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Arsenal booked their places in the Champions League for the 12th year running (only bettered by Real Madrid and Manchester United) at the cost of Scottish giants Celtic. In a display that would send shivers down the spines of defenders at Old Trafford - Arsenal travel to Manchester United in this weekend's marquee encounter in the Premier League - Arsenal annihilated a Celtic team that has been historically one of the most resilient in Europe. The final margin of victory 3-1 to Arsenal was a just reflection of the Gunners' dominance in the match. The North London outfit never looked like breaking a sweat; which is even more noteworthy considering the fact that they had rested their ‘star' players.

The ‘battle of Britain' commenced for the second week running tonight as Arsenal welcomed Celtic, knowing al l too well that they held all the aces going into the second leg of the Champions League play-off. Arsenal had a two goal cushion to take into the match and it showed in the line up ‘the Professor' Arsene Wenger chose to start the game with. Cesc Fabregas (injured), Andrey Arshavin and Robin van Persie (both on the bench) were the notable absentees in Wenger's team (who had one eye on the weekend clash with ManUnited) and Eduardo da Silva, Alexandre Song and Emmanuel Eboue took the places on offer.

The match promised to be an open encounter with Celtic left with no option but to attack to try and overturn the two goal deficit. This was potentially tricky for Celtic as their attacking forays could so easily be a recipe for Arsenal to unleash their famed counter attacking skills.

The game started brightly with both sides going for it and there were gaps to be exploited on the field. Arsenal were into their slick passing style soon and in the 8th minute they gave a sumptuous display of the same. In a move which involved Arsenal's creative midfield gentry, Emmanuel Eboue finally slid the ball to Nicklas Bendtner, who forced Arthur Boruc, the Celtic keeper into a great save. Eduardo, Arsenal's Croatian striker barely got a toe on the rebound, as it took a little bit of paint off the right hand post on its way wide. Arsenal were at it again in the 13th minute as another flowing move culminated in Denilson getting a shot off which burst into the side netting. Eboue too joined in the action as Abou Diaby (fresh from two goals over the weekend against Portsmouth) teed him up and the resultant shot was - much to the dismay of the Arsenal faithful - narrowly wide. The signs were looking ominous for Celtic who didn't appear to match up to Arsene Wenger's young stars and had hardly any meaningful forays in the attacking third of the field.

The deserved goal for Arsenal finally came in the 28th minute, but in an ‘undeserved' manner. Eduardo conned the referee into awarding a penalty to Arsenal by diving in front of Arthur Boruc - who made a vociferous claim pleading his innocence. It was all to no avail as Eduardo calmly slotted the ball past Boruc, who dived the wrong way (to his right). The gulf in class between the two sides has been all too obvious in the two legs so far but one can't deny the fact that the Celtic players haven't got the rub of the green going their way at the vital junctures.

The game continued with some renewed hostility between the two sets of players. Gary Caldwell, the Celtic captain - and the scorer of the own goal at Celtic Park a week back - saw his frustrations getting the better of him as he wrestled down Eboue to the ground as the Ivorian was threatening to get past him. The resultant yellow card was richly deserved for Caldwell's blatant folly in the 33rd minute. Celtic had their chance in the 40th minute when Marc Antoinne Fortune slid one in to his strike partner Scott McDonald, who slotted the ball into the net only to find that he had been correctly flagged off side. The half came to a exciting end as Arsenal carved out a couple of great chances. First, a vintage Arsenal counter attack caught the Celtic defence cold and Eduardo curled in a great shot which was arching into the top corner before Boruc pulled out a great save. Then from the resulting corner, Bendtner missed a golden chance, a free header from five yards, he would have taken in his sleep on another day.

The second half started brightly for Celtic with Aiden McGeady - Celtic's best player on show - skipping past a couple of challenges and then getting a rasping shot away which curved past a diving Almunia. Arsenal immediately answered with another breathtaking counter attack and Eduardo was once again guilty of not taking a great chance and shot with his ‘not so favoured' right foot away from the goal. The inevitable happened in the 53rd minute as Arsenal carved apart the Celtic defense with a scintillating move - marked by Bendtner's audacious back flip to Diaby - which was capped by a cool and composed finish from Emmanuel Eboue.

With the tie all but over, both managers wrung the changes at the hour mark - McGeady was replaced by Nailer, Maloney by Flood, and Diaby by Ramsey. Andrey Arshavin and teenage prodigy Jack Wilshere soon joined their team mates on the park in the 72nd minute, and Sir Alex Ferguson watching in the stands seemed instantly interested in proceedings. The rewards were immediate as Arshavin rounded up another exquisite build up with a good finish in the 74th minute (this was Arshavin's first European goal for the North London outfit, after being cup tied last season). 3-0 down on the night and 5-0 on the aggregate, a superb Arthur Boruc save of a Ramsey chip saved Celtic further embarrassment. The match finally petered out to a tame end, however, Celtic finally registered themselves on the scoresheet in the last minute of normal time when Massimo Donati scored a superb volley and redeemed some of Celtic's pride. The final score was 3-1 and though many would say that Arsenal deserved to go through; there is no doubting the fact that they had their fair share of luck over the two legs.

The draw for the Group stage wil take place on Thursday, 27th August.

Scores Summary:

Arsenal 3-1 (5-1) Celtic
Stuttgart 0-0 (2-0) Politehnica Timisoar
Fiorentina 1-1 (3-3) Sporting Club Portugal (Fiorentina go through to the Group stage on away goals)
Olympiakos 1-0 (3-0) Sheriff Tiraspol
Apoel Nicosia 3-1 (3-2) FC Copenhagen

*figures in bracket indicate aggregate score

File photograph copyright: Wonker