AC Milan Match Report

Firstly apologies for not posting pre-match its been a busy few days due to one thing or another. Last night we went knowing that our team had almost an impossible job of beating AC Milan 5-0, after the first 45 it suddenly seemed much more likely. I arrived at the Emirates thinking if we win tonight I'll be happy and I left very happy. The stadium was surprisingly more busy than I anticipated, obviously the usual empty seats from those who couldn't be bothered or just saw it as a total lost cause. As we took our seats I noticed a lot of Italians knocking around in the home end which might have been problematic but actually made for some light hearted banter especially at the half. The atmosphere was very strange pre-kick off, I'm not really sure how to describe it, those that were there will know what I mean.

So we kicked off and it was immediately clear that Allegri had set out to defend, after a raft of early warnings, Koscielny nodded it past Abiati from a Chamberlain corner just 6 minutes in. This lifted the crowd and swiftly silenced the Milan fans behind me. 20 minutes later after a RVP shot was parried and poorly cleared Rosicky side footed it into the corner, 2-0 and now we started to feel it was possible. The atmosphere had shifted from that weird, anxiousy feeling to one a belief. We continued to press and looked threatening, Milan sat back and tried to absorb it all but it simply wasn't working. Then with less than 5 minutes to go Alex Oxlade Chamberlain darted into the box and was shut off but 2 Milan players, after thinking for what seemed like an age the ref (who was bollocks by the way) pointed to the spot. RVP stepped up and cooly sent the keeper the wrong way. Now the Emirates was pumping.

Obviously at the half everyone was up for it and the Milan fans were deflated and looking severely worried. Clearly Allegri had some thinking to do and the second half was different to the first. We kicked off and looked sluggish and didn't really look threatening at all. Milan sured up and the back and were more dangerous looking for that decisive away goal that would have killed the game. We had our chances though notably from Van Persie and Gervinho that would have drawn the tie level and made the remainder of the half very interesting. Gervinho was poor last night always looked to go down the wing where he found no joy rather than cutting inside trying to find the space. Apart from that we didn't look threatening at all really.

As Laurent Koscielny put it "we just ran out of steam" and it appeared that way. Despite our best effort the match finished 3-0 Arsenal and despite losing the tie last night the players were giving a standing ovation. It was well earned and everyone seemed happy with the result, hopefully we can take the momentum into Newcastle on Monday. We've scored 15 goals in the last 3 home games which is very impressive. 

Until Sunday have a good week. COYG!