Arsenal cruise into quarters
Reuters - Tuesday 09 March 2010, 23:35
LONDON - A hat-trick from Nicklas
Bendtner helped Arsenal to a 5-0 thumping of Porto on Tuesday as
they overturned a first-leg deficit with nonchalant ease to
reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Eboue were also on target as
Arsenal completed a 6-2 aggregate victory to reach the last
eight for the third consecutive season.
Bendtner was guilty of a series of bad misses in the Premier
League win over Burnley at the weekend but he answered his
critics in style with a commanding performance to crown a
dazzling display by manager Arsene Wenger's side.
"It shows how quickly football can change," Wenger told Sky
Sports. "I hope it won't give him too much confidence now.
"But it's good for him especially after Saturday. I hope it
will give him the desire to work even harder."
NEWS: Wenger faith in Bendtner pays off
Porto had never won a European fixture in England before but
Arsenal's poor record of overturning first-leg deficits, a feat
they had not managed for more than 30 years, gave the Portuguese
side hope of defending their 2-1 advantage.
CHILLY NIGHT
That hope did not last long on a chilly north London night
as they were completely outclassed.
"They controlled the match," Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira
told reporters. "They played very well but I don't think we
deserved to lose by five goals.
"Arsenal are very good at provoking the opportunities they
need and they have the quality to seize those moments. This
defeat hurts."
Injured Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas, whose midfield
playmaking role was filled superbly by Nasri, said in his
programme notes he hoped Bendtner had saved his goals for Porto
after his blunders against Burnley.
After 10 minutes the Danish striker duly obliged when he
slotted the ball into an empty net after keeper Helton had
bravely denied Andrei Arshavin who had been released by Nasri.
Arshavin's pace and trickery teed up Bendtner for his second
on 25 minutes as Arsenal moved ahead on aggregate.
Porto enjoyed a brief spell of pressure early in the second
half but after Falcao failed to convert their best chance of the
night after being set up by Hulk, normal service was resumed.
Two goals in four minutes just past the hour killed off the
visitors. After 63 minutes Nasri ran at pace into the Porto area
and dribbled past three mesmerised defenders before steadying
himself and planting a shot inside the far post.
Then Arshavin carved Porto open and his reverse pass allowed
Eboue to skip around the despairing Helton and roll the ball
into an unguarded net.
Bendtner completed his first Arsenal hat-trick with
virtually the last kick of the game, firing a low penalty into
the corner after Eboue was brought down.
Porto may have had Hulk in their ranks but for one night at
least, the much maligned Dane was Arsenal's super-hero.
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