That's it. We're through. And what a way to do it. A great performance from the lads on the back of what many had hoped was a turning point in our season against Birmingham City. After that comfortable win against the lowest scorers in the Premiership confidence was returning and a win tonight would have went a long way to putting the players in the right frame of mind leading up to the Chelsea match.
It was a pretty straight forward victory. Rosenberg, already knocked out of the Champions League without even the possibility of qualifying for the Uefa Cup, offered little in terms of resistance. They were timid in defence and did not really look interested.
In the end a 5-1 score line looks flattering for Rosenberg as Arsenal could and really should have had at least seven goals. But five was enough as goals from Reyes, Fabregas, Henry, Pires and van Persie ensured that we not only qualified but the result in Greece between Panathinaikos and PSV ensured we finish top of our group.
Prior to kick-off Arsenal continued to have injury problems as Edu (broken toe), Gilberto (vertebrae), Pascal Cygan (back) and Jermaine Pennant (hamstring) were still out injured while Vieira and Lauren were suspended.
In a press conference on Monday Arsène Wenger confirmed Mathieu Flamini and Justin Hoyte would come in for the banned players while Fabregas would have to soldier on in central midfield in the absence of any experienced cover. He also confirmed that Manuel Almunia would keep his place ahead of Jens Lehmann for tonight's game.
Close to kick-off Freddie Ljungberg had to pull out of the starting line-up due to a severe migraine so Dennis Bergkamp stepped in to take his place after returning from injury. There was no time to get a replacement so we only had six players on the bench.
With less than a minute gone Fabregas played Pires through but he slipped and skied his cross over the bar when in a good position. Disappointment but a couple of minutes later it was all forgotten.
Fabregas took a quick freekick to Bergkamp. He cushioned a ball into Reyes' path who in turn swivelled and left Torjos Hansen for dead. He didn't hit his shot as he would have liked but despite getting a palm to it, 'keeper Epsen Johnson could not keep the ball from trickling into the goal. There it was one nil to the Arsenal and Highbury was in raptures. The reaction by Arsène was classic. His usual calm was thrown out the window and with his clenched fist you could sense he wanted to show all the doubters that his team were not in a crisis. And the Gunners were not in the mood to disappoint.
Straight from kick-off it was the same story. Wave after wave of attack by Arsenal and Rosenberg were hapless. They did not know what was happening. The quick one touch passing was back and confidence was sky high in the home camp and it was a delight to watch.
Henry put through Flamini but the Frenchman, who was starting his first ever Champions League match, was bundled over. The ref took the sensible route and waved play on. Henry was starting to take a hold of the game and one of his runs saw him out pace and out manoeuvre Hansen. His cross was cleared but fell to Reyes who hit it but Johnson managed to get something on it and keep his team in he game; at least for the time being.
But as we were only one up a second was needed in order to avoid a repeat of our away game against the Norwegians. And we were soon to be reminded of the threat they caused us from crosses. With their first chance on 17 minutes a long cross from the left wing was hit first time by former Celtic striker Harald Brattbakk. The shot was magnificently scrambled wide by Almunia. Good chance but something we really should have avoided. Ashley Cole was caught ball watching, and while taking nothing away from the volley, Brattbakk should have been put under more pressure.
It served as a wakeup call and we responded in spectacular fashion. Hoyte's throw in was flicked by Flamini over the top of the dreadful Rosenberg defence and as the 'keeper rushed out to collect Henry used his pace to get there ahead of him and lob the ball over the 'keeper into the unguarded net. Two nil and effectively game over. Rosenberg never really looked likely to score up to that point and it was Arsenal who looked more likely to get the next goal. Only a Johnson save prevented Bergkamp from making it three nil after some suspect defending from Rosenberg.
Five minutes later and it was three nil. It was a magnificent goal by one of the greatest up and coming youngsters in world football; A future candidate for World Player of the year surely. I think you all know who I am talking about. That young lad from Barcelona called Francesc Fabregas.
After a ball through by Bergkamp, a deflection diverted the ball into Pires' path. He in turn flicked the ball to Fabregas. Then the magic begins. With one touch he put the ball into his path using his chest. Another deft flick saw him send Hoftun spinning and he finished the move off with e cool left footed finish. Great stuff from our young Spaniard.
In doing so he became Arsenal's youngest ever European scorer at the age of 17 years and 217 days. He beat Stewart Robson's record by 95 days. He also became the second youngest ever scorer in the Champions League.
Rosenberg were looking ruffled but started to show some effort nearly pulled one back when Roar Strand, scorer in the last meeting between the two teams, hit the post with a bullet header. It was a statement of intent and got their goal on 38 minutes. Brattbakk put in a corner from the left but Almunia made a hash of it by failing to hold onto the ball. Hoftun then made up for his earlier mistake by thumping in his far post volley.
A minor setback but we were still in the lead and managed to score three goals for the first time at home in three years. From kick-off Fabregas was on a mission to score and managed to weave his way past five players and just as he was about to fire in a memorable second career goal in Europe, the ball was smothered by Johnson. Unlucky son.
The three goal cushion was restored when Henry was tumbled over by Johnson who ended up getting booked for his trouble. As always with Arsenal, the felled player will not take the spot kick so the onus was on Pires. He stepped up and duly dispatched into the bottom right corner.
After the break we eased the pressure and decided to keep ourselves fresh for the Chelsea game on Sunday. No surprise really and understandable really. But even so we were still in total control. Henry blazed over and Reyes took on the whole defence but got tackled. After taking on Stale Stensaas Henry uncharacteristically shot into the side netting when Reyes was in a great position in the box. So it seems the great man does make mistakes after all.
But who could blame them for not scoring again. The job was done and there really was no need to exert themselves.
Arsène Wenger was looking for some fresh blood and took off Cole and Bergkamp for Clichy and Robin van Persie.
The Dutchman had an immediate impact and gave the team renewed impetus. He first sliced a shot wide from a great angle seconds after coming on. A great chance wasted. He then tested Johnson with a venomous right footed volley. The rebound was hit over the bar by Henry. Then he put Reyes through who, after dummying the 'keeper and two defenders, chipped his shot onto the roof of the net. A let off for Rosenberg.
Four minutes later though Reyes returned the favour and the Dutchman made sure his dink made its way into the back of the net.
This was a great performance by the lads and we could have scored more. In the end we proved all the talk about a crisis was premature and ended up qualifying emphatically for the second round as Champions of our group. Well done boys.
Next up is Mourinho's Chelsea, who incidentally lost to his old team, are up at Highbury and a repeat performance of last year's corresponding fixture would be welcome.
Player Ratings:
Manuel Almunia: Looked suspect on a few occasions but did manage to make a great save to keep the game at one nil. 6.
Justin Hoyte: Made his debut in the competition and looked very comfortable both in defence and in attack. Never looked troubled and always in control. 7.
Kolo Toure: Made a few trademark forages and was always in control in defence. Did well and tried to get in on the scoring late on. 7.
Sol Campbell: Never really troubled but did well when called into action. A good display. 7.
Ashley Cole: Got forward very often as Rosenberg offered little in terms of attack. He was taken off late on after picking up a knock. Might be a doubt for Sunday. 7.
Robert Pires: Had a great game. Put Henry through a couple of times and scored yet again. 7.
Mathieu Flamini: Industrious as usual and had one hell of a game. Never afraid to put a foot in and got booked late on for his troubles. A very good debut and hopefully a sign of things to come. 7.
Francesc Fabregas: A great performance by our young Spaniard. Never looked out of place, made some great passes and became the second youngest scorer in Champions League history with a great volley. He almost scored another great goal after taking on five Rosenberg players. My Man of the Match.
Jose Antonio Reyes: His best performance in a long time. Scored for the first time since mid October. He could have bagged a hat trick but nonetheless a good performance. 7.
Thierry Henry: Performed admirably and scored a magnificent goal. Could easily have scored a few more but failed to connect with the ball on a few occasions. 8.
Dennis Bergkamp: Played well. Gave a few key passes and assisted Reyes' goal. Could have scored twice but his touch was uncharacteristically heavy. A good return from injury from the Dutchman.
Robin van Persie (on for Cole): Despite scoring, like the rest of the attack he could have had a hat trick. Gave the team fresh impetus and was a thorn in Rosenberg's side since he came on. 7.
Gael Clichy (on for Bergkamp): Did not do much. Kept our defensive stability but didn't really get into the game. 6.
Quincy Owusu Abeyie (on for Pires): Did not even get a touch of the ball to try some of his tricks.
It was a pretty straight forward victory. Rosenberg, already knocked out of the Champions League without even the possibility of qualifying for the Uefa Cup, offered little in terms of resistance. They were timid in defence and did not really look interested.
In the end a 5-1 score line looks flattering for Rosenberg as Arsenal could and really should have had at least seven goals. But five was enough as goals from Reyes, Fabregas, Henry, Pires and van Persie ensured that we not only qualified but the result in Greece between Panathinaikos and PSV ensured we finish top of our group.
Prior to kick-off Arsenal continued to have injury problems as Edu (broken toe), Gilberto (vertebrae), Pascal Cygan (back) and Jermaine Pennant (hamstring) were still out injured while Vieira and Lauren were suspended.
In a press conference on Monday Arsène Wenger confirmed Mathieu Flamini and Justin Hoyte would come in for the banned players while Fabregas would have to soldier on in central midfield in the absence of any experienced cover. He also confirmed that Manuel Almunia would keep his place ahead of Jens Lehmann for tonight's game.
Close to kick-off Freddie Ljungberg had to pull out of the starting line-up due to a severe migraine so Dennis Bergkamp stepped in to take his place after returning from injury. There was no time to get a replacement so we only had six players on the bench.
With less than a minute gone Fabregas played Pires through but he slipped and skied his cross over the bar when in a good position. Disappointment but a couple of minutes later it was all forgotten.
Fabregas took a quick freekick to Bergkamp. He cushioned a ball into Reyes' path who in turn swivelled and left Torjos Hansen for dead. He didn't hit his shot as he would have liked but despite getting a palm to it, 'keeper Epsen Johnson could not keep the ball from trickling into the goal. There it was one nil to the Arsenal and Highbury was in raptures. The reaction by Arsène was classic. His usual calm was thrown out the window and with his clenched fist you could sense he wanted to show all the doubters that his team were not in a crisis. And the Gunners were not in the mood to disappoint.
Straight from kick-off it was the same story. Wave after wave of attack by Arsenal and Rosenberg were hapless. They did not know what was happening. The quick one touch passing was back and confidence was sky high in the home camp and it was a delight to watch.
Henry put through Flamini but the Frenchman, who was starting his first ever Champions League match, was bundled over. The ref took the sensible route and waved play on. Henry was starting to take a hold of the game and one of his runs saw him out pace and out manoeuvre Hansen. His cross was cleared but fell to Reyes who hit it but Johnson managed to get something on it and keep his team in he game; at least for the time being.
But as we were only one up a second was needed in order to avoid a repeat of our away game against the Norwegians. And we were soon to be reminded of the threat they caused us from crosses. With their first chance on 17 minutes a long cross from the left wing was hit first time by former Celtic striker Harald Brattbakk. The shot was magnificently scrambled wide by Almunia. Good chance but something we really should have avoided. Ashley Cole was caught ball watching, and while taking nothing away from the volley, Brattbakk should have been put under more pressure.
It served as a wakeup call and we responded in spectacular fashion. Hoyte's throw in was flicked by Flamini over the top of the dreadful Rosenberg defence and as the 'keeper rushed out to collect Henry used his pace to get there ahead of him and lob the ball over the 'keeper into the unguarded net. Two nil and effectively game over. Rosenberg never really looked likely to score up to that point and it was Arsenal who looked more likely to get the next goal. Only a Johnson save prevented Bergkamp from making it three nil after some suspect defending from Rosenberg.
Five minutes later and it was three nil. It was a magnificent goal by one of the greatest up and coming youngsters in world football; A future candidate for World Player of the year surely. I think you all know who I am talking about. That young lad from Barcelona called Francesc Fabregas.
After a ball through by Bergkamp, a deflection diverted the ball into Pires' path. He in turn flicked the ball to Fabregas. Then the magic begins. With one touch he put the ball into his path using his chest. Another deft flick saw him send Hoftun spinning and he finished the move off with e cool left footed finish. Great stuff from our young Spaniard.
In doing so he became Arsenal's youngest ever European scorer at the age of 17 years and 217 days. He beat Stewart Robson's record by 95 days. He also became the second youngest ever scorer in the Champions League.
Rosenberg were looking ruffled but started to show some effort nearly pulled one back when Roar Strand, scorer in the last meeting between the two teams, hit the post with a bullet header. It was a statement of intent and got their goal on 38 minutes. Brattbakk put in a corner from the left but Almunia made a hash of it by failing to hold onto the ball. Hoftun then made up for his earlier mistake by thumping in his far post volley.
A minor setback but we were still in the lead and managed to score three goals for the first time at home in three years. From kick-off Fabregas was on a mission to score and managed to weave his way past five players and just as he was about to fire in a memorable second career goal in Europe, the ball was smothered by Johnson. Unlucky son.
The three goal cushion was restored when Henry was tumbled over by Johnson who ended up getting booked for his trouble. As always with Arsenal, the felled player will not take the spot kick so the onus was on Pires. He stepped up and duly dispatched into the bottom right corner.
After the break we eased the pressure and decided to keep ourselves fresh for the Chelsea game on Sunday. No surprise really and understandable really. But even so we were still in total control. Henry blazed over and Reyes took on the whole defence but got tackled. After taking on Stale Stensaas Henry uncharacteristically shot into the side netting when Reyes was in a great position in the box. So it seems the great man does make mistakes after all.
But who could blame them for not scoring again. The job was done and there really was no need to exert themselves.
Arsène Wenger was looking for some fresh blood and took off Cole and Bergkamp for Clichy and Robin van Persie.
The Dutchman had an immediate impact and gave the team renewed impetus. He first sliced a shot wide from a great angle seconds after coming on. A great chance wasted. He then tested Johnson with a venomous right footed volley. The rebound was hit over the bar by Henry. Then he put Reyes through who, after dummying the 'keeper and two defenders, chipped his shot onto the roof of the net. A let off for Rosenberg.
Four minutes later though Reyes returned the favour and the Dutchman made sure his dink made its way into the back of the net.
This was a great performance by the lads and we could have scored more. In the end we proved all the talk about a crisis was premature and ended up qualifying emphatically for the second round as Champions of our group. Well done boys.
Next up is Mourinho's Chelsea, who incidentally lost to his old team, are up at Highbury and a repeat performance of last year's corresponding fixture would be welcome.
Player Ratings:
Manuel Almunia: Looked suspect on a few occasions but did manage to make a great save to keep the game at one nil. 6.
Justin Hoyte: Made his debut in the competition and looked very comfortable both in defence and in attack. Never looked troubled and always in control. 7.
Kolo Toure: Made a few trademark forages and was always in control in defence. Did well and tried to get in on the scoring late on. 7.
Sol Campbell: Never really troubled but did well when called into action. A good display. 7.
Ashley Cole: Got forward very often as Rosenberg offered little in terms of attack. He was taken off late on after picking up a knock. Might be a doubt for Sunday. 7.
Robert Pires: Had a great game. Put Henry through a couple of times and scored yet again. 7.
Mathieu Flamini: Industrious as usual and had one hell of a game. Never afraid to put a foot in and got booked late on for his troubles. A very good debut and hopefully a sign of things to come. 7.
Francesc Fabregas: A great performance by our young Spaniard. Never looked out of place, made some great passes and became the second youngest scorer in Champions League history with a great volley. He almost scored another great goal after taking on five Rosenberg players. My Man of the Match.
Jose Antonio Reyes: His best performance in a long time. Scored for the first time since mid October. He could have bagged a hat trick but nonetheless a good performance. 7.
Thierry Henry: Performed admirably and scored a magnificent goal. Could easily have scored a few more but failed to connect with the ball on a few occasions. 8.
Dennis Bergkamp: Played well. Gave a few key passes and assisted Reyes' goal. Could have scored twice but his touch was uncharacteristically heavy. A good return from injury from the Dutchman.
Robin van Persie (on for Cole): Despite scoring, like the rest of the attack he could have had a hat trick. Gave the team fresh impetus and was a thorn in Rosenberg's side since he came on. 7.
Gael Clichy (on for Bergkamp): Did not do much. Kept our defensive stability but didn't really get into the game. 6.
Quincy Owusu Abeyie (on for Pires): Did not even get a touch of the ball to try some of his tricks.
