Danny Welbeck curls Arsenal into Europa League semi-finals as they survive nervy night at CSKA Moscow

CSKA Moscow 2-2 Arsenal (3-6 agg): It was a difficult evening for the Gunners who fell behind before late goals by Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey eased the pressure

Danny Welbeck bends a finish around Igor Akinfeev (Getty Images)

Scorelines can be deceptive. Yes, Arsenal drew 2-2 with CSKA Moscow on Thursday night, winning this quarter-final 6-3 and moving through to the last four of the competition, keeping their dreams of the final alive.

But here they came right up to the brink of disaster and peered over the edge. They went 2-0 down early in the second half, just one goal away from elimination and the end to this miserable season. Despite all the experience in this Arsenal team – Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and the rest – they had lost the plot and looked like they were about to lose the tie. Both CSKA goals, either side of the break, came from Cech spilling one effort and no Arsenal defender reacting. They were static, slow and passive, allowing the game to happen around them.

For all the talk on Wednesday night that they would avoid a repeat of Barcelona’s 3-0 defeat in Rome, Arsenal spent the first 75 minutes of this game heading for exactly that. Like Barcelona, they had no idea whether to attack, control the game or contain it. Setting up to avoid a 3-0 defeat is harder than it sounds. But this was not against Roma. This was CSKA Moscow who nearly knocked Arsenal out.

Arsene Wenger and CSKA manager Viktor Goncharenko (AFP/Getty Images)

It took two late away goals in the final 15 minutes, for Arsenal to kill CSKA’s momentum and save themselves. First Danny Welbeck, their best player on the night, typically full of running, played a sharp one-two with Mohamed Elneny, running in behind and finishing past Igor Akinfeev. That was Welbeck’s fifth goal in five games, a run of form that could still propel him into the World Cup squad. It meant that CSKA needed two goals, not one, sucking the buzz out of the cold night.

Then, with CSKA throwing everyone up, Arsenal had a four on one break in added time. Aaron Ramsey, whose double in the first leg gave Arsenal this huge advantage, raced through on goal and beat Akinfeev, drawing this leg and putting the whole tie out of sight.

Not many would have predicted that outcome when CSKA were swinging at Arsenal in the first half and Wenger’s side looked frozen to the spot. From the moment that Kristijan Bistrovic flattened Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey in the opening minutes, CSKA had physical and technical domination of midfield. Ramsey and especially Wilshere looked leggy, both went down with first-half knocks, both looked like they needed a long rest. Rather than two more games harder than that await in the semi-finals.

Kirill Nababkin turns the ball past Petr Cech (AFP/Getty Images)

Roared on by their fans, tucked close to the pitch in this atmospheric new ground, CSKA were far more willing to get on the ball than they had been last week. With Aleksandr Golovin picking passes and Ahmed Musa running behind, Koscielny and Mustafi were defending last-ditch from the very start.

What was so damaging for Arsenal is that looked to have ridden out the early pressure, and had started to look comfortable, before conceding the first just before the break. Maybe complacency had started to creep in, after they twice threatened on the break. Maybe they were unsettled by the arrival of Vitinho for the injured Alan Dzagoev, giving CSKA an extra body in the box. But the goal was all far too easy: Konstantin Kuchaev’s unchallenged cross from the left, Kirill Nababkin’s free header at Petr Cech, Fedor Chalov’s easy tap in, without an Arsenal defender anywhere near him.

Suddenly the second half had a different feel: CSKA only needed two to knock Arsenal out.

Fedor Chalov, second right, celebrates his goal (AFP/Getty Images)

Wenger’s side needed to take the sting out of the game, but you cannot do that defending like this. Five minutes after the re-start Golovin unleashed a hopeful 30-yarder, Cech parried it back into play and Nababkin reacted far quicker than Nacho Monreal to tuck in the rebound.

This was the moment, with CSKA throwing everyone forward, one goal from triumph, when Arsenal looked they were heading out. Cech had to dive to save from Kuchaev, and when Musa ran into Mustafi a harsher referee could have given a penalty.

Wenger sensed this and made the change that turned the game. By taking off Wilshere for Calum Chambers and switching to a back five, Arsenal regained just enough stability to catch their breath. They passed the ball and when space emerged, Elneny and Welbeck made the most of it. A goal plucked out of nowhere, but enough to keep Arsenal alive and in the hat on Friday. Which is an achievement itself at this stage of a season which has taken so much out of this club.

Danny Welbeck celebrates scoring a crucial away goal (Getty)

CKSA (3-5-2) Akinfeev; V Berezutski, A Berezutski, Ignashevich; Nababkin, Golovin, Bistrovic, Dzagoev (Vitinho, 38), Kuchaev; Chalov, Musa

Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Elneny, Wilshere; Ozil, Ramsey, Welbeck; Lacazette