Source: Daily_Mail
Arsenal v Udinese live
Follow Sportsmail's coverage of the Champions League as Arsenal become the first of the English sides to enter the competition when they take on Udinese at the Emirates Stadium in their first-leg play-off. The Gunners will hope to build a lead before the second leg in Italy, with a prize in the group stage at stake. Email me your thoughts on the match at dan.ripley@dailymail.co.uk or contact me on twitter @Ripinho[LNB] Arsenal 1-0 Udinese (7.45pm) Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs (Djourou 46) (Jenkinson 56), Song, Rosicky (Frimpong 73), Walcott, Ramsey, Gervinho, Chamakh.Subs: Fabianski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin, Bendtner.[LNB]Goals: Walcott 4.[LNB]Udinese: Handanovic, Ekstrand, Benatia, Larangeira, Neuton (Pasquale 59), Agyemang-Badu, Isla, Asamoah, Pinzi, Armero, Di Natale.Subs: Belardi, Denis, Vydra, Abdi, Doubai, Fabbrini.[LNB]Referee: Kevin Blom (Holland)[LNB]79min: There has been no flies on Blom this evening as Armero is booked for refusing to be 10 yards away from a free-kick. We need this man in England.[LNB]78min: I haven't seen that for a while. Gervinho goes on a dangerous run before seeing his shot blocked for a corner. It' gets the home crowd going anyway. Arsenal just starting to reassert themselves here.[LNB]75min: And boy does he! A curler is heading for the top corner until Szczesny parries behind.[LNB]74min: Frimpong's first action is to give away two free-kicks. the second just under 25-yards-out. Di Natale likes the look of this...[LNB]73min: As Tomas Rosicky curls one over the bar, he is replaced for Arsenal's final sub by Emmanuel Frimpong.[LNB]71min: Pinzi joins those in the book after a late clumsy push on Gervinho.[LNB]69min: Great move, poor execution. Walcott is sent through with a through ball but the winger ops for placement, with the outside of his boot, rather than power and Handanovic gets his hands on it with ease.[LNB]68min: Oh Chamakh. The Moroccan has blown his chance tonight with an anonymous performance. The striker this time caught offside despite having the whole line to look across. Unacceptable at this level.[LNB]66min: Another Udinese chance comes from a corner. The ball falls to Armero on the edge of the box and his drive just clears the crossbar.[LNB]64min: I think this is the quietest I have ever heard nearly 60,000 people inside the Emirates Stadium. The tension is almost proving too much for them, Arsenal have not had a shot on target in this half.[LNB] Heads up: Players from both sides go in for aerial challenges from a corner[LNB]61min: It's getting too close for comfort this. Mauricio Isla breaks into the box, shrugging off Jenkinson before firing just wide across goal.[LNB]59min: Neuton has looked lively but his night is up as he is replaced by Giovanni Pasquale. [LNB]56min: Well what bad news this is! Jenkinson makes his Arsenal debut because half-time sub Djourou has also pulled his hamstring.[LNB]What a night for the former Charlton man this is though.[LNB]54min: The Serie A side have had the better of the first 10 minute and Arsenal are doing a lot of defending here.[LNB]Carl Jenkinson warming up for the Gunners.[LNB]51min: Gibbs has suffered a hamstring injury and UEFA's rule about not contacting Wenger?[LNB]Forget it, apparently the dugout is allowed to contact the coach sitting NEXT to him. A flawed rule if ever there was one...honestly who thinks these things up!?[LNB]50min: Udinese's best chance. Di Natale receives the ball on the edge of the box but instead of shooting first time he takes a touch with his resulting effort blocked by Djourou. It was a needed one too, Szczesny looked beaten.[LNB]48min: A slower start to the half which remains even in terms of possession and territory.[LNB] Blocked: Udinese's Danilo Larangeira fends off Chamakh[LNB]Second-half: One change for the Gunners sees Johan Djourou replace Gibbs. No news if that is injury based.[LNB]20.45: From InfostradaLive: [LNB]Arsenal have won their last 20 home matches in Europe when leading at half time.[LNB]20.42: So after that moment of madness, here are the score from tonight's other Champions League qualifiers:[LNB]Copenhagen 0-0 Plezn[LNB]BATE 0-1 Strim Graz[LNB]Twente 1-2 Benfica[LNB]Lyon 1-1 Rubin Kazan[LNB]20.39: You have put Eboue in the Arsenal team on the mail website! Didn't he transfer to Galatasary or somewhere today? lol. I think it's Gervinho that you have missed out.[LNB]Alex Shore[LNB]Now amended. (See 19.36) Note to self, always read the team news sent in before doing the old copy and paste.[LNB]20.37: I thought this was done and dusted inside five minutes but Udinese have come out of their shell and gave their illustrious hosts more than a game.[LNB]Arsenal are going to have to nip this in the bud and press for a second I feel. I wouldn't want to travel to Italy with just a one goal advantage.[LNB] Crowded out: Chamakh's shot is blocked by a sea of Udinese defenders[LNB]Half-time: Arsenal 1-0 Udinese[LNB]45min: One added minute.[LNB]44min: Blom has been excellent this evening. This time booking Kieran Gibbs for making a carbon copy of Ekstrand's challenge in the first minute.[LNB]41min: And they have a corner here which goes short, before Walcott in his tiger like mood is straight in with a challenge to cut it out.[LNB]I don't know what the England winger is on this evening but I want some.[LNB]38min: Some good passing from the visitors who have grown in this game since being pasted in the first 10 minutes. This scoreline isn't the end of the world for them.[LNB]35min: Sky reporting that Pat Rice in the Arsenal dugout seems to be communicating with someone in the vicinity of Arsene Wenger in the Directors box.[LNB]Any communication with a banned member of the coaching staff in these circumstances is banned by UEFA. I will keep you posted if any more develops from it but storms and teacups come to mind there.[LNB]32min: Nothing wrong with the Gunners going forward but question marks still remain at the back. Sagna and Laurent Koscielny don't seem to be working on the same page.[LNB] On form: Walcott (right) looked bright in the opening 45 minutes[LNB]29min: A cracking game but the more Arsenal pile into attack the more they leave themselves open to a counter. And the Italians have proved more than capable of it so far, time to just sit back a little?[LNB]26min: Szczesny has earned his weeks pay - and that's before I even know how much he is on![LNB]Pablo Armero steams through the Arsenal defence after running from his own half to put him one-on-one with the Polish stopper.[LNB]His shot though is a little too central as Szczesny parries before pouncing on Giampiero Pinzi's rebound seconds later.[LNB]24min: A break in the play after Bacary Sagna is wiped out by Neuton, who clearly plays the ball in a sliding challenge. The full-back should be okay to continue.[LNB]21min: The openness continues and Walcott looks pumped. The winger firing an effort from 25 yards which fails to trouble Samir Handanovic.[LNB]18min: The game is probably more open than Wenger would like it but Arsenal are still looking the better side. The momentum of this tie would change rapidly though if the visitors grabbed an away goal.[LNB] Spectator: Wenger was banned form watching his team on the touchline[LNB]15min: Just signs the visitors are growing in confidence. Di Natale spots Szczesny off his line but his lob from 25 yards just lacks the power and height to trouble the Arsenal keeper.[LNB]12min: Yikes! Di Natale curls a free-kick from 25-yards-out that rattles the crossbar, certainly catching Szczesny napping. The resulting rebound falls for the Gunners defence who scramble clear.[LNB]11min: I like this referee. Walcott is booked for a foul on Neuton but after the Udinese forward brandishes an imaginary yellow card, receives one himself for trying to influence the official.[LNB]10min: Arsenal should be two up when a corner falls for Gervinho, but he gets his lines wrong and completely fluffs his shot.[LNB]7min: Early signs suggest the Italians are well out of their depth. Arsenal are tearing them apart here. the Gunners could be out of sight by half-time.[LNB] Off the mark: Walcott (right) fired Arsenal ahead early in the game[LNB]4min: GOAL! ARSENAL 1-0 Udinese[LNB]Crisis, what crisis? Aaron Ramsey escapes down the right flank and his low cross to the near post is volleyed in by Theo Walcott. Bread and butter stuff that. Floodgates opening maybe?[LNB]3min: Plenty of empty seats in the ground on a sunny evening at the Emirates Stadium. it's almost like a pre-season friendly.[LNB]1min: That is harsh from Kevin Blom. Joel Ekstrand flies in on Theo Walcott with a two-footed challenge but cleanly wins the ball. The referee decides that sort of tackle will not be tolerated this evening and books him.[LNB] Gone but not forgotten: Arsenal fans show support for their departing captain[LNB]Kick-off: Away we go then.[LNB]19.43: No Wenger in the dugout this season as he serves a suspension for an outburst in last season's defeat to Barcelona.[LNB]The Frenchman is in the Director's box.[LNB]19.40: Here come the players to a lukewarm reception. Arsenal seem to be on trial this evening.[LNB]19.36: Apologies for earlier on the team news. Jens Lehmann (who left Arsenal ages ago) does NOT start in goal and it is Wojciech Szczesny between the sticks.[LNB]19.35: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger makes two changes to his starting XI as the Gunners begin life without Cesc Fabregas by taking on Udinese in tonight's Champions League play-off first leg at the Emirates Stadium.[LNB]Theo Walcott and Marouane Chamakh come in for Andrey Arshavin and the suspended Robin van Persie while new signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is named on the bench.[LNB]Italy striker Antonio Di Natale starts for Udinese as the Serie A side look to book their place in the Champions League proper for only the second time in their history.[LNB]19.30: It will be interesting to see how the crowd at the Emirates Stadium view this one. Will the home fans get on the players backs if they haven't scored after 20 minutes? Will Udinese look to frustrate early on to achieve just that?[LNB]19.25: ...and finishing fourth was done by having wing wizard and World Cup star Alexis Sanchez in the team.[LNB]The Chilean left for Barcelona in the summer though, meaning Arsenal are not the only club losing star men.[LNB] Time to shine: Chamakh will lead the Arsenal attack[LNB]19.22: So who are Udinese? They finished fourth in Italy last season but are far from considered one of the giants in the Italian game.[LNB]Striker captain and fans favourite Antonio Di Natale has called tonight's match as the biggest in the club's history.[LNB]19.19: A big night for Marouane Chamakh. He got off to a flier last season but after Christmas I was considering sending out a search party for him.[LNB]Here is a big chance for him to force his way back into Wenger's first team plans.[LNB]19.16: Some more feel good factor courtesy of our good buddies at OptaJoe:[LNB]8 - Arsenal have won all 8 legs of their 4 Champions League Qualifying matches to date, conceding just two goals in total. Comfortable.[LNB]19.13: On a personal level I have never been surrounded by so many downbeat Arsenal fans. And never have I seen Arsene Wenger's job been brought into debate amongst the same people.[LNB]All a bit harsh I think. The Frenchman has been incredible since the day he walked into Highbury and he knows EXACTLY what he is doing. He may have made some mistakes over the years but don't we all?[LNB]19.10: I don't think I have ever seen an Arsenal squad down to such bare bones. Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri (another set to leave) are suspended while Jack Wilshere is suspended. Could the Gunners really be in danger of missing out on the group stages?[LNB]19.07: Team news:[LNB]Arsenal v UdineseArsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Song, Rosicky, Walcott, Ramsey, Gervinho, Chamakh. Subs: Fabianski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Djourou, Arshavin, Jenkinson, Frimpong, Bendtner.[LNB]Udinese: Handanovic, Ekstrand, Benatia, Larangeira, Neuton, Agyemang-Badu, Isla, Asamoah, Pinzi, Armero, Di Natale. Subs: Belardi, Denis, Vydra, Abdi, Pasquale, Doubai, Fabbrini.[LNB]Referee: Kevin Blom (Holland)[LNB]19.03: Talk about one thing after another. If it isn't a selection of players exiting the club (headlined by your captain) then it's your new signing getting sent-off (and receiving a three match ban) on his Premier League debut.[LNB]And that's before we get to the fact there is a tricky Champions League qualifier against a Serie A side as the next obstacle - without your new captain.[LNB]Welcome to Arsenal Football Club. Team news coming up.[LNB] Testing times: Arsenal prepare to begin life without Cesc Fabregas as they train ahead of the game with Udinese[LNB] Fabregas full of praise for Wenger and the Arsenal fans as he completes move to Barcelona Arsenal face selection crisis for Udinese clash with Nasri and Van Persie suspendedThe show must go on: Wenger prepares Arsenal for life after FabregasAll the latest Arsenal news, features and opinion[LNB]
