Another example of this came just before the hour mark. Theo skinned his man on the outside before finding Nasri with a measured pass

Match Review – Arsenal 4 Porto 0 – Champions League

Four goals, plenty of chances, comfortable at the back (for the most part) and a clean sheet. I guess you can’t ask for more than that following the Hull horror show. The major difference between the Hull game and here can be summed up in two simple words: COMMITTMENT and DESIRE.

When I heard the lineup, I wasn’t best pleased. I immediately texted my Gooner pal Dschin the following:

“So much for changes. The two hobbits at the back and the same duo up-front. Looks like we’re gonna have to concede from yet another set-piece for the penny to drop.”

To put it plainly, I was not happy that the Toure/Gallas and RvP/Ade combos had been retained. However during the 90 minutes, I was more than happy to eat the humble pie being served to me. And it tasted quite nice, actually. In hindsight, giving the same lads the chance to atone for their shocker on the weekend was a clever move. And you wouldn’t expect anything less from the man they dub “The Professor”.

So with only one change from Saturday (Nasri for Eboue), we were fielding pretty much our strongest lineup on paper. The first ten minutes were quiet – perhaps the players were mindful that overloading and conceding on the break would get the fans on their back – with the only effort of note being a Walcott effort tipped into the side-netting at the near post.

From the 11th minute onwards, business picked up. Robin forged some space 25-yards out before unleashing a trademark left-footed curler that Porto ‘keeper Helton palmed wide. At that point I once again texted Dschin to alert him to that horrible stat about our profligacy from corners compared to our ability to concede goals from them. A predictably poor corner later and Porto had sprung on the counter, outnumbering us by 5 to 3 at one stage. The cross came in from the right and Rodriguez connected but could only see his shot skim the bar. Looking at the replays, credit must go to Kolo who manfully sprinted back to pressurise the Porto striker enough to put him off. The first warning sign.

Five minutes later Robin spun off his marker and into space at the back-post. Having got on the end of a raking diagonal ball, he could only volley it with his weaker foot into the ground and the ball eventually bounced onto the roof of the net. The Dutchman was looking lively, which is always a good sign for the team as he is one of our few individual matchwinners.

The second warning sign came on 25 minutes. Gallas won the ball at the back, strode out and laid it off to Nasri before stomping upfield. His French compatriot was however dispossessed, and with a man light at the back Porto broke forward. Lisandro had a stinging effort from nearly 30-yards that Manuel diverted for a corner.

The third warning – and as it turned out, the final one – had alarm bells ringing across the back. From the resulting corner we failed to cleanly win the aerial ball (shock horror) and it dropped to Lisandro barely six-yards out. His snapshot went through Almunia’s legs but could not find a way past Gael on the line, who most certainly saved our bacon. Had he not been in the right place at the right time, the game would have taken a massively different course.

That was as good as it got for Porto and a mere five minutes later the deadlock was broken. Ade neatly chested a long ball down to Cesc – who was playing a lot higher up the pitch – and made a run in behind the Porto defence. The Spaniard fed him with a perfectly weighted through ball, and having beaten the offside trap (shock horror?) the Togonator looked for a mate. I felt his cutback to the near post was underhit, but then I underestimated Robin’s sheer DESIRE to get there ahead of his man and stab it home.

We doubled our lead five minutes before the break, and unbelievably it was from a corner (shock horror!). For once the delivery was on the money and Ade rose to head the ball down into the ground and it bounced up to ricochet off the underside of the bar and into the net. I texted Dschin with four simple words:

“CALL A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.”

The second-half got underway as Porto brought on club captain Lucho Gonzalez to try and stiffen things up in midfield. They needn’t have bothered. Only three minutes into the half and comical defending out on the right saw the ball fall to Theo, who played in Robin. More comical defending saw Robin slip his man with undue ease and advance into the box unchallenged, where he prodded the ball past the keeper with his trusty left peg.

The game was all but over, three points well and truly in the bag, job done. The only question now was how much the players wanted to put on a show for the fans – the same fans that had seen such a below-par performance on the weekend. As it panned out, the next twenty minutes produced some flowing football that was ultimately littered with missed sitters.

The first golden opportunity came on 53 as Theo somehow contrived to miss from point-blank range when it seemed easier to score. Although the ball arrived at him with pace, the boy should still have scored. I said earlier in the day that despite all the plaudits he has received thus far this season, he has still only managed a solitary strike for The Arse. He needs a goal and he needs one soon.

After the miss the cameras showed a laughing Fabio Capello. And while many of the Emirates faithful may also have seen the funny side of the miss, you have to hope that in a similar situation when the chips are down, Theo (and the rest of the side) would be more ruthless.

Another example of this came just before the hour mark. Theo skinned his man on the outside before finding Nasri with a measured pass. True, the ball came to him at an awkward height, but you felt that Super Sam could have done better. Once again it was all smiles as we were already three goals to the good, and one hopes that when it really matters, such sparkling build-up play would be rewarded with a clinical finish.

Midway through the half saw changes for both teams: comical moment of the night came when the superbly-named Hulk entered the fray, whilst Robin received a standing ovation for his exploits. The Dutchman was unfortunate not to have an opportunity at completing his first hat-trick for the club, but showed enough to suggest that when he is physically and mentally on his game, he has few peers in this team when it comes to creativity, imagination and finishing. As for the Hulk, the only big green monster in North London was the Arsenal mascot, Goonersaurus Rex.

Nasri and Cesc had efforts from range that were stopped by Helton, before the impressive Bendtner won a cheap penalty on 70 minutes. Had an Arsenal player given that spot-kick away, I would have been fuming. As it was, I was just disappointed that the Porto defender had committed such a sin after RvP had exited the scene, as it would have been the perfect opportunity for the Dutchman to grab a treble. With him off the stage, it was left his mate Ade to roll the ball home.

I was thoroughly impressed by Bendtner’s cameo. As my mate Dschin said to me, he looks a million times the player that turned out pre-season at Barnet. Another impressive substitute was Carlos Vela, who replaced Theo. A few minutes after his arrival, from his station on the left-wing Vela feinted and jinked his way through a number of Porto players on the edge of the box in a dazzling dribble. Unfortunately he couldn’t get a shot away as he eventually ran out of space, and Bendtner’s attempt to salvage the situation was scuppered.

As we saw during the course of pre-season and again last week against Sheffield United, the Big Dane and Little Mexican have an innate understanding. There was a moment here where Vela played the ball into Bendtner and set off on a run. Sensing that Carlos had continued his run into the box, Bendtner attempted to play a blind reverse pass into his path but his attempt was blocked. A good sign: although the execution might have been off, the idea was right and the more games this pairing gets, the more honed it will become. Not only would I play them in the Carling Cup, but I’d also start them in the FA Cup.

With five minutes remaining, Bendtner continued his impressive showing by exhibiting good close control before slipping in Ade, but the Togonator fired wide. Eboue also had time to miss a sitter from inside the six-yard box after clever work by Vela down the left, although that was more due to last-ditch defending from the vanquished visitors.

So in the end, the perfect riposte to those questioning the players’ attitude following THAT game on the weekend. And like I mentioned at the start, while many called for Gallas/Toure/Ade/Robin’s heads, Le Boss was smart in picking them and telling them to buck up their ideas, because all four had thoroughly decent games. Bar the usual heart-in-mouth moments at set-pieces, I thought the backline performed very well after the dodgy first 30 minutes and dealt with everything that was thrown with them in a calm and composed manner. Yet despite this – and with the growing calls for the inclusion of Silvestre and particularly Djourou – one must remember that Gallas and Toure are perfectly suited for European games against sophisticated opposition. Don’t forget that Porto regularly blow opponents away in their domestic league and are therefore used to playing with a certain style and panache; as opposed to the “grab a set-piece goal” and “hoof it to the big lad” approach that many Premiership teams adopt. It is the former approach that causes us so many problems, so while Gallas and Toure performed well here, they must repeat it against the likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Didier Drogba and Peter Crouch before claiming to have turned any corners (no pun intended).

The midfield had a better balance in my eyes – largely due to the restoration of Nasri. With the Frenchman out for the last few weeks we have been left with two ‘runners’ out wide. While this is fruitful on the counter away from home, on our own patch where teams tend to sit deeper we need another creative player to shoulder the burden alongside Cesc, and I think Nasri did that. He may not have grabbed the headlines, but he certainly helped the team tick over. Speaking of Cesc, I was much happier to see him strutting his stuff higher up the pitch, especially in the second half. Credit for this must go to Denilson, who allowed Cesc to push on. The Brazilian had a quiet but efficient game; I can’t remember squandering possession on too many occasions either.

Theo was a mixture of fast and super-fast. His decision-making may still be lacking slightly as he does tend to hold onto the ball a bit longer than he needs to (which is to be expected of most 19 year olds), but because he outpaces his marker so many times during the 90 minutes, there is a strong chance that at least one time per match he will get it right and deliver a telling ball.

As for Ade and Robin, I was as happy with their sharpness, commitment and desire as I was angry about their lack thereof on the weekend. Let’s hope that they – and the rest of the lads – can keep it up consistently, starting with Sunderland away on the weekend.