A barnstorming display from Bendtner, a goal of pure genius from Nasri and an all round controlled performance from the rest of the good guys enabled us to power past Porto and onto the quarter finals.

The tension we were all feeling before this game turned out to be unnecessary as the five goal thriller unfolded in front of our eyes.  Porto were pants but just how poor, we were not to know and neither were the team.

In preparation Sol, wearing the glorious red and white again for the first time in ages, went round to each player like a captain in the trenches preparing his troops with fortifying words readying them for the task ahead. The whistle blew and our boys were up and over, no shirkers here; there was no doubting that Sol’s spirit would hold up, the only question was whether his body could but whenever he looked in doubt he had the heart felt support of every Arsenal supporter willing him on.

The pressure was taken off him and the rest of us when Bendtner put us ahead early on. The Great Dane could not have wanted for a more perfect opportunity, not because it was easy but rather that there was no time to let the doubts of Saturday creep in, instinct to finish was all that was required and he did not disappoint. Nasri played a through ball to Arshavin who sprinted towards goal with purpose, their keeper dived at his feet, the ball popped out and Bendtner was at the right place at the right time yet again to slide in and poke the ball home.

The early goal settled our nerves, real belief started to run throughout the team. Song and Diaby were in the middle performing an old Vieira and Petit number and then there was Arshavin out on the wing who one minute was slaloming through the Porto defence as if they weren’t there and the next he was playing a suicide ball across the midfield just ripe for Porto to run onto and score fortunately as we know that didn’t happen but did he look concerned when it happened? No he didn’t, he just shrugged his shoulders.

There was something different about Arshavin’s mannerisms, something I just couldn’t put my finger on and then, after some thought, it dawned on me: he’s gone French, all that Frenchness in the dressing room has rubbed off on him, the Gallic shrug of the shoulders, the look of how could I possibly be wrong on his face — and the absolute genius in the rest of his play: he tortured Porto.

The Russian deserves all the credit for the second goal he went past three defenders as if they weren’t there before firing a low drive across the box for Bendtner to tap in his second. This goal obviously helped but it didn’t put the tie to bed.

Porto came out in the second half knowing that if they didn’t do something they were out and for ten minutes we had to deal with the nail biting question of what happens if they score, this was all made academic when not long after Nasri scored the best goal that has ever been scored in the short history of the Emirates.  He weaved his way around most of the Porto defence like an unstoppable spinning top before powering the ball past their keeper, he knew how good that goal was and so did we. This goal was the cue to sit back, relax start roasting crumpets on the open fire and enjoy the show and what a show we still had in store.  There was one star fish from Eboue followed by his superbly finished forth in a way that Thierry Henry at his height would have been proud of. And what’s more there was still time for Bendtner to get his hat trick.  What a fantastic night’s entertainment.

Player ratings:

Almunia: a rare clean sheet but a very important one. I still say that him watching the first leg at Porto reassured him more than any other event. 7

Sagna: this man is like a thoroughbred horse he needs resting from time to time to get the best out of him. Tip-top defending and you could see the concentration on his face just before he was about to cross the ball, he has obviously been practising. 8

Campbell: don’t you just love him; any man that revives the “Invincibles Huddle” can do no wrong with me. 7

Vermaelen: this man holds the key to our success, we can cope with an injury to almost any other player except the Belgian. If you think of the alternatives they are scary, he did the job of two players having to make up for Sol’s lack of pace and because of that I make the Vermanator my man of the match. 8.5

Clichy: absolutely brilliant, there is nothing more pleasing than to be proved wrong about a player. I feared he would never return to form after his recent injury, I was wrong: a classy determined display. 8

Diaby: patrolled the middle of the park with skill and authority this man visibly improves week on week. 8

Song: another commanding performance, he is going to be the best in the world in his position when he is twenty six. 8

Nasri: he is starting to come into his own now, and what a great time to do it. The young Zidane they say and I would not try and disagree. 8

Rosicky: a clever choice this by Wenger over the expected Walcott, the Czech keeps the ball better and adds more to the defence, he was part of the plan to contain Porto in the first part of the game before releasing Theo, if we were ahead, or throw on Eduardo if we were behind. 7.5

Bendtner: how many Bendtners does it take to change a light bulb? How many light bulbs have you got. What a way to answer your critics, the hat trick hero deserves all the praise he gets. 8

Arshavin: I wonder who the opposition would have to be for the Russian to deem them worthy enough to give his full attention. He gave the impression that Porto were beneath him and would only turn it on if and when he felt like it, but when he did it was pure genius. 8