Arsenal squeeze past Partizan to secure last 16 berth
Final score: Arsenal 3 (Robin Van Persie, Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri) Partizan Belgrade 1
(Cleo)
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Referee: P. Tagliavento
Arsene Wenger and his men progressed to the next round of the UEFA Champions League for the eleventh consecutive season with a nervy win over Serbian giants, Partizan Belgrade.
Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri scored a goal apiece to settle the tie, and earn Arsenal a place in Last 16. However Shakhtar Donetsk also won their match against Sporting Braga, which means that the Ukrainian Champions will finish this stage
of the Champions League as a group leaders. Having finished second in the group, Arsenal could potentially face European heavyweights Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Schalke 04 in the knock out stage.
The Gunners were firm favourites to win against Partizan Belgrade, who had not won a single game in group stage. Despite being the vastly superior side on paper, Arsenal were for long periods not at their flowing best against Partizan, who were bent on stifling
the home team.
Arsenal started the second half with a one goal advantage, courtesy of Robin Van Persie's penalty on the half hour mark, and looked like they needed another goal to seal the game. However it was the visitors who scored the second goal of the match in the
52nd minute, thanks to a wonderful strike from outside the penalty box by Cleo, which deflected off Squillaci and ended up in the back of the net. That set alarm bells ringing in among both Gunners fans and players, as Arsenal’s qualification looked
in Jeopardy.
Then came Theo Walcott’s introduction into the game, in place of the disappointing Arshavin, and that completely changed the course of the game. Arsenal's super-sub started to torment the visitor’s defence with his lighting fast runs on the right flank.
In the 73rd minute Bacary Sagna played an early cross towards the box, which was headed away by Partizan defender. Unfortunately for the Serbian fans that clearance fell to Walcott inside the box, who chested the ball and lashed in a fierce volley, to give
Arsenal a much needed lead.
The third and the final goal came just five minutes later, and this time it was Song and Nasri who combined well inside the Partizan box, before Nasri fired a low shot into the net to seal the game for the home side.
The two goal advantage ensured Arsenal a place in the knock-out stage, but in the dying minutes of the match the Gunners’ veteran right back Bacary Sagna was shown a straight red for a tackle on Cleo.
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