*Arsenal 3-0 Sevilla*
Arsenal made a confident start to their Champions League campaign
with a comfortable win over Sevilla.
Cesc Fabregas' shot deflected in off Julien Escude to put Arsenal
ahead at the break, with Jesus Navas and Freddie Kanoute going
close for the visitors.
Robin van Persie made it 2-0, tapping in from Fabregas's free-kick
and Sevilla never threatened to come back.
Eduardo sealed the points in injury time with a cool finish after
good work by Alexander Hleb and Fabregas.
The Champions League debutants showed they were not daunted by the
occasion when Navas's long-range shot fizzed just over the top of
Manuel Almunia's goal.
But having survived this early scare, Arsenal went on the attack
themselves, calling Sevilla keeper Andres Palop into action twice
in quick succession.
First, Van Persie drifted across the boundary of the box before his
off-balance shot forced Palop to flap the ball clear.
Shortly afterwards, Palop spilled Flamini's daisy-cutter shot but
redeemed himself by pouncing at the feet of Emmanuel Adebayor who
was following up.
Palop could hardly be blamed when Fabregas put Arsenal ahead, as he
looked to have the shot covered until the deflection off Escude
sent the ball to the opposite corner of the net.
Tomas Rosicky limped off shortly after the restart as the game took
a while to get going in the second half, but just as Arsenal were
starting to feel a one-goal lead was not enough, the second goal
came along.
Fabregas curled in a free-kick from the left after a foul on
Flamini, and Bakary Sagna's flicked header put it right on the foot
of van Persie, who thumped it into the roof of the net from two
yards out.
Adebayor's physical presence caused the visitors problems all
night, and he came within inches of making it 3-0 with a superb
diving header from Sagna's curling cross which shaved the outside
of the post.
Arsenal's lead was never seriously under threat, and even when
Daniel Alves did manage to curl over a rare cross from the right,
the impressive Sagna was first to the ball to clear the
danger.
Deep into stoppage time, substitute Eduardo put the icing on the
cake with a close-range tap-in after the visiting defence was
pulled apart by Hleb and Fabregas.
# Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger:
"We were maybe a bit lucky on the first goal but we were completely
in control in the second half, after we'd had more of a game in the
first.
"I feel sometimes we could improve in the final ball, we lost some
we shouldn't have done and made two or three defensive
mistakes.
"As long as the attitude is right and the players want to improve
you can always get better.
"The challenge for the team is not only to play well tonight, but
every three days."
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Senderos, Clichy, Hleb, Fabregas,
Flamini, Rosicky (Diaby 50), Adebayor (Eduardo 83), Van Persie
(Diarra 8
. Subs Not Used:
Fabianski, Denilson, Silva, Walcott.
Booked: Adebayor.
Goals: Escude 28 og, Van Persie 59, Eduardo 90.
Sevilla: Palop, Daniel, Fazio, Escude, Dragutinovic, Jesus Navas,
Poulsen, Marti (Keita 66), Diego Capel (Renato 66), Luis Fabiano
(Kerzhakov 46), Kanoute. Subs Not Used: De Sanctis, Duda,
Boulahrouz, Maresca.
Booked: Daniel, Keita.
Att: 60,000
Ref: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden).
