Arsenal held to stalemate against Milan in Champions League
Wednesday, 20 Feb 2008 22:54
Adebayor missed Arsenal's best chance of the match
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Arsenal were forced to settle for a goalless draw in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against AC Milan at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsene Wenger's men could have won the game in the dying moments but regrettably the Gunners saw Emmanuel Adebayor's header come back off the crossbar – a miss that could prove costly in the return leg.
Milan set out to smother Arsenal and prevent them from taking a lead into the second leg of the tie in two weeks' time and succeeded.
With an experienced side full of former Champions League winners the defending champions began the game with just Brazilian teenager Alexandre Pato up front.
Pato showed glimpses of his much-heralded talent when he flicked the ball over Cesc Fabregas and collected the ball on the volley, only to have his goal-bound shot blocked by Kolo Toure.
Soon after this Toure was stretchered off the field with a calf injury and was replaced by Philippe Senderos.
Arsenal's frustrating first half continued when Adebayor failed to pick out Fabregas as the midfielder attempted to beat the Milan offside trap.
The second 45 minutes continued in a similar vein to the first, as both sides seemed to cancel each other out. But as the half wore on, the Gunners increasingly began to stretch the aging Milan defence.
Alexander Hleb broke down the flank and pulled the ball back for Emanuel Eboue, who was unmarked in the box but could not capitalise on the opportunity.
Then in injury time Arsenal's best chance came and went in the blink of an eye. Substitute Theo Walcott crossed for Adebayor but he headed against the crossbar from point-blank range.
Arsenal now face a tough task to beat the defending champions away from home to progress into the quarter-finals of the competition.