With the score 1-1 at half-time, Arsenal were heading out of the Champions League, and yet they produced an inspired second-half performance – one of the club’s best ever in Europe.

“I remember the first half was pretty even but in the second half, shooting down towards our corner, Henry, [Robert] Pires, Edu and co. ran riot, sending us ecstatic!” added Guy Wisemen, who was also at the game.

Arsenal retook the lead within five minutes of the restart when Henry cut inside and found Freddie Ljungberg, who fired into the bottom corner.

It was then a case of Gunners dominance as they looked for a third and a two-goal cushion, and it eventually came in the 85th minute through an Henry stunner.

The Frenchman collected the ball from inside his own half, charged into the box, beat Javier Zanetti with a trick, and then smashed one into the bottom corner.

In the Inter section Richard had already been kicked out for celebrating Ljungberg’s goal, while Kelvin “went bonkers” for Henry’s strike but managed to stick around by “speaking a little Italian”.

Three minutes later and Arsenal grabbed another as Henry’s cross missed Ljungberg in the middle but fell kindly for Edu, who passed into an open goal.

Chaos, confusion and delirium for Arsenal supporters.

One minute later and the thrashing was complete when Jeremie Aliadiere, on as a late substitute, slipped the ball to Robert Pires for number five.

After opening with a thumping success over Slovan Bratislava, a sobering shellacking by Borussia Dortmund, and a doughty draw with Atalanta, this victory leaves Celtic on seven points at the midway point of their campaign.

Next, they host Club Brugge, before travelling to face Dinamo Zagreb, welcoming Young Boys and concluding on the road against Aston Villa.

They currently sit 13th in the 36-team table – level on points with Manchester City in sixth – with a top-eight finish securing an automatic last-16 place, and a spot between ninth and 24th ensuring they would be in the play-off round.

According to analysis by Opta, 16 points would almost certainly secure a top-eight place and 10 would be good enough for a play-off spot.

“We have to stay humble in our work, we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” Rodgers said.

“It gives us a real nice confidence. We’ve discovered in the last two games we can be really competitive.

“If you told us after the Dortmund game we’d have four points from the next two games, I don’t think too many people would have said we would have done that.

“It’s a great next step and gives us great encouragement to go and make the play-off stage, but there is still so much to do.”

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman sounded as if he intends to bring back manager Aaron Boone for an eighth season and defended his team from criticism by Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly over New York’s sloppy World Series defensive play.

“I’m a big Aaron Boone fan. I think he’s a great manager and I think we’re lucky to have him,” Cashman said Tuesday at the general managers meetings.

Boone has led the Yankees to a 603-429 record, three AL East titles and one pennant in seven seasons. After the five-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last week, Boone said he hadn’t thought about his future.

Boone agreed in October 2021 to a three-year contract that includes a team option for 2025. Cashman said the deadline for the option is 10 days after the World Series and he envisioned discussing both the option and a new deal.

“I can’t put the cart ahead of the horse. We haven’t gotten there,” he said.

‘It stings forever’ – Aaron Boone on New York Yankees losing to Dodgers in World Series | MLB on FOX

Cashman didn’t fault Boone for moves he made during the postseason.

“The manager’s job is so impossible, so you can play the game of second-guessing because you’re either going to make a move and it’ll be right, you make a move and it’ll be wrong and then have at it, right?” he said. “So I think he’s a really, really good manager. I think that we’re lucky to have him. He’s done a great job.”

Cashman acknowledged the World Series performance was a disappointment. The Yankees blew a 10th-inning lead in the opener when Freddie Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam off Nestor Cortes. After losing the first three games and winning Game 4, the Yankees wasted a 5-0 lead in Game 5 in a five-run fifth inning when center fielder Aaron Judge and shortstop Anthony Volpe made errors and pitcher Gerrit Cole failed to cover first on an infield grounder. The Dodgers won 7-6 to capture the title.

“First and foremost, I acknowledge that we played poorly in the World Series,” Cashman said. “We all saw that and unfortunately our `A’ game didn’t show up when it counted the most.”

Kelly was limited to 35 games this season because of right shoulder inflammation and didn’t pitch during the postseason. He criticized the Yankees on his “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast.

“They got bad ball. Yeah, sloppy. Everyone knows that,” Kelly said. “We were saying every single game: Just let them throw the ball into the infield. They can’t make a play. I mean, you saw Shohei (Ohtani) get an extra base going to third off a sloppy Gleyber (Torres) play. It’s well known. We all knew. I mean, we’re the Dodgers. We know every little detail.”

“It was just a mismatch from the get-go,” Kelly added. “If we had a playoff reranking, they might be ranked eighth- or ninth-best playoff team. You know what I mean? You’re putting the Padres ahead of them, you’re putting the Phillies ahead of them, you’re putting the Mets ahead of them, you’re putting the Braves ahead of them — and the Braves just got unlucky because they had to play that doubleheader. You’re putting — I mean, the Guardians played like crap, but the Guardians played better, the better D (defense), better baseball all around.”

“I heard that,” Cashman said. “I also know people with the Dodgers, so I’ve got some internal conversations that I’ve got certainly feedback on. I think it’s more representative of some specific players rather than the overall group. And in Joe’s case, it feels like it’s for some reason, it’s a little personal, the way he’s out talking like he has.”

Cashman rejected criticism of the Yankees roster makeup, saying it’s natural that players are better at offense and not so strong at defense or base running.

“We’ve come across many a player that just aren’t good at bunting. As many times as you ask them to bunt and you practice bunting or whatever, they just aren’t good at it. And so at some point you manage the people you have,” Cashman said. “I remember having a conversation with one of my prior managers: ‘At some point you got to stop asking somebody to do something they’re not good at.’”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more