Ajax - 1 Arsenal - 2: Being off the Premiership pace need not mean struggling in Europe, as Liverpool demonstrated memorably last season, and a weakened Arsenal were able to forget their domestic worries last night. Combining solid defence with some good breaks, they enjoyed their first Champions League away win since February 2004 and stay comfortably on course for the next round.
This was the sort of European away performance Arsenal have so often failed to produce, though tougher opponents than an inexperienced Ajax lie ahead. An early goal by Freddie Ljungberg and a penalty by Robert Pires, who had a strong game, brought a deserved win.
Arsène Wenger's team defended well, with Sol Campbell excellent and Kolo Touré also doing well despite ending heavily bandaged after a clash of heads.
The absence of Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie did not mean an absence of goals as Arsenal sometimes broke with menace, and Matthieu Flamini and particularly Cesc Fábregas rose to the challenge in midfield.
Arsenal made the perfect start here. Wenger had challenged his players to show they could cope without Henry and only one minute and 19 seconds had gone when Ljungberg, pushed up as an auxiliary striker behind José Antonio Reyes, gave Arsenal the lead.
Fed by the impressive Flamini, Reyes showed good awareness to pick up a forward run by Ljungberg and the Swede took the chance coolly, clipping the ball over Ajax goalkeeper Hans Vonk.
The home side posed scant threat to Manuel Almunia's goal in the first half despite dominating possession, with just one shot on target. Arsenal were helped by the willingness of Ljungberg to drop back and help defensively.
When there was a whiff of danger, Arsenal's central defenders responded impressively. Campbell reacted quickly to clear an Ajax burst at the expense of a corner, and later Touré stretched importantly to block a pass which would have sent Angelos Charisteas sprinting towards the area. When Almunia spilled a Nourdin Boukhari shot, he rectified the error just before Charisteas could pounce.
Arsenal's weakness away in the Champions League last season was often that they failed to build on leads and ended up conceding an equaliser.
Although they showed a willingness to go forward here in search of a second goal, they never committed too many men forward and their attacking lacked cutting edge.
Just before half-time Arsenal were fortunate not to concede when Ajax counter-attacked. Pires was alert in stopping Boukhari inside the penalty area but the Ajax player still picked out Steven Pienaar, who should have done far better than shoot over from about 12 yards.
If that was a let off, Wenger could generally be content with the way his young central midfielders Fábregas and Flamini were coping in Gilberto's absence, even if the Frenchman was sometimes caught on the ball. They were energetic and Pires made a point of coming off the flank into central areas.
Ajax enjoyed a brief period of pressure after the interval during which Almunia had to palm away a Ryan Babel effort but the home team were unable to build sustained momentum and Arsenal began to enjoy openings of their own.
A Pires through-ball was narrowly too strong for Ljungberg and then, after a saving tackle by Campbell, came the second goal. Fábregas' pass released Reyes and he was felled by Vonk, allowing Pires to comfortably roll in the penalty.
If Arsenal thought they were home and dry they were wrong. Tomas Galasek almost immediately hit a post and from the rebound substitute Markus Rosenberg gave Ajax hope.
AJAX: Vonk, De Jong, Grygera, Vermaelen, Emanuelson (Juanfran 85), Pienaar, Galasek, Lindenbergh, Babel, Boukhari (Manucharian 69), Charisteas (Rosenberg 57). Subs not used: Lobont, Heitinga, Escude, Boakye. Booked: Grygera, Pienaar, Vonk, Galasek. Goals: Rosenberg 71.
ARSENAL: Almunia, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Hleb (Cygan 90), Fabregas, Flamini, Pires (Clichy 88), Ljungberg, Reyes (Owusu-Abeyie 81). Subs not used: Poom, Song Billong, Eboue, Lupoli. Booked: Toure, Almunia. Goals: Ljungberg 2, Pires 69 pen.
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).
