AC Milan survived a grilling at Arsenal to reach the Champions League quarter-finals 4-3 on aggregate on Tuesday, despite losing the second leg of their round-of-16 tie 3-0 in north London.
After seemingly wrapping up the tie at the San Siro last month with a 4-0 victory, Milan’s advantage all but evaporated before halftime as goals by Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky and Robin van Persie threatened one of the competition’s greatest comebacks.
Van Persie missed a great chance after the break to level up the tie as the home crowd roared their side forward, although Milan were also guilty of wasting several gilt-edged chances to calm their nerves on a fraught night.
Photo: Reuters
Antonio Nocerino wasted Milan’s best chance when he shot straight at Wojciech Szczesny from point-blank range, but the Italians clung on to advance.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had given his side only a 5 percent chance of turning the match around before kickoff. However, by halftime, the odds were favoring the home side after a barnstorming 45 minutes at a rocking Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners made the perfect start, taking the lead after seven minutes when Koscielny headed in Alex Oxlade--Chamberlain’s inswinging corner.
Milan fielded an attacking line-up, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Stephan El Shaarawy up front, but they hardly got a sniff in the opening period as a red tide swept in the other direction.
Van Persie twice tested Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, forcing one flying save, before Arsenal’s second arrived after 26 minutes.
Theo Walcott sped down the right and his low cross was only half cleared by Thiago Silva straight to the lurking Czech Rosicky, who steered a precise shot inside the near post.
Milan were desperately trying to clear their heads with some keep-ball, but they lacked any thrust and appeared happy to try and avoid further damage before halftime.
However, their negativity cost them dearly and Arsenal further reduced the deficit two minutes before the break when they were awarded a penalty after Oxlade-Chamberlain was sandwiched by Djamel Mesbah and Nocerino. After a long delay, referee Damir Skomina pointed to the spot. Van Persie kept his cool to beat Abbiati.
The visitors were far more positive after the break, although they suffered a scare when van Persie looked poised to score, but scooped the ball straight into the arms of Abbiati after the goalkeeper had blocked Gervinho’s deflected shot.
As Arsenal threw caution to the wind late on, Milan had several chances to seal the tie, but Ibrahimovic and Nocerino were both guilty of terrible misses to leave the Italian fans biting their fingernails until the end.
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