After four straight defeats in all competitions, including a pair of 3-0 humblings at the hands of Manchester City, Arsenal needed to produce some kind of response against AC Milan on Thursday evening.
Not only is the Europa League the Gunners’ last remaining chance of silverware and Champions League qualification this season, but a positive performance was vital to diluting the toxic atmosphere around the north London club at the moment.
That appeared no easy task on paper, with the San Siro side undefeated in 13 and not conceding for six games, especially when compared to Arsenal’s recent results and their perpetually erroneous performances on the road this season.
But the Gunners spared no time in making a statement in Milan – after a few hairy moments in their own end during the opening exchanges, Henrikh Mkhitaryan netted the first in a 2-0 win with a rifled finish on the counter-attack that took a telling deflection as it flew past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
And the January signing, who Transfermarkt value at £13.5million, typified the vast improvements Arsenal showed compared to one of the most disappointing weeks of Arsene Wenger’s lengthy tenure.
The Armenian international brought real ruthlessness on the break, clipping the crossbar shortly after scoring while completing five dribbles, but Gunners fans may be more impressed with his return of three tackles, the most of any Arsenal player.
That combination epitomised the greater maturity Arsenal showed at the San Siro. Their first half performance was peppered with lightening counter-attacks, including Aaron Ramsey’s second goal as he latched onto a Mesut Ozil through ball and took it round the goalkeeper, while they completely shut down the game in the second 45, keeping eleven men behind the ball and protecting the clean sheet.
We haven’t seen that kind of pragmatic game-management from the Gunners for some time, and it bodes well for the rest of a Europa League campaign that feels like a defining one for the club’s immediate future.
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