Aug 29
Tomas Rosicky’s goal in the 7th minute of today’s Champions League Qualifier second-leg put paid to any notion that Arsenal wouldn’t be taking place in the UEFA Champions League for the tenth consecutive season.
Substitute Cesc Fabregas added his second Champions League goal of the season in the 82nd minute, and new signing Eduardo da Silva rounded out the scoring to make the score 5-0 on aggregate.
The draw for the group stages takes place tomorrow, and Arsenal are seeded, so they’ll avoid the other big guns of Europe. Next up on the pitch is Pompey at home. Kickoff is 8:30 AM ET and will be shown here in the US on Setanta USA.
15 Responses to “Arsenal 3 - 0 Sparta Prague”
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August 30th, 2007 at 12:26 am
Seems Eduardo is the player we’ve been looking for. The way he got on to Denilson’s cross to score the third was just classic. Fabregas is looking better and better.
Walcott too had a nice game.
It was nice to see Gilberto back in his usual place as holding midfielder. The game went well.
August 30th, 2007 at 12:42 am
Excellent result. Great start to the season. Wins in the CL was expected, but 7 points in 3 league games is a big improvement over the 2 pts at the same stage of last season.
Glad to see Rosicky join in the scoring party. Hope he can stay fit. Cesc is the top scorer now. Looks like my prediction of 10 goals for him may come true. Eduardo is looking like a top player. My prediction of him scoring more than Ade may not be off the mark.
I predicted a big season for Walcott. And I may be off the mark there (though Wenger agrees with me). He did little in the Blackburn game and not much yesterday. But I did like his cross for Rosicky’s goal. Blind it may have been, but he did something which no one in team will do. And he did put it in a good area. If he gets more playing time, he will improve.
Diaby may have had a bad game, but it was his first. Let’s see how he improves. But I think Wenger has given up on him being a Gilberto replacement. He will be used more offensively, which means, he will be used sparingly and likely out of position (on the wings).
Things are looking bright. Imagine how much better we can be with one or more signings. But Wenger thinks this is enough. Time will tell. Am enjoying for now.
August 30th, 2007 at 2:23 am
Nipuna on Diaby, I saw a Wenger-quote where he included Diaby in a list of attacking (striker) options. Now that’s ‘out there’.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:22 am
From every thing i read it looks like it was a great game alot of synergy between players like they were having fun out there linking up. i wish i could have seen it, FSR didnt even have highlights mabe sky will this afternoon. If any one knows of any replays on the internet post them
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!!!!
August 30th, 2007 at 7:48 am
To be honest, although I did criticise Walcott last night it was only for his performance - I think he will be an excellent player, but I’m only saying that because Wenger is coaching him.
To be honest there are only 2 players in the squad I can’t stand the sight of, Hoyte and Senderos. Seeing as they must have played 100 games for Arsenal between them over a three year period including a lot of starts, I think that’s enough to make a firm judgement.
It would unfair to make the same judgments on Walcott, Diaby, Denilson etc… although I admit that sometimes you just know when a player’s going to be good or not, like Sagna. After 3-4 games you know he’s going to be the business, whereas after 3-4 games Hoyte and Senderos both looked shit and still look shit. I guess some people think Diaby, Denilson & Walcott look shit and will always be shit, I don’t.
August 30th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Danny, I think Hoyte and Senderos are very good back-ups. Hoyte has improved a lot in the last two seasons and I won’t mind have him as 2nd choice RB. And when Djourou is back, Senderos might be 4th choice, so that’s not bad at all.
Off topic: Eto’o is ruled out for up to two months, so Thierry will have plenty of chances to show his class, there will be less rotation now.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Moving into the group stage was pretty much confirmed after 7 minutes. Sparta Prague crawled into a hole. Now much of a game from which to gain a lot of insight.
Well done, Gunners.
Here’s to a decent group draw today and back to the prem.
After our first set of games of the season, we haven’t been scored upon (not incl. Lehmann’s goals). Not bad.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Just noticed that Toure was captain ahead of Gilberto, again. Too early, but are Gilberto’s days at Arsenal numbered?
August 30th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Got Clips?
http://arsenalclips.blogspot.com/index.html
Replay’s, Full Games, Commentary, etc.
Enjoy!
Great goals last night. Although, Teamtalk.com called our performance ‘frustrating’ and ‘lackluster.’ Albeit, it was a professional job and now we can look forward to the weekend on the back of a 3-goal win. Loved the way DuDu just left the right-back standing. What a move!
August 30th, 2007 at 11:36 am
The RUSSIANS are coming!
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=458554&cc=5901
August 30th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Arsenal
Sevilla/AEK
Steaua
Slavia Prague
Top of the group with 16 points. A draw in Seville and 5 wins. :))
August 30th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
and a special thanks to David Dein for doing his best to unsettle the players at this early stage of the season.
August 30th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Nice CL draw. I can’t imagine how many times over the past years, I have expected an easy stroll after looking at the draw but things didn’t turn out that way. Still this draw better than getting Lyon (even if their current form is patchy) or Roma. For those travelling to away games, some interesting spots to visit.
August 30th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Did anyone see the live draw on uefa’s website? I thought I saw Dein in the crowd making notes? Was I seeing things or was it really him?
August 30th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
For those looking for highlights:
http://www.fbtz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82776