Arsenal 4-0 FC Porto: We're Back!

After tonight's performance, all I can say is we're back. Back to our best form, back to winning at home, and back to actually working hard as a team to get a great result. I wasn't able to see the first half other than highlights at halftime, but I saw the entirety of the second period and it was highly impressive. We were passing the ball well, linking together well, and dominating possession. Porto never really had but one chance in the second half; we were excellent.

I could go over each player and give them a rating, but for space's sake I won't. However to summarise, Adebayor and Van Persie played well, both taking their chances tonight instead of missing them. Walcott was excellent, and as Fabio Capello was in the audience, he did himself good as far as the national team is concerned. He ran by players with ease and never looked hassled on the ball, always composed. The rest of the midfield also was excellent. Fabregas passed well as always, Denilson was good, and Nasri was also excellent, showing on a few occasions, especially with the 25-yard bullet that was just saved, that he isn't afraid to shoot. I'm so glad we replaced Hleb with Nasri.

The defence was also good, with Clichy especially standing out. Even Gallas and Toure weren't horrible, although to be fair they didn't have much to do. And Almunia had a very solid night, commanding well, picking up lose balls, and distributing well. Come to think of it I can't think of a single game this season in which he hasn't looked excellent. How he is kept out of the Spain side, I don't know. Sure, Casillas and Reina are good but what about even putting Almunia on the bench or playing him in a low-level qualifier? I don't understand Spanish football sometimes (let's not even get into why Fabregas wasn't starting at EURO 2008).

So all in all a good match. I had a feeling we would bounce back after the defeat to Hull, and that's exactly what we did, in emphatic fashion. This will give us some much needed confidence before our trip down to Sunderland on Saturday and hopefully that confidence, along with the lesson in not being complacent that the team learned against Hull, will allow us to win comfortably against Roy Keane's men. Until then,

Fab 4

Highlights: http://www.boxofficefootball.com/arsenal-v-fc-porto-uefa-champions-league/