*Three and easy for Arsenal*
Arsenal eased into the group stages of the Champions League after a
comfortable 3-0 victory against Sparta Prague at the Emirates
Stadium securing a 5-0 aggregate win.
Tomas Rosicky grabbed the early breakthrough and then late goals
from Cesc Fabregas and Eduardo Da Silva sealed an easy win for
Arsene Wenger's side.
Arsenal were rarely tested as Sparta created little, the Czech
side's lack of ambition meant that the game was played out easily
for The Gunners.
The French manager felt comfortable enough with Arsenal's position
to make five changes to the team that beat Manchester City on
Saturday.
Although Sparta coach Michal Bilek admitted his side's chances of
progressing were slim he wanted to make it as difficult as possible
for the London club.
Predator
Sparta felt they were hard-done-by as Theo Walcott was given the
benefit of a tight offside decision and the winger took full
advantage as he picked out Rosicky's run with a perfect pass.
Rosicky, who started his career at Sparta, has been criticised for
his lack of goals since joining Arsenal, but the Czech midfielder's
low first-time strike flashed past Tomas Postulka in the manner of
a true predator.
It took Sparta 25 minutes before they even had a shot at Manuel
Almunia's goal when Marek Kulic's effort deflected over.
At least Walcott offered occasional moments of promise down the
right wing, with his pace troubling Sparta left-back Jiri
Kladrubsky repeatedly.
With the match all but won it was inevitable Arsenal would suffer
the occasional lapse in concentration, although Wenger would not
have been happy with the way Gael Clichy allowed Jan Rezek to ghost
in behind him.
If Rezek had kept his composure Sparta could easily have reduced
the deficit but the winger scuffed his shot wide.
Rarely tested
Almunia can rarely have had a quieter 90 minutes. He made only one
serious stop to turn away a back-header from Justin Hoyte that
flashed across goal from a corner early in the second half.
Sparta were willing but painfully limited and Fabregas came on to
underline the gap between the teams in the 82nd minute.
Eduardo cleverly worked space to pick out Fabregas just inside the
area and the Spaniard swept his shot past Postulka.
There was still time for Eduardo to open his Arsenal account with a
close-range volley from Denilson's cross in the 90th minute.
