Coming in on the back of four straight defeats, Arsenal produced a dominant display at the San Siro to quash a fairly average AC Milan side in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.
The evening began with a silent tribute to Davide Astori, which was impeccably observed by the 72,000-plus people inside the stadium…
And so, with things underway and Jack Wilshere driving things from the heart of midfield, the Gunners sprung into an early lead in when Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored his first goal for the club with quarter-of-an-hour played.
A slick build-up exchange saw Mesut Ozil chop a lofted pass over to Mkhitaryan on the far side of the Milan box, with the Armenian cutting inside and pinging a deflected shot off Leonardo Bonucci and past Gianluigi Donnarumma…
Arsene Wenger’s side then moved another goal ahead with the final move of the first half.
Ozil once again provided the assist by finding the marauding Aaron Ramsey with another deliciously deft through-ball as the Welshman was left to skip around Donnarumma and roll the ball into an unguarded net…
Arsenal remaining confident and in control during the second half, but still conceded a fair few chances. Were it not for Milan’s often wasteful finishing, the scoreline may have taken on a less favourable complexion.
Speaking of finishing, there was still time for some vintage stuff from Danny Welbeck…
Still, the positives far outweigh the negatives, with the Gunners making light work of breaking down a defence that hadn’t conceded for nearly 600 minutes before Mkhitaryan’s opener.
They also head into the second leg with two away goals tucked neatly under their belt which, you’d fancy, should be more than enough to usher them through into the quarters.
In Wenger we trust?