Henry red-faced as Arsenal lose 100% record

Arsenal 0 Ajax 0

Thierry Henry showed he is human after all, missing a first-half penalty as Arsenal as were held to a scoreless draw by Ajax tonight to miss out on maximum Champions League group points.

The hard work had already been done with five straight wins – their best start in the competition – so this evening’s encounter was always going to be a low-key affair.

Manager Arsene Wenger used the match to give several of his fringe and young players a taste of Champions League action, but they still created enough chances to win, with Quincy Owusu-Abeyie not enjoying the best of nights in front of goal.

Gunners captain Henry, however, could not put his miss down to inexperience, as he managed to steer his spot-kick wide after Jose Antonio Reyes had been fouled deep into first-half stoppage time.

Still, in the end, the result was not important and Wenger knows the hard work starts now.

The opening exchanges had been spent sounding each other out, and it was not until the ninth minute when the first real chance of the match was created, as Gunners keeper Manuel Almunia collected a low cross bravely at his near post following an Ajax corner on the right.

Arsenal seemed content to sit back and look to hit on the counter-attack, but in doing so gifted the Dutch side too much possession in their half.

Juanfran whipped in a dangerous free-kick from the right, which Philippe Senderos had to hack clear facing his own goal.

The Gunners then finally forced a corner down the left.

The delivery from Reyes was good, and found its way through to Quincy, but the young Dutch striker – once on the books of Ajax – missed his kick as the ball bobbled six-yards out and Hedwiges Maduro hooked away the danger.

As the pitch became wetter in the drizzle, Almunia was almost embarrassed as he slid to collect a through ball but skidded out of the area.

Fortunately, though, Arsenal had enough men back to snuff out any danger as the keeper quickly regained his composure.

On 35 minutes, Quincy was gifted possession on the right when he charged down a clearance from Thomas Vermaelen.

He had options, with Henry just in front of him and youngster Sebastian Larsson advancing, but eventually the young forward was caught in too minds, with his low centre drifting across the six-yard box and out.

At the other end, Markus Rosenberg sent a dipping 25-yard strike just over the bar from a central position.

With six minutes left of the half, Henry found some space on the right and his centre picked out Larsson, whose first-time shot was deflected behind for a corner.

Quincy then saw his angle snap-shot well saved by Maarten Stekelenburg, with Reyes sending the rebound over.

In first-half stoppage time, the young Spaniard was tripped by Ajax skipper Tomas Galasek on the right edge of the penalty area, leaving the referee with little option but to point to the spot.

For once, though, Henry, failed to keep his cool – sending the keeper the wrong way, but also steering the ball wide of the right-hand post.

The visitors settled quickly following the restart – and felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Rosenberg went tumbling under Almunia’s sliding tackle.

A throw-in, though, was all the referee was prepared to award.

Following a good spell for the visitors, Wesley Sneijder then released Steven Pienaar ahead of the Arsenal offside trap, and into the area.

It needed a brave block from Almunia to keep the home side from going behind.

With half an hour left, Reyes had to be carried off following an awkward fall after being fouled by Johnny Heitinga, which earned the Ajax man a caution.

The Spaniard was, though, soon able to resume, but did not look to be moving freely.

Alexander Hleb – returning after a knee injury – was then replaced by Cesc Fabregas, before Wenger made the expected change, bringing the in-form Robin van Persie on for Reyes.

On 70 minutes, Quincy failed to read a cross-field pass from Henry, and could not make up enough ground as the Ajax keeper collected the ball just inside his area.

With eight minutes left, Robin van Persie weaved his way into the right side of the penalty area and held off the attentions of two defenders before drilling in a low, angled effort at the near post, which the Ajax keeper did well to block from point-blank range.

Rosenberg then blasted a shot over after it had been cut back inadvertently by Senderos, which proved to be the last meaningful action of the match.