ARSENAL DOMINATES FC PORTO TO ADVANCE IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAY

There was some trepidation among Arsenal fans as the Gunners headed into the home half of their Champions League showdown with FC Porto.  They were behind 2-1 on the aggregate score after a loss in Portugal, and the team hadn’t been able to overcome a first leg deficit in European Cup action since 1978.  Any concern quickly proved to be unwarranted as Arsenal came out blazing and destroyed FC Porto 5-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Soccer betting enthusiasts who backed Arsenal as -175 home favorites were rewarded with their victory.  The takeback price on FC Porto was a hefty +550, while the draw was priced at +280.  In their last two visits to Arsenal’s home field at The Emirates FC Porto has now been beaten by a combined score of 9-0.  Arsne Wegner’s team will now await Friday’s draw to learn their quarterfinal opponent.

With injured captain Cesc Fabregas out of the lineup someone needed to step up for the home team, and Nicklas Bendtner answered the call.  Bendtner scored just 9 minutes in to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead and, more importantly, even up the aggregate score.  Bendtner would strike again at the 25 minute mark, giving Arsenal a 2-0 halfime advantage.  The second half was all Arsenal, with Samir Nasri scoring at 63 minutes quickly followed by a goal from Emmanuel Eboue just three minutes later.  Bendtner would complete the hat trick with a stoppage time penalty kick to boost his team to the 5-0 final score.

Bendtner had been the subject of a lot of criticism in the British sporting media over the past few days for a substandard performance in Arsenal’s last Premier League contest against Burnley.  Despite this, he said that the harsh words weren’t the source of motivation that inspired his play:

"Not at all. Every time I play a game, I put it behind me as soon as it's finished. Sometimes it's one of those days and today I put it right. I'm happy with my hat-trick but tomorrow we move on. It was good to score early but I don't know if that affected my game."

Team manager Wegner tried to take a low key approach with his post game comments on Bendtner’s performance:

"I hope it will not give him too much confidence. It's good for him. He played well on Saturday but missed chances. Today he had less chances and scored more goals. I hope it gives him the desire to work even harder."

Wegner was more effusive when the subject turned to the play of the team as a whole:

"It's never perfect but it was a very good performance, a strong performance. We had a very good first half, suffered a bit at the beginning of the second half, but after the goal of Nasri it made a big difference and from then it was easy. It was individual brilliance (from Nasri) but overall we had a solid team performance, we were serious, had good solidarity and, as we can play, a fluid game."

He said that he wouldn’t mind facing one of his Premier League colleagues in the next round:

"I have a funny feeling maybe it's good for us to play and English team. We have not done well against Chelsea and against Man U this year and it would be a good chance to show we can do it against them."

Arsenal will now turn its attention back to the English Premier League schedule.  They’ll be on the road this Saturday against Hull City before they return to The Emirates one week later to face West Ham United.