Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday night as a 3-0 win over AC Milan in the second leg pre-quarterfinal tie at the Emirates was not enough for the Gunners to make it to the quarters. Milan won the tie 4-3 on aggregate.
The London side were trailing by 4-0 from the first leg match at San Siro in Milan but made a superb start to the second leg as Laurent Koscielny gave them the early goal they needed off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s corner kick.
Tomas Rosicky made it 2-0 inside the half-hour mark and Robin van Persie scored a penalty – won by Oxlade-Chamberlain – just before half time as a quarterfinal berth now looked within touching distance.
But the Gunners, on top form after wins over Tottenham and Liverpool, failed to capitalize on the numerous chances they had in the second half. Van Persie in particular missed a couple chances in one-to-one situations with Milan goalkeeper Abbiati, who was the only good player for the visitors.
Tuesday night had mixed emotions for Arsenal as they fought like lions to win 3-0 against a team leading the Serie A table currently. But they squandered quite a few chances in the second half to lose out eventually as Milan’s four goals in the first leg were enough to take them to the next round.
The same night manifested the rise of two young Arsenal stars who showed that they can perform at the top level – Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Oxlade Chamberlain was at his best when he was involved in the first and last goal for Arsenal. His game was so better that some might choose to call skipper van Persie as the culprit for the defeat as the Dutchman missed clear goal-scoring opportunities.
And Szczesny put in one of his best performances to deny Antonio Nocerino and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from sparking a comeback for Milan.
With Arsenal’s defeat, Chelsea are the only club left in Europe’s most prestigious tournament this season. But they trail 3-1 against Napoli ahead of the second leg tie at Stamford Bridge, where caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo will hope to emulate the performance against Birmingham yesterday in the 2-0 FA Cup win.