Gunnerism VIII: One Nil To The Arsenal

The stage was set. It was the second leg of the Champions League first round knockout. Milan had never lost at the San Siro to English opposition. They were also seven-time Champions League winners. Arsenal, on the other hand, had never won it.

The game took off right from the starting whistle. Both sides came in attacking on all frontiers. Arsenal and Milan exchanged spells of possession, before the Gunners took over.

After the break, Milan started throwing away possessions like it was their job. They were bound to get punished for it eventually. One simply cannot afford to give Arsenal any more possessions than they already own in matches. Credit to Milan for holding out so long, but the famous Italian defense finally buckled under immense pressure in the last ten minutes.

The scoreline was not indicative enough of Arsenal's complete dominance of the game. I remember at least three other clear chances where we should have scored.

First, Diaby shot Adebayor's lay-off far wide and off target. Then Fabregas hit the crossbar. Then Senderos latched on to Clichy's cross, only to "pass" it straight to the keeper. Then from the six yard box, Walcott tried to square the ball further in to God-knows-who when he had only the keeper to beat.

Granted it was not the best of angles, but given his hype, he should have done better. The kid has got a lot of pace, as was evident when he breezed past the Milan defender to set up the second goal, but he still has a lot to work on.

Now on to the absolute highlight of the match. In the 82nd minute, with the score tied at 0-0, Arsenal opened their account, and there couldn't have been a better one.

Out of nowhere, a perfectly taken shot from around 30 yards out—struck low and curling in to the only place that the tall Kalac could not reach—the bottom right corner of the net. It was only fitting that the player to score was Fabregas. Big players do big things in big games—that's what makes them big in the first place, that is what defines them. In case anyone had forgotten, he showed once again what he is capable of.

Hopefully today's goal will be a confidence booster to Cesc, who had been suffering a recent dip in form in the Premier League.

Speaking of form, my two qualms from the match were the performances of Eboue and Senderos. I am not quite convinced by their talents. They seemed ineffective on the pitch. Almost all of Arsenal's attacking and creativity was coming in from the left, with Diaby linking up nicely with Clichy and Adebayor, who played up as the lone striker.

Senderos had another shaky performance—almost handing a goal to Inzaghi, but for Clichy's timely intervention, and missing a gilt-edged chance on goal. We badly need a reliable central defender that we can count on. 

The refereeing was below par and very questionable. There were some dubious calls—namely Hleb's yellow card. There was definitely contact between Nesta, who was coming in from behind, and Hleb, who was racing into the box.

There was still some good news in the fact that RVP was on the bench. It can only mean that he is back from his long and haunting injury and fit to play again.

As far as Milan's performance goes, Pato failed to make an impression, and while Kaka' showed glimpses of what he is capable of, he was hardly ever a serious threat. Maldini, one of the greatest footballers of our generation, played his last European Cup game.

Towards the end, Milan looked tired and deprived of any options whatsoever. Arsenal looked the hungrier of the two, and definitely played like it as well. 

If anything, today's game was a clear indication that while Ancelotti faces the two tough tasks of contending for the Champions League place in the short term, and rebuilding the team in the long term (if he is not sacked at the end of the season), exciting times lay ahead for Wenger's entertaining Arsenal.

In the end, youth had prevailed over experience. Today's game marked the transition for the Gunners to the next level in the competition, and as a team.

And when the final whistle blew, if you strained your ears enough, you could hear it in the stands—"One Nil To The Arsenal..."