Despite some long nervy spells, Arsenal booked their spot in the Europa League quarter-finals with a 3-1 second leg win over Milan, Danny Welbeck scoring twice
Bola.net - Pertandingan leg kedua babak 16 besar Liga Europa mempertemukan Arsenal melawan AC Milan . Pertandingan ini dilangsungkan di Emirates Stadium pada hari Jumat (16/03). Arsenal berhasil meraih kemenangan 3-1 dalam pertandingan ini. Milan mencetak gol lebih dulu sebelum kemudian Arsenal mencetak gol-gol melalui penalti Welbeck, tembakan jarak jauh Xhaka, dan kemudian sundulan yang berbuah gol kedua Welbeck. Arsenal bisa bermain cukup bagus sejak awal. Mereka mendominasi permainan meski sudah unggul agregat dua gol. Milan berusaha menyerap tekanan Arsenal sembari berusaha menyerang dengan cepat setiap kali merebut bola. Tapi Milan justru bisa unggul lebih dulu pada menit ke-35. Tembakan jarak jauh Hakan Calhanoglu tak bisa diselamatkan oleh David Ospina dan Milan pun mulai membangun momentum. Tapi momentum Milan ambruk beberapa menit kemudian. Wasit menunjuk titik putih pada menit ke-38 setelah Welbeck jatuh secara aneh di kotak terlarang. Para pemain Milan mengajukan protes karena merasa Welbeck melakukan diving. Tapi Welbeck yang menjadi eksekutor tetap sukses mengkonversi penalti menjadi gol yang menyamakan kedudukan. Babak pertama ditutup dengan skor 1-1, Arsenal masih unggul agregat 3-1. Pada babak kedua, Milan menaikkan intensitas serangan mereka. Hanya saja, Arsenal bisa meredam upaya serangan Arsenal dengan sangat baik. Setelah saling jual beli serangan dan melalui beberapa pergantian pemain, Arsenal kembali mendominasi. Tuan rumah bisa mencetak gol kedua mereka melalui Granit Xhaka. Tembakan jarak jauh gelandang asal Swiss itu salah diantisipasi oleh Donnarumma dan bola bergulir masuk ke gawang Milan. 2-1 untuk Arsenal. Arsenal menghabisi peluang Milan dengan gol kedua Welbeck pada menit ke-86. Setelah beberapa kali tembakan Arsenal bisa ditepis Milan, Welbeck melepas tandukan dari jarak dekat untuk menutup laga ini dengan skor 3-1. Arsenal pun berhak lolos dengan skor agregat 5-1. Susunan pemain Arsenal : David Ospina, Laurent Koscielny (Calum Chambers), Shkodran Mustafi, Nacho Monreal, Héctor Bellerín, Jack Wilshere, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck, Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Mohamed Elneny), Mesut Özil (Sead Kolasinac). Susunan pemain AC Milan : Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alessio Romagnoli, Leonardo Bonucci, Ricardo Rodríguez, Fabio Borini, Riccardo Montolivo, Franck Kessié (Manuel Locatelli), Hakan Calhanoglu (Giacomo Bonaventura), Suso, Patrick Cutrone (Nikola Kalinic), André Silva. (bola/hsw)
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) : David Ospina; Hector Bellerin, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka; Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil; Danny Welbeck
AC Milan (4-3-3) : Gianluigi Donnarumma; Davide Calabria, Leonardo Bonucci, Alessio Romagnoli, Ricardo Rodriguez; Frank Kessie, Lucas Biglia, Giacomo Bonaventura; Suso, Patrick Cutrone, Hakan Calhanoglu
Arsene Wenger has finally put an end to that unfortunate seven-year sequence of exiting Europe at the round of 16 stage, the only downside being that this time Arsenal are in the quarter-finals of the wrong competition.
They live to fight another day in the Europa League despite falling behind to AC Milan on the night, and the Emirates Stadium will see European football beyond March for the first time since they last reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2010. That year they lost to Barcelona, holding the mighty Catalan club to a 2-2 draw at home, and since then it has been a case of ever dwindling returns for both Arsenal and their beaten opponents AC Milan.
The team managed by Gennaro Gattuso, an irrepressible figure of emotion and fury on the touchline, took the lead through a wonderful goal from Hakan Calhanoglu and were then dealt a most grievous injustice when Danny Welbeck executed a blatant dive to win a penalty. There was nothing cunning or subtle about it, just an act of deception compounded by the incompetency of the Swedish officials in falling for it, and from the penalty spot the Englishman dispatched the equaliser.
Welbeck is back in the England squad and ended this game with two goals, but one wonders what he was thinking with that tumble in the first half given the “masters of diving” accusation that Wenger has recently levelled against English players, including Dele Alli. Wenger was vague afterwards about whether he had seen the dive but even he had to concede that the Italians “were not happy” and promised to be honest with Welbeck once he had reviewed the incident.
