Wenger reaps tactical rewards

Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger was rewarded for fielding an attacking lineup as his injury-hit team beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 4-1 to take a huge step towards qualifying for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. A crop of injuries had left Wenger with no alternative but to deploy a quartet of attack-minded players – Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord.

Memorable finish
But Wenger was quickly rewarded as Pires and Henry gave Arsenal a 2-0 lead inside the first ten minutes. Patrick Vieira added a third, before Bergkamp finished off a memorable night for Arsenal with a memorable finish – sublimely chipping Hans-Jörg Butt to complete a seventh consecutive Champions League success at Highbury. "Sometimes the result is all, but this was all about enjoyment," said Henry, reflecting on his 28th goal of the season and an impressive team display. "We played for each other and we fought for each other."

'Great performance'
Leverkusen coach Klaus Toppmöller was generous enough to pay tribute to Arsenal. "That was really a great performance by Arsenal, we made too many mistakes up front, they played a very good aggressive game," he said. "You can really see the class of this team, with players like Vieira, Bergkamp and Henry and when you are two down within five minutes it is very difficult to come back."

'We should qualify'
The travel-shy Bergkamp - who last week journeyed to the BayArena but did not play against Leverkusen in the 1-1 draw - believes that Arsenal are now close to securing a place in the last eight. "We have another important home game, but if we play like this we shouldn't have a problem with our home form in the Champions league. We should qualify." Arsenal next play Deportivo at Highbury on 12 March.

Dutch craft
"It's always nice to score in a Champions League game on a higher stage," said Bergkamp. "It was a good piece of skill and it went in so that's always a good moment. He [the goalkeeper] was off his line a lot during the game so you just try and hope he's a little bit in front of his goal."

'Collective spirit'
Wenger believed that Arsenal's draw in Germany had paved the way for Wednesday's success. "We learnt from the away game," he said. "It was there we developed the belief to beat Leverkusen. The team played with confidence and we were dangerous going forward. We played with pace and a great collective spirit."

Standings
Leverkusen substitute Zoltán Sebescen scored Leverkusen's consolation four minutes from time, perhaps the best goal of the night, with a rifled angled shot. Arsenal are now joint top of Group D with RC Deportivo La Coruña on seven points, while Leverkusen and Juventus FC are lagging behind on four points.