During the warm-up on Tuesday I looked out across the pristine turf at the Grove and was reassured to see Djourou warming up with the starting eleven. There had been a doubt over his fitness, so obviously the medical staff at Arsenal had done well to get him fit.
So you can understand my disappointment when the Gunners took the field without him. No disrespect to Justin Hoyte who actually played quite well on the night, but I felt more comfortable with the back four of Eboue, Toure, Gallas and Djourou.
The match started positively for Arsenal with van Persie looking positive and Rosicky putting in some teasing runs on goal. Both players had chances from distance, whilst Toure actually found the net only for the referee's assistant to claim the ball had already gone out of play.
To be fair the first half was pretty much even, with both sides passing the ball around neatly. Alves got his head to Anderson's corner but Lehmann saved well with his feet. Minutes later we saw the Lehmann we'd rather not see. He flaied at a corner for Gonzalez and Alves to miss consecutive chances.
Bouyed by the headed goal scored on Sunday the Gunners and in particular van Persie were putting a lot of crosses into the box. Most were wasted as they flew across penalty areas devoid of red shirts. The best chance for an Arsenal goal in the first half fell to van Persie. He found himself free in the penalty area with the ball at his feet, only to blast it over the bar from eight yards.
Minutes later Cesc fied over from distance and van Persie forced a save at the near post. Finally, eight minutes before half time the Gunners found the breakthrough. Eboue curled across a teasing cross which cleared Pepe, only to find Henry who directed a header down into the corner of the goal. The right back was swamped by his team mates as the goal was celebrated.
Arsenal started the second half well and went two up after only two minutes. Gallas pushed forward with the ball, skipped past two challenges and found Henry on the end of the penalty area. He turned and pushed a tantalising pass into the path of Hleb who slid a right footed shot into the left hand corner of the goal.
Soon after Rosicky met Henry's short corner and pushed it high over the bar. From this point on Arsenal simply controlled the game without ever really looking for the third goal.
The Gunners' final chance came from Fabregas. Henry raced to the byline and cut it back into the young spaniards path. He struck a ferocious shot, but sadly straight at the keeper. The final few minutes saw a nervous moment when Lehmann spilled a low shot from Quaresma. Fortunately the German spun to gather the ball only inches from the goal line.
Arsenal were comfortable in the end and the game was only marred by a late injury to Gallas and the injury to Djourou in the warm-up, which saw Arsenal start the match with only six substitutes.
Arsenal go top of the group with six points. WHat more could we ask for?
Good Stuff: Henry's record of 50 Champions League goals in 105 games is incredible.
Bad Stuff: Djourou's foot injury and Gallas's hamstring injury.
Noticeable: Henry still looks a yard short of his usual electrifying self. Some poor first touches were evident, which is unlike him.
Star Man: Rosicky looked incisive throughout.
| Arsenal | Stat | FC Porto |
| 6 | Shots on Target | 4 |
| 9 | Shots off Target | 4 |
| 9 | Corners | 7 |
| 1 | Offsides | 9 |
| 15 | Fouls | 8 |
| 4 | Saves | 4 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 56% | Possession | 44% |
Arsenal (4-4-2): Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Gallas (Song 90), Hoyte, Hleb (Walcott 86), Gilberto, Rosicky, Fabregas, van Persie (Ljungberg 74), Henry. Unused subs: Almunia, Adebayor, Baptista.
FC Porto (4-4-2): Helton, Alves, Cech, Costa (Meireles 45), Pepe, Assuncao, Bosingwa, Gonzalez, Oliveira (Louzada 66), Quaresma, Postiga (Lopez 45). Unused subs:Baia, Fucile, Jorghinho, Adriano, Sektioui.
Attendance: 59,861
