Arsenal played their away UEFA Champions League match against Partizan Belgrade in a match in which 2 penalties were missed by both sides. It took a few minutes for the Gunners to find their feet as the home team took longer to size their opponents. Jack Wilshire and Andre Arshavin cut a corridor in the middle of the central defence resulting in a goal from Arshavin 15th minute.
A combination of cracking under pressure by Partizan and a five-star trademark Arsenal assault ensued and the Gunners flattened the gas pedal creating chance after chance. The clearest opportunity fell to Arshavin in 23rd minute, a one-on-one opportunity immediately followed Tomas Rosiscky's similar one versus one chance in 25th minute that the goalkeeper incredibly saved.
The Gunners temporarily went into overdrive pushing the hosts against the wall. Arshavin's attempt was cleared off the line with the goalkeeper well beaten. The goal-line clearance in the 27th minute by Jovanovich, saw Arsenal drop their heads a little. The sloppy Arsenal was to slumber for a second and they paid the price.
A long ball into the penalty area from the left was needlessly handled Denilson. The resultant penalty was coolly converted by former Brazilian, now Serbian Cleo. Partizan started to fancy their chances and caught the Gunners in sixes and sevens. They got first to the ball and passed better until half time.
After the half-time break, Arsenal composed themselves to thread passes and possessing the ball their traditional way. With just 5 minutes played, Jovanovic brought down striker Chamakh earning a straight red card. Arshavin's spot kick was saved as he tried to drive the ball hard through the centre of goal.
With exactly 20 minutes to go, Rosiscky's pin-point cross found Chamakh whose initial header crushed against the crossbar before he slotted the rebound to set Arsenal's lead. The Gunners would make the numerical advantage count and Nasri was introduced in Chamakh's place. His corner kick was headed home by defender Squillaci headed in the 82nd minute.
A dramatic turn of events a minute later saw Fabianski save a softly awarded penalty. The penalty was basically softly taken but Fabianski was very alert to get to the right side on time. He had to pull the save of the match with seconds of play left.
The rest of the result: Chelsea 2 Marsellie 0, FC Basel 1 Bayern Munchen 2, AS Roma 2 1907 Cluj 1, Auxere o Real Madrid 1, Ajax 1 AC Milan 1, Sporting Braga 0 Shaktar Donetsk 3, Spartak Moskva 3 MSK Zilina 0.
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