Tuesday, 6th March 2012 was an extra ordinary day in London. The city was buzzing, Milan had come to put the final nail on the coffin whilst Arsenal wanted to be the Dead man walking. Red and white flags were to be seen in the afternoon, for some reason Arsenal fans were in the best of moods. The performances against Spurs and Liverpool gave the fans some hope, for once, Arsenal supporters thought they could overcome the four goal deficit. Not many believed Arsenal could win this as they expected Milan to humiliate Arsenal once more!
Arsene Wenger fielded a strong line up with a 5-men midfield, with Ox playing in the centre of midfield alongside Rosicky, Song, Gervinho and Walcott. RVP was assigned the task of scoring the goals whilst Koscielny, Vermaelan, Sagna and Gibbs made sure their territory was safe. Szczesny meanwhile had to make sure nothing goes into the net!
Allegri had other thoughts, he went for a 4-3-3 formation with Abate, Thiago Silva, Mexes and Mesbah guarding Abbiati's goal. Emanuelson played alongside Van Bommel and Nocerino in the midfield whilst Ibrahimovic, Robinho and El Shaarawy led the attack for Milan.
The Emirates Stadium was full, the crowd were behind their team, they had to be the 12th man and push the team to win this game. ?Banners and posters of Believe were to be seen, red and white flags were raised high and so were the expectations.
It was kick-off time, and the next 90 minutes would determine Arsenal's fate in the Champions League. Well, it wasn't too long for the game's first goal, surprisingly it came from Arsenal, Koscielny headed the ball into the net! Yes Arsenal were on their way to recovery. 1-0 to Arsenal, 3 more goals to take the tie to extra time.
The goal brought in some belief in the team, and Arsenal were all around the field, the pitch was supporting Arsenal's game play and they were moving the ball around comfortably. However, Milan's players possessed a better physique and many times would out muscle Arsenal players. Nevertheless, Koscielny and Co were doing a great job at the back. The offside trap seemed to work well on the night.
Ox and Song were a great force, they would break Milan's attacks and lead the attacks for their team. Walcott was giving Mesbah a nightmare, and it wasn't long enough before he made a difference. He charged down the wing and crossed it across, Thiago Silva's clearance was weak and there was Rosicky, he kept calm and fired the ball towards goal. Abbiati's weak palm couldn't block the ball from going in to the net. 2-0 to Arsenal! Game on!
AC Milan barely threatened to score until Robinho broke through the Arsenal defence and passed it to El Shaarawy who shot it wide. This would have ended Arsenal's hopes of a possible comeback.
Ox was terrorising Ac Milan, he was all over the field, it never looked like he is 18 years. It was Ox who contributed to Arsenal's third goal as he was brought down in the box by Mesbah. RVP stepped up and sent Abbiati the wrong way! Arsenal were in dreamland, they needed one more goal to take it to extra time and two more to go through! It ended 3-0 at half time.
The second half began with high hopes for Arsenal, as they were in search for the goal that would take them through. It almost came through when Gervinho's shot was saved by Abbiati and the ball fell to RVP, Abbiati was nowhere close to see the ball, RVP tried to chip it over the goalkeeper only to see Abbiati's hand stop the ball going through and safe into his arms! This was the moment for Arsenal, their best player of the season had just wasted the best chance of the game!
Milan couldn't keep hold of the ball, Song and Ox were once again forming a unit that was too hard to break. It didn't last long though, Ox was fouled, picked up and injury and was replaced by Chamakh.
From there on, Arsenal's attacking force started to decline, Chamakh was nowhere to be seen and Emmanuelson was now enjoying the freedom in the midfield.
Allegrini was smart to note the decline in Arsenal's midfield dominance and was quick to react. He sent in Acquillani to replace El Shaawky. It wasn't too long before Acquilani sent in a dangerous cross that found Nocerino on the far post, his weak touch however fell to Szczensy feet and he collected it easily.
Arsenal's injury woes show no sign of decreasing as Walcott had to be replaced by Park after he picked up an injury. This was Wenger's last throw of the dice as he did not have any other attacking option on the bench. The cries of Thiery Henry could be heard amongst the hearts of Arsenal fans, perhaps had he been there he would have given them the goal they needed the most!
Arsenal's defence has always been under criticism lately, Koscielny has been responsible for own goals whilst the rest were always caught napping. Apart from the goalkeeper, they have always been criticised. It was a different affair this time though, Arsenal's defence was stronger than ever expected, Vermaelan and Koscielny combined well to keep Ibrahimovic and Robinho quiet. They deserve full credits for that.
Despite all that, Arsenal failed in their pursuit of the goal that would lead them to the Quarter Finals. It was all over, Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League once again!
The question remains, "What went wrong for Arsenal?"
Arsenal have many times faced the wrath of poor refereeing decisions, and this seemed to be a similar night. The referee's decisions were poor and had an impact on the game. The foul on Ox and Walcott didn't produce any bookings and advantages were rarely given in the game.
The inexperience of Arsenal's team was clearly visible in the last 5 minutes of the game, Alex Song couldn't keep the ball and failed to make a decision as to whom to pass the ball. He was tensed, the crowd was buzzing and both times he made errors which if weren't committed, they surely would have tried their luck in front of goal.
Teams like Man United have the likes of Scholesy and Giggsy who have always been at the heart of their comebacks in recent games. Liverpool have always depended on Gerrard. This was something Arsenal lacked on the field, there was no Vieira to lead them, no Henry to inspire them. RVP was still recovering from his miss that would have buried the game by the 70th minute.
Ox's injury reminds me of the Manchester United vs Bayern Munich final in 1999 where Beckham made an intentional tackle on Lothar Matthaeus. It did earn Becks a yellow card but the impact of the tackle was too hard for Matthaeus. He sustained an injury and had to be replaced. From then on, United dominated the game and eventually won the final. The Ox effect was missing in the last half an hour of the game, was the challenge intentional or not is debatable, but it served Ac Milan's purpose. Ox's absence meant Ac Milan were to dominate the midfield.
The Arsenal bench lacked the qualities of a European game bench. There was no player who could change the game, there was no super sub who could change the result. The likes of out of favour Chamakh and under performing Park will never fulfil Wenger's European dream. There was no contribution at all from Park or Chamakh. It's time the Professor invests in his squad and give RVP a reason to stay at Arsenal.
Despite all that, credit has to be given for Arsenal's fantastic spirit that never existed before. They have picked themselves up well and would be strong challengers for the third position in the league.
Man of the Match:
My man of the match is Ox Chamberlain. The youngster stepped in what could be described as the most important game in his Arsenal career so far. It was disappointing to see him pick up and injury and end his amazing performance in a memorable night at the Emirates.
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| Ox put in his best performance of the season so far! |
Much can be said and much will be said, but the fact remains that Arsenal failed to make it to the Quarter Finals. For every Arsenal fan this will be a heartbreaking story, just when scoring four seemed possible, they fell short of one. Arsene Wenger will be proud of his team, RVP will be proud of his lads and every Gooner will stand up and pay respect to their brave army that almost conquered Rome in 90 minutes. It wasn't to be their day, but they left the stadium as heroes in the eyes of every Gooner!
Cheerios!
Mj Kassam
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