MILAN GUNNED DOWN

Arsenal-2, AC Milan-0. WOW!!! What a score line. The significance of it takes gigantic proportions when one realises that this is at “the San Siro”, a fortress at which NO English team had got better of the “Rossoneri” EVER. On watching the match it was clear that what was being touted as the biggest weakness of Arsenal, proved to be the difference among the two sides. I am referring to the “young” team that Arsene Wenger put against the might of an experienced Milan, boasting names such as Maldini, Kaka, Inzaghi etc. But it was the pace of these young guns and maybe also their hunger to win and prove the critics wrong that brought about the convincing win. The way Gael Clichy outpaced and got round Inzaghi for a crucial block early in the game, and at the opposite end of the clock, Walcott’s pace to outrun Milan’s backline and set up Adebayor for the second goal is ample proof of the above statement.

The match started much to the expectations of the home fans (who had come in hordes, packing the stadium to its full capacity of over 80,000)with the first 20 minutes completely belonging to the defending champions. Kaka and Inzaghi gave the Arsenal backs a tough time. But as would have been expected, led by Gallas, the defenders were concentrating well to deny their rivals any clear opportunity to have a shy at the goal. After the initial phase as Arsenal got their feet in it, the confidence soared. Fabregas was at what he does best, weaving in and out of the midfield, and Willy Sagna was showing why he is regarded so highly by his manager. Still the Milan defence is formidable and they showed it. That Adebayor was not at his best (actually he does not much relish the Champions League, having yet to score there this season), certainly did not help matters. Nevertheless Kalac was troubled and called upon to make some good saves. The game took a slightly controversial turn as Alexander Hleb went to ground just outside the box. Though replays showed clearly that he was brought down unfairly by Allesandro Nesta, the referee thought otherwise, instead showing him a yellow card for diving. However Arsenal should have been ahead going into the break, as Senderos had only Kalac to beat in the dying seconds, only to shoot straight into the hands of the huge keeper.

Second half again started in balance with both teams trying to maintain possession to create moves. As no team could get any significant breakthrough, it became more of a mid-field battle. With Adebeayor still not able to find his touch, Arsene Wenger brought about the much awaited change, substituting Eboue with Walcott. This immediately infused a fresh pace into the Arsenal team as he combined well with Fabregas. Walcott almost immediately had a great opportunity to open the scoring and add to his impressive tally in the Champions League, but Kalac made an equally good save, and Adebayor slipped when he could have scored on the rebound (this pretty much sums up the kind of day he had been having). With both teams in a gridlock and the defence of either not yielding an inch, frustration began to rise. Even a staid player like Kaka could not hide it, throwing the ball in disgust at an outline decision, only to be booked for it. At this time it was clear that a solitary goal may just be enough to decide the outcome and that it would more likely come out of a moment of inspired individual brilliance rather than some wonderful team play. And that brilliance did come in the 84^th minute.

Cesc Fabregas got the ball just inside the Milan half. He goside stepped Gennaro Gattuso, and still off the box from about 30 yards, pulled the trigger. This sudden shot even took Zeljko Kalac (who till then had been having a good day) by surprise and maybe he was just a fraction too late to dive to his right and stop the ball from finding the back of the net. Actually it was so unexpected that even my initial reaction was that he had palmed the ball out and it had struck the net from the outside. Only when I saw the wild reactions of the Arsenal contingent (and what relief showed on their faces), did I realise what had happened. But that takes nothing away from the quality of the kick. It had just the enough curl, placed right at the extreme edge of the net, and had the power that beat the Milan keeper in the first place. The absolute silence at the stadium (yes for a moment even the Arsenal fans were just as dumbstruck as the Milan fans, and also me) aptly showed the seriousness of the situation. The holders now needed not one, but two goals to go through, and that too in just over 5 minutes. This was in no way an easy deed, but one can never write off Milan till the final whistle, more so at the San Siro (and all of us saw what Liverpool did to Milan in the 2005 final in a madness filled 6 minutes).

However Arsenal were now totally on top (having buried the demons of the previous two weeks) and were determined to go through the “clean” way. As Milan poured bodies forward, they were always going to be vulnerable to the famed Arsenal counter-attack, and deep in stoppage time it happened. Walcott outran the last Milan defender (the tired legs of the older team were now showing against the young talent) as he chased a clearance from among his lines, got the better of another block and selflessly slid the ball to the poaching Adebayor, who (no matter however bad a spell he would have been in) could not have missed from 5 yards out. This killed the match for good, and even the Milan team and fans realised this.

The celebrations at the end were more of relief than ecstasy considering what the club has been through the past two weeks. More than the disappointment of registering no win in the past four games, or being knocked out of the league and FA cup; it was the horror injury to Eduardo that had shaken up the club. And this will certainly do much much more than just keep them alive in the Champions League. This will infuse a fresh confidence in them, give them the self belief that just maybe had started to diminish, and above all show all the critics and rival clubs that this team can go all the way. But as Wenger put it in the post match conference, they have to balance now between belief and humility, a quality required to be sonsistent at the top.

It had been billed as the sternest test of the “Young Gunners” this season, who had already proved everyone wrong by what they have achieved till now. But with this convincing win (no one expected them to score more than a goal at San Siro, if they score at all) the warning bugle has been sounded louder and clearer than before for all to hear and take heed. Beating the most successful team in recent history of the competition away, and dominating so much possession in the game is no mean feat. Arsene Wenger, or “The Professor” as he is known, has proved to be a master of nurturing young talent and shown yet again (how many times will he have to do this before people start accepting it) that its not just BIG NAMES that make a team great, team spirit and motivation can also win trophies. Having said this, there is still a long way to go for this team to be considered among the “Wenger’s Invincibles”, but if they are able to maintain what they showed yesterday, the omens are really good.