Football: So near yet so far. Arsenal gave AC Milan the fright of the lives but ultimately fell just short in their bid to overhaul a four-goal deficit from the first leg and book their passage to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Italian minds must have been filled with thoughts of the 2005 final defeat to Liverpool and a similar capitulation to Deportivo la Coruna in 2003-4 when the Londoners surged to a three-goal half-time lead.
Arsene Wenger had called on his side to believe in the impossible before kick-off and his charges responded in kind, with strikes from Laurent Koscielny and Tomas Rosicky, and a Robin van Persie penalty, sending Arsenal in three-up at the interval. Midway through the second half here, it seemed as if the impossible was going to happen. With Arsenal 3-0 up, only a goal behind on aggregate, Gervinho burst into the Milan area and fired low at goal.
Christian Abbiati saved, but the ball spun off his body and landed at the feet of Robin van Persie. A yard out, it was what Arsenal fans had prayed for: their man in a position to keep the dream alive. Hope seemed about to transform into astonishing reality. Arsenal scored three first-half goals but could not complete an epic comeback against AC Milan, who held on to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
Milan, leading 4-0 from the first leg, were rocked when Laurent Koscielny headed home a corner and a mistake let Tomas Rosicky slot in Arsenal's second.
Robin van Persie's penalty increased the Gunners' momentum before the break. What a valiant attempt from Arsenal to overturn a 4-0 first leg deficit against AC Milan. The Gunners were just one goal short of making things very interesting.
Unlike 2004, when Milan coughed up a 4-1 first leg lead against Deportivo La Coruña, or the misery of the 2005 UEFA Champions League, this time Milan coughed up a big lead but it didn't cost them.
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