UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER FINAL SECOND LEG Arsenal 3 Villarreal 0 Arsenal win 4-1 on agg:FOR 12 long months, Arsenal have nursed a sense of injustice. Manager Arsène Wenger insisted his team did not deserve to lose the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Liverpool, after producing arguably their finest performance of last season.
Those demons were finally laid to rest here, and with Arsenal ramping up in style for a tilt at glory, no one could back against them landing the prize that Wenger covets above all others, the one which has consistently eluded him. The glittering Champions League trophy is firmly within his sights.
Wenger feels his young team is “in advance of the planned timing”, and they showed their maturity on what could have been a nervy occasion. Emmanuel Adebayor’s goal supplemented Theo Walcott’s deft first-half strike and allowed them to close out the tie with a swagger.
It was as comfortable as could be and Robin van Persie’s penalty, after Sebastian Eguren had talked his way into a red card, gave the scoreline the gloss it merited.
Given the paucity of Wenger’s defensive resources, it appeared that Arsenal had little other option. The term “experimental” hardly did justice to the team’s patched-up rearguard.
Their start, however, full of positive running and slick passing, was precisely what Wenger had wanted and Walcott’s goal was the stuff of dreams. Emmanuel Eboue set the move in motion with a low ball up the inside right channel, and when Cesc Fabregas’ deft flick wrong-footed Diego Godin, Walcott was clean through.
The England winger has returned from his latest injury with a spring in his step, confidence coursing his veins and his high, chipped finish over the goalkeeper was of the highest order.
Van Persie had been deployed behind Emmanuel Adebayor and given licence to roam. With Fabregas also charging forward from his deeper role, there was a fluency about Arsenal.
Even before Walcott’s goal, Villarreal knew that they had to score and there was edginess on the isolated occasions when the Spaniards went forward in the first-half. Godin had their only chances from set-pieces but his sights were awry on both occasions.
Adebayor’s goal came on the hour mark as they looked to punch on the counter. Fabregas got them moving decisively when his towering header found Van Persie. Adebayor’s movement further forward was from the centre-forward’s manual and it bewildered Gonzalo. When he accepted Van Persie’s pass in space, his prodded finish found the far corner.
It was incumbent on Villarreal that they targeted Arsenal’s back-line but their failure to do so was compounded by the lapse that finally put paid to them. In the 69th minute Walcott was fouled in the area by Godin.
Yellow shirts surrounded the referee and Eguren’s protests earned him a second yellow. Van Persie kept his nerve from the spot.
Guardian Service
ARSENAL: Fabianski, Eboue, Toure, Silvestre, Gibbs, Walcott (Denilson 77), Song Billong, Fabregas, Nasri, Adebayor (Bendtner 83), Van Persie (Diaby 77). Subs not used: Mannone, Eduardo, Vela, Ramsey. Booked: Silvestre, Gibbs.
VILLARREAL: Diego Lopez, Angel, Rodriguez, Godin, Capdevila, Cani (Pablo 70), Eguren, Bruno (Nihat 64), Fernandez (Ibagaza 64), Pires, Rossi. Subs not used: Viera, Llorente, Javi Venta, Fuentes. Sent Off: Eguren (68). Booked: Eguren, Cani, Godin.
Referee: Wolfgang Stark(Germany).
