Arsenal coasted past Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, a 5-1 drubbing seeing them go three points clear at the top of Champions League Group H.
A goalkeeping error by Shakhtar's Andriy Pyatov allowed Alex Song to open the scoring midway through the first half at the Emirates Stadium. Samir Nasri added a second, with returning skipper Cesc Fabregas burying a second half penalty and Jack Wilshere finishing off a sumptuous move for the fourth.
Marouane Chamakh put in another before former Arsenal striker Eduardo volleyed home a Shakhtar consolation to the approval of both sets of fans, the completely comfortable win leaving the Gunners on the brink of sealing qualification for the last 16.
Fabregas was back from injury and started alongside Jack Wilshere in the Arsenal midfield, but their former team-mate Eduardo only began on the bench for Shakhtar, who – like the Gunners – came into this game with a one hundred percent record in the group.
However, they looked like they came from a different planet than Arsenal on the night as Arsene Wenger’s men controlled the game from minute one. They played their usual possession football, keeping the ball from Shakhtar for much of the first half and, after Razvan Rat blazed a half-chance wide for the rarely-forward visitors, they took a 19th minute lead.
Nasri sent in a cross that looked easy for Pyatov to claim, but he inexplicably dropped it and in came Song. He almost made a mess of it when he tried to flick it in, in an unorthodox manner, but Olexandr Kucher’s attempted block bounced in off the Cameroonian midfielder to raise the volume in the crowd.
Pyatov recovered to deny a powerful Nasri drive, while the home side appealed for a penalty when Tomas Rosicky went down under a Rat challenge, but bothing was doing.
A deflected effort from Armenian ace Henrik Mkhitaryan gave Lukasz Fabianski a rare shot to save as Shakhtar won two corners in the latter stages of the half, but three minutes before the break the game already looked over as Nasri made it 2-0.
The France midfielder made it out of nothing, as he snuck the ball from the feet of Darijo Srna from Song's right-side cross and smashed it past Pyatov to leave Mircea Lucescu's side at the bottom of a mountain.
Luiz Adriano had a shot easily saved by Fabianski early in the second half, but that did not spark any momentum from Shakhtar. Instead, the hosts were 5-0 up by the 70th minute.
Adriano helped when he hauled Johan Djourou to the ground in the Shaktahr area, Fabregas stepping up to slam the resultant penalty to the roof of Pyatov’s net.
That marked the end of the Spaniard’s return. He immediately went off to great applause to be replaced by Denislon, while the Gunners fans also hailed the arrival of Eduardo, who came on for the guilty Adriano.
Eduardo’s men were soon four behind though after a move that he would have loved to have been on the end of. Chamakh spun and sent glowing youngster Wilshere away inside on the left. The teenager played a one-two with Rosicky and then lifted the ball over poor Pyatov and over the line.
Chamakh made it five three minutes later. The Shakhtar defence all stopped, believing the Moroccan to be offside as he ran onto a ball slipped through by Nasri. He was not and he eased the ball in to set a record for an individual scoring in six successive Champions League games, and make it 14 in three for Arsenal (also a record).
Theo Walcott came on to return from injury in the time that followed, but the last word went to Eduardo.
The Croatia international forward was given all the time he needed to run in and smash home Jadson’s cross from the right with eight minutes left, a goal the home fans’ cheers proved they were delighted to concede.
Their old hero had had his say, but the Gunners had roared clear in the group.