Arsenal took a major step towards securing their place in the Champions League as they beat Celtic 2-0.
Deflection and own goal give Gunners strong advantage
Arsenal took a major step towards securing their place in the Champions League group stages as they beat Celtic 2-0 at Celtic Park.
Celtic made a solid start to the game amid a cauldron of noise and, with Arsenal struggling to hit their stride, they looked capable of breaking the deadlock on the break.
However, the visitors eventually managed to find some sort of rhythm and stole the lead just before half-time as a Cesc Fabregas took a wicked deflection from William Gallas and found its way beyond Artur Boruc.
Arsenal always looked the more likely to extend their advantage in the second half, but they were unable to find away through until Gary Caldwell turned the ball into his own net in the 71st minute.
Tony Mowbray's men will now have to score twice at Emirates Stadium in the second leg to have any hope of progressing.
Selection
After his goal-scoring heroics against Dynamo Moscow, Georgios Samaras was favoured up front with new signing Marc-Antoine Fortune dropping to the bench while Wenger stuck with the starting line-up that demolished Everton 6-1 on Saturday.
In a match with so much at stake for both sides, there was a lively start, with Daniel Fox twice providing a decent delivery in to the box from the left wing early on.
There were warning signs for Celtic, though, when Andrei Arshavin had the ball in the net in the 12th minute.
Some slick passing at the edge of the box culminated in Robin van Persie's deflected shot landing at Arshavin's feet, but the flag was already up for offside as the Russian drilled his effort home.
Celtic were a constant threat on the counter-attack with wingmen Aiden McGeady and Shaun Maloney utilising their pace to break quickly, and the pair combined well in the 19th minute when Maloney released McGeady down the left to go on a marauding run.
The Irishman beat three Arsenal players before electing to cross to Scott Brown in the box and, while the Scotland midfielder went down heavily under the challenge of Thomas Vermaelen as he volleyed wide, referee Massimo Busacca waved away the Celtic player's penalty claims.
The pace of the game didn't drop but despite this it wasn't until the final five minutes of the half that the keepers were called into action.
Polish keeper Boruc was equal to Arshavin's long-range effort before Almunia did well to hold on to Brown's spinning shot from the edge of the box.
Opener
With the teams deadlocked it was always going to take a piece of skill or luck to break the deadlock and that moment came two minutes before the break when Arsenal took the lead.
A free-kick at the edge of the box was played short to Fabregas and his well drilled effort took a wicked deflection off the back of Gallas as he ran across the area, the ball completely bamboozling Boruc and flying into the bottom corner of the net.
Arsenal began the second-half with an attacking onslaught, with van Persie and Denilson both sending shots just wide of Boruc's post in the first three minutes.
Mowbray decided to change his attacking line-up ten minutes in with Australian Scott McDonald and Fortune replacing Samaras and Massimo Donati, but it was an Arsenal substitution which made a greater impact.
Abou Diaby replaced Arshavin in the 70th minute and the substitute made an instant impression as he beat his man in midfield before sending Gael Clichy racing down the left and the unfortunate Caldwell stuck a leg out to send his cross past his own keeper.
| Celtic |
Team Statistics |
Arsenal |
| 0 |
Goals |
2 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 1 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 0 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 3 |
Corners |
2 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
9 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 76.7 |
Passing Success |
79.1 |
| 30 |
Tackles |
27 |
| 73.3 |
Tackles Success |
85.2 |
| 45.8 |
Possession |
54.2 |
| 47.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.9 |
|
