Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andre Santos have struck early for Arsenal to give the home side a 2-1 advantage over the visiting Olympiakos during the first half at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners left skipper Robin van Persie and key playmaker Aaron Ramsey on the bench in anticipation of Sunday's cracking North London derby but that did not prevent them from dominating in the early stages of their Group F match.

Arsenal full-back Andre Santos adds to Alex Oxlade Chamberlains debut goal with his own as the Gunner's take a 2-0 lead against Olympiakos at the Emirates.

Giving the captain a ride

It was another one of the those time during the final whistle where the points was more important than the performance. Too many times have we sat in this position thinking of dropped points and lost games but could still pride ourself with the wonderful attacking display which amounted to no points.

That was a very strange few days. We spend years carefully, slowly building squads, with obscure players brought in from far and wide, punctuated with highly profitable sales. This modus operandi became familiar to all of us. But in this transfer window, that has all been ripped up, culminating in an insane final evening yesterday.

Ordinarily, I avoid the superficial, Sky induced hype of Deadline Day in the same manner that I'd give a live railway line a wide berth. The gurning, buckteeth boys leering swearily behind Sky reporters (shouldn't you unruly yoots be looting JD Sports or something?), the strains of Jim White unloading his cargo as Jimmy McJourneyman completes his lucrative loan move to Hamilton Academicals.

With Kieran Gibbs and Armand Traore both disappointing for Arsenal over the last few seasons and with Gael Clichy leaving for Manchester City, a left-back was a must for the Gunners as they welcome Andre ...

So, the unmistakeable chimes of Big Ben bring the craziest few months an Arsenal fan has ever had to endure to a close. We have lost our club captain, we have lost last seasons best player, and we have been humiliated 8-2 by Man United, yet, with that big bell still ringing in my ear (insert your own joke!

Arsenal left-back Andre Santos has wasted no time in noting that the club's six-year trophy drought must come to an end following a much-awaited spending spree at the Emirates that saw manager Arsene Wenger add multiple other signings in addition to the Brazilian international.

The former Fenerbahce player celebrated guiding the Turkish giants to the domestic title last season, only to have the glory taken away due to a major controversy that the club is currently embroiled in.

New Arsenal left-back Andre Santos will not only bring defensive options to the Gunners but can only score goals, if required. Speaking to Arsenal Player about his excellent goalscoring form with Fenerbahçe, the Brazilian confessed that ...

Arsenal left-back Andre Santos didn't join the Gunners to settle down for a "Top Four" finish as his objective for this season is to win trophies. Speaking to Arsenal Player, the Brazilian explained that he plays ...

I have oft imagined Arsene Wenger in his shorts, and h... erm, this doesn't seem like the right way to start this article, or any article. I wasn't stressing on his shorts, my mind has not been warped to that extent yet. Allow me to rephrase.

I have oft imagined a huge watering hole, and a hesitant Arsene Wenger standing next to it, incidentally clad in shorts (the attire is merely for convenience, it could just as easily be a parka, three-piece suit or tiger outfit) and looking at the watering hole wistfully.

Arsenal youngster Theo Walcott admits that Arsenal's struggling squad needed a boost following a shockingly poor start to their Barclays Premier League campaign and hopes that the quintet of the club's deadline day signings will turns things around.

Walcott, who was a part of the Gunners side that was humiliated throughout their 8-2 defeat to Manchester United eight days ago, insists that the belief within the team remains strong despite the disappointment that filled the dressing room in the aftermath of the Old Trafford fixture.

Someone questioned on the blog yesterday whether our new line-up would be able to score enough goals, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the goalscoring prowess of the new players against those who have departed based on past performances.

Now I realise that stats are generally just a way of manipulating figures so they masquerade as facts.

Arsenal Wenger promised us an "active" summer transfer window. And boy, he stuck to his word!

Although at times, it appeared that the number of players coming in was going to be limited, Arsene kept his promise and captured a number of quality players, in the last few moments of the summer transfer window.

Let me start by stating the views held below are entirely my own and in no way represent the views of the site.

Anyone who has read my pre-matches over the seasons will know that I am not a huge fan of Blackburn, I will go further and say that for many seasons they have represented all that is reprehensible in football from top to bottom.

Shell shocked Gunners

Just when we asked for a little more consistency and building on recent improvements to go on a little positive run of matches, this happened. Abysmal, is the only word I can find to fully explain this defeat at Ewood Park. From having a 2-1 lead going into half time and seemingly in full control of the game, we wilted in the second half.

(Summary is not available.)

There was that funny quote from Bate's Filipp Rudik at the Barcelona press conference two days ago where he said : "Barcelona's players are from outer space". The photo above perfectly describes this. After being hammered 5-0 by the Catalans last night, all poor Aleksandr Gutor could do was to sit down and wonder where it all went wrong as the said creatures walked past him.

Video reaction and highlights

It would be fair to say that the performance last night wasn't much to write home about, but when it comes to Champions League group stage matches very rarely do people look back in time to comment about how we played. The history books will show that Arsenal won, our 9th home win in our last 10 European games apparently, and that two debut goal scorers ensured Arsenal took the points.

We won. Chelsea didn't. Man City didn't. Man United didn't. We did, and that's the important bit, especially bearing in mind that we had nine injured players and (with the North London Derby coming up) only five genuine first choice players were in the starting XI.

The performance wasn't the best, but neither was it the worst.

New Arsenal signings Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andre Santos were both delighted to score for the Gunners in their Champions League debut. Speaking after the game, the Englishman explained that he was honoured and proud to start ...