A resounding win for the Arsenal in the Champions League. Two valuable away goals will almost certainly seal an overall win over Sparta Prague when they come to the Emirates for the second leg in two weeks.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the game from here, but followed along as best as I could online. I get the feeling we were getting a bit bossed around in the first half, although there was no score. Hats off to the Gunners back line for that, and a few gorgeous saves from our German Madman Jens. Well deserved clean sheet, boys. Things picked up in the second half, and at 72′ Gael Clichy simply eviscerated the Prague back line and sent a beautiful cross in front of Cesc Fabregas for an easy goal. Well done, Gael & Cesc!

And it appears our man Alex is on a bit of a tear lately, does it not? In an impression of the first goal, Bacary Sagna and Alex Hleb combined to put another one past the Prague keeper in injury time to seal the win and get us that all important second away goal. It seemed as though Jens and Bacary had that one all planned out, as Jens quickly whipped the ball past most of Prague to Bacary, who then brought it up the left and slid it over to Hleb. The touch on the ball by Hleb was perfect, just enough to roll it past the keeper on the right. It’s good to see Bacary coming up like this. He’s looking really good so far. And Alex… I really like him in this new role, I have to say. Perhaps all this time he’s been a closet Striker who only thinks he’s an Attacking Midfielder? Once Adebayor gets healthy, it’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Will Le Boss have them work together, cover each other… who knows? But our options up front don’t look nearly as dire as some predicted in the pre-season when we didn’t splash the huge cash. A very solid start to the year.

And, I have to add this… is it me, or do the Arsenal players just ooze class? From Cesc immediately acknowledging Gael’s effort to get the first… to Bacary running up and lifting Hleb off his feet for the second, and then being jumped on by the rest of the team for his part in the goal. It just seems like the team is getting on quite well. It’s a good sign.