Source: Telegraph
Arsenal 4 AZ Alkmaar 1: match report
For all the recriminations about Arsenal 's failure to win a trophy since 2005, Arsène Wenger should soon have a rather more favourable statistic to recite to his critics. [LNB]Barring a truly extraordinary sequence of results, Wednesday night's resounding 4-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar has ensured that his team have now qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League in each of the past 10 seasons; a record that no other English club can match. [LNB] Related ArticlesUnirea Urziceni 1 Rangers 1Champions League tablesChampions League actionChampions League fixturesSport on televisionOnce again, Arsenal's progress was built on the class both of their captain Cesc Fabregas and record-signing Andrei Arshavin. Fabregas scored twice to take his tally for the season to eight while Arshavin delivered yet another masterclass. [LNB]With a hectic festive period on Wenger's mind, injuries are a particular concern just now and the extent to which his Arsenal squad has already been depleted was evident in the selection of Nasri for a first Premier or Champions League start since breaking his leg during pre-season. [LNB]Nasri's ideal position remains a matter of some conjecture, with Wenger tempted in the longer term to develop the France international into one of his holding midfielders. However, with Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner injured, the preference last night was for an attacking role in support of what has become Arsenal's 'Holy Trinity' of Robin van Persie, Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin. [LNB]Immediately Nasri was involved, helping to feed Van Persie, who had found space to unleash a powerful shot just wide of Sergio Romero's right-hand post. Under further pressure, Romero then inadvertently handled a back-pass to provide Arsenal with a free-kick from the edge of the six-yard box that was blasted straight into a makeshift wall by Van Persie. [LNB]With Emmanuel Eboué again preferred to Bacary Sagna for the Champions League and Kieran Gibbs deputising for the injured Gael Clichy, Arsenal appeared to lack a little of their usual width and initially struggled to penetrate a crowded midfield. [LNB]Ronald Koeman, the Alkmaar manager, had been accused by Wenger of adopting defensive tactics when his PSV Eindhoven team eliminated Arsenal in 2007 and his players were again organised last night with particular attention to restricting their opponents. [LNB]The game-plan was simple: deny Arsenal space and, where possible, feed high balls in the direction of Graziano Pelle, a towering 6ft 4 ins presence, whose aerial strength had provided the assist for Alkmaar's equaliser in Holland two weeks' ago. [LNB]It worked well for 25 minutes and, when Arsenal's possession was rewarded by a goal, it owed most to a goalkeeping mistake. William Gallas had unexpectedly burst forward and laid the ball into the path of Fabregas who simply cut inside Mendes da Silva and then looked as surprised as anyone when his shot dribbled between Romero and his near-post. [LNB]Fabregas continued to pose Arsenal's biggest threat and also headed narrowly over just before half-time. [LNB]The Fabregas goal had encouraged rather more adventure from Koeman's team and, while Moussa Dembele caused occasional problems for Gibbs, the flip-side was rather more space for Arsenal's most creative players. [LNB]This was duly exploited when Andrei Arshavin split the Alkmaar defence with a cute through-ball for Nasri. The 22-year-old still had work to do but, showing no hint of his recent lack of matches, brilliantly turned inside Hector Moreno and then shot beyond Romero. [LNB]With Arsenal continuing their record of scoring in every match this season, the only slight surprise had been Van Persie's failure to get among the goals. The pre-match compliments had certainly been plentiful. Koeman said that he was currently Holland's best player while Wenger, who always wears rather rose-tinted glasses when it comes to his own players, declared that he was currently the leading forward in the Premier League. [LNB]The key to Van Persie is not his goals, but rather the way he links play and creates space for others and, while not directly involved for the third, his run off the ball was still important. Arshavin again provided the assist, guiding a pass to Fabregas whose finish was utterly emphatic. Arsenal, though, were still not finished, with Abou Diaby making it 4-0 when Arshavin (who else?) produced another defence-splitting pass. [LNB]Still revelling in their victory in the north London derby, Arsenal supporters wondered if they were again playing Tottenham and began serenading their manager. Wenger was unmoved and, in his quest for perfection from front to back, will have been more than a little irritated by Alkmaar's late consolation. Manuel Almunia had made one outstanding save to deny Maarten Martens but, with the Emirates beginning to empty, was beaten at the near-post by Jeremain Lens. [LNB]
