Kevin Whitcher
In the end, the balance of this tie was tipped by two penalty situations. One in the first leg at 0-0 when Milan’s Calhanoglu chose to hurdle a David Ospina challenge rather than take a fall and what would have surely been the award of a spot kick. And then last night in the second leg, with Milan 1-0 ahead, a dive by Danny Welbeck gave him the opportunity to level the scores on the night and re-establish control of the tie. Still, Corinthian spirit only ever won fair play awards, right?
Monreal and Bellerin were fit again, and Mohammed Elneny started on the bench as Arsene Wenger opted to forego a more defensive line-up yesterday evening. Milan played a more attacking formation with two out and out forwards. Early on, they certainly created chances and were rewarded with a cracking opening goal.
Nerves were calmed by Welbeck’s penalty. It was a fairly open game from that point on, Arsenal not really capable of playing ultra-defensive football and Milan needing to score two more. In comparison with the last three home matches, the attendance was relatively healthy, I would guestimate maybe only 5,000 no-shows.
In the second half, Milan had a very decent chance to go ahead on the night when Cutrone volleyed narrowly wide with David Ospina rooted to the spot, but the home side ensured things didn’t get jittery with a goal from a long range Granit Xhaka shot that the Milan keeper Donnaruuma somehow steered into the net. The young shotstopper is believed to be the next Gianluigi Buffon in Italy, but it’s a hard ask to believe based on this showing. It was good to see some attempts from distance from the Gunners. Jack Wilshere had a decent effort in the first half. Players should gamble on this more often. Xhaka’s goal demonstrated the benefit of this.
The late third Arsenal goal saw Welbeck double his tally for the evening after a good cross from Wilshere saw Ramsey’s header rebound to him. A good number of the crowd had departed by this time, presumably to beat the rush on the trains.
So a good evening’s work. Granted, there were moments that meant the second leg was no formality, but you cannot argue with a 5-1 aggregate scoreline against an Italian side showing the form that Milan are in Serie A.
There was a story earlier in the week from Charlie Nicholas that there would be a big announcement coming out of the club today or over the weekend regarding the manager’s future. I’m not so sure. What I do think is the physical attendances at the three previous home matches – and those for the Stoke, Southampton and West Ham games – will persuade the board that it’s not worth the gamble of giving Arsene another season. The Premier League is the bread and butter of the club’s operation and if people are voting with their feet every other weekend, it’s too loud a message to ignore. Should the club manage to win the Europa League they might feel obliged to let Arsene have his final season, although in truth it would be the ideal moment to bow out – on a high. An opportunity he has spurned more than once. And if they do not win it, Arsenal will not have Champions League football for a second season running – failing to make the top four in spite of the advantage of resting first team players from European competition for the first two thirds of the season. So the argument for giving Arsene another year is a difficult one for anyone to make.
So what about the Europa League? Everyone wants to avoid Atletico and there is little doubt they are by far the strongest team in the competition now. Arsenal’s best chance would be a one-off match, so they would hope to avoid drawing them before that. The other sides are clubs Arsenal need not fear, but there are no patsies left in the competition either. My feeling is that the players will raise their game – something they seem to be selective about far too often – and have a very decent chance as long as they do avoid Diego Simeone’s side.
As we await the draw, it makes a change to have something of a buzz in the air, and one of the most enjoyable things about last night was the birth of a new chant, when the home crowd adapted one of the Milan fans’ chants for David Ospina.
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