Carlos Vela didn’t have many attempts on goal but his movement and pace was a great outlet for the team. He played a very unselfish game last night and did it very well. Many times he pulled out to the wing which allowed the likes of Arshavin or Nasri

I think I may have missed something, I may have tuned into the wrong match last night. I think it is time for me to go and book an appointment with the opticians judging from many reports this morning it appears that we didn’t do the business last night. Well I am sorry you had to go through that, you should have been watching the game I saw. Let me tell you about it.

I was surprised at the line up that is for sure. I assumed that Theo Walcott would get a start on the right and I thought that Denilson would take Song’s place in the line up but now I think about it, the game last night was preparation for the Chelsea game on Sunday. Perhaps the idea of rotating too many times before Chelsea would leave us trying to adjust and find our feet in the first 15 minutes of a very important game.

I have little doubt that Denilson who was fantastic last night will once again line up to face the blue lot from West London. It was Denilson’s first game since September and the young Brazilian showed absolutely no rust as he went about his job efficiently and hardly played a misplaced pass all match. The myth that he only plays backwards and sideways passes is almost laughable. Anyone fan who watched the match objectively will know that this is not fact.

Denilson may not have the attacking talent of the likes of Nasri, Rosicky, Cesc and Arshavin but what he will do is help the team tighten up defensively. The young Brazilian tracks runners, plugs gaps and makes vital interceptions that often go unnoticed. I was pleasantly surprised about how match sharp he looked considering the length of time he was out.

I was paying close attention to how the attacking three would function after the weekend no-show. Arshavin, Vela and Nasri were given the responsibility to put the Liege defence under pressure and you could immediately see the difference from the first minute. We were closing them down from the front, shutting down the player on the ball in packs and Standard Liege could not get out of their half for the first 15 minutes.

Our passing was quicker and sharper in the final third, the team were looking to penetrate more often than they were willing to do in the Stadium of light.

Alex Song started the game as he finished it, driving at Liege and flicking a wonderfully disguised pass to Nasri on the right of the penalty area, you would have expected the Frenchman to shoot but perhaps he thought he saw a better placed team mate in his peripheral vision, his cross went across the penalty area to Denilson who was lurking on the far post, his shot was saved pretty easily.

Only Arsenal could be involved in the kind of goal mouth scramble that took place in the fourteenth minute. A Cesc corner was swung into the Standard Liege penalty area, the ball skipped off Alex Song’s head to Arshavin who powered a header towards the goal which was saved, Vela struck the rebound against the post from close range when it looked possibly easier to score. Gallas then had two bites of the cherry which goalkeeper Bolat did very well to save. Gallas defensive partner Vermaelen hit one of his powerhouse strikes towards the net but for a fantastic defensive clearance off the line from.. erm Arshavin’s head.

Five attempts at goal in the space of seconds and still no way through.

Emmanuel Eboue was clipped in the box on 20 minutes and surprise surprise nothing was given. Will we ever get a penalty again this season? If I was cynical I would say that this is punishment for making Platini and his pals look a little silly after teh whole Eduardo debarcle.

William Gallas and Andrey Arshavin were involved in a nasty accident, both players went for the same ball and clashed heads. It must have been a pretty hefty impact as Arshavin had cut his head and Gallas resembled a boxer that had been punched in the eye for 8 rounds.

After all the one touch passing, the opening goal came from a route one lump forward from Vermaelen, the long pass should have been easily dealt with but Goreux slipped at the right time for us, clearly the wrong time for him and Nasri punished the mistake with a cool early finish past the keeper.

I don’t know why Wenger didn’t just take Gallas off after that, especially with Chelsea coming up. He already suffered an ankle knock earlier in the half.

It could have been costly as Gallas clearly bundled into Goreux in the penalty area minutes later but the referee waved play on. I wish we could save those decisions for the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United in future.

The chances kept coming for Arsenal, Arshavin and Cesc came very close to doubling the lead but finding the wrong end of the post. Denilson wrapped up the game just before half time with a sweet swerving shot that bamboozled the keeper.

Silvestre replaced Gallas at half time, he seemed to play on ok without many problems until half time so hopefully he will be fine for Sunday.

Carlos Vela didn’t have many attempts on goal but his movement and pace was a great outlet for the team. He played a very unselfish game last night and did it very well. Many times he pulled out to the wing which allowed the likes of Arshavin or Nasri to make their way into the penalty box. Vela could be very useful in away games where teams give more space in behind.

Theo Walcott replaced Nasri on the hour mark but failed to make an impact. His first runs where straight into the opposition and he lost the ball far too easily. I will put that down to a lack of match sharpness for now, but it is an area that he will need to improve on if he is to force his way into the team.

Liege had a couple good opportunities to score but were denied by the woodwork or bad finishing but at the end of the day the gulf in class was huge.

Emmanuel Eboue was outstanding at right back caused problems going forward and solid defensively but the best player on the pitch was Alex Song. He was immense once again, he was our best player at Sunderland and once again last night. He is getting better and better every time he plays, I am looking forward to seeing how he plays against the Chelsea midfield with the likes of Michael Essien.

He has now signed a new contract with the club which can only be good news. I expect him to be the best defensive midfielder in Europe in the next year or two if not by the end of the season.

Standard Liege still had time to get a player sent off, Gonzalez who looks like a 15 year old kid who hangs around on street corners in the early hours with trousers that are three sizes too big for him, swiped at Fabregas then squared up to him when our captain took exception to the foul. Gonzalez pushed his head at Cesc and was dismissed.

The one downside to the evening was the injury to Kieran Gibbs who had just made it back from having a bruised foot. He will be out for a long while and you have to feel sorry for the lad who had a chance to stake the left back shirt as his own. Wenger will now have to either stick with Traore or look to Silvestre until Clichy is back.

We finish top of the group and a chance to give some of the youngsters some much needed experience in the last group game.