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.