AC Milan 0 Arsenal 2 Arsenal win 2-0 on aggLATE GOALS by Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor fired Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the Champions League after an impressive and dominant performance at San Siro last night. Maybe age has finally caught up with the magnificent but venerable Italians but it was the young legs of Arsene Wenger's side that ruled the roost here.
The goalless draw at the Emirates was not so much a result as an agreement to settle the matter another day. Arsenal had beaten Real Madrid in the Bernabeu on their way to the 2006 final. The line-up has a little less experience nowadays, but Wenger's team was never likely to quake at San Siro.
Milan, for their part, were under no illusions about the task before them. In the first minute they had to be ready as Adebayor stretched them in his attempt to break straight through the middle. The repeated impact by Milan in this tournament has only persuaded rivals that their time must be coming to a close.
The first half here bore no relation to the mauling endured by Manchester United in last year's semi-final. Any sense of an impending onslaught lay in a display by the visitors that teemed with confidence once half-an-hour had been completed.
Arsenal may have dimmed a little in the Premier League, but their play here glowed with a brightness that made Milan blink.
A decision by Carlo Ancelotti to have Kaka and Alexandre Pato playing off Pippo Inzgahi in attack seemed misjudged since it let their opponents enjoy too much possession in midfield. Arsenal had come here with a perfect understanding that a 0-0 draw in the first leg need be no great hindrance to their ambition. Any defect lay in the failure to score before half-time.
After 14 minutes, Fabregas won the ball from Kaka and played a pass down the right from which Adebayor picked out Abou Diaby for an effort that was fired wide. There were mere flurries from Milan at that stage, when Pato caused anxiety and a Andrea Pirlo corner provoked unseemly panic before Adebayor cleared from near his own line.
There was nothing, all the same, to make Arsenal feel out of their depth. With 33 minutes gone, for instance, Alexander Hleb was caught on the ankle by Alessandro Nesta perilously close to the line of the penalty area but the referee Konrad Palutz mistakenly decided that the Belarus midfielder had dived and so booked him. Nothing, in that period, could upset Arsenal overmuch.
Milan had been in a greater state of alarm. In the 28th minute, Paolo Maldini shanked the ball straight to Diaby, whose drive was turned over the crossbar by the goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac. Fabregas was particularly eager to let fly and was nearest of all to breaking the deadlock before half-time. Adebayor burst through from the left and laid the ball off for a finish by the Spaniard that hit the bar.
The opportunity to take stock at the interval had no apparent benefits for Ancelotti's team. A Fabregas corner in the 47th minute flew through the goalmouth and Philippe Senderos, charging in at the far post, fired first-time into the arms of Kalac. Four minutes later, a misplaced pass by Pirlo spawned danger and Emmanuel Eboue misdirected shot was extremely wasteful.
Milan, with their pride and talent, did more than quake and there was a 30-yard free-kick from Pirlo that Almunia had to turn behind. Nonetheless, it was telling that the main worry for the goalkeeper when called upon was that he had not been kept busy enough to keep him sharp.
Milan have, of course, achieved far too much ever to be disregarded and there were spells when they showed a resolve to impose themselves. After the hour mark their share of the possession seemed to improve.
All the same, Arsenal were not oppressed and kept on replying with attacks of their own. If Wenger's heart fluttered, it might have been when Eboue, who had been booked already, dived in the penalty area and risked being dismissed. Before long, he made way for Theo Walcott, a more natural attacker on the right. By then, Milan had replaced Inzaghi with Alberto Gilardino. The tension and the yearning to break the deadlock were mounting. It was Arsenal, all the same, who retained a certain swagger as they went on relishing this challenge. They were rewarded when Fabregas's shot eluded Kalac and Adebayor capped a superb all-round performance with a goal in injury-time that takes them into the quarter-finals.
AC MILAN: Kalac, Maldini, Kaladze, Nesta, Oddo, Ambrosini, Pirlo, Gattuso, Alexandre Pato, Kaka, Inzaghi (Gilardino 69). Subs not used: Fiori, Emerson, Simic, Favalli, Gourcuff, Bonera. Booked: Inzaghi, Kaka, Pirlo.
ARSENAL: Almunia, Clichy, Senderos, Gallas, Sagna, Diaby, Fabregas, Flamini, Eboue (Walcott 71), Hleb (Silva 89), Adebayor. Subs not used: Lehmann, Van Persie, Denilson, Bendtner, Justin Hoyte. Booked: Hleb, Eboue, Clichy. Goals: Fabregas 84, Adebayor 90. Att: 81,879.
Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria).
