Arsenal trash Porto 5 – 0 in Champions League
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Arsenal swept into the Champions League quarter-finals as Nicklas Bendtner silenced his critics with a hat-trick in a majestic 5-0 win against Porto on Tuesday.
Arsene Wenger’s side had trailed 2-1 from the first leg of this second round tie, but Bendtner overturned that deficit within 25 minutes of the return at the Emirates Stadium to set up a 6-2 aggregate victory.
French midfielder Samir Nasri put Arsenal in total control with a sublime solo effort in the second half and Emmanuel Eboue added a fourth before Bendtner completed his treble from the penalty spot.
It was a sweet moment of vindication for Bendtner after the Denmark striker came in for some stinging criticism for his poor finishing in Saturday’s victory over Burnley.
While Bendtner’s lack of goals had led some fans to call for him to be dropped, Wenger kept faith in the 22-year-old and got his reward as the Dane helped Arsenal keep alive their bid for a Premier League and Champions League double.
Although Porto arrived with a slender advantage, the Portuguese champions had lost their last six matches in London and, even without injured captain Cesc Fabregas, it was Arsenal who dominated from the start.
When Bacary Sagna looped a cross into the Porto penalty area, Andrey Arshavin was left unmarked at the far post and the tiny Russian’s header drew a good save from Helton.
It was a warning that Porto failed to heed as another header from Arshavin started the move that led to Arsenal’s 10th minute opener.
Arshavin was by far the smallest player on the pitch but he was still able to win a header that found Nasri and he slipped a sublime return pass back towards the Russian.
As Arshavin bore down on goal, Nuno Coelho made a despairing tackle which only succeeded in knocking the ball to Bendtner, who slid across to push his shot into the empty net.
A pair of farcical mistakes from Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski had proved decisive in the first leg at the Dragao Stadium, but it was Porto who shot themselves in the foot in the 25th minute.
Fucile had the chance to clear deep in his own half but tried to play his way out of trouble and instead gifted possession to Arshavin with a careless pass.
Arshavin escaped his markers with a clever flick and whipped over a low cross that Bendtner gleefully prodded past Helton for his seventh goal of the season.
Bendtner has never lacked confidence so his belief must have been sky-high by now and he almost completed his hat-trick with a curling strike which Helton pushed away for a corner.
By the time Abou Diaby’s header was saved by Helton, Arsenal were playing with such verve and imagination that the tie looked all but over already.
Nasri’s elegant play in midfield was more than compensating for the absence of Fabregas and the Frenchman forced a sprawling stop from Helton as Arsenal went for the kill.
Arsenal hadn’t overturned a first leg deficit when they played the return at home for over 30 years and they had a scare early in the second half when Nasri had to clear off the line from Cristian Rodriguez’s header.
But that only served to spark the Gunners back into life and Nasri extinguished Porto’s hopes with a breath-taking goal in the 63rd minute.
Taking possession wide on the right edge of the Porto penalty area, he jinked past three Porto defenders with a mesmerising dribble and unleashed a fierce strike that gave Helton no chance.
Arsenal weren’t finished there and, in the 66th minute, Arshavin sent substitute Eboue galloping clear and the defender rounded Helton before slotting home.
There was still time for one more goal as Fucile gave away a penalty with a foul on Eboue in stoppage time and Bendtner stroked in his hat-trick from the spot.
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World Cup countdown : Argentina 1 Germany 0
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Diego Maradona’s Argentina beat Germany 0-1 in a highly anticipated international friendly on Wednesday. The only goal of the match came from Gonzalo Higuain.
Argentina were by far the better side in the first half and came close to scoring the opening goal when Angel Di Maria got past two defenders and blasted a shot onto the German crossbar.
But the visitors did get a reward for their performance in the 45th minute. Goalkeeper Adler stormed out of the penalty area in an attempt to clear the ball, but missed and allowed Gonzalo Higuain to take advantage and score.
The second half showed a more balanced encounter with Germany spending more time on Argentina’s half, but Joachim Löw’s men failed to create any danger near the goal.
The Germans begin their World Cup Group D campaign against Australia on June 13, and face Serbia and Ghana in the remaining games. Argentina are drawn into Group B with Nigeria, Korea Republic and Greece.
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World Cup countdown: Portugal 2 China 0
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Portugal earned a hard-fought 2-0 win over China PR in an international friendly played on Wednesday.
The city of Coimbra was the venue for the match, in which Portugal drew first blood through Hugo Almeida after 37 minutes.
The rather fruitless encounter never truly came to life, although Portugal did add a second goal four minutes into injury time as a Liedson strike was deflected by a defender.
The Portuguese face a tough challenge in South Africa, next June, as they share Group G with Cote d’Ivoire, Korea DPR and Brazil.
China did not qualify for the World Cup finals.
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World Cup countdown: England 3 Egypt 1
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England delivered a solid second-half performance to beat African champions Egypt 3-1 in a friendly on Wednesday.
It was no easy encounter for Fabio Capello’s side however as a very motivated Egyptian team impressed the home crowd at Wembley stadium in the first half.
The Africans even got the opening goal on 23 minutes, as Mohamed Zidan picked up the ball near the halfway line, got past a defender and struck past Rob Green for 0-1.
But England improved in the second half and equalised three minutes before the hour mark. Gareth Barry delivered the ball in the penalty area and Peter Crouch side-footed it home at the first post.
And the hosts went on to take the lead in the 75th minute, as keeper Al-Hadari initially parried a shot from James Milner but could not prevent that Shaun Wright-Phillips scored on the rebound.
The game was all but decided five minutes later. Crouch appeared to be offside when receiving a pass from Wright-Phillips, but was allowed to go on and netted the home team’s third of the night, 3-1.
England play the United States in their first group game on June 12, and face Algeria and Slovenia in the following matches. Egypt failed to qualify for the World Cup.
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World Cup countdown: Spain 2 France 0
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Spain confirmed their position among the World Cup favourites with a dominant 2-0 victory over France in their friendly match at the Stade de France here on Wednesday.
The European champions prevailed through first-half goals from David Villa and Sergio Ramos, inflicting upon their hosts a first defeat in 13 home games.
Worse for France was their powerlessness in the face of Spain’s masterful control of possession and the home fans made their feelings known at regular intervals by imploring under-fire coach Raymond Domenech to resign.
The enigmatic 58-year-old has seen his popularity plummet since leading France to the 2006 World Cup final and the defeat will increase calls for him to step down before this summer’s finals in South Africa.
The half-time introduction of Xavi and Fernando Torres presaged further misery for Domenech’s men, but although the scoreline remained the same, the damage had already been done.
Thierry Henry, representing his country for the first time since his infamous handball in the play-off victory over Ireland in November, was whistled when he left the field in the second half, while the French fans took to airing their frustrations by cheering every completed Spanish pass.
Florent Malouda headed against the post from fellow substitute Djibril Cisse’s right-wing cross in the 80th minute and it was to prove the closest the hosts came to a breakthrough.
Sevilla winger Jesus Navas almost made it 3-0 in injury time but his shot across goal from the inside-right channel flashed narrowly wide.
France had made an industrious start, with Franck Ribery a persistently menacing presence on the right of midfield.
The hosts, though, were playing with an untested centre-back pairing of debutant Michael Ciani and Julien Escude, and cracks quickly appeared.
Sergio Busquets gave the home side a warning in the 19th minute when he met a corner unmarked and flashed a header narrowly wide.
Two minutes later Spain went ahead, after David Silva dummied Andres Iniesta’s through-ball, flummoxing Escude and allowing Villa to stroll through and place the ball past Hugo Lloris.
The goal settled the visitors and they were content to sit deep behind the ball, inviting pressure from the French and looking to break forward on the counter-attack.
The crucial second goal arrived in first-half injury time.
Ramos cut infield from the right and let fly with his left foot, the ball flicking off Escude’s outstretched foot and leaving Lloris helpless.
The result leaves Domenech similarly exposed.