Internazionale 1 - 5 Arsenal

Arsenal finally show Europe what all of England already knows!

1 - 5

Arsenal Scorers
Thierry Henry 25′,81′
Freddie Ljungberg 49′
Edu 87′
Pires 89′

Inter Milan Scorers
Christian Vieri 33′

In a must win situation, in the harshest of settings, Arsenal rose to the occasion in the grandest of fashions, thrashing Internazionale 5-1 at a very hostile San Siero stadium in Milan on Tuesday night. It was the kind of performance in European competition Arsenal fans have been waiting years for, and to see it in all it’s glory was a sight to behold.

Rumored FIFA World Player of the Year, Thierry Henry, started things off for the Gunners, scoring a beauty of a goal twenty-five minutes in, to give Arsenal an early 1-0 lead.

However, the cries of “One-nil to the Arsenal” coming from the away section were drowned out by the raucous home supporters just eight minutes later, when Christian Vieri equalized for Inter; his shot deflecting off of defender Sol Campbell’s boot, and over a helpless Jens Lehmann.

So, it was 1-1 going into the break, but once the second half started, it didn’t stay that way for long. Freddie Ljungberg continued his hot streak, scoring just four minutes into the half, after some great work by Henry to get him the ball in the penalty area.

It was risky business for the next thirty-five minutes, as Inter began to ratchet up the urgency, bringing wave after wave of attack that was turned away by the Arsenal defense. Pascal Cygan played well in defense, and Kanu was masterful in keeping the ball in Inter’s half, playing the posession game so desperately needed with the absence of Paddy Vieira. Jens Lehmann had an excellent game, coming out to claim many a cross and in one instance in particular, head out a potentially dangerous ball as it sailed towards the penalty area.

It was during this period that Arsenal showed flashes of the famous counter-attack that so devistates their domestic opponents, coming close to driving the final nail in several times. The nail did come, in the form of an amazing run and finish by Thierry Henry. Getting the ball at midfield, Henry outraced the Inter defender, then stopped, juked, and fired past a diving Toldo to seal the win with nine minutes left to play.

Wanting to atone for the 3-0 loss to Inter back at Highbury earlier this season, Arsenal pressed on. Soon enough, it was 4-1, thanks to a goal by Edu in the 87th minute.

At this point, the Inter defense was a shambles, and needing just one more goal to sway the goal difference tie-breaker to their favor, the Gunners kept up their attack, and were rewarded with a fifth. This time Robert Pires got in on the act, scoring with just one minute left in regulation time.

The win puts the Gunners in the driver’s seat to advance to the first knock-out stages of the European Champions League, a likelihood that seemed nigh on impossible just a few short weeks ago. A win against group leaders Lokomotiv Moscow at Highbury on December 10, and Arsenal will advance as the top seed from Group B.

Next up for Arsenal, Fulham @ Highbury on Sunday. It’s on FOX Sports World here in the States, but delayed until 2PM ET. Probably best to check online for the broadcast and updates.