasn't that impressed when he was on loan at Osasuna last season but he again shows what I know about football by dancing through three defenders and into the box before feeding Bendtner, who cannot quite apply a finish. He's not bad, this kid.
- 71' ADEBAYOR SCORES TO MAKE IT FOUR!! He sends Helton the wrong way as the goalie dives to his right.
- 70' PENALTY TO ARSENAL!! Bendtner received the ball and Guarin came across and fouled him - simple as that.
- 56' Walcott on his bike again on the right to the byline but his cross is blocked... the ball comes back out and he tries again, this time finding Nasri... the young Frenchman fires well wide!! Arsenal having fun out there.
- 53' WALCOTT MISSES THE TARGET WITH THE GOAL GAPING FROM A FEW YARDS OUT!! Arsenal stringing together passes and creating chances at will.
- 48' A THIRD GOAL FOR ARSENAL!!! Van Persie, who had not scored a Champions League goal for a year prior to tonight, has his second when he pokes into the far corner. An excellent finish following poor defending from Bruno Alves and a touch inside from Walcott.
- 40' A SECOND GOAL FOR ARSENAL!! ADEBAYOR HEADS HOME FROM A VAN PERSIE CORNER!! He nodded the ball down from a central position and the ball crept under the crossbar with Porto men craning to get to it on the line.
- 31' GOAL FOR ARSENAL!! VAN PERSIE!! Fabregas slid in Adebayor, who was level with the Porto defence on this right side... he turned the ball back to the arriving Dutchman, who finished ahead of a defender. 1-0.
- 27' ARSENAL SURVIVE AS CLICHY CLEARS OFF THE LINE!! Rolando headed the corner towards goal and Lisandro helped it on - but after it beat Almunia, the Frenchman was there to block and hack clear.
- 26' LISANDRO BANGS A SHOT FROM DISTANCE... GREAT SAVE TO TIP THE BALL AROUND THE POST BY MANUEL ALMUNIA!!
- 13' Porto counter following a clearance, Raul Meireles and Lisandro combining to send Tomas Costa galloping down the right... his cross is dangerous and CRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ HEADS DOWN AND ON TO THE BAR! Goal-kick, Arsenal survive.
- 12' Fabregas finds Van Persie, who gets the ball out of his feet and whips a shot towards the bottom corner - saved by Helton! Corner to Arsenal.
- 8' Van Persie feeds Nasri and he helps it across the box to Adebayor, who plays it to the right and Walcott... the nippy England star cracks a hard shot into the side-netting! A positive move.
- - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE text commentary on Arsenal's home match against Porto in Champions League Group G.
Live Team Line-Up
- Referee: Herbert Fandel
-
ArsenalManager: Arsene Wenger
Captain: William Gallas
Starting line-up
- M. Almunia
- B. Sagna
- W. Gallas
- K. Toure
- G. Clichy
- T. Walcott
- C. Fabregas
- .. Denilson
- S. Nasri
- E. Adebayor
- R. van Persie ×2
Subs
- M. Silvestre
- J. Djourou
- E. Eboue
65′ - N. Bendtner 65′
- L. Fabianski
- C. Vela 72′
- A. Ramsey
Injured
- T. Rosicky
- A. Song
- A. Diaby
- A. Bischoff
- D. Eduardo
Suspended
None
-
PortoManager: Jesulado Ferreira
Captain: Bruno Alves
Starting line-up
- H. da Silva
- C. Sapunaru
- B. Alves
- -. Rolando
- N. Benitez
- F. Guarin
- T. Costa
- F. Fernando
- R. Meireles
- L. Lopez
- C. Rodriguez
Subs
- H. Nuno
- -. Lino
- .. Lucho Gonzalez 46′
- M. Stepanov
- D. Candeias 79′
- .. Pedro Emanuel
- G. Hulk 65′
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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