Five-Star Arsenal Gun Down Fenerbahce

Arsenal can breathe easily now in Group G  after inflicting Fenerbahce's first home defeat in 16  European ties with a scintillating attacking display, though there were enough defensive alarms to banish any complacency among the Gunners' ranks,

Fenerbahce, unbeaten at home in Europe for nearly three years, had their fans spell out 'Believe' in cards across the lower tier of one of their stands, with the Turkish flag across the upper tier. But all the belief was with Arsenal, despite a rash of injuries that had forced upon Arsene Wenger an unfamiliar defensive line-up that saw Alex Song partner Mikael Silvestre in the centre. with Emmanuel Eboue at right back in the absence of Bacry Sagna,
William Gallas and Kolo Toure.

Deafening whistles from the home supporters greeted all Arsenal possession, but the Gunners knew the best way to silence the home fans was to take the lead, and after captain Manuel Almunia produced a great closing down block from Boral at point-blank range, after Gael Clichy failed to deal with a cross from the right, that's exactly what Arsenal did.

Emmanuel Adebayor shot over before, on ten minutes, an astute through-ball by Cesc Fabregas found Adebayor in space and he slipped the ball into the bottom corner.

Within a minute, the visitors were two ahead, the outstanding Fabregas supplied another perfect pass - this time to Theo Walcott, whose electrifying pace took him beyond keeper Volkan Demirel. The teenager of the moment showed impressive composure to put the ball into the net from a tight angle.

But the Turkish side, though stunned like their supporters, were not going to lie down meekly, and when a Claudio Maldonado cross from the right found Ugur Boral, he tooke a touch and fired in a goal-bound shot that rebounded off Almunia's head.

It was a warning, and soon afterwards, a Daniel Guiza volley across goal hit Mikael Silvestre and bounced into his own net from a free-kick, needlessly conceded by Song. to underline Arsenal's vulnerability at set-pieces.

However, Arsenal responded in the best possible manner two minutes later. A long ball over the top caught out the Turkish defence, and the excellnt Diaby fired into the bottom corner from the left to restore the Londoners' two-goal advantage. Ironically, Diaby got booked for over-celebrating.

It might have been 3-2, but when Gokhan drifted inside Clichy and fired in a shot that deflected into the path of Spain striker Dani Guiza, his clinical finish was rightly ruled out for offside.

In a thoroughly engrossing contest, Fenerbahce fashioned another chance with a long ball that Guiza ran onto but drilled wide.

It was 3-1 at the Sükrü Saracoglu Stadium at the break, but the first-half had been so open that more goals seemed certain, especially with Arsenal's devastating pace.

If Fenerbahce had entertained hopes of closing the gap, they were dashed just three minutes into the second-half when a Fabregas free-kick was knocked into Song's path by Mikael Silvestre, and the African volleyed unerringly into the bottom corner.

Almunia preserved their lead by bravely denying Guiza in another one-on-one, but after Daby was replaced by Aaron Ramsey, Guiza got his deserved goal when an Edu pass over the top of the defence eluded Song. The Spanish striker flicked the ball beyond Almunia into the net.

Wenger brought on Johan Djourou for Walcott to close the game down with five minutes to go, and Ramsey put the icing on Arsenal's cake with a great low finish.

The emphatic victory puts impressive Arsenal clear at the top of the group - with their next game a vist from Fenerbahce....

Teams:

Fenerbahce:  Demirel, Gonul, Edu Dracena, Lugano, Roberto Carlos, Maldonado, Alex, Sahin, Boral, Senturk, Guiza.
Subs: Babacan, Yilmaz, Josico, Bilgin, Gursoy, Parlak, Cakmak.

Arsenal:  Almunia, Eboue, Song, Silvestre, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Denilson, Diaby, Nasri, Adebayor.
Subs: Vela, Djourou, Ramsey, Fabianski, Van Persie, Bendtner, Gibbs.