Zlatan Ibrahimovic inspired AC Milan to a 4-0 demolition of Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday, although the sorry performance of the visitors had as much to do with the scoreline as the volatile Swede’s brilliance.
Ibrahimovic set up two goals for Robinho, then won and converted a penalty for the fourth to leave Milan almost certain of ending their dismal recent record against English opposition.
Kevin-Prince Boateng had fired Milan ahead with a typically emphatic effort in the 15th minute.
Photo: Reuters
Arsenal, who had not previously lost by more than three goals in the Champions League, never got to grips with the nimble footwork of Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Boateng, who pulled their defense all over the place.
The visitors were also at a loss as to how to penetrate the Milan defense, where Thiago Silva had an outstanding game. Antonio Nocerino and Luca Antonini were also impressive for the Serie A leaders.
“We were never in the game, we were very poor offensively and defensively, and it is shocking to see how we were beaten everywhere,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told reporters. “It was our worst performance in Europe by far, there was not one moment we were really in the game. We had to chase the game, open up our game. It was always the same for us, balls over the top, it’s difficult to analyze. It’s better not to talk too much and to analyze with a cool head.”
AC Milan’s last three participations in the Champions League have ended in the round-of-16 with defeats against English clubs, including Arsenal, but Wenger saw no change of that run continuing.
“We don’t play in a dream world ... realistically we are out of this competition,” he said.
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri praised his team’s defense and criticized the attack for not scoring more goals.
“We played well as a team, we did not give them any scoring chances, we were very good in defense and especially good when Arsenal had possession,” Allegri said. “We could have scored more, which is a pity in the Champions League where you have two legs.”
The match was played on a shocking pitch at San Siro where both flanks resembled a ploughed field. About a dozen officials in green uniforms spent the halftime interval trying to replace divots and flatten the turf with hoes.
The Serie A champions began with a flourish as Boateng back-heeled the ball to Clarence Seedorf and he shot into the side-netting.
Seedorf limped off after 12 minutes and he was replaced by Urby Emanuelson, but it made little difference and three minutes later they were ahead.
Nocerino chipped the ball over the Arsenal defense and into the path of Boateng, who chested the ball down and hammered a dipping shot in off the underside of the crossbar.
Nocerino fired over the bar, before Ibrahimovic broke down the left, reached the byline and dinked the ball back for Robinho to head the second.
Milan could easily have a third goal before halftime as Boateng broke clear, but he shot into the side-netting and Antonini poked the ball wide after Ibrahimovic sent him clear.
However, it only took four minutes of the second half for them to score again as Ibrahimovic passed the ball behind Robinho, but he reacted quickly, got in position and shot into the corner.
Arsenal had to wait until the 66th minute for a real chance when Robin van Persie’s shot on the turn was superbly turned around the post by Christian Abbiati.
Milan were still dominant, although their fourth goal came from a highly dubious penalty when Ibrahimovic tumbled over, beginning his fall before any contact had been made by Johan Djourou.
The Swede fired home the resulting penalty to complete the rout.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier