AC Milan vs Arsenal as it happened: Europa League first leg

Match report: Restorative win for Gunners at San Siro Feature: ​Five things we learned from Arsenal's victory

Henrikh Mkhitaryan crashes Arsenal in front in the San Siro (Getty Images)

Arsenal travel to AC Milan in their last-16 Europa League clash, with Arsene Wenger’s side heading into the tie having lost four consecutive games for the first time since 2002.

The Gunners’ 2-1 defeat to Brighton at the weekend, their fourth in five league games, has ignited an already bubbling cauldron of rage towards Wenger, with 88% of the Arsenal Supporters Trust (AST) indicating earlier this week that they want Wenger to leave at the end of the season.

AC Milan, on a 12-game unbeaten run dating back to December and having won their last five on the bounce, are arguably some of the least desirable opposition for Arsenal to face in attempting to end their barren streak, especially under the lights at a raucous, sold-out San Siro.

Follow all the action below with our live blog:

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Match preview

It’s a big game for

Arsene Wenger: If there has ever been a game in Arsene Wenger’s 21 years that is a ‘must win’, then Thursday night comes as close as you’ll get. Whilst a victory at the San Siro would be unlikely to detract from the calls for Wenger’s departure, it is the only competition Arsenal retain a chance of winning in the current campaign, and this Europa League clash is certainly the biggest game Wenger has encountered in recent memory.

Best stat:

The Gunners have lost their last three European trips to Italy (excluding qualifiers), failing to score in defeats to Roma (0-1), Milan (0-4) and Napoli (0-2).

Remember when…

AC Milan’s 4-0 victory over Arsenal in 2012 was a memorable night at the San Siro, relive the game here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS9ATtKhpng

Player to watch…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Arsenal’s £60m Gabonese forward has taken time to adapt to English football since transferring from Borussia Dortmund in January, though with two goals under his belt as well as scoring in his last outing vs Brighton, Aubameyang could hold the goal-scoring key to allow Arsenal to flourish against AC Milan on Thursday night.

Past three-meetings…

Arsenal 3 AC Milan 0, Champions League – March 2012

AC Milan 4 Arsenal 0, Champions League – February 2012

AC Milan 0 Arsenal 2, Champions League – March 2008

Form guide…

AC Milan: DWWWWW

Arsenal: LWLLLL

Odds…

AC Milan to win: 23/20

Arsenal to win: 5/2

Draw: 47/20

Key Points

AC Milan: Donnarumma; Calabria, Bonucci, Romagnoli, Rodriguez; Kessie, Biglia, Bonaventura; Suso, Cutrone, Çalhanoğlu.

[8 March 2018 20:06 · Jack Watson]

AC Milan are beaten for the fist time in 14 matches at the San Siro and Arsenal have arguably placed on foot in the quarter final of the Europa League.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened the scoring with his first goal for the club. He collected Mesut Ozil's brilliant first time pass and fired a deflected shot into the net from the left side of the box.

Just before half time, Ozil again provided a fantastic assist, this time for Aaron Ramsey who latched onto the German's defence-splittig pass then rounded Donnarumma before tapping into an empty net. 

The home side failed to really test Arsenal but could have had an early penalty but for a rare showing of honesty. David Opsina was beaten to the ball by Calhanoglu who tapped the ball beyond the goalkeeper and was then clattered into. The forward was determined to stay on his feet and try and keep the ball in play. Instead, Arsenal won a goal kick and a penalty was not awarded, much to the host's annoyance. 

[8 March 2018 20:07 · Jack Watson]

Feeling learned? Excellent.

[8 March 2018 20:12 · Jack Watson]

Aaron Ramsey: We've turned a corner

Arsenal goalscorer Aaron Ramsey tells BT Sport that the Gunners showed character by turning their back on their bad run of form to beat AC Milan.

"We started well and we showed we have plenty of characters, it was never going to be easy to come to San Siro and play AC Milan, I know from past experience. We played very well in the first half and created many opportunities. Second half we just wanted to protect it a bit more and we kept a clean sheet, which was important. 

"We've been on a bad run. A lot of people are always going to talk, it's their job to talk. Its important for us to keep focused, we know what we're capable of doing, we've just got to try and do that consistently. We've turned a corner."

[8 March 2018 20:20 · Jack Watson]

Arsene Wenger likens Arsenal to a boxer who has been knocked down

The cup final and a series of fixtures in a short space of time is what caused Arsenal's poor run of form, explains Arsene Wenger on BT Sport.

"We defended with resilience...that's questioned many times but we did that well tonight.

"When you play a cup final on Sunday and you lose it, it's very difficult to digest that psychologically in three or four days and we had a games on the bounce straight away. It's like in a boxing match when you're half-knocked down and you don't have time to recover and the next one comes again, that's what happened to us. At some stage you have to respond."

[8 March 2018 20:24 · Jack Watson]

Okay, it's job done on the live blog just like it's job done for Arsenal in Milan. The Gunners take a well deserved 2-0 lead into the second leg at the Emirates in seven days time as they continue their march to winning the Europa League and bringing back Champions League football to the red half to north London.

I leave you with this excellent match report from Ed Malyon who went all the way to Milan to write this just for you, isn't he great.

Ciao!