There were segments in the first half and a long period of the second half – the first 15 minutes – where it looked questionable whether Arsenal could pull out this win and advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. But, after going two goals down, Porto would succumb to the magic of Samir Nasri. And, at the end of the day, Arsenal stood victorious with a 5-nil victory.
The first ten minutes. That’s the only time in this match that Portsmouth really showed any kind of fight. They really gave up after about the 20th minute. Arsenal took over and Pompey lost their drive. Such is the way of teams who are ready for relegation or administration or whatever’s going to happen to them.
The first goal, due to a deflection from an Eduardo free kick in the 28th minute, was a sign of things to come. You can’t stay in the Premiership without the fight to overcome bad luck and, while there were several individual efforts at scoring, Pompey’s team spirit was gone.
The man of the match, for me, was Samir Nasri. He orchestrated much of the play and got the second goal in the 42nd minute. He was tireless and looked as fresh in the end as he did at the beginning.
Aaron Ramsey’s individual effort in the 69th minute was beautiful. He strips the ball, makes a gigantic redirection to get around the defender, and rips the ball into the top right corner. No goalkeeper has a chance when its hit that cleanly. Arsenal 3, Portsmouth 0.
We should have done better against a team like Portsmouth. They should not have had the chances that we gave them and certainly not the goal we gave up. Nadir Belhadj pulled one back in the 74th minute. Arsenal 3, Portsmouth 1.
Sounding like a broken record, Almunia just doesn’t have what Arsenal needs. We need a goalkeeper that’s willing to to come strong in the air and take charge. Almunia does not have that killer instinct to knock but not get knocked. He’s too often thrown off balance because an opposing player gets to the ball at the same time. Any goalie in the English league needs to be able to do damage while clearing out loose balls.
The last goal came from a Nasri cross that found an unmarked Alex Song in front of the goal. Using as much strength he could muster, Song redirected and gave the ball enough power as he headed the ball into the back of the net. Arsenal 4, Portsmouth 1.
