Before launching into my Champions League match analysis of AC v Arsenal I must apologise for the lack of blogging recently, no excuses are worthy of even beginning to type when you claim to be 'BlogFootball' on Twitter!
So Arsenal made the glamorous journey to the San Siro this evening to play AC Milan in the Champions League for the first leg of their last 16 tie. In recent seasons, Arsenal's total football style has made mincemeat of most opponents, with only Barcelona and possibly Manchester United blocking them from being champions in terms of form. However no Nasri and no Fabregas has made Arsenal less formidable in Europe. That said, their league form is decent at the moment (Van P = goal machine) and going into this game they would be relatively confident of being able to 'park the bus' at the San Siro. But under Wenger, have Arsenal ever been capable of parking the bus?
AC Milan have bought well. Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Van Bommel, Boateng : the nucleus of a superb AC Milan team. AC started very strongly with Arsenal looking a bit static in defensive areas, only the Verminator looked capable of dealing with the movement and attacking play from the home team. In the 16th minute, after some decent possession AC Milan bagged one with ex Tottenham man Kevin Princes-Boateng scoring an absolute screamer (if you didn't see it, You Tube it).
Arsenal's retort to AC Milan's first goal wasn't really good enough, as the Gunners couldn't get behind Milan's defensive line. In the 38th minute, Robinho scored after some great pass and move from AC Milan. Milan kept the ball very well and Arsenal's midfield couldn't penetrate to get the ball through into advanced areas for Van Persie or Theo Walcott. A frustrating first half for Arsenal but is more that AC Milan were good than Arsenal were bad. 2-0 at the break was definitely a fair reflection of the match, it could have easily been 3 or even 4 to the home team.
Wenger had to make the change: Theo Walcott for Thierry Henry. The perfect setting for the genius Frenchman to galvanise the younger Gooner players and provide that extra bit of magic. Straight away he provided nice link up play and Arsenal were just getting going when Ibrahimovic linked up with Robinho and score from outside the box with a fantastically placed strike finding the bottom right hand corner of the Arsenal net. 3-0 down, ouch.
Arsenal showed character and determination but AC Milan looked really impressive in all areas, better than they've looked in years. The second half was pretty much the same story as the first half, both teams locked in midfield battle but Milan were first to the ball most of the time and also showed more determination to get the ball back.
In the 65th minute, Van Persie hit a nice on target volley that worked the Milan goalkeeper to tip it around his post. This was Arsenal's first real chance of the game and was shortly followed by a substitution where Chamberlain came on for Arsenal as Wenger went more 'kitchen sink' than 'park the bus'. You might as well go out fighting.
In the 69th minute, Boateng came off. The damage had been done but I couldn't help but think that the Arsenal midfielders would have been relieved to see the industrious Boateng go off. Still, this was a team performance by Milan, dominating Arsenal in all areas. There were notable performances by Antonini, Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Boateng.
In the 77th minute, Djourou brought Zlatan Ibrahimovic down in the penalty area (I thought it was a pen, but I am a Spurs fan!) and Ibrahimovic netted the penalty to make it 4-0.
In the 84th minute, Van Persie headed on target - decent header, decent save. Just not Arsenal's night, unfortunately it would be a miracle if Arsenal progress into the last 8. The San Siro was virtually silent for the last 5 minutes, Arsenal fans must have felt battered tonight but AC Milan would have tested any major European team this evening.
