Arsenal hit the ground running against a very average Liege side at the Emirates stadium, with goals from Samir Nasri and an absolute spanker from Denilson settling the tie early.

Clearly Wenger’s ire at the performance against Sunderland had crept under the player’s skin as the Gunners started at a high tempo, dominating possession and chances. Several melees ensued in the box with Arsenal contriving not to score when it was easier to slot it in blindfolded.

Arshavin got in the way of goalscoring chances once or twice, getting the ball smashed at him by Thomas Vermaelen before bashing heads with William Gallas while going for a corner. It left Arshavin bloodied and out of sorts, while Gallas was even worse for wear; the area around his eye swelling enormously as he cut a concussed, confused figure.

Yet, with nine men due to injury, Arsenal scored. Vermaelen punted a long ball up field and the Liege defender should have controlled it. Instead, he missed it completely, Nasri was there waiting, he took a touch and clipped it past the keeper, simple as you like. The fact he made it look so simple made it all the more beautiful. Great finish for his second goal this season.

But Arsenal did flatter to deceive in some parts of this match. Liege hit the post at least twice and had a chance in the box which their striker should have done better with.

Nevertheless, on the stroke of half time, Denilson made sure of the result with a fantastic finish from 30 yards out. The midfielder picked it up in Liege’s half, brought it in a bit and then lashed it home in the wind, up and over the keeper for 2-0. Beautiful, stunning, and I was just reminiscing to myself at the time when he scored that scorcher against Everton. More of the same, Deni old chum!

The second half saw Gallas replaced with Silvestre, and Arsenal simply went through the motions, eventually strangling the life out of the fixture. They were going easy and so, it seemed, were Liege, until one man went crackers at Fabregas and got sent off for a stupid head butt, and another fool slid into Kieran Gibbs, fracturing his metatarsal. Though some rumours have it that there could be a leg-break involved too. Though that is yet to be confirmed.

Almunia – 6: A virtual spectator for much of the match. Had most of a shot covered that cannoned off the upright and was a little fortunate to mop up another rare Liege foray.
Eboue – 7: A few hairy moments in defence aside, bombed forward with vigour and may  be a genuine candidate for a fullback role against Chelsea, though which side he gets is debatable.
Vermaelen – 7: Had poor defending to thank for his assist, but got forward a couple of times tonight and had Song to thank for a relatively quiet night.
Gallas – 6: Consumate in defence and had a good header on goal impeded by the Arshavin head-bang. Looked very dazed and confused after it and I’m sure many fans were saying silent prayers he’d be taken off. Saw out the half and then subbed for Silvestre.
Gibbs – 7: A bundle of energy as always, intercepted, put himself about. Then taken out by a totally stupid, unnecessary tackle deep into the second half’s injury time.
Song – 8: Bossed the midfield, gave Liege’s forwards absolutely no chance for much of the match. Showed off his attacking instincts too with the odd run at defenders.
Fabregas – 8: In tandem with Denilson and Song, was immense. Completed the midfield’s tackling and interceptions with a string of the usual passes and ensured that Arsenal dominated possession.
Denilson – 8: A fantastic return for the young Brazillian, intercepting the ball stealthily and keeping the side’s tempo ticking over. A thunderous goal on the stroke of half time killed the game off.
Nasri – 7: Incisive and an all-round better performance than against Sunderland. Took his chance well.
Arshavin – 7: Did a Bendtner in front of goal twice, but had a couple of shots on target and looked dangerous in the second half.
Vela – 6: This might be unpopular, but I am far from convinced with the young Mexican. Adds hardly any penetration to the forward line and is not living up to some burdensome hype.
SUBS: Silvestre – 6: Came on for the befuddled Gallas and largely kept the Arsenal box incident free. A quiet second half.
Walcott – 6.5: Came on and got some fizzing shots on goal.
Rosicky – 6: Passed well, kept things ticking over.

The injuries are the main thing today, with Gibbs and Gallas in the wars while Arshavin is set to get stitches in his head after that collision. Whispers and prayers that Gallas makes it for Chelsea. Seeing the swelling in his eye was one thing, but he’s been hobbling a bit throughout the season and yet continues to play on. Is Sunday asking too much? We can only wait and see.

The defensive side of our game remains questionable, and it really, really, really needs to be sorted, yesterday. If we continue to be suspect as we are, we will be found out at some point by better teams than Liege. It doesn’t matter if we score four, five or six in some games, there will be the odd game where we get blanked (Sunderland) and we have nothing to fall back on.

I heard someone say Vela’s start today was his ‘audition’ whereas Eduardo had his on Saturday. Unfortunately, both failed to impress in their matches to get the starting berth against Chelsea, but you have to feel that, as experience goes, it’s Eduardo for the big game. I just feel that there is a lot of expectation and hype surrounding Vela that, while based on something (where there’s smoke there’s fire), it’s magnified our expectations of the kid (and he is still very young) that there is no way he can possibly produce.

Carling Cup is one thing: those kids play free of expectations and it’s a joy to wash. Carlos thrives off of that. At this level and League level, it’s different. That’s fighting for your life, bread and butter, elite football.

So far, for me, he has yet to impress. I’ll give him as much time as he needs, of course, but I’m pretty sure that those that decry Bendtner and Eboue’s place in the side over Vela and Jack Wilshere, and you see what the former two can do over the very limited contribution of the younger players, the folly in these wishes is apparent.

Now the count-down begins to Chelsea.

What do you think? Too harsh on Vela? Defence got you worried? Glad to top the group? The comments section is your place.

(editor’s note: ‘Gibbing’, as referred to in the headline, is a computer geek term for grinding one’s opponents to bits – refer to Half Life)

Filed under: Arsenal, Champions League