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Van Persie delivers anew as Gunners advance

Comment: 0 November 24th, 2011 by: admin

ROBIN Van Persie once again proved he’s the man of the hour for Arsenal.

The Dutch striker was on fire anew on Wednesday night as he drilled in two goals to power Arsenal to a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in Group F, and into the second round of the Champions League.

With the victory at Emirates, the Gunners became the first English side to reach the knockout phase of the tournament, making it to that stage for the 12^th straight season.

Showing why he is the difference-maker at Arsenal, Van Persie padded his goal production to 38 in 41 games this year.

Arsenal could find themselves the only English club in the next round after Chelsea were derailed 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen. The loss put the Blues at a risk of failing to enter the last 16 for the first time since they were bought by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003.

Last Tuesday, Manchester United and Manchester City were both beaten and missed a chance to progress.

The Gunners have now won 11 of their 13 matches since they drew 1-1 against Dortmund last Sept. 13.

Dortmund were more aggressive in the opening exchanges and had Arsenal under pressure even though Sven Bender and Mario Goetze got injured midway through the first half.

But the home fans’ anxiety vanished when Van Persie broke the ice with a brilliant header off Alex Song’s cross at the far post n the 49^th minute. The Arsenal captain struck again with four minutes left to seal the triumph and raise his goal tally to 21 this season. Shinji Kagawa netted in for the German champions in injury time.

Leverkusen’s triumph was enough for them to advance.

Defending champions Barcelona secured top spot in Group H after a 3-2 road win over AC Milan who rallied twice but Xavi Hernandez saved the Catalans’ day with a 63^rd-minute brace.

Lionel Messi netted his 25th goal of the season while assisting Xavi in their game-clinching goal as Barca stretched their unbeaten run to 27 games.

In other fixtures, Valencia posted the biggest Champions League triumph by a Spanish side by annihilating Genk 7-0; Porto stayed alive after a 2-0 victory at Shakhtar Donetsk, while Olympiakos tripped hosts Marseille 1-0.

To advance, Chelsea need to defeat Valencia or hold the latter to a 0-0 standoff.

“It’s in our hands to qualify,’’ said Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas, who has gotten more pressure after their latest defeat.

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