Champions League
Arsenal beat 10-man Partizan
2010-09-28 23:03
Belgrade - Arsenal squandered a bunch of chances but still earned a comfortable 3-1 win at 10-man Partizan Belgrade in a lively Champions League Group H match in which both sides missed penalties.
Andrei Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh and Sebastien Squillaci struck for the Gunners while Cleo scored a penalty for Partizan and missed another after the hosts had Marko Jovanovic sent off in the second half.
Arshavin, who gave his markers a roasting all evening, also missed a penalty after Jovanovic brought down Chamakh in the penalty box to get his marching orders.
The Russian forward and Chamakh cancelled out Cleo's equaliser which came against the run of play and Squillaci sealed Arsenal's win with an 82nd minute header, rising above his markers to meet a Samir Nasri corner. Partizan strikers Cleo and Pierre Boya made several promising runs early on, after the game kicked off under partial floodlight failure, but Arsenal then scored with their first purposeful attack of the match.
Arshavin weaved his way through the heart of Partizan's defence and calmly placed the ball past advancing keeper Vladimir Stojkovic, silencing the noisy home crowd.
Completely dominating possession, Arsenal pressed on and missed a hatful of good chances before conceding the softest of penalties at the other end against the run of play.
Arshavin saw Stojkovic save a sitter and had another shot cleared off the line and Rosicky also forced a superb save from Partizan's keeper before a harmless cross from the right struck Denilson in the arm on the edge of the box.
Cleo sent Lukasz Fabianski the wrong way with the spot-kick, scoring his ninth Champions League goal in eight matches to send the 32,000 home fans into rapture.
Arshavin missed a golden opportunity to restore Arsenal's lead in the 57th minute when Stojkovic saved his weak penalty after Partizan's last defender Marko Jovanovic hauled down Marouane Chamakh and was sent off.
Stojkovic continued his string of superb saves when he again denied Arshavin in the 70th minute, parrying his deflected shot as Arsenal piled on the pressure.
But he was powerless only a minute later as Chamakh tapped in a close-range rebound after Alex Song's shot from inside the penalty box rebounded off the post.