UEFA Champions League/ Inter Milan 1; Arsenal 5: One of Arsenal's most mature performances bred one their greatest results. They will now advance to the knockout phase of the Champions League if they can defeat Lokomotiv Moscow at Highbury. On this form, that outcome is certain.
Internazionale were made to look disjointed by solid defending that eventually turned out to be the platform for Thierry Henry's magnificent display.
Having hit the first and laid on the second, he ran from the halfway line in the 84th minute to beat Javier Zanetti and score his second. A stunned Inter capitulated entirely then as Edu and Robert Pires found the net to fashion a comprehensive revenge over the Italians. Seldom has a manager's faith been vindicated so fully.
Arsene Wenger claims proudly that Arsenal grow strong when they are in trouble and the extent of the danger in Group B appeared to have given them superhuman powers. Before disbelieving eyes the team genuinely did touch unprecedented levels in running up their largest ever Champions League victory against the most improbable of whipping boys.
Inter certainly felt the substance of these opponents when Henry gave Arsenal the lead after 25 minutes and an equaliser from the Italians was both unlucky and misleading. From the start, the Highbury side had displayed far more confidence than seemed their entitlement in the present circumstances.
No one could scoff at the depletion of their squad when the 18-year-old Czech striker Michal Papadopoulos found himself on the bench. Despite this there was a semblance of experience about the starting line-up cobbled together by Wenger. In consequence, the ironies of football were sharpened.
Inter, under the defensively-minded coach Hector Cuper, swamped Arsenal 3-0 in London two months ago, but, with the Argentinian replaced by the more daring Alberto Zaccheroni, the team looked far more reserved on their own pitch.
Although Christian Vieri eventually had the good fortune to pull his side level, the visitors seldom looked as if they were about to be pierced by a three-pronged attack. Those imploring Arsenal to rise to the occasion could not have had any greater response before the interval than the sight of Pascal Cygan cruising through his duties in the middle of the visitors' defence.
There would, in fairness, have been no match between this fixture's DNA and the intoxicating 3-1 win, over Roma, that Arsenal achieved when they were last in Italy a year ago. The disappointment since then has made them heavy-footed and they had only won two of their 13 previous Champions League fixtures before last night.
Nonetheless, they passed the ball as briskly as they could and, with the occasional Inter free-kick flying harmlessly off-target, there was a calm about Arsenal. That was converted to excitement after 25 minutes when Henry, having been unable to link with Pires, completed a one-two with Ashley Cole and drove a first-time shot low past Francesco Toldo.
There was no indication that the match was about to be blown off its happy course even when Edu gave the ball away in midfield eight minutes later. Cristiano Zanetti did pass to Vieri on the left, but he was covered. That, however, proved to be the problem. The forward's drive broke off the well-positioned Sol Campbell, climbed above Jens Lehmann and reached the back of the net after flicking off the underside of the bar.
Vieiri ostentatiously refused to celebrate. That deliberately subdued manner is a punishment he sometimes dishes out to home supporters whom he believes to have been uncharitable towards him, but it would be nice to fantasise that he was really just embarrassed by the nature of his goal.
The visitors were in front once again in the 48th minute. Cygan intercepted and located Henry on the left, where the Frenchman jockeyed to make space as Ivan Cordoba sought to curb him, before inviting Freddie Ljungberg to fire in from close range.
Ljungberg has found it hard to be quite so pertinent to Arsenal since his hip surgery, but this goal and one at Birmingham City on Saturday will foster hope that he can be fully restored.
There would have been a more immediate contentment for Wenger if Henry had not spoiled a good opportunity for a third goal by trying unsuccessfully to set up Pires when he could have completed the move himself.
Even so, the lasting consternation lay in the mind of the Inter coach.
After the game, Henry insisted the "true face of Arsenal" had finally emerged in the competition. An indignant Henry, rounding on the critics who branded Arsenal European flops, said: "People speculated about our commitment and desire but before tonight we didn't have all the luck.
"We didn't show the true face of Arsenal in the Champions League until tonight. Everyone was waiting for us to do something in Europe and tonight we did."
Henry added: "We did the same to them as they did to us. Now we are level on points with them and have the edge on them over the two games between us."
Guardian Service
INTER MILAN: Toldo, Cordoba, Javier Zanetti, Cannavaro (Pasquale 59), Materazzi, Brechet, Cristiano Zanetti, Lamouchi (Almeyda 57), Van der Meyde (Cruz 69), Martins, Vieri. Subs Not Used: Fontana, Luciano, Adani, Gonzalez. Goals: Vieri 33.
ARSENAL: Lehmann, Cole, Campbell, Toure, Cygan, Ljungberg, Parlour, Edu, Pires, Kanu (Silva 73), Henry (Aliadiere 89). Subs Not Used: Stack, Keown, Clichy, Papadopulos, Hoyte. Booked: Cygan, Edu. Goals: Henry 25, Ljungberg 49, Henry 85, Edu 87, Pires 89.
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany).
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