UNTROUBLED GUNNERS THUMP AZ
Arsenal 4 AZ Alkmaar 1
ARSENE WENGER had a difficult moment at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night. Only one and it came in the 70th minute when the ball bounced up towards him and he needed to take evasive action as it bounced up towards his face.
The match itself was an absolute breeze for his in-form Gunners.
While qualification is not mathematically certain due to Standard Liege's win over Olympiacos, there is little doubt the North Londoners are marching towards the knockout stages.
AZ Alkmaar were largely toothless. Deprived of their leading scorer and main threat Mounir El Hamdaoui, they instead fielded Graziano Pelle in attack. He is not in the same class as the Italian or the Brazilian he shares a name with.
Arsenal scored four, through Fabregas (2), Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby, and would have had more but for withdrawing Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie in order not to totally humiliate their Dutch opponents, who have lost as many games as they have won this term in the Eredivisie. AZ did pull one back through substitute Jeremain Lens but this was an extremely one-sided affair.
The Gunners served notice of their intentions when one flowing move involving Andriy Arshavin and Fabregas ended with Sergio Romero getting a feint touch to van Persie's shot, even if a corner was not awarded.
Romero stupidly picked up a backpass to give Arsenal a free-kick inside the six-yard box but van Persie's attempt was blocked. Worse to follow from the visiting keeper as he somehow allowed Fabregas's tame shot to creep past his right hand for the 25th-minute opener.
If England think they have goalkeeping concerns ahead of the World Cup, things aren't looking too bright for Argentina on the evidence of Romero's showing.
Maarten Martens finally mustered a shot for the Dutch champions just before the half-hour mark but Arsenal always looked nailed on score next and the second goal duly arrived just before half-time when Arshavin set up Nasri, who displayed neat footwork before supplying a calm finish.
It was great to see the France international back on the scoresheet after two months out with a broken leg and his performance will give heart to Wenger.
Another flowing move saw Diaby win the ball and feed Arshavin, who timed his pass to perfection to play in Fabregas. The skipper was never going to miss, almost sending Romero the wrong way as he crashed an emphatic finish high into the net for 3-0, eight minutes after the break.
Almunia made a great save, maybe not quite Gordon Banks-esque, to frustrate Pelle by tipping his header onto the frame of the goal before Martens and Brett Holman managed efforts with Arsenal taking their foot off the pedal.
Fabregas and van Persie were replaced by Aaron Ramsey and Eduardo but it was full-back Kieran Gibbs who almost scored next when he shot wide with his right foot.
Diaby got in on the act when AZ were torn apart on the break again with Eduardo's lovely backheel releasing Arshavin and the Russian again timed his unselfish pass to perfection.
It is fair to say Arshavin was sometimes on the periphery of things but he still had a major impact in terms of his quality passes at just the right time.
When the former Zenit St Petersburg star went off, it allowed Ronald Koeman's side to creep even more back into the game and Lens beat Gibbs and run through to despatch a slick, toe-punted finish past a static Almunia to at least give Alkmaar's travelling support something to cheer.
Ramsey hit the bar late on but the flag was up for offside.
No matter for Wenger and his easy-on-the-eye team. This was a stroll in the park for them.
This article has 1 comment
Arsenal was extremely outstanding.Goood performance and kudo to Arsene..His team has class and quality
By lekan. Posted November 5 2009 at 2:15 PM.