Arsenal 3-1 Celtic
Arsenal made light work of Celtic in their Champions League qualifier’s second leg, winning 3-1 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate.
The game turned when Eduardo earned and dispatched a controversial penalty after 28 minutes.
Emmanuel Eboue then scored following a slick passing move eight minutes after the re-start and substitute Andrey Arshavin added a third on 74 minutes.
Massimo Donati hit a superb consolation in injury time for the Hoops as Arsene Wenger’s side went through with a comfortable 5-1 aggregate victory.
The cost of failure, both financial and in sporting terms, would have been immeasurable on the Gunners, who have consistently competed among the elite clubs of European football for more than a decade.
For now, at least, the likes of Manchester City must sit and watch as Wenger’s side take their place in the pot for Thursday’s group stage draw in the millionaire’s playground of Monaco, with expectations once again set high they can go one better than their semi-final appearance last season.
Celtic, meanwhile, may be giants in Scottish football but dropping into the Europa League will prove little consolation for the missed revenue and big-match experience.
Sorry, the referee made the wrong call, but a yellow at most MAYBE. A ban is not appropriate, it is sad when these things change the game but it’s really a reflection of a poor job by the ref.
Arsenal is the ‘worthy’ winner and deserve to be in the Champion League.
Ya I like the fact that Tony Mowbray came out and said that despite the “controversial” pk Arsenal were the better side.. while some of the Celtic players were actually saying thay Eduardo should be banned for the dive. wow.. i hate diving just as much as the next guy and was actually disappointed when Eduardo went down in that manner but lets be honest players do this all the time and how often are players banned for it… never… so for Celtic players to call for that is ridiculous.
Forget all the hooplah about the dive or wureva…main point is the best team won on the night and across the two legs. Love how the Gunners are playing right now. But could you imagine Celtic in the CL playing how they played against Arsenal over the 2 ties? They were awful…would have been the points ATM of whatever group stage they were in. Utterly useless in the CL. Arsenal did them a favor by making sure they play in a competition in which they actually have a honest chance in winning. And vice versa. Well done Arsenal, job done.
Oh yea…Gooner4lyf
a dive is a dive and we can all admit it, but it’s time we got ours. I mean we have been screwed ie. Ryan Babel two years ago. Sometimes the ball ends up in your net sometimes it doesn’t. This just maybe shows that maybe, maybe this could be our year. We are having things go our way (knock on wood) and that could be a good sign.
one more thing, how much did Jacky and AA pick up the pace once they came on? I think AA is a start in most games if not all but think if we have Thomas, Nasri, Theo, Vella and Jacky all to come in at the 60 mark to spark the team????
I think now that we have the guaranteed money of the champions league you will see Wegner splash the pot on some not so famous names that will add depth to our back line.
I like this team and think they can pull something off pretty special.
Two HUGE games coming up and with internationals giving them a break lets just pray that everyone stays health.