- guardian.co.uk, Friday March 10 2000 22.59 GMT
Arsenal may have shown little of the scintillating form of a week ago but, having done the hard work at Highbury, there was no need for that. After withstanding an early assault, they gladly watched the game peter out and once Thierry Henry had scored just after the hour they might as well have retired to the nearby beach.
Goals from the substitutes Victor and Ivan Perez sent Arsenal to defeat but could not prevent them progressing to the quarter-finals of this competition for the first time since 1971.
Arsenal could hardly have anticipated an easy night. Robbed of four natural centre-backs by injury and suspension their defence did not look at its intimidating best. At the heart of it stood Oleg Luzhny, who has played almost exclusively at full-back, and the midfielder Emmanuel Petit.
It was an indication of local pessimism that the 35,000-capacity stadium was less than half full despite slashed prices. The fans seemed to believe they had more chance of getting a 10pm tan at the beach than seeing their team go through.
The players, though, seemed fired up, with the dismissal of Djalminha at Highbury adding spice to the proceedings. The feeling here is that Gilles Grimandi made not just a meal but a banquet of the incident. And a much-changed and more attacking Deportivo side twice went close to scoring in the opening nine minutes.
First, from a Jaime free-kick, the tall Ramis exploited slack marking to send a free header over the bar. Then David Seaman produced a brilliant reaction save to keep out Pauleta's fierce close-range shot.
But Deportivo's adventurous strategy left them vulnerable on the counter-attack, where the pace of Thierry Henry continued to trouble them. The French striker could have put the tie beyond doubt in the 10th minute but, after rounding the goalkeeper Peter Kouba, his effort was hacked clear by Nourredine Naybet.
Although Deportivo pressed dangerously and almost inces santly, they could create little from open play. Luzhny looked increasingly assured and Ray Parlour worked tirelessly on the right of a midfield that featured Nigel Winterburn in an unaccustomed central role.
From set pieces, though, the home side caused havoc. When the Arsenal wall carelessly allowed a Turu Flores free-kick through, Seaman dived low to save. In the 33rd minute the England goalkeeper was rescued by his left post as Jaime's free-kick from near the touchline evaded everyone.
Seaman continued his out standing display by denying the impressive Jaime. And his opposite number had to be alert to stop Freddie Ljungberg's deflected shot as half-time approached.
But as the game continued goalless and Deportivo's slim hopes became ever slimmer, the competitive edge was blunted and Arsenal started to play with more freedom. With Deportivo resigned to their fate, Henry collected Kanu's clever pass and beat Kouba from 15 yards just to make sure.
• Arsenal will play Werder Bremen in the quarter-finals after the Germans beat Parma 3-1 at home last night.
• Celta Vigo completed a miserable week for Italian clubs in a competition they have won eight times in the past 11 years by knocking out the favourites Juventus 4-1 on aggregate after a 4-0 win in Spain last night, South Africa's Benny McCarthy scoring twice.
Deportivo La Coruna (4-4-2): Kouba; Scaloni, Ramis, Naybet, Manel; Jaime (Fran, 64min), Mauro Silva, Turu Flores, Fernando (Ivan Perez, 80); Makaay (Victor, 56), Pauleta.
Arsenal (4-4-1-1): Seaman; Dixon, Luzhny, Petit, Silvinho; Parlour, Vieira, Winterburn (Vernazza, 84), Ljungberg; Kanu (Malz, 83); Henry (Suker, 79).
Referee: O Sarvan (Turkey).
