Not such a Fab night for Aresnal's Lukasz Fabianski
Goalkeeper’s gifts eclipse Sol’s return as Gunners suffer 2-1 defeat in Portugal
Published: 18 February 2010
by STEVE BARNETT
Champions League
FC Porto 2, Arsenal 1
ARSENE Wenger’s blind spot for picking good goalkeepers denied Sol Campbell a glorious return to Champions League action last night (Wednesday).
Stand-in keeper Lukasz Fabianski scored an own goal and inexplicably picked up a Campbell back-pass to gift FC Porto victory at Estadio do Dragao.
Campbell, filling in for the injured William Gallas, looked set to steal the headlines after he nodded home Tomas Rosicky’s cross to score a vital equaliser for the Gunners.
It was his second consecutive Champions League goal – almost four years after scoring against Barcelona in the 2006 final.
The towering defender’s header cancelled out Porto’s comical opening goal which came about after Fabianski spilled Silvestre Varela’s low right-wing cross into his own net in the 11th minute. And the young Pole’s mishaps didn’t stop there.
On 52 minutes he handled Campbell’s short back-pass, leading to an unnecessary free-kick that was taken quickly by Ruben Micael and ended with Falcao scoring the simplest of goals.
Wenger was incensed and became involved in a prolonged exchange with referee Martin Hansson – the same official who missed Thierry Henry’s infamous handball in France’s win against the Republic of Ireland last year.
Despite Wenger’s protests the goal stood, and Arsenal must now overturn the 2-1 scoreline at the Emirates on Tuesday, March 9, if they are to progress into the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier competition.