Dinamo Zagreb v Arsenal

Match report (UEFA Champions League coverage for Eurosport - 9 August 2006).

For my minute by minute coverage of the game please click here.

Arsenal young guns last away Dinamo

Arsenal put themselves firmly in the driving seat in their Champions League qualifying tie with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday. Arsene Wenger's side will be confident heading into the second leg in a fortnight after a double from Cesc Fabregas and one from Robin van Persie.

Arsenal's young guns have more than survived their first European foray of the season. The win in Croatia was driven by a phenomenal performance from Fabregas who bagged two of the Gunners' three second-half strikes.

Thierry Henry, Freddy Ljungberg, Jose Antonio Reyes, Philippe Senderos, Ashley Cole and Theo Walcott were all absent from the field and Dinamo were expected to prove a sterner test.

Arsenal controlled the first half though with Emmanuel Adebayor coming close with a long range effort and Thomas Rosicky and Van Persie also forcing saves from Ivan Turina in the Dinamo goal.

Lacking imagination, Zagreb sat deep and tried to hit Arsenal on the counter attack. Luka Modric was their only real player of any showing but Kolo Toure and the Arsenal defence were more than a match for anything he could conjure up from the Dinamo midfield.

Rare forays

There were signs that the home side could trouble Arsenal but the temptation to sit back and take a draw seemed to weigh heavily on their minds. Modric's clever play only produced a handful of openings for the home side. Zoran Mamic let fly to test Manuel Almunia midway through the second half and Eduardo da Silva broke clean through shortly after only for Johan Djourou to show off his potential with a timely interception.

The deadlock was broken on 63 minutes by Fabregas, running onto a fine ball from Van Persie and burying the ball from a tight angle. One minute eighteen seconds later Van Persie went one better. A perfectly weighted ball from Alex Hleb was dispatched low and hard across the keeper without hesitation from 20 yards; Arsenal's second away goal.

In the bag

With the result in the bag Arsenal eased off the pace. Zagreb failed to muster any real response and on 79 minutes Fabregas picked up the ball in Zagreb's half, put his head down, charged past two defenders and slotted home to put the tie beyond doubt.

Fuelling rumours as to the future of Reyes, Arsene Wenger opted to keep him on the bench. An appearance would have prevented him from appearing for any other club in the Champions League this season.

Wenger has continued to deny all talk of Reyes leaving but has clearly decided to keep his options open. With mounting rumours from Spain of interest from Real Madrid, Cole may not be the only Arsenal player out the door in coming days.

It was a satisfying night for Arsenal and Wenger in particular. The Gunners clearly have an embarrassment of riches at their disposal and can use the second leg to provide further experience to their young stars. Fabregas might even have earned the night off.