Andrey Arshavin was majestic in the attacking third. His awareness of his team mates is remarkable, a step ahead of everyone else at times. The ball will be fizzed into him with opposition players around him and first time he will play a side footed pass or flick into an Arsenal player without looking

Match Review – Arsenal 5 Porto 0 – Champions League

Super, Super Nic.. Super, Super Nic.. Super, Super Nic.. Super Nicklas Bendtner!

There are a few matches that stick with you, that find a little space in your brain and make itself at home. Our Champions League victory against the Portuguese champs will be another one of those experiences that should stay with me for the rest of my days.

I received a call, late on Tuesday afternoon from a good friend of mine. He had a free spare ticket for the game and offered it to me, of course I bit his hand off. Not literally but at least verbally.

What struck me when we got into the stadium was the terrific atmosphere that had been building up before the kick off. You could feel the excitement, the passion from all that were seated and stood around the stadium.

I took my seat high up in block 16, behind Almunia’s goal in the first half. A great opportunity to see all the movement between the players. We had glanced at the screens inside the stadium before we took our seats. I wanted to find out the line up, when I did I was very surprised to see Theo Walcott left out of the starting line up, especially after his great display at the weekend. Wenger went for the experience of both Rosicky and Arshavin in the wide positions well I say Rosicky in the wide position but Arsene had announced on the big screens that Rosicky would be playing in the midfield three.

Before I wrote the match preview of the Porto game I had another watch of the Burnley victory, I wanted to clarify who started alongside Cesc and then who took over from Cesc when he left the pitch on Saturday. The answer was not one player. Rosicky and Nasri interchanged from wide and central positions throughout the game and it worked fantastically well.

Last night was no different, Rosicky or Nasri were playing from the right with Arshavin on the left and the understanding between Ros and Nas was just exceptional. Porto just had no answer to their combination play.

Much of our early attacking came down our left, the refreshed Gael Clichy combined superbly with Arshavin on a number of occasions and they continued to slice through Porto at will.

Bendtner scoring a hat-trick after his collection of misses was something written in the stars, it was just one of those things that was going to happen and I wish I had acted on it instead of just thinking about it.

The delightful Nasri imitated his absent captain with a threaded pass into the galloping Arshavin a tackle came in and the ball bobbled about in the penalty area for Bendtner to slide in the middle of two Porto defenders to push it over the line. He showed great determination to be first to that ball and without that, the danger would have been cleared. It was difficult to work out if the goal had stood or not as Bendtner halted his celebration but when he realised that everything was hunky dory, the crowd continued the roar.

We were having a chuckle about the timing of the goal, as me and my mate were discussing our lack of goals in the first fifteen minutes of games this season. It only took Bendtner nine to get Arsenal off the mark.

The super Nic chants had already been flowing around the stadium before our great Dane scored his first and it was very touching to hear it, almost emotional. I felt a warmth from those around me that I hadn’t felt for a while. Our supporters had just helped a young player through a dreadful experience in front of goal a few days earlier and now they had helped him to score the first.

Would Bendtner have scored a hat trick if he was booed and berated when coming off at Burnley? You can never tell but I have my doubts. The crowd were in fantastic voice, especially where I was seated. It brought me back to the clock end days at Highbury. The prawn sandwiches were replaced by red and white scarves and the groans were replaced with a rotation of Arsenal songs.

The second goal was all about Andrey Arshavin. Samir Nasri was sat crumpled to the ground with some sort of injury, I am yet to know what had actually caused it. Play was allowed to continue and Arshavin wriggled and squirmed his way through into the penalty area, on his left foot he smashed a cross low past the keeper and on a plate for Bendtner to tap in for his second with only 25 minutes gone on the clock. We were in the driving seat and ahead on the night but the tie was far from being over, one goal for Porto and they were level on aggregate.

Arshavin had two good chances in the first half to get his name on the score sheet but his close range header was saved and he blasted Nasri’s cut back over the bar when the keeper was moving away from the side of the goal where he tired to put it.

Gael Clichy had been superb, reading the Porto passes and nipping in ahead of them. There is no one better in the business at doing that. Winning the ball doesn’t have to come with the traditional whack the ball and player away. Arsenal have mastered this art and it allows us to remain in control of the ball and start counter attacks. Some may not see that strength in Denilson as yet but I have no doubts that Denilson will join the Eboue, Bendtner, Diaby and Song list of changed opinions.

Porto were clearly given instructions to take the game to Arsenal in the second half and they came out with a point to prove, I thought we handled their threat very well from a defensive point of view but offensively we had a spell when we couldn’t get the ball down and play. The ball kept going back to Almunia to launch balls forward. Once the players composed themselves again they took charge of the game once more.

Abou Diaby nudged the ball out to the right to Nasri who was on the wide man shift, the reason why Wenger has persisted with Nasri in wide areas is because he is quick and can dribble. Wenger has said this a few times, he wants the young Frenchman to use his pace to beat players more often and this is what he did, alongside his fabulous dribbling skills.

Nasri turned one way, rolled his body the other, cut inside the penalty area and attacked three bamboozled Porto defenders, he wriggled into a goal scoring position and lashed the ball past Helton into the far corner. WHAT A GOAL!

Super Samir Nasri is starting to show his talents now, he is giving us a glimpse into the future. This is no ordinary footballer from down the road, this is potentially a world beater.

I saw the same in Diaby a few years back and I am seeing it clearly with Nasri. Give him one more injury free campaign and we will see regular match winning displays from the 22 year old.

Emmanuel Eboue had replaced the tiring Tomas Rosicky and he received a great reception from the Gooners. Eboue has turned from boo boy to cult hero. He deserves the same plaudits as William Gallas has been given for turning it around. He is making even the most pessimistic fan believe in him and he deserves everything positive he receives.

Five minutes after Nasri’s goal Arsenal had scored the fourth and effectively put the game to bed. It was the Arsenal of old. We broke from a Porto corner. Arshavin sped towards the Porto penalty area and Eboue made the run, Arshavin’s pass was perfect once again. The Eboue of old could have blasted it at the keepers legs or wide of the post but the mature version calmly rounded the keeper and slid it in with his left.

Eeeeeeemmanuel Eboue.. Eeeeeeemmanuel Eboue.. Eeeeeeemmanuel Eboue.. Eeeeeeemmanuel Eboue..

Our cult hero had his name buzzing around the stadium non stop.

So many Arsenal players stood out, so many of our players were on their game. The combination and understanding did not stop at Samir and Rosicky. Alex Song and Abou Diaby have developed a fantastic partnership in the midfield. They are now communicating constantly, when Song makes his runs forward, Diaby automatically drops back and on a number of occasions he won the ball outside our penalty area and strode forward in that long legged style of his.

Thomas Vermaelen threw himself at every shot and made many vital blocks. He headed balls, made clearances and used the ball very well.

Andrey Arshavin was majestic in the attacking third. His awareness of his team mates is remarkable, a step ahead of everyone else at times. The ball will be fizzed into him with opposition players around him and first time he will play a side footed pass or flick into an Arsenal player without looking. He had his moments of not tracking back when being dispossessed but overall his contribution was very good. He had a hand in three of our five goals so that is pretty good going.

I turned to my mate and said all that is missing is a Nicklas Bendtner hat-trick because he deserved it after last week and all the hard work he put in during the game. He got his chance when Eboue went on another great run into the box and was up-ended. Two penalties in three games?! Wow.

Only one man was going to take the kick in the dying minutes. His song was echoing around the stadium as he stood waiting for the referee’s go ahead. How must he have felt at that moment. A chance to score a hat-trick for Arsenal and the whole stadium singing your name. Bendtner brushed off any potential nerves and slid the ball into the corner of the net. Bendtner is currently the only Arsenal striker to have scored a hat-trick for the first team.

That was pretty much the last action of the game, we witnessed the lot last night. Goals, wonderful interchanging, great defending, dribbling from Nasri and Arshavin, excellent passing and hard work. We are growing from strength to strength at the right time.

All this was done without our first choice outfield spine. William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie would have all started if fit and that is another slap in the face to the brain dead pundits who suggest we have a weak or thin squad. Utter rubbish. We still managed to destroy a team that managed a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford last season. It may not be the same team exactly but it should put our victory into context.

Quarter finals? Bring on anyone. We are the Arsenal!

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