Carling Cup and Champions League round-up
Arsenal 5 Wolves 1
French starlet Jeremie Aliadiere scored twice to send Arsenal charging into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup at Highbury tonight.
The 20-year-old forward showed his predatory instincts to claim the first in the 24th minute but he saved the best for the second half, beating two Wolves defenders before finding the back of the net with a blistering drive.
Aliadiere's goals sandwiched a second from Kanu with the Nigerian mesmerising and frustrating in equal measure - he was full of tricks all night but was culpable of a glaring miss early on.
Sylvain Wiltord and Cesc Fabregas completed the rout for Arsene Wenger's youth-packed side - seven of tonight's starting line-up numbered only 13 first-team appearances between them - with Fabregas becoming the Gunners' youngest ever goalscorer.
And there was more good news for Arsenal fans following a fine display from skipper Patrick Vieira who made his first start in over two months after overcoming the thigh injury he picked up against Newcastle on September 26.
He lasted the whole 90 minutes - Wenger only hoped to get an hour out of his captain - and proved a colossus in the Gunners' midfield as he bossed the match from start to finish.
But it was a sorry display from Wolves who despite fielding eight of the team that drew 1-1 with Newcastle on the weekend, looked toothless in attack and hardly had a sniff, save for Alex Rae's late consolation.
In the night's other Carling Cup match, James Beattie scored twice as Southampton beat Portsmouth 2-0 at home.
Elsewhere, Hakan Sukur scored twice as Galatasaray beat Juventus 2-0 in the Champions League to keep alive the Turkish team's hopes of qualifying from Group D.
Juve, who fielded a weakened side having already qualified, had the better of the opening 45 minutes but Galatasaray's Colombian keeper Faryd Mondragon pulled of a series of fine saves to keep his side in the game.
Hakan grabbed the opener two minutes after the restart with a fine angled header at the near post after a determined run and cross from the left by Sabri Sarioglu.
He then sealed the victory with an injury-time strike after being put through by Hasan Sas.
The result moves Galatasaray above Olympiakos into third place on six points, but leaves them two points behind their next opponents - second placed Real Sociedad.
The game had been postponed by a week and switched to Dortmund by UEFA following the recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul.