Arsenal’s Champions League hopes are all but over after they were humiliated by Italian league leaders AC Milan in the first leg of their last 16 tie.
The Gunners were second best throughout, and found themselves behind in the fifteenth minute courtesy of a spectacular volley by ex-Tottenham midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng.
Robinho, much maligned for his performances by his previous Manchester employers, struck with a header before half time, adding another soon after the break following a slip from an out-of-sorts Thomas Vermaelen.
The home side then put the result beyond doubt, after Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored from the penalty spot after a clumsy challenge by Johan Djourou.
For all of the talk of a potential virtuoso display that would exceed the Gunners’s previous visit to the San Siro, Arsene Wenger’s side looked slow and devoid of passion, a performance riddled with elementary mistakes from its offset.
In contrast, their opponents began the tie as they desired to finish it, full of attacking verve and movement that usually characterises the Gunners’s own game.
It was such a performance that allowed Massimiliano Allegri ‘s side to carve seamlessly through the thin paper wall Wenger’s defence provided time and time again with consummate ease.
And it was the first ball over the top of the Gunners’s backline that echoed and reverberated a panic throughout the team that subdued Arsenal’s own attacking impetus.
The impressive Kevin-Prince Boateng, a powerful presence that Wenger’s side have duly lacked, chested down an acute pass from Antonio Nocerino before smashing in a crisp volley past the hapless Wojciech Szczesney. It was an irony that was not lost on the Gunners faithful, with the history of a time at White Hart Lane piling further misery on the away side.
With the momentum fully behind the home side and their opponents now suffering from absolute despair, it was not surprising to see them add to their lead just before half-time. And it came from former Manchester City striker Robinho, after Ibrahimovic had again surged in behind Arsenal’s defence, crossing for his Brazilian teammate who lunged towards a simple headed finish.
It was all too easy for Milan, and so Wenger decided to inject some attacking flair into his side, replacing the ineffective Theo Walcott for Thierry Henry.
But it was not to be a fairytale ending for Arsenal’s record goal scorer, as Ibrahimovic again fed Robinho, this time outside the penalty area, given time and space by an uncharacteristic slip from Thomas Vermaelen to pick his spot low into the corner of Szczesney’s net.
Robin van Persie, Arsenal’s saviour throughout much of this campaign, had time to hit a volley between his side’s evident self-destruction, which was well saved by Christian Abbiati.
But the fourth AC Milan goal arrived soon after. And it came from even clumsier defending, this time courtesy of Johan Djourou, giving away a second penalty in a month after fouling Ibrahimovic. The Swede then stepped up to slot in his twenty-fourth goal of the season, leaving Arsenal’s European campaign in tatters.