Spartak Moscow 4-1 Arsenal

	Silvinho slides the ball under Filimonov (Picture/Allsport)

Arsene Wenger knew the absence of Patrick Vieira would leave his Arsenal side vulnerable, that the odds were against Nelson Vivas and Ray Parlour controlling the midfield and that Spartak were a class act.

But surely the manager could not, in his worst imaginings, have contemplated seeing his side undressed so publicly and left so defensively naked on such a bitter, arctic night.

The pitch was treacherous at the outset and the dreadful, alien conditions became worse by the frozen minute as the ravages of the Russian winter contributed to Arsenal's downfall with brutal effect.

Against a team of such technical quality as Spartak, you cannot afford to make the errors Wenger's side did last night. Punishment was exacted and Tony Adams knows he was as guilty as anybody.

It was Adams' failure to clear his lines that allowed Egor Titov and Brazilian Robson to finish off the Gunners.

Robson's fellow Brazilian Marcao was able to help himself to the double either side of the break that turned the match on its head.

Even taking into account the fact that no defender could look secure on such a rutted and uncertain surface, Arsenal needed to demonstrate more canniness to avoid their heaviest away defeat in Europe. It was not as if they were inexperienced.

Yet, Wenger's fears over his side's central midfield strength were borne out as Titov and Victor Bulatov pulled the strings for the South American strike-force.

As Thierry Henry raced away to the sanctuary of the dressing-room, proving that rapid French retreats from Moscow are not confined to the history books, Arsenal's desperation to get out of Russia was understandable. In the end, the scoreline was as justified as it was emphatic. Yet, Wenger will not forget the start his side had made.

Spartak were terrified of Henry's pace and Arsenal were rewarded for their attacking endeavours within two minutes.

Robert Pires, intelligent and industrious, began the move up the left and when Silvinho pressed the accelerator before laying off to Henry, Spartak were panic-stricken. Henry's return pass, perfectly- weighted, put the Brazilian in on goal and Silvinho rounded Alexander Filimonov with consummate ease before rolling home.

It was as if somebody had flicked the mute button in the Luzhniki Stadium and with Henry a scintillating mix of flicks and tricks, almost literally skating past defenders, Arsenal had the springboard they needed.

But one was never going to be enough, as Spartak were all Wenger had warned they would be. The crucial second should have come in the eighth minute. Spartak again backed off Henry as he sped through the centre with options, in the shape of Pires and Kanu, on each side. He chose the right, giving the Nigerian all the time he needed, but Kanu allowed Filimonov to save.

It was the pivotal moment. The Arsenal bench seemed to sense it. More importantly, so did the crowd and the home side.

Even before that, Alex Manninger, initially nervy, had blocked bravely at Marcao's feet. But, with defensive anchor Dmitry Ananko taking tighter order on Henry, Kanu disappearing and Parlour and Vivas beginning to lose the key battle, the pendulum was swinging.

Roared on by intimidating support, Spartak pushed and probed and found the weaknesses they sought.

Manninger had been lucky when he seemed to catch Robson's legs. But there was nothing he could do when Arsenal's collective failure to clear Artem Bezrodny's free kick - Silvinho's weak header the last in a line of mistakes - allowed former Torino man Marcao to drill home.

Arsenal - with Parlour picking up a booking that rules him out of the home game with Bayern Munich - creaked and the tide had turned, even if the failure of Baranov and Robson to find the target from close range ensured parity at the break.

Perhaps if the back-header from Dmitry Parfenov - under pressure from Pires - had rebounded over the line instead of back into play after the restart, Arsenal might have held on to win.

Before they could take heart, they were caught out. Cameroonian Jerry- Christian Tchuisse was allowed too much room behind Silvinho to cross, and Martin Keown and Adams were absolutely nowhere as Robson's downward header left Marcao to poke past the exposed Manninger.

Silvinho could have levelled instantly, linking with Henry again, but this time failed to finish.

Only Manninger's reflexes kept Arsenal in it, plunging at Parfenov's feet, holding a Baranov drive, then making a world-class stop after Marcao had discomforted Keown.

But even the Austrian could do nothing when Adams' sloppy clearance allowed Marcao to set up Titov to thrash home the killer third, before the captain was caught out again as Robson skipped clear to steer in the fourth.

There was no way back, no way out and Arsenal must beat Bayern in a fortnight. It is as simple and elementary as the lessons they learned on Wednesday.

Teams:
Spartak Moscow: Filimonov; Ananko (Bushmanov, 88min); Tchuisse, Parfenov, Kovtun; Baranov, Titov, Bulatov, Bezrodny; Robson, Marcao.