European Champions' League - Qualifying Round 3 Leg 2

Arsenal 3 Rosicky, Fabregas, Eduardo
Sparta Prague 0

Arsenal won 5-0 on aggregate

Eduardo scored his first competitive goal for Arsenal in a match which also saw Tomas Rosicky scoring against his former club and Cesc Fabregas continuing his goalscoring run.

The match started on a steady pace with the visitors pressuring the Arsenal defense on a number of occassions. However, a quick break saw Theo Walcott sprinting clear on the right before delivering a low ball across the box.

Rosicky timed his run perfectly and arrived before his marker to put the ball into the net. His celebration was muted in respect of the club that gave him his first break into football.

Afterwards, the match deteriorated rapidly with Arsenal playing at half of the pace they used too. Theo Walcott could not do anything right with over-hit crosses or misplaced passes became his serving for the paying crowd.

One thing for sure though, his pace would certainly give trouble to defenders once he is able to get past them.

The Gunners looked comfortable and the onus was on the Czech champions to have a go and break the home side defense.

Unfortunately, they failed to do so on a constant basis with just a few chances created and too far between to put the home side under any pressure.

Abou Diaby partnered Gilberto Silva in midfield tonight and he imposed himself on a number of occassions but one thing about the French youngster is he has this habit to lose concentration on the ball, thus making it easy for opponents to come from behind and snatch the ball from him.

Arsene Wenger introduced Fabregas for Diaby and Manu Adebayor for Robin Van Persie with around twenty minutes to go.

The substitutions took almost immediate impact. Eduardo started to become livelier and it was his flair that took him past a Czech defender before squaring the ball to Fabregas who scored with his second touch of the ball.

The Croatian himself got his name on the scoresheet. A good work down the right side saw Denilson running with the ball into the box before delivering it across the face of the goal. Eduardo was in the right place at the right time to devert it into the goal.

Perhaps he is starting to show his goal instinct that brought him so many goals for Dinamo Zagreb and Croatia.

It is indeed a season to be more optimistic.

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