Arsene Wenger will not be booking the civic reception just yet but he must have been impressed with way his Arsenal team strolled into the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup last night on the back of a true collectors' item: a Ray Parlour hat-trick.
The midfielder's three goals were complemented by an assist for Thierry Henry as Arsenal secured a 6-2 aggregate win, although the gloss was taken off slightly by Henry's ridiculous 63rd-minute dismissal for a trip on Mike Barten. Henry will miss both legs of the semi-final.
Wenger cannot have expected such a comfortable night. Bremen may have been dismal and defensive in their 2-0 defeat at Highbury last week but a capacity crowd here by the river Weser indicated local hopes were high.
Bremen had overturned a 1-0 deficit against Parma and before that had fought back from a 3-0 defeat in Lyon. Like all good German sides they were supposed not to know when they were beaten. The news that Alex Manninger would deputise in Arsenal's goal for David Seaman, who has a neck injury, produced a huge cheer.
No sooner than Bremen were getting into their stride than their hopes of reaching the semi-finals were over. In the eighth minute Parlour scored from Arsenal's first attack. Not long after he added the second to leave the German side needing five goals to go through.
Parlour's earlier effort, his first since his winner against Manchester United in the Charity Shield, was a beauty. The England midfielder knocked the ball down the right flank to Nwankwo Kanu, collected the return and curled a shot in off the far post with the outside of his boot.
His second was also spectacular. Running on to Gilles Grimandi's pass, he cut past two Bremen defenders and rolled a soft shot into the corner via the same post.
Marco Bode brought them back to earth by heading in from a corner but it was not hard to see why Bremen have not kept a clean sheet since mid-December.
Bremen introduced Rade Bogdanovic at half-time but despite that change, the German Cup holders rarely threatened. Henry wasted one chance when sent clear by Kanu but soon made amends. This time Parlour was architect rather than executioner, picking up Kanu's pass and crossing for Henry to slide in his 17th goal of the season.
Foolishly Arsenal immediately went to sleep, enabling Bogdanovic to volley Bremen's second. Then Nielsen showed Henry a red card for a trip which deserved nothing more than a yellow.
The defender rolled about as if shot. On the touchline Wenger had to be restrained but his anger turned to elation when Parlour completed his hat-trick, beating the oncoming Rost, from Kanu's ball.
WERDER BREMEN: Rost, Eilts (Maximow 46), Baumann, Trares (Bogdanovic 46), Pizarro, Wiedener, Bode, Herzog, Frings, Ailton, Barten. Subs Not Used: Flock, Dabrowski, Tjikuzu, Schierenbeck, Brasas. Booked: Wiedener, Eilts. Goals: Bode 41, Bogdanovic 60.
ARSENAL: Manninger, Dixon, Luzhny, Adams (Petit 62), Silvinho, Parlour, Vieira (Winterburn 76), Grimandi, Ljungberg, Kanu (Overmars 70), Henry. Subs Not Used: Keown, Suker, Malz, Lukic. Sent Off: Henry (63). Booked: Kanu, Manninger. Goals: Parlour 8, 25, Henry 59, Parlour 70.
Referee: K Nielsen (Denmark).
