Arsenal drove their way to the second stage with a thrilling second half which saw hopes rise and fall.

Pires got the first, his volley sweeping a Ljungberg cross home inside the near post. And within a couple of minutes van Bronckhorst crossed from the left for Bergkamp to place a free header inside the same post.

Mallorca got themselves back into it when Nobbo (phon. spelling) got past Campbell and finished well from a narrow angle after Wright had come out and missed it.

It got a bit frantic after that. Arsenal were playing like their lives depended it, and the crowd were going mad. It was as if we needed the 2 goal margin, when in fact 2-1 was enough to require only a draw at Schalke next week. What we really needed to do was avoid the Mallorca equaliser which would have put our fate completely in their hands. I could have been the only person in the ground screaming at them to take it easy!

But it paid off, as Gio's quick free-kick in injury time caught the Spanish defence out and set Henry off with only the keeper to beat. It was a well deserved result, and thanks to Schalke's 2-0 loss to Panathinaikos, Arsenal are through to the second stage, in second place. Real and Schalke will fight the Greeks and us next week, with the UEFA cup place for third up for grabs.

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