Tonight in Milan, something had to give. Arsenal had never been knocked out of Europe by an Italian team. AC Milan hadarsenal_logo1.jpg never lost at home to a team from England. The odds were pretty favorable on a Milan win. Nobody mentioned that to Arsene and his merry band of youngsters.

For the first 15 minutes, it looked like the odds were right with Milan having the majority of the ball, but slowly Arsenal go back to their game and started passing the ball. What was most unlike Arsenal was the tenacity that they were showing in the tackling. Of course, the Italians did their usual and went down like sacks of spuds thrown from the back of a grocers lorry at Covent Garden but it didn’t seem to rattle the Gunners. Fabregas hit the bar, Diaby went close, Hleb was caught on the very edge of the box for what looked like a free kick at worst but got booked for diving. The first half finished honours even.

The second half started well for Arsenal with the same kind of commitment shown in the first half. Milan were being outplayed and you could see it in their faces. This shouldn’t be happening at home.

cesc.jpgFinally the breakthrough. Fabregas picked up the ball just inside the Milan half and headed forward. The defenders backed off and our Csec thought he’d have a go from all of 30 yards. It skidded off the turf and past the giant Milan keeper who was a little slow getting down. With only 9 minutes left, Milan had to push forward and were caught on the break by a great run from the recently introduced Walcott who skipped past a challenge and centered for Adebayor to fire into an empty net.

On the night the right team won and it was a night for the youngsters. Of course, Fabregas looked the world class player we know he is, Walcott looked sharp when he came on, so much so that Milan moved Maldini from his duties on that side because of his pace. Also a word about Pato of Milan. At 18 years old, it looks like there is another Brazilian sharp shooter that needs to be watched. I have seen him play a few times now and he has always impressed.

But tonight is Arsenals night. I wonder who we’ll get next.