However, the Gunners were not entirely convincing on a bitter evening at the Emirates and looked like a side low on confidence for large parts of the game.
Partizan did not offer much in attack and got most of their players behind the ball, although they went behind as Robin van Persie put away a penalty on the half-hour mark after he was felled in the area by Marko Jovanovic.
A deflected effort from Cleo levelled the scores after the break, only for substitute Theo Walcott and in-form Samir Nasri to secure the victory with two fine goals in the space of four minutes, before Bacary Sagna was shown a straight red card for a last-man trip.
Rest of story after break.
Arsenal will now face Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Schalke in the first knockout round of the competition, as Shakhtar Donetsk advanced as group winners following their triumph over Braga.
Despite maintaining a 100 per cent home record, Arsene Wenger knows poor away performances at Shakhtar and Braga could yet come back to haunt his side, who could potentially be handed a huge task next up.
Van Persie, taking the captain's armband in the absence of the injured Cesc Fabregas, was deployed in a deeper role behind Marouane Chamakh, with Nasri out wide but with a license to roam.
No comments:
Post a Comment