Arsenal FC took a major step towards their first UEFA Champions League semi-final appearance with this memorable victory at Highbury.
Juventus were aiming to avoid defeat by English opposition for a second successive year, but the Vecchia Signora was made to feel her age after being dazzled by a zestful Gunners side. Fabio Capello's charges ultimately finished the evening two goals and as many men down.
Highbury crackled with excitement on what would be its penultimate European night, the Gunners' free-flowing football leaving the Turin giants chasing shadows for much of the game. Arsenal's performance was epitomised by the purposeful Cesc Fàbregas, who fired his side in front shortly before the interval and then set up Thierry Henry for an unanswered second-half strike.
It was an evening to forget for Patrick Vieira, returning for the first time to the club where he made his name. Jonathan Zebina and Mauro Camoranesi will have even less fond memories of the occasion after fouls in the last three minutes earned dismissals that cost them a place in the second leg eight days later.
Fábregas, whose side eliminated Real Madrid CF in the previous round, spurned an early chance after running on to Robert Pirès's clever back-heel. The 18-year-old, though, made amends when finishing off a sweeping move which begun with a tackle by Pirès on Vieira. Henry's slide-rule pass invited the Spaniard to shoot and his finish left Gianluigi Buffon, for once, rooted to the spot.
The 2003 UEFA Champions League finalists, shorn of the injured Alessandro Del Piero and the suspended Pavel Nedvěd, briefly sparked into life after the interval. However, once Zlatan Ibrahimović was denied an away goal by Kolo Touré's timely intervention, the visitors were subdued.
Their threat was extinguished once and for all when Fàbregas broke free again to tee up Henry. The hosts' attacking verve was matched by a defensive resilience that earned them their seventh straight clean sheet in the competition
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