Rosicky thrills as Arsenal beat ten-man Hamburg
Rosicky repeated his World Cup heroics
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Wednesday, 13, Sep 2006 10:09
Arsenal edged to a narrow 2-1 victory in Germany against a Hamburg side which was reduced to ten men after barely ten minutes had been played.
A spot kick by stand-in penalty taker Gilberto Silva, awarded as home goalkeeper Sascha Kirschstein was sent off for a professional foul, and a screamer from Tomas Rosicky were enough to give Arsene Wenger's men the perfect start to this year's campaign - but they were given a scare late on by Boubacar Sanogo's strike for the hosts.
The Gunners had been playing for just nine minutes when Kirschstein fouled a galloping Robin Van Persie in the box, leading to his inevitable dismissal and giving Gilberto the chance to slot the ball past replacement custodian Stefan Wachter.
A Thierry Henry-less Arsenal looked comfortable from thereon without creating much as the half progressed - and received a blow when Kolo Toure went off injured just before the half hour mark to be replaced by young Englishman Justin Hoyte.
There was an awkward moment before half time when Jens Lehmann was forced to parry an effort from home forward Danijel Ljuboja, as the ten men upped the tempo in their search for parity.
The second half was lit up just seven minutes in by the brilliance of Rosicky. The Czech schemer, who cracked home a brilliant effort for his country in their otherwise-disappointing World Cup campaign, rocketed a dipping 20-yard effort into the top left corner of Wachter's net after good approach work by the excellent Van Persie.
Gilberto came close to adding his second of the night, flashing a header wide, before a seemingly cruising Arsenal side received a rude wake-up call as the match neared its close.
First the home side's Piotr Trochowski fired a long-rang effort against the bar out of the blue, and then his team-mate Sanogo slotted home David Jarolim's cutback. It was a mere consolation, but all the more notable for being the first Champions League goal conceded by Jens Lehmann - who was, of course, sent off at 0-0 in last season's final - in 853 minutes.
Arsenal held on over the little time that remained, satisfied enough with a good away win but perhaps reflecting that they might have saved themselves a few late heart flutters against opposition who were a man down for almost all of the match.