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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.

ESPN: Gunners shoot down Porto
Guardian: Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner fire Arsenal into quarter-finals
BBC Football

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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.

Arsenal started this game at 5th place in the league. The top of the table is close this year, with the exception of Chelsea pulling out in front early. That’s beginning to change and, as soon as the African Nations Cup starts, Chelsea will lose even more points. I predict a 3rd place finish for Chelsea without Drogba.

Abou Diaby redeemed himself in this game. He’s gotten back into the starting line-up because of injury. He seems to have gotten his confidence back, after the atrocious own-goal against Manchester United.

Samir Nasri excelled at controlling the ball. Slowly but surely, Nasri has shown some grit this season. In last bit of the second half, there was an incident where it was alleged that Nasri purposely stepped on Richard Garcia’s foot, after Arsenal were awarded a free kick. The Hull players shouldn’t have been standing there in the first place and Garcia made a meal out of what looked like an accidental toe step. After a long scuffle, Stephen Hunt and Nasri were both given yellow cards. Hunt’s tactics in this game were scandalous. He tried to push guys off the ball whenever the chance arose. In one person, he’s what Wenger calls “anti-football”. The fact that he was involved in the melee should tell you where the blame lies (just ask Petr Cech).

The first goal was scored by a Denilson freekick right before half time. It was a wonderful display of power and pace. If you’re going to pick any place for a freekick, that was the place to take it.

Steve Bennett, the referee, did a terrible job in this match. I can’t believe he claimed that Silvestre was holding a Hull City player’s shirt. I understand that a referee might want to make amends for something he missed, but to fabricate a penalty when there wasn’t one is just lame. In the 56th minute, Almunia saved the ensuing penalty kick, taken by Marcio Geovanni. Justice was served.

Eduardo did lots of hard work but couldn’t put any of his chances away. Finally, he was gifted a cross right in front of the goal by Diaby in the 59th minute. Song and Diaby worked some magic to get into the box with the ball, then it was up to Eduardo to not mess up the tap-in.

Abou Diaby had to score the final goal. He just had to get on the scoresheet. If there was anyone who deserved to score in the game, it was him. In the 80th minute, he got the end of a through ball into the box, outmaneuvered the defender and slammed it home.

Hull City play a very good style of football. With the exception of Stephen Hunt, Hull are a very entertaining team and I wish them all the best in staying in the Premiership.

This victory moved us back into 3rd place. Next up will be Aston Villa and the game that I think will decide how we finish this season. Its a deciding moment. We play them again at the end of January. More on that later.