Source: London_Paper
Arsenal take useful lead at Celtic in Champions League qualifier
ARSENAL all but secured their place in the Champions League group stages with a scrappy 2-0 victory at Celtic on Tuesday night.[LNB]A deflected free-kick from Cesc Fabregas off his team-mate William Gallas just before half-time, and Gary Caldwell's 71st-minute own goal off Gael Clichy's wicked cross meant Arsene Wenger's side will take a commanding lead into the return leg at the Emirates Stadium.[LNB]But while the visitors were comfortable as the match petered out in the second half, they were a far cry from the fluent side which thumped Everton 6-1 on the opening day of the Premier League season.[LNB]However, Andrey Arshavin was causing problems when he drifted in from his position on the left of Arsenal's three-man attack, and Fabregas and Denilson were always looking to break forward from midfield.[LNB]Arsenal were playing the ball through Celtic and it needed a last-ditch block by Caldwell on Robin van Persie to stop the Gunners profiting from one such move, with the offside flag raised before Arshavin fired home the rebound.[LNB]However, Celtic had a good chance to hurt Arsenal on the counter-attack when Shaun Maloney released Aiden McGeady down the left after Van Persie's free-kick was cleared.[LNB]The Republic of Ireland international rode one challenge and lofted the ball towards Scott Brown but Thomas Vermaelen did enough to put the midfielder off.[LNB] Share this Article Bookmark Facebook Digg Delicious (What are these?)[LNB]How interesting was this article? gSiteLife.Recommend("ExternalResource", 1074321); About social bookmarking Celtic tightened up in central midfield, although a slip by Massimo Donati allowed Arshavin the chance to run at the Celtic back four, with Artur Boruc getting down comfortably to save his deflected effort.[LNB]Full-back Andreas Hinkel then created Celtic's best chance of the half when he burst into the box and cut the ball back for Maloney.[LNB]The Arsenal defence closed him down but the ball fell for Brown, whose low shot was well saved by Manuel Almunia.[LNB]Celtic looked like they would comfortably survive until half-time but luck was against them after Caldwell was penalised for a foul on Fabregas 30 yards out.[LNB]The free-kick was rolled short to the Spaniard, whose 30-yard drive bounced off the back of Gallas and spun into the opposite corner to where Boruc was heading.[LNB]The game almost drifted beyond Celtic within a minute of the restart after Landry N'Guemo miscontrolled a simple take in the centre circle.[LNB]Arshavin carried the ball to the edge of the penalty box before slipping the ball outside to Van Persie but the Dutchman shot past the far post.[LNB]Denilson soon curled just wide from 20 yards following another Arshavin run while Fabregas dragged a left-footed shot just wide from a similar distance.[LNB]Celtic struggled to create chances but Gallas made another crucial interception when he cut out Marc-Antoine Fortune's low cross as Scott McDonald waited at the far post.[LNB]Abou Diaby replaced Arshavin and immediately played a key role in Arsenal's second goal.[LNB]The substitute burst forward and set up Gael Clichy for a low cross that was turned home by the outstretched boot of Caldwell.[LNB]Only McGeady looked capable of creating anything for Celtic and most of the final 20 minutes was played out in the middle third.[LNB]
