One-nil to the Arsenal was back in fashion in Europe as Arsene Wenger's Gunners opened their Champions League campaign with a win thanks to the growingly-familiar Samba-magic of Silvinho.

The little Brazilian, nominally a left back, but raiding more like a winger and never afraid to try his luck when within shooting range, danced home his fourth goal in his last seven games and third in consecutive matches to paper over the cracks of a patchy Arsenal performance.

With skipper Tony Adams and Dutch star Dennis Bergkamp missing and goal-ace Thierry Henry having a off-night, this was far from a vintage Gunners performance against the champions of the Czech Republic.

But boss Wenger was able to celebrate a first-night Champions League victory at last - after his team managed only a goalless draw away to Fiorentina last year, when Kanu missed a penalty, having a year earlier let a lead slip against Lens in the last minute in France.

Against Sparta, they often looked jaded and out of sorts - especially hot-shot Henry. At times their defending was alarmingly ordinary.

But good old-fashioned work-rate, plus Silvinho's magic touch, got them through and now there are two home matches coming up next against Ukrainian outsiders Shakhtar Donetsk and the mighty Italians Lazio - at Highbury this time, not Wembley.

Silvinho's nimble strike was the breakthrough Arsenal badly needed after a desperately unconvincing first half hour against a lively, but far from menacing Sparta side.

Only two minutes before the South American weaved his way through a static defence to defy two attempts at capture before slotting inside goalkeeper Tomas Postulka's left-hand post, David Seaman had needed to produce a stunning reaction save at the other end.

Lee Dixon had been tormented from the start down Sparta's left flank and Silvinho had to clear for a corner when Zdenek Grygera outstripped Arsenal's stand-in captain to arrow in a dangerous low cross.

Jiri Novotny, the Sparta defender who has already scorer three goals this season from set-pieces, got his head to the flag-kick but Seaman showed, at nearly 37, that his survival instincts are still intact.

He flung up his hands to beat the ball away and suddenly Patrick Vieira was lofting a long ball clear for Robert Pires to attack Radek Mlynar, only to trip over the Sparta player when he looked to have raced clear.

Soon, though, Pires was given another opportunity down the left and although he appeared to merely amble into action, he cleverly wrong-footed his marker and gave Silvinho the ball to do the rest.

Spurred into productive action at last, Arsenal went close on three more occasions before the break, Henry twice missing the target by inches and then Fredrik Ljungberg's long lob from the right forcing Postulka to tip over at full stretch.

It had certainly looked nothing like as promising at the start.

A careless ball by Henry after the Gunners had put together a necklace of around a dozen passes to test out the opposition, led to Keown lunging in on the half-way line to prevent Josef Obajdin breaking clear.

It should have been a booking after only two minutes for the England centre back but he got away with it - and so did Arsenal when Ljungberg blundered a few minutes later, leaving Obajdin to feed big Marek Kincl who fired recklessly high and wide from a promising position.

Arsenal took 16 minutes to produce an on-target shot, Henry's free kick after Kanu was fouled. It sailed over the Sparta defence but straight into the keeper's arms.

The Gunners escaped punishment for vulnerability in the air as Sparta proceeded to dig the ball in from both flanks, but Seaman's save and Silvinho's wonderful strike turned the tide.

Sparta were still dangerous from set-pieces in the second half and Pavel Novotny glanced a header just wide from one corner before Seaman punched out but straight to Obajdin, who drove it back past him only for Vieira to hack clear.

There could also have been a penalty to either side early in the second half, first when Patrick Vieira went sprawling over Rene Bolf's challenge in the Sparta box after winning the ball in midfield and swapping passes with Henry.

Then Keown took a big risk bundling into Kincl who had got clear on Petr Papousek's pass.

The French referee saw nothing wrong with either incident.

Sparta thought they had equalised when after a raking crossfield move led by Pavel Novotny ended with Papousek shooting past Seaman at the near post but into the side-netting.

Keown escaped yet another hairy moment, letting a long ball past, but fortunately the angle for Obajdin's shot was too tight for the striker to punish the lapse.

By this time, Arsenal had taken off the desperately disappointing Henry and the trojan-working Ljungberg and looked content to hang on to their hard-earned lead.

Teams:

Sparta Prague: Postulka, Grygera, J. Novotny, Z. Svoboda, Obajdin, Kincl (Siegl 61), Bolf, P. Novotny, Papousek (Prohaszka 78), Rosicky, Mynar (Flachbart 86).

Subs Not Used: Blasek, Labant, Kolousek, Jun.

Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Silvinho, Ljungberg (Vivas 79), Vieira, Grimandi, Pires, Kanu, Henry (Wiltord 75), Luzhny.

Subs Not Used: Parlour, Cole, Vernazza, Weston, Lukic.

Goals: Silvinho 33.

Att: 17,656

Ref: G Veissiere (France).