Arsenal won 4-1 over AZ Alkmaar to move within touching distance of the Champions League knockout stage.
Gunners triumph 4-1 to move within touching distance of next round
Arsenal recorded a comfortable 4-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday to move them within touching distance of the UEFA Champions League knockout stage.
Cesc Fabregas netted a brace while Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby also got their names on the scoresheet as the Gunners made amends for a sloppy draw versus the Eredivisie champions a fortnight ago.
Arsenal captain Fabregas broke the deadlock on 25 minutes with a low strike and then a fine goal from Nasri doubled the home side's lead before the half-time whistle.
Fabregas made it 3-0 early in the second half before Diaby finished off a flowing move to wrap up the win for the table-toppers, while a late goal from AZ's Jeremain Lens proved only a consolation for Ronald Koeman's side.
Olympiakos' loss against Standard Liege in Group H's other game on Wednesday night means Arsenal are yet to mathematically progress to the knockout stage of the competition.
Unbeaten
AZ boss Ronald Koeman - whose goal won the 1992 European Cup for Barcelona at Wembley - had previously been unbeaten against Wenger, masterminding a 1-1 draw here with PSV in 2007, which knocked the English side out.
However, there was to be no repeat as the Gunners immediately went on the attack.
Robin van Persie cut in from the right and flashed a low strike across goal.
Referee Alain Hamer, kitted out in white, then penalised goalkeeper Sergio Ranero for picking up a backpass from midfield, giving Arsenal an indirect free-kick on the right corner of the six-yard box.
Van Persie, though, smashed his shot into the wall of black shirts at the near post.
With Emmanuel Eboue preferred at right-back to Bacary Sagna, the Gunners were certainly more offensive down the flanks, if without lacking any real bite in the final third.
Arsenal were then gifted the lead on 25 minutes.
A quick break down the left freed Fabregas on the edge of the penalty area.
The Gunners captain was given space to drive the ball through David Mendes da Silva's legs, and as Ranero completely mistimed his dive, it somehow crept inside the far post.
The home side continued to press, and Fabregas was somewhat unfortunate to head over after a deep cross from left-back Kieran Gibbs, in for the injured Gael Clichy, at the end of another swift counter.
The Gunners doubled their lead just before half-time.
Andrey Arshavin fed Nasri down the middle.
The Frenchman, now fit again following a fractured leg suffered during pre-season, turned Hector Moreno inside out to burst into the penalty area, before dispatching a low effort into the bottom right corner on 43 minutes.
Before AZ could regroup at the start of the second half, Arsenal were out of sight after scoring a third goal on 52 minutes.
Fired
The visitors gave away possession in midfield, and it proved fatal as Arshavin sprinted towards the penalty area, before slipping in Fabregas, who fired the ball past Romero.
To their credit, though, AZ kept going.
Indeed but for a fine reaction block from Manuel Almunia, the visitors would have pulled a goal back.
Graziano Pelle chested down a cross from Maarten Martens before firing the ball in at point-blank range which Almunia, looking to cement his place as number one again, instinctively pushed up on to the crossbar.
Wenger made a double change with 24 minutes left, replacing Fabregas with Aaron Ramsey, while Eduardo came on for Van Persie.
Gibbs came close to netting his first Arsenal goal when driving the ball just wide from the edge of the penalty box.
It was 4-0 on 72 minutes following another flowing counter-attack.
A clever back-heel from Eduardo released Arshavin down the right.
The Russian took the ball on into the area, before squaring to Diaby, who made no mistake from 12 yards.
Arsenal had what looked a decent shout for handball against Pelle turned down before AZ broke quickly and scored a consolation when Lens held off Gibbs to fire past Almunia.
There was still time for Ramsey to hit the bar, but the hard work had already been done.
| Arsenal |
Team Statistics |
AZ Alkmaar |
| 4 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 5 |
Corners |
4 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 83.3 |
Passing Success |
81.5 |
| 28 |
Tackles |
27 |
| 64.3 |
Tackles Success |
70.4 |
| 55.3 |
Possession |
44.7 |
| 51.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.7 |
|
