27 September 2006, by Sean Gillen

Powerful Arsenal overrun Porto

Arsenal 2-0 FC Porto

FC Porto’s disappointing start to their Champions League campaign continued as they were overpowered by last season’s finalists Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Goals from Thierry Henry and Alexander Hleb gave the Gunners the win on what was an impressive display from the Premiership side.

Jesualdo Ferreira made two changes from Friday’s comfortable win over Beira-Mar, with Anderson replacing Adriano, and Ricardo Costa coming in for Jorginho.

Match reaction: "Arsenal aren't just any team" - Ferreira

The Portuguese champions barely survived the first five minutes without conceding the first goal. Robin van Persie drew a smart save from Helton with a low shot before Kolo Toure thought he had given Arsenal the lead, only for the linesman to raise his flag in the opinion that Fabregas had failed to keep the ball in play when setting up the Ivorian.

Arsenal continued to press for the following 20 minutes, but Porto managed to weather the storm and enjoyed a decent period of passing, looking confident and composed on the ball during long periods of the first half hour.

Anderson and Ricardo Quaresma linked up well at times behind Helder Postiga, who shot over after 13 minutes. The closest the Portuguese came to taking the lead was when Bruno Alves headed a Quaresma corner towards goal, and Arsenal midfielder Fabregas cleared off the line.

Helton save

Van Persie then missed an outstanding chance to open the scoring before Helton denied the same player again with a save low to his right after the Dutchman had cut in onto his favoured left foot.

Porto struggled at times during the match to deal with their opponents’ pace, in particular the threat from Arsenal’s right side, and the opening goal would come from a marauding run from the Gunners’ full-back Emanuel Eboue. The Ivorian set off on a powerful charge, taking on Bosingwa before curling an inch-perfect cross to the back post, where Henry headed past Helton, who was rooted to the spot.

Ferreira made a double substitution at the break, bringing on Argentinean striker Lisandro Lopez and Raul Meireles, in place of Helder Postiga and Ricardo Costa.

However, the changes did not bring the desired reaction and Arsenal doubled their advantage just three minutes into the second period when Alexander Hleb finished of some good build-up play by firing a low shot past Helton from the edge of the box.

The Portuguese league leaders struggled to threaten Jens Lehman’s goal and although Raul Meireles registered two efforts on goal, neither really troubled the German.

Arsenal began to look increasingly comfortable, and the helpless Bosingwa struggled to contain Henry, who was causing major problems. Henry toyed with the right-back before picking out Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas, but the 19-year-old’s close range finish was well stopped by Helton.

Ricardo Quaresma gave a glimpse of what he is capable of in the closing stages when he controlled a long ball from Assuncao wide on the left, before cutting inside onto his favoured right foot and hitting a dangerous effort that Lehman gathered at the second attempt.

Arsenal saw out the remaining few minutes of what was a comfortable evening for Arsene Wenger’s men, and Porto are left with one point and no goals from their opening two games in the Champions League.

CSKA Moscow’s win over Hamburg in Russia means that Porto find themselves third in the group, with a double header against pointless Hamburg next up in the competition.

PortuGOAL man of the match:
Helton – The result could have been much worse for Porto, had it not been for their excellent goalkeeper, who denied Arsenal on several occasions with some fine stops, most notably from Fabregas and van Persie.

Arsenal:
Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Hoyte, Gallas (Song Billong 90), Hleb (Walcott 85), Fabregas, Silva, Rosicky, Henry, Van Persie (Ljungberg 74)
Yellow Cards: Rosicky (64), Gilbert (88)

FC Porto:
Helton, Bosingwa, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Cech, Lucho Gonzalez, Paulo Assuncao, Ricardo Costa (Raul Meireles 45), Anderson (Adriano 65), Quaresma, Postiga (Lopez 45)
Yellow Cards: Ricardo Costa (32)

Goals:
[1-0] Henry, 38
[2-0] Hleb, 48