Porto tops group

FC Porto, beaten 4-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium a few months ago, were a different team on home soil, as they clinically dismantled the English Premiership side in a Group G encounter. By David Hytner.

Arsene Wenger could be forgiven for hoping that Arsenal now draw one of Europe’s big guns in the Champions League last 16. His players seem incapable of raising themselves unless the level of the opposition or the occasion demands it.

While they can beat Manchester United and Chelsea in the Premier League, defeat at Estadio do Dragao was their seventh in all competitions this season and Wenger’s patched-up squad headed back to London knowing the final score had flattered them. Arsenal, already qualified for the knockout stage, were lacklustre from start to finish, their performance riddled with defensive holes and a lack of penetration further forward, and the result meant Porto leapfrogged them to finish on top of Group G.

Wenger is not sure if the draw in Nyon on December 19 will offer any advantage to the group winners — there are plenty of dangerous runners-up, he has noted — but there was only exasperation that night for the club’s fans. Their team was second best in all areas.

“I feel that underperformed is a big word,” said Wenger, when the notion his players had done just that was put to him. “When the second goal went in, you could see that the belief was not there. We were not strong enough to come back.”

The absence of Gael Clichy, one of a host of regulars to stay in London, meant Denilson, about whom the jury remains out, became the club’s only ever-present in this season’s Champions League. It was another of Wenger’s selections, though, who was under the greatest scrutiny.

Emmanuel Eboue might have been cheered to hear some of Arsenal’s 1,500 travelling supporters sing a song before the game that celebrated his coming from Africa and being better than Kaka while they also chorused his name at the kick-off. The Ivorian was keen to move on from the jeers that he suffered from the Emirates crowd during the match against Wigan Athletic on December 6 and there appeared to be forgiveness in the air. Eboue thanked the fans for their support at full-time, throwing his shirt to them, but it was questionable whether anyone would want a memento of that evening.

Restored to right-back, Eboue was part of an unconvincing defensive display, frequently being exposed by the pace of Christian Rodriguez and Hulk. There were jittery moments from him, he was booked for a foul on Rodriguez and Porto got too much joy down his flank. “Eboue did all right,” said a curt and unhappy Wenger. “I feel certainly it (the damage from December 6) does not go that quickly.”

Eboue was not alone in enduring a difficult game and he was not even Arsenal’s worst defender. William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre vied for that dubious honour. Abou Diaby, meanwhile, was sloppy in midfield and those around him ineffective and easily contained. The team’s only exciting effort on goal was Aaron Ramsey’s sweetly struck 25th-minute attempt that Helton tipped around the post.

Arsenal had anticipated that Porto, whom they beat 4-0 at the Emirates in September, would present a different proposition on home soil, where they had never lost to an English opposition, and so it proved. Their first-half strike had been signposted, Bruno Alves having made Manuel Almunia work from a free-kick and Lisandro stinging his palms after Gallas had dithered and been robbed by Hulk, who looked every inch the powerhouse. It was nevertheless a soft goal to concede. Diaby lost Alves from Raul Meireles’ corner and the defender headed in.

Bendtner’s job was a thankless one and he cut an isolated figure. Porto’s midfield trio, meanwhile, anchored by Fernando, shielded their defence superbly. Arsenal’s task began to look hopeless when Fernando exposed Silvestre with a slide-rule ball. It sent Lisandro clear and he lashed emphatically into the far top corner.

Porto ought to have had more goals on the break. Lucho, though, wasted their clearest opportunity after another mistake from Gallas and Arsenal’s only second-half shot on target was Bendtner’s free-kick. “We were not aggressive, we were not in the game,” said Almunia. “We deserved to lose. Everyone is wearing an Arsenal shirt and they have to give 100%. That was not the case tonight.”

THE RESULTS

December 10: Celtic 2 (Maloney 14, McGeady 45+2) bt Villarreal 0. Half-time: 2-0; Dynamo Kiev 1 (Eremenko 20) bt Fenerbahce 0. Half-time: 1-0; FC Porto 2 (Bruno Alves 39, Lopez 54) bt Arsenal 0. Half-time: 2-0; Juventus 0 drew with BATE Borisov 0; Lyon 2 (Govou 53, Benzema 68) lost to Bayern Munich 3 (Klose 11 & 37, Ribery 34). Half-time: 0-3; Manchester United 2 (Tevez 3, Rooney 52) drew with AaB 2 (Jakobsen 32, Curth 45+2). Half-time: 1-2; Real Madrid 3 (Raul 25 & 57, Robben 50) bt Zenit St Petersburg 0. Half-time: 1-0; Steaua Bucuresti 0 lost to Fiorentina 1 (Gilardino 66). Half-time: 0-0.

December 9: Barcelona 2 (Sylvinho 59, Busquets 83) lost to Shakhtar Donetsk 3 (Gladkyy 31 & 58, Fernandinho 76). Half-time: 0-1; Basle 0 lost to Sporting 1 (Djalo 19). Half-time: 0-1; Chelsea 2 (Kalou 40, Drogba 71) bt CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca 1 (Kone 55). Half-time: 1-0; Marseille 0 drew with Atletico Madrid 0; Panathinaikos 1 (Karagounis 69) bt Anorthosis Famagusta 0. Half-time: 0-0; PSV 1 (Lazovic 36) lost to Liverpool 3 (Babel 45+2, Riera 69, Ngog 77). Half-time: 1-1; Roma 2 (Brighi 61, Totti 79) bt Bordeaux 0. Half-time: 0-0; Werder Bremen 2 (Pizarro 63, Rosenberg 81) bt Inter Milan 1 (Ibrahimovic 88). Half-time: 0-0.