Sparta Prague 0 Arsenal 2: Magnificent Henry breaks Wrighty's record and Sparta

Cygan and Clichy getting stuck in

‘Arsenal, Arsenal FC’ Two shots in the first two minutes, the first by Fabregas from a narrow angle, the second by Reyes which was blocked. With five minutes on the clock Reyes had our third shot just as David ‘Kerbcrawler’ Pleat was whittering on about Arsenal not shooting often enough. Unfortunately two hard and deliberate whacks in the back on Reyes meant he was out of the game after a mere 14 minutes. The naff German ref thought it was quite ok to slam into players from behind and didn’t even produce a booking. This of course ultimately meant that Henry came onto the pitch some 45 minutes ahead of schedule. So the Sparta side hadn’t exactly done themselves a favour as even a half-fit Henry poses a serious threat. We learned at half time that Reyes had fractured a rib – more bad news on the injury front then!

In the mean time Gael made a nervous start missing a difficult header that gave Pospeck a chance he failed to capitalise on. Pascal then made a mistake but the speedy and majestic Kolo retrieved the situation at the expense of a corner. Reyes was by now off the pitch and down the tunnel. Henry was getting ready and when he came on he was still warming up when the ball was well away at the other end. Thierry showed his class early with some chest control, a spin and a shot that was deflected for a corner. The man was back and looking class. There was a fast Sparta counter from our corner but Kolo sorted it out again.

Shortly after a long very decent ball from Kolo saw Henry control on or around the edge of their box. The defender backed off a tad and Henry hit a shot with the outside of his right foot that bent round the keeper delightfully. 0-1 to The Arsenal. A superb strike and Wrighty’s record had been equalled at the ‘Arsenal’ end.

Flamini - Solid display

Henry was unimpressed with the German ref Wolfgang Stark and clearly told him so. But he did book Lukas for a trip on Van Persie. Flamini was working hard and recovered play well on one occasion before giving away two free kicks, the first of which saw a long range shot from Sparta. Kolo covered well again and had far too much pace for their lone striker, or anyone else for that matter. Arsenal were closing well, working as a unit and the lift that Henry gave the team just by entering the field of play was very visible. A good deep cross saw Pospeck with a crap shot from an angle. ‘Arsene Wenger's Red and White Army’ the Gooners were still on song.

A brief spell of control by Sparta lacked serious penetration as we continued to control the game, albeit in our half for a while. Cygan headed clear after a decent move by the team wearing the all cherry coloured kit. Van Persie was booked for some fine acting by his opponent and we went into the break looking rather confident.

There were no changes at half time and long balls to Thierry seemed to be the order of the day early on as Robin sat a little deeper on the left and Pires roamed around finding good space. Good tackle by Cygan, two quick and deliberate fouls by Zelenka. Sparta had a good chance to score when they outnumbered us on a break but it came to nothing. Sparta were very unimpressive, although that was in good part down to our controlled dominant play. Confidence was oozing back into the team. A good shot from Kadlec was tipped over with ease by Jens. Kiesel shot wide.

Petras went to ground to win a free kick and the ref bought it. A foul on Henry not given, followed by another iffy Sparta free kick for falling down. The ref was doing his best to get them back into the game, but we were still in control. Clichy got carded for a clip in a dangerous position, given the previous fouls and those that followed this was a joke. Arsenal had all men back for the free kick. Van Persie broke and took an arm in the face – no card though. Handball by Sparta – no card.

Henry - About to break the record

The game was not very exciting but control was the essence and that’s what we were doing, controlling the game. Henry set himself up but his shot was blocked. Van Persie went on a solo because he had no support, there was no gung-ho stuff tonight. Pires to Henry with a beautiful ball. Jens out smartly to take a through ball. Henry put Cesc in but he had his left-footed shot saved. From Pires’ corner Cygan headed wide. Pergl a defender was replaced by Matusovic a midfielder.

Lehmann came a long way and did his job well. Matusovic had a shot that might have worried those sitting in the upper tier. 72 minutes gone and Eboue came on the right side midfield to replace Van Persie with Cesc moving from the right to left flank. A minute later Rob had the ball wide right just inside their half and bent a fantastic ball behind the first defender. Henry got there first and was very composed as he made Arsenal history by knocking it into the corner of the net. His 186th. goal in 303 games and just 2,500 Gooners there to see it from the other end of the ground. Henry’s name was chanted then Wright’s then nostalgia set in with a series of chants that included ‘Only one Keown’ and ‘One Tony Adams’. We do history much better than most Clubs don’t we?

Dosek, a Crouch impersonator replaced Slepicka. Eboue cleared on the edge of our box and made a run, played a one two and got as far as their box. Kadlec went down injured with no one near him but he was clearly in pain. Eboue then had a decent run and picked out Henry, the only other player up, with a fine low cross. Gael made a great tackle in our box after a player looked to get through from an offside position, the replays showed him to be offside, but that in no way detracts from Clichy who had improved tremendously after a nervous start.

Arsenal knocked it about, retained control, played out time and looked the part. Quincy came on late in the game for Cesc and made a couple of good runs that were not picked out. Kisel shot over and Zelenha won a corner, which never was. Quincy had a run from very deep before the two minutes added time ended with Arsenal on nine points from three games. It looks like the kids could get a game in Thun if we can wrap up the group early.

Was it great to see Henry on the pitch or what? Certainly it was but elsewhere we are running out of players.