Bendtner quickly makes amends as Gunners blast Porto with five-goal salvo

The Gunners were trailing 2-1 from the first leg and had to do without injured captain Cesc Fabregas but demolished the Portuguese side 5-0.

A first-half brace from Bendtner – who missed a string of chances against Burnley at the Emirates Stadium three days earlier – was followed by fine goals from Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Eboue before young Dane Bendtner slotted home a penalty in the final minute to secure a place among the last eight of Europe's elite once again.

The result broke Arsenal's unwelcome near 32-year run of failing to overturn a first-leg deficit in a European tie since beating Hajduk Split in 1978.

Bendtner's first goal came after a sliding tackle on Andrej Arshavin nudged the ball into the striker's path.

He made it 2-0 on 25 minutes after Arshavin had wriggled beyond three defenders to set him up.

Arsenal's third goal was the best of the night, a stunning solo effort from Nasri which saw him smuggle the ball beyond three Porto players with outstanding footwork before smashing the ball in off a post.

Eboue added a fourth on 66 minutes after another counter-attack led by Arshavin and when Eboue was brought down in stoppage time Bendtner completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

Asked if Saturday's errant performance had played on his mind, Bendtner said: "Not at all. Every time I play a game I put it behind me as soon as it's finished.

"Sometimes it's one of those days and (tonight) I put it right. I'm happy with my hat-trick but tomorrow we move on."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was understated in his praise of the Dane.

"I hope it will not give him too much confidence," he said.

"It's good for him. He played well on Saturday but missed chances. (Tonight) he had less chances and scored more goals.

"I hope it gives him the desire to work even harder."

Sir Alex Ferguson expects David Beckham to be on the bench for AC Milan tonight as he makes an emotional return to Manchester United.

Beckham will hope to face his former club at Old Trafford for the first time since leaving for Real Madrid in 2003.

"I am finding it difficult to pick their team but I don't know whether Beckham will start," said Ferguson whose side lead

3-2 from the first leg.

"I have not got that down in my conclusions about their team.

"He has not started a game since the first leg, so it is difficult to say what impact he will have on the game. But he will be there and the one thing you have to be aware of is his delivery of the ball, which is fantastic.

"That is the threat. There are a lot of threats in their team of course, but we are well aware of David's."

Beckham's last competitive appearance at Old Trafford for a game involving United was a goalscoring contribution to a home win over Charlton in May 2003.

Pato is likely to be fit for Milan after a hamstring strain while United's Wayne Rooney has made a rapid recovery from the knee injury he aggravated on international duty last week and which kept him out of Saturday's win at Wolves.

United have confirmed defender Wes Brown will miss the next four to six weeks with a broken bone in his foot.