Arsenal vs Porto, 5-0: Full time analysis and player ratings
The Game
It had to be Nicklas Bendtner. Those asking for the 22-year old to be sold or saying that he is not good enough for Arsenal after Burnley will find it difficult to speak after his performance against Porto. Ironically, his performance wasn’t that different from last Saturday but today he of course found the net whenever he was presented golden chances to score.
Also, I would be a fool if I don’t mention Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri’s games. The weeks the Russian spent on the sidelines nursing the injury did him a lot of good and you can easily see he will be of mighty importance during the last months of the season. As for the Frenchman, oh well, his goal was one of the best of this season for us, fantastic.
We qualify and now we wait for the draw, knowing that this Arsenal team is simply unstoppable, with almost all our players enjoying the form of their life. Oh, and one last thing, I would be grateful if the comments section does not turn into an “I told you so” battle on Nicklas. For obvious reasons.
Match Video Highlights
Match video highlights are available in the Videos section of our website. If not there yet, rest assured they will be up in a matter of hours.
Player Ratings
Almunia: 7 – Made a crucial save when the score was still 2-0 and looked solid throughout.
Vermaelen: 7 – Another very solid game though not fully at ease in marking Falcao as he had to make some nasty tackles to stop him and was booked for one of them.
Campbell: 6 – Had a lot of struggling moments Sol at the back, especially in the first half, but still used all his experience when required.
Clichy: 7 – Some brilliant interceptions but a worrying shaky moment for the Frenchman in the first-half with that attempted header which gave ample space for Hulk to attack.
Sagna: 7 – Very solid game for Bacary but did look a little uncomfortable in the second half when Cristian Rodríguez came on as a sub, allowing the Porto strikers to cross in more than one occassion.
Rosicky: 7 – A very good first half display from the Czech International who seemed to be suffering from a knee injury, reason why he was substituted in the 57th minute.
Song: 8 – Phenomenal. Still needs to learn to pass it early rather than surging forward with the risk of losing the ball cheaply but besides that, he is a beast in midfield.
Diaby: 8 – Awesome game from Abou as well who was a force when surging forward and did very well in breaking down Porto’s attacks.
Nasri: 9 – Central midfield. That is where I wanted him to play last season, but many laughed at me. Oh well, today, many were worried – including myself – on who was going to replace Cesc and how. Samir provided the answer.
Arshavin: 9 – He’s back and meaning business. He said he didn’t expect to start on the bench against Burnley and this is why. He’s on fire. He didn’t score but turned provider when required, super game.
Bendtner: 10 – Let’s put it this way. Last Saturday I gave him a “4″ for doing everything right but missing what a striker is out there for: scoring goals. Today he not only did his job to perfection but also found the net three times. Enough said, no?
(Subs)
Eboue: 7,5 – Is he on a roll or what? As it is, he is clearly the best option in the squad for the advanced right-midfield role.
Denilson: No Vote – Nothing special, did ok.
Walcott: No Vote – Even if didn’t play much, Theo continued where he left from against Burnley and was unlucky not to find the net.
![[Video] Blackburn vs Arsenal highlights: Big win as we go second in the table!](http://www.thegunninghawk.com/wp-content/themes/arthemia-premium/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/video.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1)
A massive victory. A comprehensive victory and a clean sheet. Top performances all around. I totally agree that samir’s place is more central when either cesc or diaby aren’t in. I’ve haven’t been this excited in a long time!
ARSENAL FOR THE DOUBLE!!!
Quality performance from th whole team. Clichy back to his speed y best, Nasri showing he’s got alot going for him in the central midfield role and Bendtner proving many wrong with a stellar performance. Could not be more happy with that performance!
I told you so!!!!
:@
Chris,
Stonroy had to post it. He couldn’t resist…:-)
Alumnia had a good game too. Hard to say who is MOTM. Let’s hope…
Arsene was sooooo confident – now I see why. And take a look at Nuclear Bomber 52 face before he scored the penalty… I would describe it as confidence. Keep it up. Gunners firing on all V8 cylinders.
What a great victory! We were magnificent from beginning to end, it was such a joy to watch. The team is really starting to gel and this could not happen at a better time. Watching the game I kept thinking that nothing is impossible for this team right now.
PS: I think Eboue deserved a better rating, other than that spot on!
Exactly!
Seriously, Nasri, Cesc, Arshavin, Eboue, Diaby, Song, wow, how many players are playing at their best? I could also add Nick to the list and the usual suspects like Vermaelen and Sagna.
We’re hitting peak form at just the right time.
Not mention our infirmary seems to finally be emptying out. (Knock on wood!)
Imagine if Robin does indeed return for the Champions League semi-final 2nd leg and eventual final. Without going in how unfair it would be for the other players territory, it would be fantastic.
It would…not to mention Djourou might be back in the squad by then. I would love to see the future pairing of thomas and him.
Unfortunately the chances of RvP coming back and finding his marks in time are pretty slim. It took him a few games at the beginning of the season and after such a long break he will need probably even more games. But then why not?
On the other hand you have to give Bendtner some credit, he’s back on the progression trail and if he stays fit he could have a cracking end of the season.
Either way there’s hope!
I just forgot how many bendtner was targeting for season…………because if we continue to put this many balls with precision in box n even if he taps say 2 per game in….then may be we have 9 games in league and atleast 4 in champions league …….so arnd 26 more to his current tally………wont he hv better season than crappy ade-mancity-bayor…….
still the best even without persie fabregas and gallas.well done
Good on ya Nicky. If that’s not a comeback I don’t know what is. Perhaps Aidan will retract some of his more vitriolic comments post Burnley. A striker doesn’t “just score goals” full stop. they create hassle, harry and pull defenders out of position crating space for others. All of the above NB 52 does and now he is getting on the scoresheet to boot.if strikers were solely judged on goals scored we would have had to biff Dennis Bergkamp after the 98 Double season!
Next stop Hull.
Come on you Reds
Exactly…he won 86% of his aerial battles. He passes better with his head than porto did with their feet!
Nick,
Torres missed yesterday couple of clear chances – are their fans asking Torres be sold? NB 52 is holding the ball and creating “openings”… as well as scoring now.
MY PLAYER RATINGS – SLAG THEM OFF COZ I KNOW YOU WILL
Almunia 7 – Didnt see much wrong with his game tonight.
Sagna 7 – Again did nothing wrong in my eyes – solid.
Verminater 9 – F****** solid as ever.
Campbell 8 – We have missed him since he left…made a couple of errors but a CLASS ACT.
Clichy 7 – Again played a solid game and is getting back to his best.
Diaby 8 – Love how he is proving some of our “supporters” wrong in his performances of late.
Nasri 10 – Give this boy some responsibilty and he wont let us down as he proved tonight.
Song 8 – Funny it was just a year ago when everyone wondered what was this guy was doing in our team…now we know.
Asharvin 8 – didnt like him saying it usually takes him 20 minutes to score coz he DIDNT tonight. Good performance though but wish he would take a leaf out of Nikki’s book and do the business when it matters, but created…love him still.
Bendtner 10 – The guy is unbelievably arrogant but when he does what he did tonight who can blame him? I have so much respect for him for standing tall and delivering the goods tonight. I dont care if he doesnt score again till the quarter finals.
Rosicky 8 – you wouldnt believe this guy was out for 18 months the way he was twisting and turning his markers tonight. It can only mean he is just about there in terms of being at his lethal best again. More to come of him before the season is out and im thinking he will be our Hero to take us to the double.
I cant slag ya when you are correct. I would only bump Clichy and sagna up to a 7.5 because they actually put in some great crosses!
that was some game to watch,arshavin gets my vote for man of the match,they just couldnt live with the little genius,hope he plays that well against hull saturday he should do with maybe a goal aswell top player,i bet paul mcshane is shitting his pants:)
haha…
RE: Craig – i make u right buddy. Our Wing backs are worth an 8
@Craig86
Good point, for once Sagna and Clichy both put in some decent crosses, pity none led to a goal, Bendtner came clos off a perfect cross from Sagna. Hope they can keep doing it consistently from now on.
A very good victory to Arsenal!! Yahoo~~
Never expect to score 5goals and NB really show up what he is capable of after a disappointing performance last weekend…
Go Gunners… No one can stop u now!!
good ratings chris. would just maybe give nasri a 10 too
but who would’ve seen that coming.
i don’t know, i almost broke a whole through my wall with a fist pump watching nasri bust through there
the finish though. god what a finish. what do you think, assist and goal of the season in back to back matches?
and for those who want wenger out (if there are any left) , go cheer for manu or chelsea. the man is a genious and all of his players breathe arsenal
Also, is it just me or has Almunia started to pick his game up a bit in these last few matches. That punch he made in the box was EPIC!
Agree my australian brother. I think he is feeding off the confidence of the team. Not to mention having the best CB in England in Vermaelen.
Well, I think the whole team is different this year. Usually/unfortunately, by end of February previous years we were loosing confidence and dropping out of all races. This year we are past that point and still firing…
Let’s hope for glory this year. Such a young team – it is a miracle we are where we are. Not to mention the spending and Wenger’s policy.
SH!T YES
fantastic goals , fantastic victory, Arshavin, what a player,what a player, guts and will together with ability. sheer class. a man. did not need much time to drop the rust and show his worth again( ok , one sitter) , Nasri finaly playing in his favorite position he excelled in Marseille and called Zidanesque… Wenger has to think about that, somehow Fab +Nasri together in the center Bendner ok too his tap ins well this time, was there also to head down and keep ball from Almunia’s 50 hoofs up field . good job,but a 9 or 10, get real fellow gunners, the guy does a very good job for us , he is needed,but he is no genius he is just our Heskey, a one that scores on occasion. but intelligent footballer that is for sure
BUT a stronger team will punish us next time for our sheer inability to control pace and ball when we are ahead and needing to calm the game, we were in real danger there for a while, real danger. cann’t these enthusiastic (or panicky) kids slow down, clam down, keep ball , play posesion, play midfield, kill the opposition , why so my dribbling and dallying on the ball before passing, so many balls astray because of this extra touch, nsted of the quick tiangle, AND what was this hoofing back and forth to/with Almunia for passages of the game.ie Almunia hoofs, Bendner heads down , the midfielders struggle to recover, recover, back to Almunia hoofs the Bendi and so it goes… some things to work on, We are not a one touch smart ball team yet. coming Real, Barca etc these will be the moments and skills that will make or break
GREAT WIN! Great frigging win!…
@RobesPierre
I’d take Bendtner over the slowest man alive Heskey any day. I’ve watched a couple of Aston Villa’s games where he has started and i honestly do not get why he is ahead of Carew in the pecking order. He seems to play in slow motion to me.
I honestly can’t think of a big man in the league that has anything on B52.
I’m going to take this chance to be controversial and say that campbell is first choice in my book with or without gallas. gallas has the ability right now but campbell is arsenal. he’s bobbled about and made mistakes but always bounces back and that’s the attitude that needs to be instilled in this group. how about that punch from al! the diaby-song pairing -strength, precision, ruthlessness- shades of yesteryear?!?!?!?!!?!
I agree also…the only problem is that sol is running on 35 year old legs with many miles on them. It may be a lot to ask for him to play more than once a week. Hopefully djourou will be back before season’s end.
yes, cant wait to have johann back
I think we should reconsider the whole policy of dumping 30+ players.
We should also make sure we tie SONG and DIABY to long contracts. No point in losing them like we lost Flamini after his excellent run in the CL.
No way! Gallas has been our best defender this season and his attitude has been second to none.
I like Sol and I’m very impressed by his displays considering his age. But as soon as we’ll meet a good team he will be ruthlessly exposed because of his lack of pace. And I’m not forgetting that Sol tends to err under pressure. He may have changed but I doubt it.
I’m not slating him as he is a great man and a grat footballer. But Gallas cannot come back soon enough imho.
Oh I will welcome Billy back with open arms. I’ve just been thoroughly impressed with sol since he came back, and i think he provides a calming, rock of a player that our younger players can look to, especially in the locker room. Let’s be honest, Billy as a leader hasn’t worked for us, but he is the superior player.
fair point. i suppose there was something about his intense fist pumping for the stoke goal that shook me up. i think you’re right about playing against better sides, but as mentioned by charlottegooner we need to keep some of the older ones around. no doubt it should’ve been campbell brought in instead silvestre (whom i do support). sol can pass on a tradition of winning with arsenal.
A great team performance, showing what was lacking a few weeks ago i.e. attacking and defending as a team. Good to see NB52 socking it to his critics (to miss chances a player has to be in the right position in the first place!!!) Ecstatic though I am with such an emphatic win am I alone in thinking that there were far more wayward passes than usual.
I will just say I TOLD YOU……………………. Naaa, joking, I didn’t even told stuff about NB, but I still think he is a “log”… but he finds the net, what is important. Seriously, I think that we proved that we do not depend in any player, even though they are important part of the first team, let’s say Cesc or Robin, I mean of course is great to have them in the squad, but if you have great replacments, there is no big deal. As well I think Vela proved that he can play really good, I will bet for him in the first 11!
Other thing that I would like to say is something that my dad pointed and I think he has reason, the guy that prepers phisycally our players is HORRIBLE! They keep falling and falling in stupid injuries that other teams don’t suffer, it’s no “bad luck” it is just that our Phisycall Trainer (dunno if that is how this guy is called) is a pretty bad one; I mean look at Nasri today.
Adioooos!
well in short, i think the team played really really well, the only thing that bothers me is that when we are 2-0 up 2 minutes left until half time our centre backs don’t need to be going up at all. Although they was really really fantastic didn’t give a lot of time to either hulk or falcao, superb. And alex song too his in the opponents half and decides to dribble with the ball even though there is players ahead of him like 4 players there nasri, diaby, rosicky and bendtner all in fornt of him, there is really no need for that, however i thought he was really good today as well.
Everyone else was really excellent nasri, arshavin, bedntner how incredible were they today. Eboue just keeps on getting better an better too.
If there is anything for us that we need to work on continuously, its our concentration because too many times we just looked like we was going to fall asleep for a minute and against top sides you know what will happen.
Anyways well done to the team, well done to Arsene too making the needed subs exactly at the right time, lets move on to saturday now, crucial crucial game cannot drop any points at all!
COME ON ARSENAL!!!
Bendtner put 3 goals in from a few yards, big bloody deal, he was sh!te once more like Eboue, sell them both to Spurs in the summer!
you are a sick man
You should sod off to spuds
are you a spurs who campaigned to get Bendtner and Eboue? Saw your same comment in other blog. get a life.
dude u should go to spurs did u see how we struggled without a forward and now when we have one u want him to go !
LOVE ARSENAL……HATE EBOUE & BENDTNER!
so are you
You obviously don’t love arsenal if you hate the two players responsible for us advancing in the champions league.
Tonight was 0-0, foreign goals don’t count!
It was an oustanding performance, thank you gunners
my personal rating:
Almunia 7.5 (three saves?)
Vermalaen 8.5 (Mr Serious)
Campbell 8 (Fighter)
Clichy 8 (Great Lungs)
Sagna 7.5 (You would have scored a goal last night and made your kid happy)
Song 8.5 (Mr Alert, I focus on him a lot he is really a smart guy, tho he could’t reach one ball coming back from Rosicky)
Abou Diaby 8 (when Cesc is ruled out Abou’s presence is always felt)
Rosicky 7.5 (you rarely disappoint me, I love you man!)
Samir Nasri 9.5 (Man of the game : Samir Messi)
Arshavin 9 (Thanks for not being selfish)
Bendtner 9.5 (smart game for the dannish kid, he moved well on the pitch)
Eboue 8 (he brought their goalkeeper down, it was a smart touch) =D
Walcot 6 (football is a smart game, use your head not only your legs)
Denilson 7 (for doing his job and just that)
i would give AA a 10..he’s effort and assist for the first 2 goals..and assist on the 4th one..classic..
For me bendtner had the same game as saturday. oke he score 3, but wouldn’t anyone score these goals? the second 1 he was standing there for a while unmarked. watching arshavin doing his magic and then put it in the goal without 1 porto defender notice he was standing there completly free. Don’t get me wrong, I praised bendtner on saturday. i’m not hating on the big guy, but many arsenal fans are screaming one day he should be sold and the other day he is a great striker. I think he is vital for arsenal right now even if he miss 5 chances. WHY? when eduardo, arsahvin or vela are playing in the middle they are so isolated and it force us to go wide and cross. with bendtner he wins in the air and is strong when he recieve a pass. thats why he is vital. his performance wasn’t any diffirent from saturday. i even think he can do much better.
i thought sagna wasn’t having a solid game.this guy is always looking for a cross and never cuts back and pass. yes he did had a couple of good crosses but that is not quality, that is blind. and the next game he again will deliver some blind crosses. and i remember a moment when he was sleeping in the defence.
What i like about eboue is he reacts on the counter attacks. if you pay attention many times cesc arshavin eboue and diaby are the players that involed in the end of a counterattack. why? they sprint forward immediatly. i like that
what i like this performance is that we could have score 10. offcourse we had some nervy moments begining second half, but that is the nature of the game. they were in a fase that they could have made the 2-1, but if you look at the other way we could have been 4-0 up in the first half.
Some will say Arsenal is strong at home. But i think the diffirence with the away game was Song in the middle. this guy is a beast. i like how you controle the ball on his chest and keep on working. this guy is really important. I don’t care if he lose the ball sometimes. and damn diaby. He is so dicipline. hardly loses the ball. i must say clichy is looking like his old self.
What this team is missing is a backup for song and 1 for gallas and vermaelen. Almunia is doing well for a couple of games but i still feel we need a new goalkeeper. the rest of the squad is assum.
i mean imagine everybody was fit. we would have something like djourou, sagna, gibbs, ramsey, rosicky,wallcot, bendtner on the bench. Some players that are playing now wouldn’t even make the bench–>players like denilson eduardo vela sylvestre traore. that would leave gibbs or sagna not on the bench because there is place for one back.
Conclusion: the people that we now have on the bench wouldn’t make the bench. haha
Lets go for the double! i love this team
Maybe not. Edu wouldn’t have scored the first one as he would be knocked out into the dirt, and Ade would have been in an off-side position for the second goal. As for the third goal? You just don’t know when someone’s leg will go numb like our beloved Robert Pires.
Trust me, things are harder than it looks. B52 had a whistled wide header and a saved shot on goal. I think those were important to look into, no?
kinnell!
Bendtnewr wasn’t a 4 on Saturday and he wasn’t a 10 today.
Arshavin wasn’t a 9 but maybe if he and Nasri get on a roll the title could be a real possibility -
Chamions League still looking like a pipe dream really though
5-0 disguises some shocking defending individually and as a team
We have the most attacking style of both our league and the CL so of course they will be shocking errors on the defensive side as it’s the price to pay for it. But since it’s our style and we’re not going to change it in the near future there will be such shockers in almost every game. As long as we score more than the opposition we’ll have to learn to live with it.
CL is looking like a pipe dream for every team bar Barca. But then our dream looks better tonight
Tim Stillman and NF CLock END
U guys are a joke kkkkkk anyways good to have people like U in the blog because It will give a break to ma mind after reading all the other relevant comments. Yaa guys, no one need to concentrate on ur comments, its just a joke.
beautiful. best weve looked since we totaly housed everton on day one. lets just hope wenger and barca didnt notice that cesc didnt play.
Glad to see a high vote for Song, as I haven’t read anything about him on any of the other reviews, yet, neither in the papers. For me, he bossed the midfield and was just fantastic. How good he was is shown in the fact that nearly every chance Porto had was because Song lost the ball off his foot.
Alright 2 tappings and a penalty…!!! Everybody is getting excited… I would have not give Bendtner a 10 (no way!!)… He had a good game and that’s about all… Do not worry I am a believer and I think he will keep improving as long as he leaves his laziness and nonchalant attitude in the changing room…
I would have give Nasri a 10 (totally)… To all the fans who taught that he was keeping the ball too much or too long (Those fans who still think that it is possible to score without the ball… !!!) it is, again, a pointer and a reminder of why 14 clubs wanted to sign him before he picked Arsenal (that’s right, he picked Arsenal not the way around… And AW confirmed it in an interview with France Football)…
As usual Song showed why he is our best player with Fabregas… Strong in the middle and always helping out the back four…
About Bendtner,
Against Burnley, He played better than whar we have seen from other great premier league strikers like Drogba, Rooney and Torres (Remember he was clear on goal 10 times and none of those have managed that so far) BUT, He missed the “two tappings and a penalty” and everyone started cursing him.
Against Porto, he was on that level but he still had a good game and he was on target 3 times.
He has scored 5 goals in 6 games he has started since he came back from Injury, 3 of those goals were opening goals in the very tricky must win physical games against Sunderland, Stoke and FC Porto, he has made the opposition’s box his own pinning down defenders who would have otherwise been happy to attack us, He has opened an option for a cross, a likelihood of a header and a potential for a thunderous shot from anywhere in any angle (Unless you forgot, he enjoys scoring from funny angles rather than straight up).
He has made a good number of clearances once we are attacked especially from corners and he holds up the ball very well upfront and distributes it well. Since he came back, you hardly see Arsenal players passing the ball back like they were so annoyingly used to since he is always an option further ahead.
So he may miss “some” goals alright, but if we are real fans who puts all things together, we’d realise we don’t have to wait to see his best – ITS ALREADY HERE!.
Spot on mate.
Aoutch;
We got the working venom and a nasri yeha
A complete orchestra
Arsenal`s players motivations are very high. Their instinct ands passions to win the match is no doubtful. They control the ball, they control the pitch, they control the game, and they control the crowd. I love Gunners. There is always Gunshot!
Last night summised everything i love about the current Arsenal team.
Quality throughout the squad
Midfielders, Arshavin was sublime, the perfect performance, he was a step above everyone else on the pitch. Nasri too was exemplary, but its not just the Porto match we performed in.
Fabregas, Arshavin, Nasri, Diaby, Rosicky, Eboue, Denilson, Song are all fantastic players, i’ve never seen such a wide range of quality choice in the midfield.
Van Persie is one of the best strikers in the world, undoubtably he would be the premierships top scorer this season was it not for the luck of the arsenal.
We easily maintain the best squad in the league, without spending anywhere near what the clubs around us do.
Ive not been more optimistic about Arsenals future for a while now.
When Dennis was still playing i think, but anything was possible then =)
during man u n chelsea’s match, we lacked a main striker n wasted players, like arshavin, by playin thm in the wrong positions. Man of the match arshavin/nasri/bendtner/eboue/vermalin/song/rosicky; u wunt be wrong if u chose any. Bring on man ure/ chelsea
Great play by Arsenal last night and I think they can go all the way in th champions league this season.Nasri,Bendtner and Arshavin were great.I didn’t miss Cesc a lot with Nasri around.With Cesc we could have played even better
I think Sol did better than 7, maybe an 8 as a previous poster said. The thing is, he is such a big mother f*er that people just run into him. How many times did a Porto striker run into the brick wall that is Sol Campbell and lose the ball? Happened at least twice. His physical presence is immense and he is so animated and emotional, almost like a cartoon.
Arsenal is flowing not just with quality as wenger says, but with character. As the players have grown older, they have become better players psychologically, and as a team they have all the pieces – a player for every for situation. If they need speed, they have Wolcott, if they need finesse they have Arshavin, the big guy up front, the play makers, the holding midfielder, badass defender, 35 year old returned player (etc). Its coming to look almost like a stereotypical comedy sports film where a bunch of semi-pro challenge for the premier and champions leagues (oh this one hasn’t been written yet)…
They have come together and it has almost been a 5 year long comedy sports film. What a team!
Great team effort. Nasri, Arshavin and Rosicky were my pick but we can`t leave out the `hat trick man`. I was hoping to see a little more of Walcott. He seemed in a hurry to prove his point and I sincerely hope he has more to his repertiore than cutting back inside and blinding the ball high and wide. Still to be impressed, prefer Rosicky at least he`s a footballer.
Walcott will impress you – As soon as he stops trying too hard!!!!!!!.
A wonderful game, Nasri was the man, I guess those defenders felt like they were nursing a hangover after he was through with them!!!.
Sol Campbell was a wise move by Arsene Wenger – I know many good defenders in their prime but, even as an old man, he is still a cut above them, hate me if you will but i still maintain that I’d prefer Sol Campbell over William Gallas as Campbell is disciplined enough to know he is a defender and to command a backline, Gallas pulls them all out to attack – and we are thus counter-attacked.
Arshavin did so well and he wasn’t even enjoying the game based on his body language and the frown in his face- What are we going to see when he is happy to play – I suspect – MAGIC
When you have Eboue in your team, then you know you have a team, I have always been surprised that some Arsenal fans don’t like him, he is the most likeable player especially due to his willingness to fight even harder all the time.
Nicklas Bendtner scored 3 goals last night and that wasn’t even the most energetic performance he can give, I suggest we give this lad sometime, 2 years maybe and by the time he is 24, he will be the world’s best striker.
Nice game am just enjoying the win until saturday Come on Gunners
outstanding performance. Only Walcott looked mismatch. Eboue is in scintillating form. We should win both PL and CL.
What I think is that Arsenal were breathtaking yesterday and it was a pleasure watching the win. I think Song should stay moer focused as in the second half we was abit sleepy, on two occasions he made a mistake and Hulk nearly scored. Nasri was phenominal as always, he is in the form of his life as always. We have answered our critics, we can play without Fabregas. Eboue has tranformed into a much more mature player after the Cup of Nations. Theo again was excellent for the 15 or so minutes he was on. I think Campbell should have done better. Second half was better than the first. I think we will win two title this year! COME ON BOYS!!!
Vermaelen should be at least 8.5 Chris, he was immense yesterday. Put in 4-5 great interceptions, and generally impenetrable.
Song lost the ball quite a few times cheaply, imo he gave a 6/6.5 performance.
Point of order: Porto were woeful.
Aside from the passing and movement shown by the whole team (which was magnificent, especially without Fabregas) I don’t know how much you can look into this match, just because a lot of Arsenal’s success came directly as a result of woeful Porto defending. Both the second and third goals were just atrocious to concede, and I don’t think either would have been scored against English opposition. Not because they’re necessarily better than Porto, but simply because you won’t get past 3 defenders without one of them at least putting a challenge in.
As such, I don’t think this game shows us as much about Arsenal as the match against Stoke, when they really had to fight to win. That’s not to say it wasn’t an impressive performance- it was- but Porto were desperately disappointing. The phrase ‘taking candy from a baby’ comes to mind! Saturday’s game at Hull will be a very different challenge, facing a very physical team battling relegation in front of their own supporters.
With regards to the ratings, I would maybe scale back Song to a 7.5 (sometimes overcommitted forward) and Campbell (who had a poor game) to a 5.5, and Vermaelen deserves higher than a 7 for his performance. He made a lot of good blocks and covering when Campbell and Song left him a bit exposed.
Also I don’t think Bendtner deserved a 10 despite his goals- Chris was one of the few judges to give him a reasonable rating of 4/10 on the weekend (a lot of other sites gave him ‘0′ or ‘0.5′ which is just ridiculous), but 10 implies an almost perfect game. I’d say 8.5 is more appropriate, given all his goals were tap-ins and his main contribution was linking and providing a target up-front.
All in all, it was as good a performance as any supporter could have asked for- and much too good for a frankly pathetic Porto side.
I wonder if you are an Arsenal supporter in the first place. If you are, you are exactly the sod kinda fans we actually have. Do us a favour and support another club, Manure maybe, because the sad minorities like yourself makes the rest of us Gooners wanna puke
Alric, I’m sorry, but this is not the kind of website where you come and invite people to support your club, so please avoid similar comments in the future.
tell me which defenders in the world would have done something better in that two actions from us, one from Andrey Arshavin and one from Samir Nasri? the problem with u and with many man u liverpool and cheski fans is, if there were Torres Rooney CR7 or Drogba doing that instead of AA23 and SN8 then u would have tolk about their skill and how no one could have donne better against them and so so. What AA23 and SN8 did were special something that u can see only from super super players. And just to tell everybody, what Arshavin did to the left was apsolutely the same with what Nasri did to the left, the only diference was the goal !
Chris, how am i supposed to wipe the smirk off my face if i don’t get to say ‘i told you so’?
Anyway, I’ll respect your call….after all, we are on the same side here…..
AM having trouble deciding who should be MOTM, but I have to say Samir was outstanding…
Niklas is a legend in the making…..he’s slowly transferring what we see in the Danish team to Arsenal, and by the time he will be Drogba’s age (i.e. in 8 years), he will have more honors and hat-tricks.
I just don’t understand why his self-belief irks some fans. We love it here. A person who pronounces what he can do puts more pressure on himself to deliver, and God knows, confidence is one thing we need (and not just in the dressing room, but in the air, knowing our players individually believe they are the best)……
The Diaby-Song axis is musical. These 2 shouldn’t leave Arsenal anytime soon. Am glad they are the Managers ‘favourites’, meaning they probably enjoy fantastic relations……I especially like the way one of them pushes forward and the other rotates behind. That way, defensive mid-field can help attck, with one foot in defense……
Arshavin says the pain in his foot is gone (after months). I suspect his performance in the last quarter of the league and final runs of CL will determine our season……
And Eboue is just amazing. Play him right back, right wing, or even shockingly, left wing (yesterday after Arshavin left), and he still performs. This lad clearly just loves to play…..in a way, he reminds me of the main reason I love Arsenal, just play!
We play an exciting forward flowing game, and we are bound to make defensive errors now and then…..but if we defend as a unit yesterday, and still pour forward ( a sight for sore eyes), then we will win s..th, …….and not just win, but win in style……
Congrats to the Arsenal.Superbly done..
Something is still missing in Arshavin’s play.Could’nt get the right target.
too bad im in exams so i havent seen arsenal games in 2 weeks but looks like we’re getting better and better! hope people don’t act to drastically about bendtner, though… stop mocking him so much when he messes up and praises him so much when he does well.. seriously that just happens in football alright..
anyways. glad denilson didnt play in the place of fabregas.. prefers nasri by miles.
Was realy pleased with performances from eboue, arshavin and nasri. They realy gave porto troubles capped off with a strong performance from bendtner.I have to disagree with chris and give him an 8.5 because in my eyes a ten is an perfect/ excellent performance. I think bendtner did his job and beyond but im stingy with tens but thats just opinion. Bendtner showed a real mental strength today. To have a poor game in terms of finishing and then make amends 3 days later is a big deal. He had to deal with the media and any unsetlle fans so we should all be proud of bendtner.
It’s funny, my initial feeling was indeed 8.5 for Nick but then I thought about Burnley where he did things right but the 4 missed opportunities simply meant I could not go above 4 in the ratings.
Yesterday he was always in the right place at the right time and besides that, he scored whenever he had to
oh c’mon! i’d give him a 100! he so blew them away!
Beautiful Arsenal… Wat mor can i say. If only we can play like dis 4d next 14games…. There’l b no stoppin us, no mata d opposition. Keep da faith.
Hi Chris, This is the most accurate ratings i have ever come across. I will be from now on a regular on this blog because i have been reading it sometimes. Good work
Oh, thanks mate, very kind
@Ben: Is this the same porto that all pundits and media said were a different prospect from last years???They were not woeful..we made them so.also saying that english opposition might have put in tackles is not right since in CL( unlike the PL) referees arent afraid to to show cards for even the slightest offences…let’s enjoy our run while it lasts.
Regarding Arsha, i think hes just back from injury and might be slightly rusty.thats why i believe he didnt back up clichy all the times.but he reserved his energy when it was needed.
Bendtner,Nasri,Arsha and Eboue had blinders…….
It was the same Porto, apparently. But any team can have a bad match- remember the 6-1 defeat against Manchester United in 2001? That team had some fairly handy players in as well… Seaman, Cole, Adams, Keown, Dixon, Vieira, Pires, Ljungberg, Bergkamp and Henry among others. Yet they were spanked.
The fact of the matter is that Porto played appallingly badly, and Arsenal played very well. Equally, regardless of whether or not they would have given away a foul, they should have got a challenge in at some point. Neither Nasri or Arshavin should ever have been able to get past 3-4 players. With the second goal especially, there were 7 Porto players marking 3 Arsenal players… and yet Arshavin managed to beat 3 and pass to a completely unmarked Bendtner 6 yards out. That is good attacking play, but woeful defending.
Like I said, the better gauge of the team’s capabilities is when they play against a side that is performing well.
Great positioning from Bendtner. i gotta watch the Burnley game again, maybe in slowmo. i think someone was moving the goalposts away everytime Bendtner tried to shoot.
I think last night was arsenal days, they play their usual excellent football, I hope this result will give them better confidence in their next match when i come to playes rating I will give Bendtner: 10 only if he secore a goal like Nasri without any one support and I would like to say to all arsenal players they do all the best in last night game and try to keep it on other games.
BREAKING NEWS:
I am in contact with a close arsenal official. Sol Campbell will not play against Hull City this weekend.Silvestre will line-up and with Song suspended, in case of injury to either Vermalen or Silvestre during the game(god forbid), Sagna will move in the centre position and Eboue at right back. Sol injury is short term.
BREAKING NEWS:
Rosicky is a doubt for this weekend. He should be ok for next week. He was subtituted just for precautions.
I will bring you more if i hear more.
Chris
Bent is NOT worth a 10. Max a 7. All the goals he marked were because of the (hard) work of others; Arshavin x 2 and Eboue. I think counted it up to 4 or 5 times when he lost the ball for the portugues to counter attack when he tried to dribble. In my eyes he played as (bad) he did in the last game. He did not play well and im very surprised that you Chris of all gave him a ten.
Scoring after the hard work of others is what a striker’s paid to do. It’s a team game!!!!!
Of course Bendtner’s not the finished article by a long way, but he gets into the right place time and again and has the confidence to keep trying even after a game like Burnley. He should be encouraged and pushed onwards to get better all the time. Others have done it, Song, Diaby, Eboue were all slated at times over the last 2 seasons and now look at them, outstanding. No reason why Nic can’t follow their lead.
I hear you mate, Im just saying that he was not the best player on the field last night, rather the contrary. And by the way, Song, Diaby and Eboue has nothing to do with my post.
My Nicklas rating is a hybrid of things which of course include the way he recovered from Saturday’s debacle. I think it’s second “10″ I gave him in my “career”, the first one was when he came on as a sub against ….. Hull
Fair enough. I never had any doubt about Bent before the game that he would have lost his confidence. Im not a hater, I really want him to play good. I just think he can do better.
A new striker?? Whoever said we needed a new striker? A new defensive midfielder? Whoever said we needed a new defensive midfielder?
Mssrs. Bendtner, Diaby, Eboue and Song have answered any questions by now surely.
Is there a better central defender in the World that Thomas Vermaelen? Didn’t think so.
Can Samir be the next big thing to hit the EPL after Cesc? Think so.
Well done all, great result.
Mons. Wenger has proven beyond doubt that he is a true football genius!!
Onwards now to give Mrs. Browne’s boys some more practice at loosing gracefully!!!
NASRI was definately supernatural, made only one bad control but quickly charged at the attacker and stopped that goal bound corner which would’ve change the game had it gone in.
Almunia- 7 kept us in the game
Clichy- 7 made one wrong jump, very close to the clichy we knew
Vermeleen- 7.5 what a defender, what a buy, yet many wanted Richard valued 23M
Campbell- 6.5 made good interceptions but…
Sagna- 7 one of the best in defense
Diaby- 7.5 shield the defences and still aid in attack. thank God Fans are not the manager.
Song- 6.5 made tons of unforced errors but Good tackles n intercepton gave him my extra pts.
Nasri- 8.5 passes too good not to be applauded then he scores a goal words can’t discribe.MOTM
Rosicky-7 back to the little MOZART
Bendtner- 7.5 good game
Ashavin- 8 Almost there yet such a WIZ
well done gunners! what very delightful game. i like very much when arsenal plays in a good spirit like that. both nasri and arshavin were unbelievable.
bendtner was great but too overrated, i’d rate him as a 9.i think a hattrick for him was the reason for all those misses that he did at burnley. i like the way arsenal players handle all the critics that they got from the haters. like walcott and bendtner, they silent all the critics by showing of a great performance and score goals.
nasri’s goal could be goal of the season. i think nasri was the man of the match.
i hope they will constantly play like this in every coming matches.
Just a few things here, and thanks Chris for the good rating
1. Almunia had an 8 in my book. He not only saved a couple, and held a clean sheet. But he positioned well, and did so with a captain’s arm band. That’s pressure, which our keeper don’t deal well with in a long while.
2. Apparently there is something to laugh about between Abou and Nicky B. Every time, Bendtner scored, Diabywent up and joke with him.
3. Song haters are not scratching his b*lls; Eboue haters are now eating c&aps; Diaby haters are not hiding in the closet; soon Theo and Nicky B haters will be sent to support the Spuds.
4. When Samir scored the goal, the whole team (including reserves went up to him) and the Emirate erupted. I thought the sky was brought down. What a brilliant goal! And Welcome home to the Central Midfield, where you have shone.
5. I am glad that Shava was out for a few matches. This is the Shava I have been looking for. Amazing manuvers.
6. Sol had a decent second period. Lets forget about the shakiness in the first half yeah? We got a clean sheet damn it.
7. With Sol, Diaby, and Bendtner that means people would be defending our set pieces more seriously. The wouldn’t be waiting to counter attack (like Chelsea and ManU did). They could also very well run into a wall of Sol or getting chased by a recovered Clichy.
8. Hopefully Mozart is okay for next week. Hopefully Theo get another start to boost his confidence. He was still active today, but didn’t have much time to get into the game.
it was really incredible how we managed to keep up the morale even after the cesc injury n not to forget the ramsey injury. bendtner-well he was-!
bt i believe arshavin deserved a goal-he was SO selfless!
the game proves it that we can survive without cesc bt i still believe that if he leaves the club we wont be able to thrive
The rating gave Eboue a 7.5 which I thought was unfair given the impact he had on the match when he came in. I would score him at least 8 for his performance. He is on fire and continues to produce every time he is called on!!! Look at the speed at which he came forward to support Arshavin on the 4th goal, absolutely incredible!!!! I just shows how hard he has worked on his speed in training!
Excellent from Arshavin in particular, and Nasri. I have been critical of him recently but he really put in a shift last night, and what a goal!!!!
NB did an excellent job at CF, I cannot believe some TV analyst’s criticized him again after the game, well if that is him on a ‘bad’ night I cant wait to see him on a good one. He was slammed after Burnley, but people forget how effective he was at Stoke!!!
I am a real Eduardo fan, and feel bad for him right now! He has tried all season long and it just has not worked for him! He is a concern!!!
I am biased of course but, this team ‘will definitely win both of these trophies very soon. Only question is will it be this year or not?
The defense is still a bit shaky at times, less because of individual performances and more due to too much passing across it sometimes!!! More of a system problem than anything
Bendtner is no where as good as he could be…. and it is totally understandable for anyone to have doubted him…. but I have to tell you I told you… the guy’s touch and control on the ball is unique… and hi’s sense of orientation on the pitch / positioning is instinctual…. he just needs to work a bit on his stealth and sneakiness… bit more umph and urgency…. he can be lazy or discouraged easily sometimes….
I’m really happy he’s starting to shine…. but it would have all never happenned if Arsenal hadn’t played TOGETHER as a team the way they did yesterday…
Great display. I was confident Arsenal would prevail (unless Fabianski was our keeper), but this was better than I expected. I believe the game against Stoke was truly a turning point in our season. Arsenal are gaining momentum. Nasri scored one of the best goals of the season. Brilliant goal. He did a very good job in central midfield. There were portistas claiming the gunners couldn’t beat Porto without Fabregas, but Nasri showed them. Arshavin was wonderful. He was so quick. He caused endless trouble for the Portuguese side. I’m very glad about Bendtner.Great performance and I hope he can keep it up.
I agree with you ZKWT that Bendtner can improve a lot! why? he is only 21 about!!! Otherwise people are way too critical!!!!! Yes he is not yet the finished article, but he is doing the job!! ie scoring goals!!! That is what a CF is supposed to do, yes his finishing will improve, his first touch and control will too! No doubt
I will say it again, fans and media are way too critical concerning him!!! If he had not scored in any of these games since returning but continued to miss chances then the criticism is justified but he has delivered vital goals since he came back in all but one game I think! He might have scored as many as 5 in just 4 games. That is a pretty good return! Is he perfect? No, but he is delivering the goods for sure, at 21!!!
I doubted the whole team rather than NB right up till the Stoke game! I Agree with Sylvanna, that game may well have been decisive. For Arsenal, and Bendtner, take a look at that header!!!!! I could not believe my ears last night listening to 2 analysts insisting his performance was rubbish!
Clearly, they want to sell stories because they could not have been watching the same CF I saw playing for Arsenal. NB was awesome last night as were several Arsenal players, but iwth regard to NB he was brilliant! Why? he finished with authority and banged up the CBs, in swhort he caused havoc in the defense!!!!
I’m just wondering WHERE ARE NOW all these people who were writing right here a month ago “WENGER GO HOME “,”WENGER SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A STRIKER “etc….I’m wondering what would they say these people now,when teams like MILAn and REAL MADRIT are out of Champions League and our team is challenging for premierhip title an champions league..
In Conclusion,WE must be patient and confident about this great team and this genius manager!!!!
Well those asking for Wenger to be sacked will surely be hiding. As for those who were asking for a striker, well I was one of them and let’s face it, Nicklas was a gamble which paid off. Had he not made his comeback from injury when expected, or suffered a setback or not settled down so early after his comeback, maybe, just maybe, the scenario would have been different today.
But of course you’re right, Wenger’s gamble paid off.
Well I will raise my hand and admit that I was one of those who doubted Wenger with regard to this team!!! In fact after the Chelsea MU fiasco’s I really figured that that will be it for Wenger!!!!! I figured that he would quit in frustration at season’s end, or else see out his contract and leave citing that he had taken this unpredictable team as far as he could and that it was time for someone else to come in and try!!! I was also considering that the Arsenal board will eventually get impatient for a trophy!!!!!
So yes!!!! I was fully wrong on that because he seems to have got this team focused and delivering the goods! Even if they do not bring home a trophy. I think that no one will be too concerned because all will know its a matter of time!!!
However, I was not among the multitude who said we must have a striker!!! What for? Arsenal have RVP, TW, NB and Eduardo, AA and Diaby can also play up top if need! What a ridiculous suggestion to bring in another one!!!! Everyone is going wild about Chamakh because Chamakh said he wants to play for Arsenal, big deal, alot of players want to play for Arsenal!!!! I do not think Wenger has any interest in him!, Anyway Arsenal do not need him! They are still the top scorers in the PL! What more statistics do you need to support an argument?