At times during a turbulent campaign, Arsenal’s hopes of ending the season in the Champions League final in Rome had seemed to rest with Arsène Wenger prostrating himself before the Pope and asking for a miracle, but at least they will travel to the Italian capital in a fortnight very much in the tournament. Their dream will be alive in the Eternal City.

The frustration for the manager is that his side could have booked their place in the quarter-finals last night, because Roma were thoroughly outplayed in one of Arsenal’s best performances of the season. Resolute at the back, the home team were also inventive in attack and should have won by far more than Robin van Persie’s 37th-minute penalty.

If not vindicating Wenger’s claims that he is blessed by a golden generation, Arsenal provided further evidence of his squad’s promise, but that must be offset by the brutal fact that they again failed to fulfil their potential. A more mature team would have killed the tie at the first opportunity, which Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Eboué had good chances to do in the second half. For once, Wenger’s analysis was accurate, as he conceded that his side could be made to pay. “I’m happy with the performance, but there was room to score more goals tonight,” Wenger said. “That’s a regret I have.

“We know we can create chances and we didn’t concede a goal. If we score in Rome, it should be enough.”

Roma will have more to offer at the Olympic Stadium — their negative attitude was summed up by Luciano Spalletti’s decision to leave Mirko Vucinic, their leading goalscorer this season, on the bench until the final eight minutes — but Arsenal will not travel with undue fear. Many of their best performances in recent years have come in some of European football’s most intimidating venues and, given the excellence of their defending recently, an away goal should take them through. Roma may have thrashed Chelsea at home earlier in the competition, but they also lost to CFR Cluj.

If Arsenal are able to reproduce the fluency and energy with which they started both halves, they should have few problems. They began with a rare determination, bringing back memories of the wonderfully flee-flowing football played by some of their more illustrious predecessors.

Wenger deserves credit for a significant tactical shift, moving Samir Nasri into a more central role, and the midfield player responded with his best display since scoring both goals in the Barclays Premier League win over Manchester United in November.

Abou Diaby was also influential until he limped off with a calf injury, providing renewed hope that the midfield player can become a long-term replacement for Patrick Vieira. The 22-year-old is almost impossible to dispossess when in the mood, with an exquisite turn in the penalty area and a crossfield ball to Van Persie in particular taking the breath away.

Just as Arsenal’s momentum appeared to be fading, they received the piece of luck that has eluded them in the three successive goalless draws in the Barclays Premier League. Philippe Mexès’s clumsy challenge from behind on Van Persie was rightly penalised and the Dutchman made no mistake from the spot, calmly shooting to Doni’s left.

Once they finally got 11 men on the pitch for the second half — William Gallas and Kolo Touré were slow to emerge from the dressing-room and missed the kick-off, with the latter booked for going on to the pitch without the referee’s permission — Arsenal continued to dominate and, for a five-minute period, appeared to create chances at will. The best fell to Bendtner, who blasted over in the 54th minute. The Denmark striker was not the only culprit. Eboué’s temperament again let him down after a surprising recall to the starting XI for the first time since his sending-off against Tottenham Hotspur. The Ivory Coast midfield player delayed and delayed, after Simone Loria had given him an unexpected sight of goal in the 67th minute, before shooting wide.

Roma offered so little that John Arne Riise resorted to a series of Rory Delap-style long throws by the end but, thanks to Arsenal’s profligacy, they, too, remain in contention.

Superstitious minds

Kolo Touré missed the start of the second half because his insistence on entering the pitch last meant he was waiting for William Gallas to finish receiving treatment. Superstition abounds in football:

- Paul Ince would put his Manchester United shirt on only when he left the tunnel
- John Terry has said that he feels compelled to park in the same spot in Chelsea’s car park and always takes the same seat on the team bus
- Shay Given once revealed he places a vial of holy water in the back of his net for each game
- Two seasons ago, Stuart Pearce and Neil Warnock, managers of Manchester City and Sheffield United respectively, made a habit of taking cuddly mascots given to them by their daughters to matches. Pearce had Beanie the Horse with him on the touchline and Warnock had Scottie the Teddy Bear.

Words by Bill Edgar

Arsenal (4-4-2): M Almunia — B Sagna, K Touré, W Gallas, G Clichy — E Eboué (sub: A Ramsey, 82min), Denilson, A Diaby (sub: A Song, 62), S Nasri — N Bendtner (sub: C Vela, 67), R van Persie. Substitutes not used: L Fabianski, J Djourou, K Gibbs, F Mérida. Booked: Touré, Nasri.

Roma (4-1-2-2-1): Doni — M Motta, P Mexès, S Loria (sub: S Diamoutene, 71), J A Riise — D De Rossi — R Taddei, M Brighi (sub: D Pizarro, 57) — S Perrotta, J Baptista (sub: M Vucinic, 82) — F Totti. Substitutes not used: Artur, Filipe, M Tonetto, V Montella. Booked: Mexès, Brighi, De Rossi.

Referee: C Bo Larsen (Denmark).