FA PREMIER LEAGUE/Arsenal 3 Burnley 1:ARSENE WENGER says it would be a gamble to play Cesc Fabregas in tomorrow night's Champions League last-16 second-leg tie against Porto at the Emirates Stadium and one that he will not be prepared to take if there is too great a risk of the Arsenal captain suffering another serious hamstring injury.
Fabregas was forced off with tightness to the muscle in Saturday’s 3-1 Premier League home win over Burnley after scoring his 17th goal of the season.
The manager gives him “a little chance” of being fit for the game against Porto, who lead 2-1 from the first leg. Wenger, who also said he would be without the central defender William Gallas because of a calf problem, must hope that Fabregas responds to treatment over the next 24 hours to spare him the dilemma.
“Will I risk Fabregas? It depends how big the gamble is,” said Wenger. “I’m ready to take the gamble but, if it is more than 50 per cent chance that his hamstring goes, I will not take it. He has a little chance of playing. Sol Campbell will be available [after a groin injury]; William Gallas, no.”
Fabregas felt his hamstring during the early stages of the match against Burnley and, having repeatedly looked across at the Arsenal bench, his discomfort and withdrawal from the match had been advertised. Yet he still summoned the burst to race on to Samir Nasri’s 34th-minute pass to open the scoring with a neat finish.
“Cesc felt a tight hamstring but it had not gone,” said Wenger. “I’m convinced he had put in his mind ‘we have to score a goal and then I go off’, knowing that his hamstring was tight. We were 1-0 up and I thought we shouldn’t take a gamble.”
Fabregas’s performance recalled his cameo against Aston Villa in December when he came on as a substitute with the score at 0-0 and scored twice to win the game before limping off with a hamstring tear which would keep him out for three weeks. Wenger will have Alex Song available against Porto – the midfielder’s two-match ban applies only to domestic matches – while Campbell ought to deputise for Gallas, who has not played since the league victory over Liverpool on February 10th because of an injury that stems from his lower back.
But it will be Fabregas’s fitness that preoccupies Wenger in the countdown to kick-off. “You look at the numbers of Fabregas, they are amazing. Fourteen [Premier League] goals, 15 assists. He’s a fantastic player, with fantastic attitude and commitment. And what people forget, he has an unbelievable work rate, too. He is everywhere and this season, he has made a big step forward, massive. He played at 16, but at 22 he has matured.”
Having endured a nervous first half, pockmarked by poor touch and delivery, not to mention a contretemps with his marker Danny Fox, Theo Walcott thrilled after the interval, teeing up chances for Nicklas Bendtner and the substitute Andrey Arshavin, forcing Brian Jensen into a smart save and beating the Burnley goalkeeper with a low left-footed drive. Yes, left-footed. “Crossing and my left foot are the two big things I have been working on lately,” Walcott said. “I want to improve my left foot. Against Burnley, I came inside, saw it open up and I managed to score. Hopefully I can do that more often.”
This game was billed as an opportunity for Arsenal to bolster their goal difference and they certainly created the chances but, in the first minute of injury-time, they found themselves playing keep-ball in the corner. There was an element of relief when Arshavin subsequently squeezed home his 10th of the season at the near post.
Champions League Watch
PORTO, WHO lead Arsenal 2-1 heading into tomorrow night’s second leg, needed a dramatic late comeback to earn a point at home to Olhanense in the Liga Sagres.
Djalmir struck twice in four first-half minutes to put the visitors on top, but Falcao halved the deficit with nine minutes remaining and substitute Fredy Guarin earned the hosts a point in the last minute.
