Those who nicknamed him ‘Barndoor Bendtner’ after his efforts
against Burnley might still take some convincing when the
opportunities Arsenal’s Danish striker enjoyed did not exactly test
his finishing ability.
They might still say he could not score the kind of goal that
Samir Nasri produced to make sure of Arsenal’s passage to the
Champions League quarter-finals, beating three Porto players before
driving a shot in off Helton’s right-hand post.
Or indeed the goal that then followed from Emmanuel Eboue, who
had the composure not only to time his run to perfection in meeting
a wonderful ball from Andrey Arshavin but then rounded Porto’s
goalkeeper to score Arsenal’s fourth goal of an extraordinary
night.
But convert those chances Nicklas Bendtner did — as well as an
injury-time penalty for his hat-trick after the hopeless Fucile had
brought down Eboue — and it still amounted to a fine response to
the criticism he received after last weekend and daring to suggest
earlier this season that he would finish the season as top scorer
in the Barclays Premier League.
Great Dane: Nicklas Bendtner fired a hat-trick to
seal Arsenal's progression
He still has some way to go, and not just because the two he
scored at the Emirates last night took his tally for the season to
a modest eight.
But Arsene Wenger needed someone who could rescue his side from
what looked like a pretty precarious situation after the first leg
of this Champions League tie and Bendtner delivered.
Wenger must have been feeling pretty pleased with himself.
Perhaps not as much as Bendtner, judging by the 22-year-old’s
apparent capacity for self-adulation.
But Wenger did not just predict that Bendtner would ‘score his
next one’, he also confidently declared that his side would create
a small piece of Arsenal ‘history’.
Completing the rout: Emmanuel Eboue rounds Porto
keeper Helton
It is more than 30 years since Arsenal last overturned a
first-leg deficit in Europe and Wenger will take great joy from
this when his young side ended that particular run in the absence
of the injured Cesc Fabregas and William Gallas.
Confidence will certainly be high at Arsenal after this. After
the manner in which Arshavin destroyed Porto down their left side
and the manner in which Thomas Vermaelen and Sol Campbell
marshalled the defence.
That said, the presence of Manuel Almunia in place of the
error-prone Lukasz Fabianski also made a significant
difference.
Solo stunner: Nasri fires home after mazy run to
make it three for Arsenal
Keen to regain control of this tie as soon as they could,
Arsenal started with real purpose. Their football was fast, fluent
and executed with real ferocity and Porto could do little to
contain them.
Bendtner went close to scoring when Gael Clichy sent in a
teasing cross from the left — the Frenchman’s ball just eluded the
towering Dane — and Arshavin forced a fine save from Helton when he
met a fine delivery from Bacary Sagna with a close-range
header.
But Helton could do nothing to deny Bendtner in the 10th minute
after right back Fucile diverted the ball past him in an effort to
beat the advancing Arshavin to a super pass forward from Nasri.
The ball spun into the path of Bendtner and the young Arsenal
striker shrugged off the challenge of two Porto defenders to score
with ease.
Make mine a double: Nicklas Bendtner wheels away
after firing his second of the evening
If Wenger was delighted to see his prediction come true, he
would have been less impressed with his side’s failure to quickly
add a second.
They had their opportunities, not least in the form of an effort
from Abou Diaby and a cross from Arshavin that flashed across the
face of Porto’s goal. But Diaby missed and there was nobody in
position to make the most of Arshavin’s brilliance.
Until, that is, the hapless Fucile committed another clanger in
the 26th minute, this time in the form of a clearance that went
straight to Arshavin. First the little Russian beat the full back,
then Nuno Coelho before presenting Bendtner with a second
opportunity to score into an empty net.
Now, presumably, Porto were starting to panic as much as the
bookies who gave Bendtner odds of 40-1 to score a hat-trick —
perhaps Wenger had put on a fiver.
At full stretch: Bendtner opens the
scoring
It was actually Arshavin who had a touch of the goalmouth
jitters. He too should have scored in the 34th minute when Nasri
accelerated into the Porto box and cut the ball back for his
team-mate, but Arshavin blasted his shot over the bar when a simple
pass into the net would have done the job.
Wenger must have cursed at such philanthropy, because then it
would have taken only one Porto goal to level the tie. A goal that
very nearly came when Hulk cut in from the right and forced Almunia
to make a decent save.
Shortly before the break and Bendtner had two more chances,
forcing saves from Helton with a header and a long-range shot. He
also got booked for a rash challenge on Fucile, proving that that
he still has much to learn.
Nasri tested Helton after the interval and so did Arshavin,
adding to Wenger’s concerns since Hulk was proving dangerous down
the flanks. Falcao might have scored had it not been for Almunia
and Nasri then cleared a header off the line.
