Arsenal 5 v Porto 0 ( Arsenal win 6-2 on aggregate)

What was that phrase about a week being a long time in football? For Nicklas Bendtner, try four days. That was the time frame between his plethora of missed chances against Burnley on Saturday, which by Tuesday evening became a blissfully horrible memory. Bendtner returned his manager’s confidence in him with a stunning hat-trick to help Arsenal thrash Porto 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Ahead of their Champions League clash with Porto at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, Arsene Wenger remained confident that is side will qualify for the quarter-finals, despite the visitors holding a 2-1 advantage from the first leg. Wenger however will have to do without Cesc Fabregas his inspirational captain, who aggravated his hamstring in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Burnley. Fabregas will be a huge loss to the Gunners domestic and European campaigns, and Wenger revealed that he is not prepared to gamble with the Spain midfielder for the visit of Porto.

In the end, it was to prove to be a comfortable win for Arsenal, and the 3-1 scoreline would suggest that the Gunners were worthy of the three points. Goals from Cesc Fabregas – his 17th of the season, Theo Walcott and substitute Andrey Arshavin were enough to see Arsenal temporarily climb into second place, but with Manchester United’s win at Wolves, the Gunners are now placed in third spot again, but this time level on points with Chelsea who have a slightly better goal difference. The victory which strengthens Arsenal’s title ambitions further came at a cost however, with Cesc Fabregas appearing to suffer from further hamstring trouble and having to be replaced by Abou Diaby six minutes before the break.

Arsene Wenger has had more than his fair share of injuries to contend with this season. On top of Robin Van Persie’s up to a possible five-month absence from last November’s Holland v Italy friendly, Eduardo, Nicklas Bendtner, Cesc Fabregas Theo Walcott, Denilson, Abou Diaby and now Aaron Ramsey have been among those key players Wenger has had to do without. And if you throw the African Cup of Nations into the mix, when the Gunners’ midfield enforcer Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue were absent for a month, the fact that Arsenal are still in with a good chance of another Premiership title is all the more remarkable.

Aaron Ramsey has had successful surgery undertaken on his shattered right leg. The 19 year old suffered a broken fibula and tibia after a crude challenge from Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross in the 69th minute of the Gunners 3-1 win at the Britannia Stadium. Shawcross received a straight red card for the career threatening tackle on Ramsey, as Arsenal grabbed three points to keep them in touch at top of the Premiership.