Thierry Henry ended last month's meeting with Panathinaikos in such fury that he had to be restrained by his manager and team-mates. At the finish last night, the French striker was bathed in smiles after scoring two goals which avenged the defeat in Athens and left Arsenal's fate in their hands.
Only the bar which denied Emmanuele Olisadebe an equaliser and an earlier penalty save by Richard Wright prevented the Greek side from claiming a point from a lively, even match.
Arsenal knew they had to win, having lost two of their three previous Champions League fixtures. Their desire to put things right had been heightened by a 1-0 defeat in Athens last month, after which Henry angrily accused the Panathinaikos players of diving.
ArsΦne Wenger had made it clear beforehand that he was confident of victory, provided his players concentrated on the job in hand and did not get drawn into squabbles with the Greek side. He wanted resolve rather than revenge to be the order of the night.
Yet Panathinaikos hardly promised to be pushovers. They arrived with a 100 per cent record and had not conceded a goal in those three matches. Little wonder Wenger's plan was to make an aggressive, adventurous start rather than repeat the timidity of Athens.
Arsenal certainly began strongly, forcing a corner within 30 seconds, yet it was an all too brief show of strength as Panathinaikos dominated the early stages.
Anyone who expected the Greek side to adopt a defensive attitude knowing a point would all but guarantee them a place in the second phase was sorely mistaken.
Twice inside the first six minutes their big Cypriot striker, Michalis Konstantinou, came close to scoring. An Arsenal defence in which Matthew Upson surprisingly retained his place despite Martin Keown's return from suspension looked far from impregnable.
Then, after 23 minutes, most of Highbury was on its feet in celebration as Henry calmly scored from Arsenal's first real chance. Patrick Vieira was the instigator, robbing Aggelos Basinas near halfway with a typically strong challenge to release his compatriot.
The French striker streaked clear, despite Panathinaikos claims for offside, and beat Antonis Nikopolidis with a firm shot. After the injustices he felt he suffered in Athens, he will have taken particular enjoyment from the strike.
Wenger had called for greater accuracy in front of goal and had it. He must have hoped that would settle Arsenal, yet within five minutes Upson conceded a penalty for a tackle on Emmanuel Olisadebe as the Polish striker ran on to a long Henriksen pass.
Richard Wright, making his home debut and playing his first Champions League game in the absence of the injured David Seaman, played his part to perfection.
Basinas hit the spot kick low to the goalkeeper's right, but Wright dived to keep the ball out.
As Panathinaikos lost their verve, a tight, niggly game produced few chances, and Arsenal stole the initiative before Panathinaikos equalised five minutes into the second half. Sol Campbell's poor header across his area fell to Olisadebe, who easily beat Lauren and squeezed a shot inside Wright's near post.
That seemed a dreadful blow for Arsenal, yet they were back ahead almost instantly. Wiltord won a penalty when, after bursting onto Robert Pires's clever backheel, he fell under challenges by Sotiris Kirgiakos and Paulo Sousa. Henry tucked away his 11th goal in 12 games with minimum fuss.
ARSENAL: Wright, Lauren, Campbell, Upson, Cole, Ljungberg, Vieira, van Bronckhorst, Pires (Parlour 71), Wiltord (Bergkamp 71), Henry (Grimandi 90). Subs Not Used: Taylor, Keown, Luzhny, Kanu. Booked: Upson, Vieira, Lauren, Cole. Goals: Henry 23, 52 pen.
PANATHINAIKOS: Nikopolidis, Henriksen, Vokolos, Kyrgiakos, Fissas, Michaelsen, Karagounis (Kolkka 77), Basinas, Sousa (Seitaridis 77), Olisadebe, Konstantinou (Vlaovic 77). Subs Not Used: Kotsolis, Boateng, Saric, Liberopoulos. Booked: Sousa, Kyrgiakos, Michaelsen. Goals: Olisadebe 50.
Referee: U Meier (Switzerland).
