"A stroll in the park"

Anderlecht’s surprise win over Manchester United last night served as a timely reminder that you can’t underestimate, what Ferguson described as, a small club. If there is ever something to motivate an opposing team, it’s to belittle them before the game – well done Alex!

Wenger, who rested Parlour, Kanu and Henry at the weekend, was clearly taking Sparta a bit more seriously, even though we had already qualified for the next stage. Another win however would not only be good for the fans and morale, but also give us a seeded position for the next group stage - and enough money to buy West Ham according to Redknapp! With Martin Keown and Gilles Grimandi suspended and Adams still injured (back), Wenger resorted to the unlikely central pairing of Vivas and Luzhny. Any concerns about this decision were quickly forgotten as they settled quickly and Vivas demonstrated an aerial presence for a little man that I haven’t seen since Paul Parker at QPR.

In the opening minutes the Patrick Vieira “master-class” resumed from Saturday as he rolled the ball square to Parlour on the right, who took one touch before belting the ball 25 yards into the back of Sparta’s net. The game was effectively finished off in the eighth minute with a good poacher’s finish by Lauren who had managed to keep up with a great charge down the left flank by Pires, following a clever one-two with Henry up field. Thereafter Arsenal visibly dropped a gear and the atmosphere around the ground descended into that of a testimonial. Uncharacteristically Henry missed the opportunity to score a third just a couple of minutes later as he rounded the keeper but hit the side netting. A few minutes later our third goal arrived thanks to one of many goalkeeping errors by Postulka, who blocked a save from Henry’s powerful strike outside the area, only for Dixon to follow-up from six yards, 3-0.

Seaman had made some great saves earlier in the game, but a surprising lapse in concentration led to Sparta pulling one back: Poor footwork led to him spilling a Sparta shot which, in a more pressurised game, he would probably have held onto. In Seaman’s attempt to make amends he brought down another Sparta player as they followed up to bury the dropped ball - Penalty. Labant, who earlier saw his great free-kick outside the penalty area brilliantly touched onto the crossbar by Seaman and then hooked off the line by Dixon, stepped up to take the penalty. Left footed, Labant this time sent Seaman the wrong way and brought the score to 3-1.

A change of strip for Arsenal (from blue to yellow) didn’t alter our control of the second half and it wasn’t long before we converted another opportunity. This time by Kanu who, from close range, coolly put away Henry’s low centre – the culmination of a blistering run by the Frenchman down the left, again rounding 2 Sparta players on the way. The Arsenal crowd came to life when Bergkamp came on for Pires. However it was noticeable that without the industrious Frenchman we lost a great deal of penetration. Having said that, by then, we had dropped down a further gear, since there was little need for anything else. Sparta to their credit continued pushing and with virtually the last kick of the game Rosicky scored the best goal of the evening after a mesmerising run through the Arsenal defence.

It was however a token goal and one he wouldn’t have scored in more competitive circumstances. In brief this was a stroll in the park for superior a team and better individual players – the next stage will undoubtedly give us much stronger opposition in all of our group games.

Arsenal Seaman, Dixon, Luzhny, Vivas, Silvinho (Cole 45), Vieira, Parlour, Lauren, Pires (Bergkamp 60), Henry (Wiltord 70) and Kanu.
Sparta Prague Postulka, Labant, Hasek, Hornak, Novotny, Kincl, Bolf, Sionko (Papousek 85), Jarosik, Jun (Mynar 46) and Rosicky.