rampant arsenal cut down twente published: thursday 28 august 2008, 0.28cet arsenal fc 4-0 fc twente (agg: 6-0) the north london club progressed in style after this impressive win against competition debutants twente.
by sam adams
arsenal fc qualified for the uefa champions league group stage for the eleventh successive season after a comfortable 4-0 home victory secured a 6-0 aggregate triumph over fc twente.
impressive win samir nasri's first european goal for arsenal sent the gunners on their way after 27 minutes and second-half efforts from captain william gallas, theo walcott and nicklas bendtner added gloss to the result as the dutch debutants failed to advance to europe's premier club competition. they at least had the consolation of dropping into the uefa cup first round.
nasri opener arsenal's talismanic midfielder cesc fàbregas started for the first time this season while stein huysegems came in to lead the line for steve mcclaren's team. after a cagey opening, the hosts took control of possession with walcott, in particular, creating plenty of danger down the right. after robin van persie had two early sights of goal, the deadlock was broken. walcott burst down his flank and from his cross, van persie touched the ball back for nasri. the french international jinked into the area before placing a left-foot shot beyond nikolay mihaylov via a slight deflection off douglas franco.
second-half strikes the closest twente came to scoring in the first half was a theo janssen free-kick that drifted wide and seven minutes after half-time, arsenal doubled their lead on the night. gallas surged into the visitors' box and even though the ball was cleared, bendtner took it on forcing a low save from mihaylov. the rebound landed at gallas's feet and he finished easily from close range. walcott then picked up a loose ball midway through the second period and drove forward before placing his shot into the far corner. bendtner added a fourth late on following fine work by denilson to complete a good night's work for arsène wenger's side.
