alberto rodríguez says sc braga are a better team than they showed in their 6-0 rout by arsenal fc in september and is seeking a famous win to keep their qualifying hopes alive.
buoyed by a 1-0 win at fk partizan on matchday 4, sc braga welcome arsenal fc still firmly believing that a place in the uefa champions league round of 16 is within reach.
braga currently sit third in group h – three points shy of arsenal and fc shakhtar donetsk – but defender alberto rodríguez feels that the momentum is with last season's portuguese liga runners-up. "the team spirit is good," he said. "we are thinking only about tomorrow's match and are ready to win."
it seems that not even the lingering memory of a 6-0 defeat by arsène wenger's side on matchday 1 can dent their confidence. "we are better than we were in the first match against arsenal," added the peruvian. "nobody in the team expected that result. now we think in a different way because we know we have to win if we want to continue in the champions league."
both sides head into the fixture on the back of indifferent domestic results. while arsenal squandered a 2-0 lead to succumb 3-2 at home to north london rivals tottenham hotspur fc on saturday, braga's most recent league game was a 2-1 defeat at vitória sc on 13 november.
"arsenal's latest result in the league wasn't positive, and nor was ours," added the 26-year-old centre-back. "but this is a different competition, and we know that both teams will give everything they can to get through tomorrow. we have to concentrate on not conceding any goals and focus on our football, as we normally would."
the visit of illustrious opponents arsenal for the first time adds yet more sparkle to braga's european adventure and rodríguez is all too aware that the home fans must play their part if progress is to remain on the cards. "we know our fans are behind us, we respect them and we'll try to make history for them and us tomorrow. we feel we can do it."
yardımcı hakemler: györgy ring (hun), tibor vámos (hun)
4. hakem: ferenc bede (hun)
çizgi hakemleri: mihaly fabian (hun), sandor szabo (hun)
braga: felipe (gk), alberto rodríguez, moisés, miguel garcia, lima (dk. 81 elton), elderson, luis aguiar (dk. 80 andrés madrid), leandro salino, alan, vandinho (c) (dk. 90 hugo viana), matheus
yedekler: artur (gk), mossoró, sílvio, aníbal capela
teknik direktör: domingos paciência (por)
arsenal: Łukasz fabiański (gk), cesc fàbregas (c) (dk. 69 samir nasri), tomáš rosický, theo walcott (dk. 77 carlos vela), denilson, sébastien squillaci, jack wilshere, johan djourou, emmanuel eboué, kieran gibbs, nicklas bendtner (dk. 74 marouane chamakh)
yedekler: wojciech szczęsny (gk), bacary sagna, laurent koscielny, alex song
two late matheus goals kept the hosts' chances alive and left arsène wenger's side needing a win on matchday 6 to ensure qualification.
sc braga kept their hopes of qualifying for the uefa champions league knockout stage alive in their debut season in the competition with a late victory against arsenal fc.
matheus struck twice in the last ten minutes to send arsène wenger's side into their final match at home against fk partizan needing a win to make sure of an 11th successive qualification for the last 16. domingos paciência's men, meanwhile, will travel to the donbass arena to meet fc shakhtar donetsk still holding a glimmer of hope.
arsenal started strongly, eager to put recent domestic jitters behind them, with theo walcott and jack wilshere both making runs behind the defence to produce excellent crosses in the opening five minutes. yet the home side were in no mood to roll over, desperate to improve on their 6-0 defeat in london on their uefa champions league debut.
in the eighth minute moisés found space from luis aguiar's dead-ball delivery, but could not keep his header down. a far more cagey battle was developing than on matchday 1. arsenal dominated possession but offered little in the way of penetration, though felipe was forced to tip over cesc fàbregas's curling free-kick.
the action heated up in the 34th minute. first, felipe sped out of his goal to bravely smother at the feet of walcott, then braga broke and lima was a whisker from opening the scoring, bending a shot just wide from outside the penalty area.
still the gunners threatened, and the dangerous walcott dragged a cross-shot wide as half-time approached. the england international again led his side forward as the second period began, hitting a free-kick that brushed the roof of the net.
with shakhtar leading against partizan, braga needed to win to stay in contention and began to throw caution to the wind. arsenal were finding space and only moisés' lunging interception prevented nicklas bendtner giving the away side a 71st-minute lead.
however, there was a twist in the tale, as matheus sped onto elton's 83rd-minute pass. he pulled the ball onto his left foot and coolly placed it past lukasz fabiański to send the home fans wild. braga were holding on, but matheus then added a second in added time, racing clear from halfway and smashing in a splendid shot off the crossbar after holding off a posse of three arsenal defenders.
1. fc shakhtar donetsk...5...4...0...1...10...6...4...12 2. arsenal fc...5...3...0...2...15...6...9...9 3. sc braga...5...3...0...2...5...9...-4...9 4. fk partizan...5...0...0...5...1...10...-9...0
matheus'un insan üstü performans sergilediği ve tek başına her iki golde de yaklaşık 50 metre top sürüp nefis gollere imzasını attığı maç. matheus özellikle ikinci golde kendi sahasından aldığı topla arsenal kalesine gidene kadar sébastien squillaci, johan djourou ve kieran gibbs etrafını sardı. çoğusu gibi ben de topu kaptıracağını düşünürken o, bir sağ bir sol yaparak 3 oyuncuuyu birden salaklaştırıp nefis bir şutla topu kaleye gömdü...
braga bu galibiyetle hem rakibine karşı 6-0 kaybettiği maçın acısını aldı hem de 9 puana yükseltip arsenal'i tedirgin etmeyi başardı.
gerçi son hafta arsenal evinde partizanla oynarken braga shakhtar donetsk deplasmanına gidecek...
