Arsenal's Champions League hopes are back on track tonight after an impressive 3-1 victory over Italian giants Juventus at Highbury. Two goals from Fredrik Ljungberg either side of a strike from Thierry Henry wrapped up this encounter for the Gunners and it was no more than they deserved as they extended their unbeaten home record in European ties to 16 games.
Juventus have not won on their travels in Europe over their previous 12 matches, a run that stretches back over four years but despite that their current form matched with Arsenal's suggested the Italians might have had the upper hand. However, Arsene Wenger's men showed right from the start that they were up for this tie and they deservedly took the lead on 21 minutes when Ljungberg pounced for his third goal in as many games. A shot from Patrick Vieira was saved by Gianluigi Buffon but the Swede followed up on the rebound to fire home into the bottom left-hand corner.
Arsenal doubled their lead after 28 minutes with a stunning free-kick from 25 yards out that curled over the wall and into the top corner of the net. However, Arsenal decided to make things difficult for themselves when they gifted the visitors a goal shortly after the interval. On 49 minutes, Sol Campbell made an excellent goal-line clearance from a David Trezeguet effort but it hit goalkeeper Stuart Taylor on the back and rebounded across the line.
Arsenal left it late to make sure of the victory but it was worth the wait for the Highbury faithful. Wonderful skill from Dutch substitute Dennis Bergkamp set up Ljungberg and the Swede cooly lobbed Buffon from close range.
Meanwhile, in tonight's other Group D fixture, Bayer Leverkusen recovered from last week's 4-0 thrashing by Juventus to inflict a 3-0 defeat over the much-fancied Deportivo La Coruna. The German league leaders secured victory with three second-half goals from Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto, striker Oliver Neuville and midfielder Michael Ballack.
Raul scored twice as Real Madrid beat Panathinaikos 3-0 at the Bernabeu to make it two wins out of two in Group C. Ivan Helguera opened the scoring for the Spanish giants four minutes before the break and Raul clinched victory with two goals in quick succession in the 66th and 72nd minutes. A diving header by Libor Sionko gave Sparta Prague a surprise 1-0 win against Porto despite the Portuguese side completely dominating the tie.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
