Arsenal 0 AC Milan 0 (Champions League, second round, first leg)
After the vast majority had left the Emirates, Thierry Henry, on the big screen, curled the ball beautifully coming from the left into the top right corner. Spontaneous applause echoed across the virtually bare terraces.
This was about the first game Arsenal have missed Henry. Or at least the potential of his clinical finishing. Had van Persie, and or Rosicky played, things may have been different.
Not a bad performance, but there were shades of the Arsenal of old, with a tendency to overplay, and a lack of quality crosses and incisive finishing.
The play was generally too narrow. Arsenal kept coming inside with quick one twos which in a way suited the Italians. They absorbed most of the pressure, and came back with half chances of their own.
Arsenal used the width on the right in the first, but not enough. They didn’t get behind the Milan defence enough or isolate the ageing defenders with pace. The one clear time they did, in injury time, Adebayor hit the bar with a header, when he should have scored.
As the game wore on Milan looked comfortable. Pirlo had three digs at goal – all wide. And there was a fearsome scramble in the Arsenal box, set up by the skillful Pato.
The Italian fans were in good voice at the start, waving pinkish balloons, with deep sounds of Meeelan coming from the corner. But that only triggered louder chants of Ars-en-al, Ars-en-al… which drowed them out. Definitely 1-0 to the Arsenal on that score.
The young Brazilian opened the notable action when he fired a ball at Toure who immediately fell, somewhat mysteriously, soon to be replaced by Big Phil Senderos.
Lehmann did well to push out a flicked header from Maldini and grabbed it coming in from the right.
Eboue made triangular headway down the right and put in three crosses, but headers from Flamini, Eduardo and Adebayor were well off target.
Pato, Seedorf and Kaka formed the front three when Milan attacked, with the Dutchman sometimes acting as a lone front runner.
As predicted, it was turning out to be youth versus experience, with a bit of zest taken off the youth out of the respect for the experience.
Through balls were just slightly off target, illustrated by Adebayor‘s pass into the area on 19, just too far for Fabregas.
And longer balls, caused the Milan defence irritation, particularly Kaldze and Nesta, with Adebayor bearing down, but no REAL danger.
Eboue cut through on the right again and cut back for Flamini. But the first shot on target of the half, on 36, was straight at Kalac, like five more during the course of the evening.
Wenger’s half time team talk seemed to up the ante. Arsenal played at a higher tempo in the second.
Hleb shot wide. And Kaka headed just wide at the wrong end. Adebayor had a goal disallowed for offside and then failed to beat Kalac to the ball.
But Eboue should have scored when set up by Eduardo and Sagna, but he drove it wide – to the groans of those around.
Eduardo had a half chance, in the middle of the area. We are used to seeing him score those for Croatia, but not as much for Arsenal, as it flew over the bar.
But Milan countered. Oddo turned up unmarked on the right, with Clichy out of position, and flashed a shot wide. And Kaka mishit another.
Senderos came in too strong on Kaka and saw yellow. And Eduardo added to the mounting frustration by sending it well wide. He was replaced by Bendtner.
Eboue had a chance in the area but he was deemed to have dived, which didn’t add to his popularity, following Saturday.
Fabregas latched on to a lucky deflection but shot straight at Kalac. As did Adebayor soon after. Bendtner went on a run but ran into the ‘sea sponge’ and lost it in the area. And then he blazed over from the left.
Walcott came on with under two minutes to go. He nearly made a difference with a cross from the right which came off the bar. And a shot from distance straight at the goalkeeper through a ruck of players.
There was a similar incident in the Roma match last night, but that time Raul managed to get a canny foot on the shot diverting it for a goal. It was as if in the end, experience just won out over youth.
It is now really glass half empty or half full time. The former camp could point to the PSV match at the same stage last season and ask what progress, particularly now Arsenal are in the top five of the money league.
But Arsenal are not out of it, even though, I’m told, no English team has won against AC Milan in the San Siro.
I remember feeling the same way after the Arsenal-Juventus Cup Winners Cup semi. And Paul Vaessen sneaked a headed goal for 0-1 in Turin. What are the current odds for a Bendtner winner?
Arsenal: Jens Lehmann, Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure (Philippe Senderos 7) William Gallas, Bacary Sagna, Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Hleb, Eduardo (Nicklas Bendtner 73) Emmanuel Adebayor. Subs not used: Lukasz Fabianski, Justin Hoyte, Denilson, Gilberto, Theo Walcott
AC Milan: Zeljko Kalac, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta (Marek Jankulovski 50) Massimo Oddo, Kakha Kaladze, Kaka, Clarence Seedorf (Emerson 85) Massimo Ambrosini, Ivan Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo. Alexandre Pato (Alberto Gilardino 77) Subs not used: Valerio Fiori, Daniele Bonera, Christian Brocchi, Filippo Inzaghi.
Referee: Claus Bo Larsen