A well struck free kick by Fabregas inadvertently hit William Gallas on the back and took a fortuitous deflection into goal but even if it had not there was an outside chance that the shot might have been able to evade the hands of Artur Boruc. The second goal was an own goal as an unfortunate Gary Caldwell diverted a Gael Clichy cross past his own keeper. It was the result of some good work by Abou Diaby coming on late in the second half who laid a fine pass to Clichy.
It was not all Arsenal though as Celtic came close in the first half when Scott Brown was brought down in the box after some stellar work by Aiden McGeady for a possible penalty but it was waived off by referee Massimo Busacca. Later in the half, Almunia was just able to get his hands on Scott Brown’s spinning kick.
The Gunners return to the Emirates with a fantastic result and will play the second leg as huge favourites to go through to the group stages of the CL.