AC Milan 0-2 Arsenal (From San Zero to hero)
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:13 amArsenal’s best European victories in the past have probably been the 1-0 win against Parma, 5-1 away to Inter, 2-0 at home to Juventus and 1-0 away to Real Madrid and Arsenal knew that if they were to progress to the next round they would have to put in a performance to rival those.
Historically Milan had never been beaten at home by an English team although as Arsenal had beaten Inter at the San Siro so famously before and had also beaten Madrid at the Bernabau when no English team and won there before it could be said that there was no better team to accept the challenge.
The first leg between these two was all Arsenal, they absolutely played Milan off the park but they failed to put the ball in the back of the net despite Adebayor’s last minute open goal header. Not conceding a goal was an advantage but a lead would have been so precious and as Arsenal fans have done so much rueing over the years they could be forgiven for feeling that they may live to regret that.
Neither team had been having much luck domestically recently although Arsenal have the privilege of being top whilst Milan are languishing in fifth, a position they look to fill for quite some time after Fiorentina’s last minute winner amazingly gave them victory over Juventus in the Stadio De La Alpi for the first time in 20 years.
Arsenal had not won in 4 games including a demoralising injury to a fellow player whilst Milan have been drawing too many games. In fact Milan’s record of only winning 4 games at home is absolutely atrocious, even Reading have done better than that.
The trouble for Arsenal was that Milan’s league position mixed with the fact that they were embarrassingly smashed out of the Coppa Italia by lowly Catania meant that the Champion’s league was all they have left. That was a dangerous reality because Milan are the current holders and are officially Champions League masters!
They showed in the first match that they could defend resolutely and that their passing from defence is beautiful, controlled and unparalleled around Europe. Their attacking options which include Kaka and rising star Alexandre Pato mean they are no lightweights going forward either.
On the other foot Arsenal had to be at their best tonight, already out of the FA cup and in the middle of a blip in the league something was needed to rebuild the confidence that was burning throughout the end of 2007. Last year the gunners’ season was over in a matter of a week or so after defeats to Chelsea, PSV and some poor premier league form, this simply could not happen again!
Both teams were up for this, both had to progress, this was going to be an absolute colossus of a game.
The team news for Arsenal had positives and negatives. Long term absentee Robin Van Persie was able to find himself a place on the bench (although most prudent Arsenal fans would probably be wishing he would not be needed), however Kolo Toure, Thomas Rosicky and the fateful Eduardo Da Silva were all missing from the squad.
Milan had to suffer the news that the highly decorated Clarence Seedorf was unavailable but other than that the team was pretty much full strength.
The atmosphere at kick off was absolutely electric, I had not heard anything like it for a very long time! Even Anfield during the Inter game could not touch this, both fans were in absolute fever pitch. The match kicked off and the best tie of the round began.
Both teams started off brightly and it was Milan who threatened early on. Andrea Pirlo is a beast when it comes to set pieces and he whipped in a peach of a ball onto Maldini’s head which was cleared off the line by Fabregas after Almunia got lost in the moment. That was a strict wanring sign and Arsenal could not afford to keep giving away set pieces to their opponents. It seems harsh to say they cannot concede corners but against this team that is just the way it is.
The teams traded pound for pound for the next 15 minutes, Arsenal had 5 minutes of pressure the Milan had 5 minutes and the Arsenal again, it was riveting stuff. Milan then profited on the counter attack after their best player Kaka glided up the field past Fabregas and Gallas and played a delightful ball to the feet of Pato who had a clear chance at goal. Pato has been hailed as something of the second coming at Milan, he is Schevchenko’s replacement and the new Brazilian gem. His reputation made a goal seem ominous but his shot was tame as he almost flicked the ball into Almunia’s hands.
This feels strange for me to write as I have been watching AC Milan for any years now (I watched Italian football even before I started watching the premiership), noone recognises how good they are better than me which is why I find it unbelievable to say that that was it for Milan. 18 minutes into a must win game at the San Siro and that was it! From that moment on they were absolutely dominated by Arsenal, Milan had nothing left to say. If AC Milan could be represented as a human for the remainder of the match they would be in bondage gear, with the ball in mouth and getting whipped about by Cesc Fabregas and tickled by Alexandre Hleb.
Arsenal were simply majestic for the rest of the match, they passed the ball around the pitch in their own style, at their own tempo and in their own way. Every time that Milan got the ball the gunners won it back within the next 15 seconds. Special mention should go to Mathieu Flamini who made Pirlo, Gattuso and Kaka completely obsolete, like Gino Ginelli ice cream they had their time in the sun, this was Flamini time. He did all the dirty work as well as linking up the play extremely well with some incisive through passing.
The first show of what was to come came when Adebayor hit a glorious strike on goal from outside the area which was tipped over the bar by Kalac. The resulting corner was routinely cleared but the warning sign had been given.
Controversy arose when Hleb took on Maldini, Nesta and Kaladhze all by himself and was taken down by Nesta who blatantly hooked his heel. Whether it was penalty or free kick is up for debate but it was defiantely a foul, however the referee considered it a dive and showed Hleb the yellow card. Hleb was in utter disbelief and so was everyone who saw the challenge, it was as clear as day.
I think now is the time to mention that this game had the worst referee and linesman I had ever seen. I started off thinking that the referee was biased as he gave so many fouls and offside decisions incorrectly in Milan’s favour but as the game went on he started doing the same in our favour and it was clear that they were just plain awful, I hope they never officiate such an important match again.
Moments after the Hleb decision Fabregas worked his way into the box after a great passing move and hit a glorious outside of the foot swerver. It defeated Kalac but could not defeat the crossbar which coldly denied Arsenal the goal which they so richly deserved.
Arsenal pressed Milan back into their own half for the remainder of the 45 and when the half time whistle went (a whistle Arsenal fans did not wish to come) the Milan fans were whistling in utmost recognition of what was going on. Milan had never seen their team dominated in this way and the home fans were clearly worried about what they have witnessed. The Arsenal fans on the contrary were singing their hearts out, they were having a ball. The only worry was that yet again despite their dominance Arsenal had not scored and Milan only need one chance, just one chance to score a goal and then go into their infamous ultra defensive mode and win the game.
Milan had obviously been given the hairdryer treatment by Ancelotti because you could see the added endeavour from them this half, especially from Kaka but despite the inspiration/intimidation Arsenal continued to boss this game and actually managed to turn a 55% possession stat into a 60% possession stat.
The first chance came when Milan uncharacteristically failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Senderos who despite having half a goal to aim for hit it straight to Kalac who was counting his lucky stars for that one. Replays showed that the ball was struck by Senderos’ leg rather than his foot.
An unbelievable chance fell to Emmanuel Eboue after a woeful pass by Pirlo in his own area to Adebayor saw the Togoan play the winger through but Eboue embarrassingly bent the ball wide. It was looking like it could be one of those days for Arsenal where all but the kitchen sink would not be enough to win the game.
Theo Walcott was bought on for Emmanuel Eboue with 20 minutes left and a he had the chance to create something when a genius run and lobbed pass to him from Hleb left him in a very dangerous position but his dangerous cross was blocked.
Arsenal kept on attacking and despite a couple of Kaka and Pato wide grass-cutting shots they had absolutely nothing to worry about. The Arsenal fans were singing wild chorus, even the most optimistic of goners could not have imagined what they would be witnessing what they were. Carlos Ancelotti spent the last 15 minutes in his technical box, maybe watching his job tick away on the ever ticking clock.
With six minutes left the event which the rampant gunners thought the Gods of luck would never let happen happened…… they scored.
Fabregas took the ball on a run through the centre of the pitch and from 25/30 yards out sent a low curling shot into the bottom corner past Kalac. It was completely out of the blue and sent the players and fans into pandemonium. Fabregas looked like he had hit a pure footballing moment, that goal meant the world to him and the fact that the first thing he did was run and hug Arsene Wenger showed that his heart and soul is with this club and that goal was the epitome of it.
All the other players gathered by the bench to celebrate wildly this wonderful breakthrough. Never in the history of the Champions league has a team ever deserved to score a goal more and it was pure justice that they did, Fabregas was amazing and it was only fitting that he was the scoring.
Gilberto came on to sure things up and despite Milan really needing to throw all their might to try and salvage at least one of the two goals it was Arsenal who continued to have the best of the play in the closing stages. This Arsenal team was going to see their performance through to the end and was not going to let anything spoil it.
To add extra sparkle to an already gleaming result Theo Walcott fought his way into the area with great desire and played the perfect along the ground cross to Adebayor who slotted the ball into the corner of the net and made it 2-0 to the Arsenal. The face of the Milan defence was an absolute picture, they knew that they had been absolutely turned over.
Adebayor went off to do a silly dance and the rest of the players joined in the shenanigans. Hordes of Milan fans fled the stadium and the Arsenal fans were in delirium, there was no doubt
This was one of the greatest Arsenal results ever
The final whistle went and Wenger could not contain his delight, the players were ecstatic, after a torrid few weeks they had produced a historic performance that will surely set them on the right foot for the rest of the season.
They were the clear underdogs today but they made the entire world sit up and take notice, Arsenal are going to take some beating! The draw comes up on the14th of march and there is no team in the draw that this Arsenal team will feel inferior to. They have proven themselves to be the cream of Europe and in a tie in which they could have scored many more goals than they did against the best defence in Europe.
A special mention goes out to the legend Paolo Maldini who played his last European game but I will leave that for another thread. Tonight was about Arsenal, tonight was about promise, tonight was about the future and I tell you that the future will not leave us behind, it will not drag us along or lead us on a merry dance but rather we are the future, we will make the future and we will be a part of the significant future and all the glory that comes with it. Whether it be this season, the next or the one after that we will fulfil our destiny, the European Cup will be ours.
Here’s to the future
Historically Milan had never been beaten at home by an English team although as Arsenal had beaten Inter at the San Siro so famously before and had also beaten Madrid at the Bernabau when no English team and won there before it could be said that there was no better team to accept the challenge.
The first leg between these two was all Arsenal, they absolutely played Milan off the park but they failed to put the ball in the back of the net despite Adebayor’s last minute open goal header. Not conceding a goal was an advantage but a lead would have been so precious and as Arsenal fans have done so much rueing over the years they could be forgiven for feeling that they may live to regret that.
Neither team had been having much luck domestically recently although Arsenal have the privilege of being top whilst Milan are languishing in fifth, a position they look to fill for quite some time after Fiorentina’s last minute winner amazingly gave them victory over Juventus in the Stadio De La Alpi for the first time in 20 years.
Arsenal had not won in 4 games including a demoralising injury to a fellow player whilst Milan have been drawing too many games. In fact Milan’s record of only winning 4 games at home is absolutely atrocious, even Reading have done better than that.
The trouble for Arsenal was that Milan’s league position mixed with the fact that they were embarrassingly smashed out of the Coppa Italia by lowly Catania meant that the Champion’s league was all they have left. That was a dangerous reality because Milan are the current holders and are officially Champions League masters!
They showed in the first match that they could defend resolutely and that their passing from defence is beautiful, controlled and unparalleled around Europe. Their attacking options which include Kaka and rising star Alexandre Pato mean they are no lightweights going forward either.
On the other foot Arsenal had to be at their best tonight, already out of the FA cup and in the middle of a blip in the league something was needed to rebuild the confidence that was burning throughout the end of 2007. Last year the gunners’ season was over in a matter of a week or so after defeats to Chelsea, PSV and some poor premier league form, this simply could not happen again!
Both teams were up for this, both had to progress, this was going to be an absolute colossus of a game.
The team news for Arsenal had positives and negatives. Long term absentee Robin Van Persie was able to find himself a place on the bench (although most prudent Arsenal fans would probably be wishing he would not be needed), however Kolo Toure, Thomas Rosicky and the fateful Eduardo Da Silva were all missing from the squad.
Milan had to suffer the news that the highly decorated Clarence Seedorf was unavailable but other than that the team was pretty much full strength.
The atmosphere at kick off was absolutely electric, I had not heard anything like it for a very long time! Even Anfield during the Inter game could not touch this, both fans were in absolute fever pitch. The match kicked off and the best tie of the round began.
Both teams started off brightly and it was Milan who threatened early on. Andrea Pirlo is a beast when it comes to set pieces and he whipped in a peach of a ball onto Maldini’s head which was cleared off the line by Fabregas after Almunia got lost in the moment. That was a strict wanring sign and Arsenal could not afford to keep giving away set pieces to their opponents. It seems harsh to say they cannot concede corners but against this team that is just the way it is.
The teams traded pound for pound for the next 15 minutes, Arsenal had 5 minutes of pressure the Milan had 5 minutes and the Arsenal again, it was riveting stuff. Milan then profited on the counter attack after their best player Kaka glided up the field past Fabregas and Gallas and played a delightful ball to the feet of Pato who had a clear chance at goal. Pato has been hailed as something of the second coming at Milan, he is Schevchenko’s replacement and the new Brazilian gem. His reputation made a goal seem ominous but his shot was tame as he almost flicked the ball into Almunia’s hands.
This feels strange for me to write as I have been watching AC Milan for any years now (I watched Italian football even before I started watching the premiership), noone recognises how good they are better than me which is why I find it unbelievable to say that that was it for Milan. 18 minutes into a must win game at the San Siro and that was it! From that moment on they were absolutely dominated by Arsenal, Milan had nothing left to say. If AC Milan could be represented as a human for the remainder of the match they would be in bondage gear, with the ball in mouth and getting whipped about by Cesc Fabregas and tickled by Alexandre Hleb.
Arsenal were simply majestic for the rest of the match, they passed the ball around the pitch in their own style, at their own tempo and in their own way. Every time that Milan got the ball the gunners won it back within the next 15 seconds. Special mention should go to Mathieu Flamini who made Pirlo, Gattuso and Kaka completely obsolete, like Gino Ginelli ice cream they had their time in the sun, this was Flamini time. He did all the dirty work as well as linking up the play extremely well with some incisive through passing.
The first show of what was to come came when Adebayor hit a glorious strike on goal from outside the area which was tipped over the bar by Kalac. The resulting corner was routinely cleared but the warning sign had been given.
Controversy arose when Hleb took on Maldini, Nesta and Kaladhze all by himself and was taken down by Nesta who blatantly hooked his heel. Whether it was penalty or free kick is up for debate but it was defiantely a foul, however the referee considered it a dive and showed Hleb the yellow card. Hleb was in utter disbelief and so was everyone who saw the challenge, it was as clear as day.
I think now is the time to mention that this game had the worst referee and linesman I had ever seen. I started off thinking that the referee was biased as he gave so many fouls and offside decisions incorrectly in Milan’s favour but as the game went on he started doing the same in our favour and it was clear that they were just plain awful, I hope they never officiate such an important match again.
Moments after the Hleb decision Fabregas worked his way into the box after a great passing move and hit a glorious outside of the foot swerver. It defeated Kalac but could not defeat the crossbar which coldly denied Arsenal the goal which they so richly deserved.
Arsenal pressed Milan back into their own half for the remainder of the 45 and when the half time whistle went (a whistle Arsenal fans did not wish to come) the Milan fans were whistling in utmost recognition of what was going on. Milan had never seen their team dominated in this way and the home fans were clearly worried about what they have witnessed. The Arsenal fans on the contrary were singing their hearts out, they were having a ball. The only worry was that yet again despite their dominance Arsenal had not scored and Milan only need one chance, just one chance to score a goal and then go into their infamous ultra defensive mode and win the game.
Milan had obviously been given the hairdryer treatment by Ancelotti because you could see the added endeavour from them this half, especially from Kaka but despite the inspiration/intimidation Arsenal continued to boss this game and actually managed to turn a 55% possession stat into a 60% possession stat.
The first chance came when Milan uncharacteristically failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Senderos who despite having half a goal to aim for hit it straight to Kalac who was counting his lucky stars for that one. Replays showed that the ball was struck by Senderos’ leg rather than his foot.
An unbelievable chance fell to Emmanuel Eboue after a woeful pass by Pirlo in his own area to Adebayor saw the Togoan play the winger through but Eboue embarrassingly bent the ball wide. It was looking like it could be one of those days for Arsenal where all but the kitchen sink would not be enough to win the game.
Theo Walcott was bought on for Emmanuel Eboue with 20 minutes left and a he had the chance to create something when a genius run and lobbed pass to him from Hleb left him in a very dangerous position but his dangerous cross was blocked.
Arsenal kept on attacking and despite a couple of Kaka and Pato wide grass-cutting shots they had absolutely nothing to worry about. The Arsenal fans were singing wild chorus, even the most optimistic of goners could not have imagined what they would be witnessing what they were. Carlos Ancelotti spent the last 15 minutes in his technical box, maybe watching his job tick away on the ever ticking clock.
With six minutes left the event which the rampant gunners thought the Gods of luck would never let happen happened…… they scored.
Fabregas took the ball on a run through the centre of the pitch and from 25/30 yards out sent a low curling shot into the bottom corner past Kalac. It was completely out of the blue and sent the players and fans into pandemonium. Fabregas looked like he had hit a pure footballing moment, that goal meant the world to him and the fact that the first thing he did was run and hug Arsene Wenger showed that his heart and soul is with this club and that goal was the epitome of it.
All the other players gathered by the bench to celebrate wildly this wonderful breakthrough. Never in the history of the Champions league has a team ever deserved to score a goal more and it was pure justice that they did, Fabregas was amazing and it was only fitting that he was the scoring.
Gilberto came on to sure things up and despite Milan really needing to throw all their might to try and salvage at least one of the two goals it was Arsenal who continued to have the best of the play in the closing stages. This Arsenal team was going to see their performance through to the end and was not going to let anything spoil it.
To add extra sparkle to an already gleaming result Theo Walcott fought his way into the area with great desire and played the perfect along the ground cross to Adebayor who slotted the ball into the corner of the net and made it 2-0 to the Arsenal. The face of the Milan defence was an absolute picture, they knew that they had been absolutely turned over.
Adebayor went off to do a silly dance and the rest of the players joined in the shenanigans. Hordes of Milan fans fled the stadium and the Arsenal fans were in delirium, there was no doubt
This was one of the greatest Arsenal results ever
The final whistle went and Wenger could not contain his delight, the players were ecstatic, after a torrid few weeks they had produced a historic performance that will surely set them on the right foot for the rest of the season.
They were the clear underdogs today but they made the entire world sit up and take notice, Arsenal are going to take some beating! The draw comes up on the14th of march and there is no team in the draw that this Arsenal team will feel inferior to. They have proven themselves to be the cream of Europe and in a tie in which they could have scored many more goals than they did against the best defence in Europe.
A special mention goes out to the legend Paolo Maldini who played his last European game but I will leave that for another thread. Tonight was about Arsenal, tonight was about promise, tonight was about the future and I tell you that the future will not leave us behind, it will not drag us along or lead us on a merry dance but rather we are the future, we will make the future and we will be a part of the significant future and all the glory that comes with it. Whether it be this season, the next or the one after that we will fulfil our destiny, the European Cup will be ours.
Here’s to the future
then I go on and read your nickname and start to laugh, you really fired me up man! 
