Gunners freeze up in Moscow
Thierry Henry left furious by referee decision
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Tuesday, 17, Oct 2006 11:14
Arsenal were dragged back into the midst of group G of the Champions League as they suffered a 1-0 reverse away to CSKA Moscow.
The Gunners would have taken a decisive step towards the knock-out stages had they been able to maintain their 100 per cent in the competition against the Russians, but Daniel Carvalho's first-half rocket meant there is still much to be done to qualify.
With both sides eager to press forward and with plenty of attacking invention at their disposal, the passionate Dynamo Stadium crowd were treated to an entertaining spectacle.
It was not long before they had something to celebrate either as the skilful Brazilian Carvalho gleefully smashed a rasping, well-worked set-piece past Jens Lehmann after 23 minutes to put the home side into the lead.
The midfielder nearly repeated the trick with a dipping shot, but the German this time managed to scramble back and push his attempt behind for a corner.
With their elaborate build-up play often failing to conclude with a telling final pass, Arsenal's first clear-cut opportunities came just five minutes from the break.
But Robin van Persie failed to capitalised on either, attempting an ambitious pass to William Gallas when clean through first time and failing to round the sprawling Igor Akinfeev the second.
As the game wore on the hosts looked the more likely team to score and Arsene Wenger's men depended on some desperate, stretching challenges from Kolo Toure and William Gallas to block shots from the dangerous Wagner Love.
It looked as if they may return to London with a point, however, as Thierry Henry fired home from an 85th-minute cross, but the referee ruled the effort out for handball much to the Frenchman's disgust.