Stunning Arsenal “Absolutely Fabregas” In Milan!
AC Milan (0) - (2) Arsenal
Fabregas (84′), Adebayor (90′+2)
San Siro, Milan
Football is such a strange game.
Arsenal failed to beat Birmingham City and Aston Villa, so what hope did people give Arsenal against the current European Champions?
Well luckily, since the so called ‘coverage’ of the Eduardo incident I think we’ve learnt not to listen to the media. If you did you would think Arsenal were about to be relegated from the Premier League - but we’re top aren’t we? It’s amazing how the ‘experts’ forget that.
Making history is something Arsene Wenger specialises in, and last night Arsenal became the first English side to win at the home of AC Milan. I was careful not to say the San Siro, because we already did that in emphatic fashion 4 seasons ago against Inter!
The magnitude of the last nights win still hasn’t really sunk in.
This was the side that in the last 5 seasons have been in 3 finals. This is the side with the best player on the planet in Kaka. This is the side that live and breath for the Champions League.
And we dominated them from start to finish.
Arsene Wenger called for the “complete performace” if we were to progress into the Quarter Finals and the boys didn’t fail to impress. The supremacy Arsenal displayed for the majority of the match against a team who live for this competition was scary.
Last night was Milan’s Cup Final and to perform like we did was sensational.
Obviously AC Milan are a great side and posed a threat, but at best it was sporadic - with Pato only really having their only decent opening.
Arsenal were up for it from the off and were exceptional in keeping possession. The confidence and passing was a joy to watch and the only thing lacking was the goal Arsenal deserved. The first half ended goalless, with Adebayor forcing a good save from the Colossal Kalac and Fabregas smashing the bar.
And Hleb was criminally booked for diving when he should have at least got a freekick for the lunge by Nesta on the edge of the Milan penalty area.
The feeling at half-time was had Arsenal missed their chance?
Milan were grateful for the interval but unfortunately for them as soon as the second half started Arsenal just picked up from where they left off - passing the ball around the pitch with supreme confidence and causing Milan all kinds of problems.
But AC Milan showed us why they are so good in this competition.
By hook or by crook, after 80 minutes Milan were still in this game. Teams in the past such as PSV Eindhoven, Bayern Munich and even Celtic have played well at the San Siro and ended up on the losing team. Milan get the job done and you wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if they nicked a goal against the run of play.
Fortunately though, Arsenal’s defending was excellent.
Sagna, Clichy, Gallas and Senderos were fantastic at the back. Kaka, Pato and Inzaghi were kept quiet for large periods and the extent of Arsenal’s defending was summed up when Kaka uncharacteristically threw the ball in frustration when missing out on a throw in from Sagna late in the second half - the Brazilian just hadn’t been in the game.
It’s hard to single out an individual player because everyone played so well last night. Adebayor looked like he was back to the form of old, holding the ball up well and at times taking on the Milan rearguard by himself. Hleb’s ball retention yet again was terrific and he really was relishing playing through the middle. Flamini was commanding as ever and completely overshadowed Ivan Gattuso in midfield, and even Diaby who has been up and down this season put in a worthy display.
And even Theo Walcott (who only came on late in the second half) made a decent impact. I was surprised that Arsene didn’t bring on Van Persie to be honest but Walcott, in the end, was the right call. His introduction may have just tilted the tie in Arsenal’s favour.
But the man of the match and the player who ran the show was Cesc Fabregas.
Exceptional, special, brilliant, fantastic. Pick any one of those words because this fella was at the heart of everything.
His quality shined through and last night he was the pass master. It was one of the best performances I have ever seen from Cesc and that is saying something considering the level this guy plays at. And if his on the ball display was breath-taking then his defending was even better. I lost the number of times Fabregas won the ball from Kaka with a sliding tackle. Simply sensational stuff.
And it was Cesc who broke the deadlock.
With only 6 minutes of normal time remaining, Cesc picked up the ball from Hleb just passed the halfway line and waltzed passed Gattuso and unleashed a wicked effort right into the bottom corner. To be honest when I first saw the shot I thought it was going wide because the goalkeeper seemed slow to react, but replays showed it fizzed inbetween Adebayor and Nesta, and Kalac didn’t see it till late.
Still, it was a stunning strick and must have been from all over 40 yards.
And in a game were away goals count double then scoring with only 5 minutes to go is the perfect time to score! And it was no more than what Arsenal deserved. Walcott showed his maturity in stoppage time when he rode a tackle and gave Adebayor one of the easiest Champions League goals he’ll ever score. Great play and awareness from the youngster.
The reaction when Fabregas scored epitomised the team spirit in the Arsenal camp and the togetherness within the squad. And the expression on Cesc’s face was priceless - it was what every Arsenal fan was feeling. All the pressure, all the despair and all the drama from the last couple of weeks was released in dramatic fashion.
We were going into the Quarter Finals!
Truly one of the greatest nights in Europe we’ve seen from Arsenal and hopefully not the last.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I almost feel sorry for Flamini. It was perhaps as good a performance from a defensive midfielder as I’ve ever seen and he couldn’t get Man of the Match because Fabregas who was equally good scored!
Oh how terrible it feels to have too many world class performances.
I thought Diaby was ok, he didn’t do badly but Eboue was very poor. I think I’ve seen enough of Eboue to say he doesn’t look like he’s ever going to be good enough for our midfield, his shot summed up his entire season, just awful.
Oh well considering Eboue was very poor and Diaby was ‘only’ decent I suppose it’s all the more impressive that Milan got played off the park. It was the spine of the team which was awesome. Ade, Hleb, Fabregas, Flamini, Gallas, Senderos and Almunia did everything right too. Combine that with Clichy and Sagna and you can win any game.
The best thing of it all was that we didn’t just beat AC, we dominated them home and away and attacked constantly for both games. Fucking great.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Now let’s put in a halfway decent performance in the league on Sunday
March 5th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I noticed you didn’t mention Eboue! At times he can be good but he wasn’t with it yesterday but because everyone else was so good you didn’t really notice his non-performance.
I think Walcott deserved to start after what he did against Birmingham and Villa - what the hell has Eboue done to deserve his place? I seriously don’t get it, since AC Milan was the biggest game of the season so far and Eboue started ahead of 2 or 3 players who were more deserving.
Apart from that though it was the perfect performance. And I don’t care about people saying Cesc’s goal may have been lucky or whatver, because to hit the bottom corner from 40 yards is amazing.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Great result and a fantastic win for Arsenal.
After going through 2 horrible weeks, Arsenal came back with a “BANGGG” and shocked the world by beating the best team on earth with world class youngsters. This win will prove everyone especially the STUPID PUNDITS and DISGRACEFUL MEDIA that Arsenal’s players are not just kids but world class players and can compete with any team and win!
Hmmm where are the scum medias and idiot pundits ran hiding now???!!…you fools are just a bunch of losers and Arsenal proved that well!!..Arsenal in crisis???? Don’t think so!…they are so quite now that the media is not making this win a big story..it would be a different story if MU was the team in our place..well that was predicted and it doesn’t matter!
As for the game, every player showed great hunger and desire to win and if they can show the same hunger in every game after this, double is in the bag!
Arsenal dominated in all departments and played breath-taking football that I believe even Milan fans and players appreciated. This was a game with pure football from both teams in highest level. You won’t see such pure football in English League that have english cunts and teams like Bolton, Birmingham and Blackburn..that’s why CL is a great competition to be..dream on Spurds, how you wished to be in Arsenal’s place..oh ya enjoy your mickey mouse cup (world cup), and i guess you did it too much until got a deserved wiped on your scum faces by Brum.
The only player that was poor was Diaby and I don’t blame him, we shouldn’t. He need some time and games to get back to his true potential. Furthermore he was playing out of position and can see him drifting into midfield a lot. He had a good first half but in second half he just switched off a little bit.
As for Eboue, I see him getting too much of stick from many Arsenal fans..I would like to defend him here by saying that yes he have a weird and bad attitude on the pitch but look in footballing sense and you will see a great prospect and potential in him to be an important player to Arsenal, as he was last season. He had a great game yesterday and linked up very well with Sagna on the flanks when moving forward which game Milan’s defence a lot of problem. So back off those “sticks” and give him some time, he will get back to his true potential just like Diaby and will be vital players for Arsenal.
Walcott coming on for Eboue was a smart move from Arsene Wenger. He saw the tiring legs of Milan’s player and took full advantage by bringing on Walcott. With his pace he can bring problem to any team and the result for his pace was Arsenal’s second goal. Great run and a simple cross to Ade and GOAAAALLLLLL!!!!! . I personally think Walcott can be a “supersub” where Wenger starts with Eboue and on 70th minute of every game bring walcott on because by that time many opponent’s defence players will be running with tired legs and Walcott’s pace can really give them a lot of problem..and with this he can assist and infact score goals that will boost his confidence more. He must be feeling great coming on and giving real scare period of time to Milan and with his assist to Ade. Make him a supersub Mr. Wenger!!
Fabregas was simply superb with his passings and the goal he scored. He took the centre stage ahead of Kaka and showed his true potential that he is one of the best player around alongside Kaka and other Milan stars. His “drive” in a game is very important to Arsenal and he showed it fully throughout the game until the last minute. Looking at his expression after scoring the goal was a joy and I personally felt really good, he deserves the goal and he proved that he is a special player that comes to life in special games like this. His partnership and understanding with Flamini was very good, when one is attacking the another one will defend and stop Kaka from playing his great football. A true class and will be an Arsenal’s legend.
Almunia had a quiet and good game overall except for the first 20 minutes. The only thing he should improve is getting out with a punch when a corner ball comes in. He looks a bit scared to come out and punch the ball away like Lehmann does..but hell he is young and a good prospect that can only be better with each game played. Bright future for him at Arsenal and hope he stays as Arsenal’s no.1 . A great guy and goalie! How many goalkeepers are blonde heh?
Sagna had a good game too and did both defending and attacking perfectly. Same goes to Clichy but he was restricted in attacking because Diaby was leaving spaces at the back to cover him up. But overall both players gave a perfect performance.
Gallas showed great leadership in defending, attacking and leading the team, he told his players to have fun playing againts Milan and god bless they really did that with perfection! I am realy proud to have Gallas as Arsenal’s captain..go to hell with the media n pundits, this guy have the best attitude a leader can have!
Come on Gallas!!
Senderos had a very good game after the first 20-25 minutes where he did some small mistakes in defence that could cost Arsenal a goal down..but he picked himself up and produced an outstanding performace in defence alongside Gallas. However i think Toure is still better than him and can link up with Gallas better, but Senderos have an advantage - he can deal with ariel threats better.
Flamini was running all the place and that must have reminded Gattusso his early days. He had Kaka in his pocket all the time (both 1st n 2nd leg) alongside Fabregas which I believe the main reason Milan was so poor in attacking, both of them took that out from Milan’s game in both legs..the result with good defending from defenders = 2 clean sheet againts a very attacking and experience Milan team. Wonderful!
Hleb..again he was left out from all the praises..unarguebally the best performer in both games and really I have no words to describe his breathtaking performance. He gave Milan and the world a great lesson in what true football control and how football should be played. Mind-blowing stuff from him and he was the best player around. The only thing he need is an attacking mind which will produce him great goals in future. One of Wenger’s best buy!
Adebayor finally broke his CL duck by scoring an easy yet important goal to seal the game with a deserved goal score..1-0 will not be as satisfying as 2-0. Now he can forget his horrible miss in the 1st leg..again an assist from Walcott, must be loving the guy so much now! Overall game a very well performance and with his physical appearance, he can give any team problems both in the air and on ground.
Overall the team played very well and goals scored by 2 players that needed them the most, Fabregas that was having a long goal drought and Ade who scored his first CL goal this season.
Man that was a long comment but that described how happy I am with Arsenal’s win yesterday..and very happy looking at the disgraceful media and pundits that try to write Arsenal off in every point but they failed horribly and proved how idiot and fool they were..lol
ARSENAL ROCKS!!