Arsenal’s Champions league dream was left hanging by a thread,
after they were comfortably beaten by Italian league leaders AC Milan in a one
sided affair at the San Siro. The Gunners were taken apart from the very beginning,
as they were unable to cope with the attacking threat posed by their opponents eventually
sinking to a 4-0 defeat.
Arsenal left out in form Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from their
starting line-up, and looked out of ideas in midfield leaving Robin Van Persie
isolated in a lone striker role. Milan were forced to replace Captain Clarence
Seedorf early on, however this didn’t prevent them from opening the scoring
with just 14 minutes on the clock. A perfectly weighted ball from Antonio
Nocerino found Kevin-Prince Boateng whose stunning strike flew into the back of
the net to give Milan the lead. After that Arsenal were left searching for
their best form while looking vulnerable to Milan counter attacks throughout
the night. In contrast Milan’s strikers of Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic
always looked a threat making dangerous runs behind the Arsenal back four. The
second goal came 8 minutes from the break when Ibrahimovic slotted through the
Arsenal defence to pick out Robinho, providing the Brazilian an easy header to
double their advantage.
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| Boateng's strike was the start of a humiliation for Arsenal |
The Gunners introduced Thierry Henry in the second half, as
they looked for inspiration from their legendry striker in his last game of his
loan spell. But not even he could make an impact, as the hosts added a 3rd
just after the restart. Ibrahimovic was again involved when his pass was helped
by a crucial slip from Thomas Vermaelen, presenting Robinho with a clear sight
of goal where he made no mistake in adding his second putting Milan in full control.
Arsenal finally came to life with half an hour to go, as they pushed for an
away goal to rescue the tie. However despite their efforts Arsenal couldn’t find
a way back in to the match, the closest coming when Van Persie’s volley looked to be heading for
the bottom corner only to be denied by Christian Abbiati which proved to be his
only real save of the night. Milan’s 4th finally came from man of the match
Ibrahimovic when his tricky footwork forced a foul from Johan Djourou, giving
the Swedish striker the chance to seal the win from the penalty spot resulting
in Arsenal’s heaviest defeat in European history. Arsene Wenger later called
the loss “shocking” and admitted his side were all but out of the competition.
The Gunners must now turn their attention to this weekend’s FA cup tie with
Sunderland in their only realistic chance of a trophy this year.
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