An unbelievable performance by the Gunners, capped by masterful displays by Cesc Fabregas and Mathieu Flamini saw Arsenal defeat the defending champions AC Milan 2-0 in the second leg of their round of sixteen tie in Milan last night. It was the first time an English team had ever beaten Milan at the San Siro, and what a time to do it.

The opening minutes of the game were very cagey as both teams felt things out. Milan had the better of the play at that stage, and in the first twenty minutes, had two excellent chances to take an early lead.

However, for the rest of the match, it was all Arsenal. Wave after wave of sustained attack ended up with nothing to show for it apart from a good Adebayor chance that just went wide, and an excellent rising shot by Cesc that unluckily hit the cross bar.  There was also a bit of controversy in the first half.  In the 33rd minute, Alex Hleb was shown a yellow card for diving when it was quite clear (and the replays proved it) that he’d been brought down, if not in the box, then just on the edge.   Thankfully it didn’t come to anything in the end, but it’s a silly yellow for Hleb to have to worry about going into the next round.

In the second half, Arsenal maintained the pressure. The midfield performance was incredible. Milan did get a few breaks on the counter, but it turned out that it was nothing the Gunners couldn’t handle. Still, the sustained pressure by Arsenal in the Milan half was coming to nothing as first Emmanuel Eboue, then Phillip Senderos, and then Theo Walcott all misplayed excellent opportunities to score.

Finally, when it seemed certain that the match would be going into extra time, Cesc Fabregas picked up the ball about 30 yards from goal. Instead of looking for the pass, he instead decided to test the keeper. It was a speculative effort to be sure. The ball skimmed along the pitch – a real daisy cutter – and somehow found it’s way past a diving keeper. Cue pandemonium on the Arsenal bench.

Cesc made his way over to the bench and hugged the boss. Arsene was beaming. However, there were still about five minutes left plus stoppage. It seemed unlikely that Milan would score twice, but that didn’t mean the Gunners could let up. Instead, playing like the Wenger team they are, Arsenal continued to attack. In the second minute of stoppage time, Theo Walcott raced into the box and placed a pin-point pass across the face of goal right into the path of an on-rushing Emmanuel Adebayor. 2-0 on the night, 2-0 on aggregate, and Arsenal on to the quarterfinals. Buona Sera indeed.