Cesc and Thierry show undoes Juve
Date: 30-03-2006 04:31
Arsenal took a giant stride towards the last four as they outclassed Juventus 2-0 in Tuesday's quarter-final first leg. Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry struck either side of half time to ensure Arsene Wenger's side head to Turin in a week's time with a healthy advantage.
Man of the Match: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) - immense
Mauro Camoranesi and Jonathan Zebina were sent off late on after picking up a second yellow card each to compound the misery for Fabio Capello, who will also have to do without Patrick Vieira who picked up a second booking of the knockout phase.
The pre-match hype had all been about Vieira's homecoming and the fear of many Arsenal fans would have been that the Frenchman would haunt his former club on his return to Highbury.
But the ghost of Vieira was exorcised by a monumental display from Fabregas, who must now surely have laid to rest any lingering doubts over his ability to fill the void left by his predecessor's departure to Turin last summer.
The Spaniard was the driving force of an Arsenal side who once again showed in Europe what they have been unable to produce in the Premiership this season - this was Arsenal at their fluent best.
CRISP PASSING
Crisp passing to feet proved too much for the Italian champions, who desperately missed the guile of the injured Alessandro del Piero and dynamism of the suspended Pavel Nedved.
With Zlatan Ibrahimovic an annoyed rather than annoying figure and David Trezeguet conspicuous by his absence of involvement, the Arsenal back four stifled any attacking menace in its infancy.
And with Robert Pires and Jose Antonio Reyes providing Henry with able support, Juventus' typically watertight rearguard found itself springing leaks.
Fabregas and Henry - incredibly a flop at Juventus before being rescued by Wenger and brought to Arsenal - had already menaced before the Premiership side took the lead five minutes before the interval.
Pires robbed Vieira with a surprisingly well-timed challenge on halfway before bursting forward and picking out Henry - the striker's measured ball inch-perfect for the onrushing Fabregas to latch onto and fire past Gianluigi Buffon.
VIEIRA OF YORE
Henry almost doubled the lead within a minute, ridiculing Lilian Thuram and Fabio Cannavaro before shooting across the face of goal to ensure Arsenal went into the break on a high.
Juve - imperious in Serie A - had been fortunate to squeeze into the last eight at the expense of Werder Bremen, but any hopes they would benefit from a similar slice of luck in London were immediately expelled after half time as Arsenal were again the more purposeful.
Twice Buffon was forced into fine stops before Fabregas and Henry again picked their way through with twenty minutes left.
The Spaniard accelerated like a Vieira of yore over halfway before picking out Henry.
The Frenchman's lay-off to Aliaksandr Hleb was perfectly weighted for an instant pass into the path of Fabregas who cut the ball back for Henry to sweep into the empty net.
Juve were undressed, but the embarrassment brought irritation not inspiration as Zebina and Camoranesi both lost self-control to bring a sorry night to a sorry end.
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