Arsenal 2 – 1 Steaua Bucharest

1 – 0 Diaby (8)
2 – 0 Bendtner (40)
2 – 1 Zaharia (69)

A comfortable win over Steaua that confirmed second spot in the Group so the next European night will be against either Barcelona, Real, Internazionale, Porto or Milan. Good teams all but none is invincible; a full strength Arsenal side is capable of beating any of them. If you were looking for the weaker teams then Porto would be the choice of opposition out of the hat next Friday so Barcelona it will be then.

Last night’s showing was at least a return to the passing and movement that had been missing for the previous two and a half games. Steaua were very accommodating in that department, giving plenty of space for players to pass and move.

The returnees, van Persie and Diaby, both did well considering the length of their absences. RvP dealt with a couple of ‘rough and tumble’ moments well enough to suggest that he is ready for the ‘contact’ side of the Chelsea fixture on Sunday. Whilst he did not score, there were indications that his confidence has not suffered and the partnership he struck with Bendtner looked promising enough although any judgements on that should be weighted against the standard of the opposition.

Both goals were typical ‘Arsenal’ goals; a nice passing move led to van Persie feeding Walcott who moved the ball wide to Sagna. Diaby beat the defender to the ball – the latter seemed to be waiting for it to arrive – waited for the ‘keeper to commit himself before putting the ball into the net. For the second, van Persie again was key, releasing Bendtner whose two delicate touches took the ball out of the defences reach, despite their close attentions, and slid the ball into the goal.

If the goals scored were typical as was that conceded – soft. Zaharia’s looping header raised a question mark in my mind as to whether or not Lehmann’s Achilles Heel with age will be the spring in his step. Seaman’s was the longer-range effort, struggling to get down. Lehmann does not appear to have that problem but keepers have their weaknesses that become more apparent as time rolls on.

Of those on display who are not regulars, no one stood out as a ‘must include’ for Sunday. Walcott saw a lot of the ball and was unlucky not to score early on; wasteful on other occasions but worked hard defensively. Generally, the crossing was poor last night, not just from Theo. Too often the first defender did not have much to do to intercept, something to work on although I suppose understandable given that last night barely reached the intensity of a pre-season friendly. Alex Song had a comfortable evening in the middle of midfield, confidence boosting for him in that role.

Having criticised Eboue for his antics at Middlesbrough, it is only fair to praise his defensive work last night, clearing from underneath the bar having just come on as a substitute. More of that attitude, less of the other please.

Options though for Sunday were increased but with a cautionary note. Should Hleb or Fabregas fail to recover, Diaby could come in on the left to free Rosicky in the middle. The only issue I have with that is the ease with which Diaby can be channelled to the outside on to his left foot that is generally only used for standing on.

A win though is not to be sniffed at as it put the end to the mini-rot that had set in and eases the pressure of Sunday a little. The media now have to describe the run as ‘one win in three’ rather than ‘have not won in four games’, and a little monkey is off the teams back in that respect also.

Arsene is up before the beaks today with UEFA having the option of increasing the touchline ban. The media wondered how he communicated with the bench during the game. As telepathy is unproven, the fact that the chap next to him had an unsubtle earpiece on might give it away. More likely though is that he did not bother until the interval and had someone run downstairs with a note from the stands.

‘til Tomorrow.