Arsenal Vs Slavia Prague: From the sidelines

"Dear Arsenal Fan, As part of the ongrowing grooming process for new fans, we have sent you the match report from the man on the sidelines, Arsenal's assassin - Robin Yan Persie. Visit www.arsenal.com to view more reports on Arsenal's win over Slavia Prague and more club news. "

Match overview
Arsenal romped to a 7-0 victory over Slavia Prague at The Emirates Stadium last night to claim the maximum nine points from 3 matches to sit atop the Group H standings in the First Phase of the UEFA Champions League tournament 2006/2007.

The Gunners, in top both flight and form, extended their unbeaten record to 13 games in all competitions with this big win. It was definitely a wonderful, though belated, birthday present for manager Arsene Wenger who celebrated his birthday two days ago.

The man of the night was certainly Theo Walcott who was in superb form. Arsene Wenger paired Walcott with Adebayor as Arsenal’s assassin striker Yan Persie was sidelined due to a injury he picked up while on international duty. Walcott repaid the faith that Wenger had in him by netting two goals in a night that saw the Barclay’s Premiership leaders dominating the game.

The teenager’s pace certainly tested the visitor’s defence to their limits almost consistently as they frantically try to break down the Gunners’ attacks.

Arsenal took the lead from as early as the 5th minute. Good footwork by Hleb down the left created the opening and when Fabregas’ marker slipped, the ball was presented to Fabregas as it delightfully fell to his feet. The Spaniard curled the ball past Prague’s custodian Martin Vaniak into goal.

That proved to be just the beginning of the oncoming salvo and barrage of goals of the evening.

In the 24th minute, Hleb himself doubled Arsenal’s lead. Slavia failed to clear their lines after breaking down an Arsenal attack on the right and the ball reached Hleb. The Belarus midfielder fired an angled drive towards goal and it took a deflection off Slavia defender David Hubacek outstretched foot into goal, much to the dismay of Vaniak who looked poised and prepared for Hleb’s shot.

The Czechs once again proved how comical they can be especially when being two goals down (hahahaa). Slavia’s left-back decided to do a back-pass to Vaniak from near the touch line. Vaniak then horribly cleared the ball and gave Walcott possession. The young star cleverly rounded Vaniak and slotted home the ball from 18 yards out between two retreating defenders who could do nothing but to watch Arsenal’s lead extend to three goals.

The game paused for half-time with the Gunners leading by three goals to nil. And all who were watching knew that more goals were coming.

After 51 minutes, Hleb scored his second goal of the night when he weaved through Slavia’s defence on the left and let fly a low shot past Vaniak. Four minutes later, Arsenal were 5-0 up when Hleb brilliantly wrong-footed Slavia’s full-back with a sliderule pass to Walcott. The fast-paced teenager made no mistake to the pass and drilled home off the far post.

It was barely 3 minutes later that Arsenal added another to their haul of goals in this mauling of Slavia Prague. Arsenal counter-attacked after defending a Slavia corner and seamlessly advanced towards Slavia’s goal through Adebayor and Walcott. With the Czechs still catching up, Walcott unleashed the ball to Fabregas who fired home his second goal of the night.

Arsenal’s preferred keeper for the night, Alumnia, seemed to have very little to do as the Gunners defended well, controlled the middle of the park and took their scoring chances well. Matej Krajcik tried to put some honour into Slavia’s defeat but Alumnia ensured a clean sheet when he tipped away Krajcik’s shot.

Theo Walcott found himself with a superb scoring chance when he received the ball from a superbly-measured pass by Rosicky but Vaniak was there to deny the brilliant striker a hat-trick with a wonderful save from point-blank range.

Nicklas Bendtner who came in for Adebayor, tapped in the seventh goal on the stroke of full-time, adding salt to the already-gaping wound in Slavia’s pride.

It was an evening where Arsenal showed maturity in their game. Their slick passing and ability to stretch the opponent’s defenses showed that the 2006 Champions League finalists are a force that should not be written off so easily. Slavia Prague may be new to this competition, but the rule of the game is : Beat what’s in front of you. And that’s what Arsenal has been doing for the past 13 games, their best run of form since their the Invincible season in 2003-2004 when the Gunners went on a 49-game unbeaten streak.

Tougher opponents will come and definitely, with their present form of play, Arsenal will be up to the task of proving their point that they are definitely worthy of lifting the Champions League trophy. GO GUNNERS!!!


Reported by No. 11 , Robin Yan Persie