Arsenal 7 Fabregas 2, Hubacek OG, Walcott 2, Hleb, Bendtner
Slavia Prague 0
It was a performance befitting a perfect birthday present for manager Arsene Wenger. The French coach celebrated his 58th birthday on Monday and his players delivered a perfect present for him a day later.
There was no live telecast (again!) by the service provider and I had to wake up at 5 in the morning to catch the match. It was certainly worth the effort.
Slavia Prague lined-up with a 4-5-1 formation in an effort to pack the midfield and starve the Arsenal front-line from the services of Cesc Fabregas. However, the source if danger came from another player.
Alex Hleb ball skills is one of the reason Wenger splashed the cash for the Belarussian player. In the 5th minute he was surrounded by two Slavia defenders but still managed to find Fabregas just inside the box.
With his marker losing his footing Fabregas had a clear shot at goal. A wonderful finish by the Spanish youngster saw the ball resting at the back of the net a while later. Arsenal 1-0.
If the home fans were expecting the flood-gate to open, they must be terribly disappointed. Slavia hold their own for much of the match after the goal and posed a threat a couple of times. However, their final ball let them down.
Manu Adebayor was holding the line well and bringing other players into the match but his failure to find the net was causing much concern. Gael Glichy found him twice with wonderful crosses but Adebayor's headers failed to cause much trouble to the Slavian goalkeeper.
Then Slavia failed to clear a corner in the 24th minute. Hleb picked up the loose ball and his stiff shot was deflected by David Hubacek past his own goalkeeper, Martin Vaniak into the net. Arsenal 2-0.
Vaniak then produced a wonderful save with his leg from another Adebayor's header after Theo Walcott had found a bit of space to run into on the left.
Manuel Almunia then justified his selection ahead of Jens Lehmann when he gathered cleanly a shot from the right by Matej Krajcik.
Then four minutes from the interval Walcott starting his first match as a striker found the net for his first goal at the Emirates, which was also his first goal in European football. The 18 year old capitalised on a defensive error which saw Vaniak clearing a suicide backpass straight to the England U-21 player.
He sidestepped the challenge from the goalkeeper and cooly slotted the ball home between two defenders who were closing in on him. Arsenal 3-0.
The Gunners had chances to increase the lead further but Adebayor managed to put his header wide of the goal when it looked easier to score. Then Manu Eboeu came within inches of finding the back of the net from the right.
Then six minutes into the second half, Hleb finally put his name on the scoresheet. A wonderful lay off by Fabregas gave Hleb the opportunity to have a run at goal. He disguised his shot twice, fooling the defender and the goalkeeper into committing themselves before slotting the ball home. Arsenal 4-0.
Four minutes later, Hleb became the provider. He found Walcott who ran with the ball into the box and showed his maturity well beyond his years by finishing with his outstep that went in off the far post. Arsenal 5-0.
Adebayor, despite missing a host of chances in front of goal continued to play an important role
for Arsenal. He found Fabregas in the 56th minute but the Spaniard's attempt was blocked.
Then two minutes later Hleb found Adebayor with a crisp pass. His nifty footwork took him from his marker and his pass found Walcott at the edge of the box. This time the England youngster laid it into Fabregas' path. The Spaniard finished off the move with his second touch. Arsenal 6-0.
Wenger made a wholesale substitution in the 61st minute with Gilberto Silva, Tomas Rosicky and Niklas Bendtner coming on for Matthieu Flaminini, Hleb and Adebayor. A serious injury at this juncture would force Arsenal to play with less than eleven men.
Almunia then made two wonderful saves to ensure his clean sheet after defensive errors by the Arsenal defence gave opportunities to the visitors to have a shot at goal.
Every Arsenal players were trying to assist Walcott to get his first hat-trick in Arsenal colours. Gilberto found him with just ten minutes to go but somehow Vaniak redeemed himself with a wonderful instinctive one hand stop.
Then in the 82nd minute Rosicky's effort hit the bar from a rebound after Vaniak had saved a shot from Walcott again. Four minutes later Walcott was presented with another opportunity by Fabregas, who himself was also looking for a hat-trick. However, he lost his composure and sliced his shot away from goal.
Then with just two minutes remaining, Eboue found Bendtner who used his physical presence to run past the defence and his pace to beat Vaniak to ball which left him with an open goal. He did not miss to record his first goal in European football. Arsenal 7-0.
I wish the match would not end until both Walcott and Fabregas found their third, but it ended anyway with me feeling very, very much elated and looking forward in cautious manner to the trip to Anfield on Sunday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ARSENE!
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