Arsenal brutally humiliated at the San Siro

Arsenal have suffered a devastating 4-0 Champion’s League defeat at the hands of AC Milan which has all but ended their hopes for European silverware this year.

Arsenal fans who made the trip to Italy were soon wishing they hadn’t as they bore witness to a capitulation that the Arsenal of old would never have allowed. Their defence was a shambles from the start and they were punished early on by an old rival as former Tottenham midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng smashed a sensational volley past Szczesny.

Arsenal never looked like threatening in the first half and things only got worse before the break as the Rossoneri doubled their advantage through Brazilian striker Robinho who headed past Szczesny from close range.

Things didn’t get much better after the break despite the introduction of Thierry Henry who failed to stop Milan’s dominance throughout the game. Their dominance paid of as Robinho added a second from outside the area as Arsenal’s literally fell over themselves trying to stop him.

Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal as Laurent Koscielny went off injured and then from worse to nightmarish as Arsenal fan’s saw his replacement Johan Djourou bring down Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the box. Ibrahimovic duly converted from the spot giving Milan an almost unassailable lead coming into the return leg at the Emirates.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger blasted his players for a performance he said matched the state of the pitch – disgraceful.

“It’s a night never to forget,” he said. “It was our worst night in Europe by far. We made mistake after mistake and were punished, and deservedly so.

“It would be unfair for me to blame the pitch. The pitch was a disaster, but our performance was at the level of the pitch. It was a shocking result and a shocking performance.

“We were never in the game. We were very poor offensively and defensively. It was shocking to see. It’s our worst performances in Europe by far.

“We let our ambitions down as a unit. We felt powerless to get into the game.”

Meanwhile Arsenal ‘keeper Wojciech Szczesny admitted that they “didn’t have the best of games” but focused on Milan’s quality rather than Arsenal’s shortcomings in the post-match interviews.

“We didn’t have the best of games but you have to give credit to Milan,” Szczesny told ITV.

“They punished us on every occasion and scored some quality goals. They deserved to win. It’s very disappointing day for us and hopefully we can pick ourselves up and challenge them in the second leg.”

One thing is certain, and that is that Wenger is under enormous pressure to now deliver some silverware as Gunner’s fans become increasingly frustrated and what seems to be a lack of ambition at their club.

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Tags: AC Milan, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Europe, San Siro, Thierry Henry, Wojciech Szczesny, Zlatan Ibrahimovic