CHAMPIONS LEAGUE/ Arsenal 2 Celta Vigo 0: There is no means of preventing Arsenal from hogging the attention. It was not good enough for them to qualify for the quarter-finals with the aid of two goals from Thierry Henry, they also had to set a club record with a fifth consecutive win in the tournament.
While others complain of weariness, this team is more vivacious than ever. In the light of the sporadic rumours that he will eventually fill the vacancy at White Hart Lane, this could have been classed as an acclimatisation exercise for Celta Vigo's coach Radomir Antic. Anyone who takes charge of Tottenham Hotspur, after all, had better be prepared for suffering in the other North London fiefdom.
In practice, the crushing of challengers is no local affair for Arsenal any more. It hardly matters whether the opposition are neighbours or visitors from a far corner of Europe. Victory is expected and elan is compulsory.
It is curious, all the same, how quickly ascendancy is taken for granted and no one was in the least surprised by the fact that a purposeful start from Antic's players was interrupted by the first of Henry's goals. Memories are short and few recall that only a few months have passed since the Champions League was an enigma to Arsenal.
They have all the answers now, but they were set to depart the tournament until Ashley Cole lunged to apply his head to a cross and notch the late goal that beat Dynamo Kiev at Highbury in November. Scoring is no longer such a strain for mind or muscle.
Dennis Bergkamp never was the jittery type, but even he seemed especially at ease because of the 3-2 advantage that Arsenal had achieved without him in Spain. After 14 minutes he whirled towards the middle, pulling defenders with him as if by centrifugal force, and then flicked the ball back to the right, where Henry was waiting to score.
Celta Vigo were vigorous enough to force corners early on, and a Luccin drive needed to be tipped over by Jens Lehmann in the 17th minute. With no true issue at stake, this, all the same, was a mere exercise for a team who must maintain their morale if it is to escape third bottom place in La Liga.
It takes a strong will not to become dejected against Arsenal. The disconcerting aspect of Wenger's team lies in the way that signs of improvement keep popping up in a line-up that was already formidable.
Edu radiates confidence and creativity, Freddie Ljungberg is in his best form for a couple of years and the team even look faintly menacing from corners. They stuck to their usual neat footwork to add to their advantage 10 minutes from half-time.
Bergkamp laid the ball right to Ljungberg and the Swede's cross was only nudged on by the head of Fernando Caceres for Henry to control with his chest and fire home.
The scorer might have had his hat-trick before the interval, when Ljungberg and Robert Pires produced an even more dashing move, but Henry shot against the goalkeeper, Pablo Cavallero.
This match was beginning to develop overtones of Arsenal's captivating 5-1 win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup.
The same interchanging that had overawed Fratton Park was back in the 57th minute, as Henry went on to the right and applied his blend of touch and pace before setting up Pires, who could not quite dab the ball over the advancing Cavallero.
At least Celta Vigo were never consumed by self-pity and Lehmann was regularly involved for a spell. The real character of the occasion was nonetheless illuminated by the ritual cheering when, after an hour, Arsenal kept possession with so many passes that it seemed as if it would take the full-time whistle to interrupt them.
Anxiety was only introduced later, as Bergkamp took a kick in the face from Cavallero as the goalkeeper was fractionally late in his effort to stop the Dutchman from lobbing a bouncing ball.
The attempt went over the bar and Bergkamp hit the deck, but he was able to continue after treatment. There was no escape from tiredness for Celta Vigo, who had to labour on with 10 men after the substitute Pablo Contreras received his second booking and was sent off in the 73rd minute.
"What is remarkable is bouncing back - from nearly being out now we're in the last eight," Wenger said. "At 2-0 they knew maybe it was over for them and didn't really challenge us.
"It was a strange game because we just had to keep control, but you can lose the focus a bit and the game can become more difficult. But we were professional and we did the job."
ARSENAL: Lehmann; Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Cole, Ljungberg, Vieira, Edu (Silva 69), Pires (Reyes 69), Bergkamp (Kanu 76), Henry. Subs Not Used: Stack, Keown, Cygan, Clichy. Goals: Henry 14, 34.
CELTA VIGO: Cavallero; Velasco, Sergio, Caceres, Silvinho (Contreras 21), Borja, Luccin (Jesuli 29), Jose Ignacio, Mostovoi, Lopez (Vagner 70), Pinilla. Subs Not Used: Pinto, Milosevic, Mendez, Edu. Sent Off: Contreras (74). Booked: Contreras.
Referee: P Collina (Italy).
