Champions League: Arsenal 3 AC Milan 0 (agg 3-4)

Arsenal came within a goal of producing an incredible Champions League comeback on Tuesday but fell just short by beating AC Milan 3-0.

After losing the first leg of their round-of-16 clash 4-0 at San Siro on February 15, Arsenal needed a miracle at the Emirates Stadium, but first half goals from Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky and Robin van Persie had them within sight of a stunning upset.

Milan regrouped at the interval, however, and managed to hold out to secure a 4-3 aggregate victory and book their place in the last eight.

There are few more adept midfield anchormen in European football than Mark van Bommel, but the Dutchman’s poor start to this game handed the Gunners hope. After receiving an early booking for a foul on Rosicky, he failed to pick up Koscielny as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain whipped in a corner from the left, allowing the Frenchman to head home at the near post after seven minutes.

If Arsenal were pleased to see van Bommel carded early on, the decisions of the somewhat over-zealous referee soon became an annoyance. Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs saw yellow as Arsene Wenger’s team continued to press, with van Persie forcing Christian Abbiati into two good saves inside the opening 20 minutes.

Milan seemed to be slowing the tempo of the game down but Arsenal continued to expose the Serie A side’s defence and revived the tie with a further two goals before half-time.

First, Walcott raced down the right wing and fired a low pass across goal that was poorly cleared by an off-balance Thiago Silva straight to the feet of Rosicky, who calmly guided the ball beyond Abbiati on 26 minutes.

Djamel Mesbah, in the absence of Luca Antonini, was enduring a torrid time at left-back and Arsenal were to take advantage of the Algerian in the build-up to their third goal.

Oxlade-Chamberlain broke into the box past Antonio Nocerino only to find his path blocked by Mesbah, resulting in a penalty kick dispatched with aplomb by van Persie just before half-time.

All the focus was on Arsenal’s search for a fourth goal in the second half, but they might have had their hopes of progression put to bed if not for goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

First, the Poland international raced off his line to sufficiently narrow the angle and force Stephan El Shaarawy to shoot wide and he was alert enough to repeat the trick on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, this time saving at the feet of the Swede.

Szczesny’s efforts were topped by Abbiati as the game approached the hour mark. Rosicky led a break into the Milan half and picked out Gervinho to his left. Abbiati did very well to stop the Ivorian’s shot after it had taken a deflection and then proceeded to deny van Persie, who had pounced on the rebound, from point blank range.

Szczesny was to make an equally important save 15 minutes later, but knew less about it. Substitute Alberto Aquilani slid a pass across the Arsenal box towards the back post and with half the goal to aim at, Nocerino poked his effort tamely back into the legs of the 21-year-old goalkeeper.

Arsenal’s second-half display was less dynamic than their first. Rosicky used the ball well but struggled to exert a consistent influence over the game, as did Gervinho, while Walcott displayed his more frustrating side after a positive first 45 minutes.

Marouane Chamakh joined van Persie in attack but it was a creator, not a goalscorer, that the Gunners needed.

A dreadful Alex Song pass as Arsenal attacked for the final time summed up a disappointing second half that left Wenger’s players dejected at the final whistle despite such a strong performance and victory.