Seasoned Arsenal supporters know that, when faced with a monumental task, there are two types of Arsenal which can emerge. The first completely loses it's shape and can go down to anyone (Borussia, United, Monaco), the second can send chills down your spine by showing how good they can be (Borussia, United, Monaco!). Alright, count City in.
It's that second type we saw yesterday. Completely focused on the task at hand, motivated, organised, willing to fight.
Can we say it was a little too late? Would you say so having watched the game last night? I'd say this: we have to demonstrate good football for 180 minutes in the knock-out stages, but we could (and, probably, should have) gone through to the last eight. That we didn't wasn't for the lack of trying, it was down to not getting even a little bit lucky.
However good we were yesterday (and we were pretty damn impressive), I was astounded by how poor Monaco was. They were playing in front of their fans, with a two-goal handicap and they didn't even try to attack us. They showed nothing, absolutely nothing up front. Zilch. 0 shots on target. 29% possession. Their most dangerous moment was an offside one, and even then Ospina came out on top. They clung on top their away-goal advantage (only just in the last fifteen minutes) and, while I can get them celebrating their progression to the last eight, they should be ashamed by how little they did on their home soil.
Not much actual football happened during the ninety minutes, so I'll go full-Mourinho and just give you the minutes and what happened on these. But first, the squad.
Team
At first I was a bit baffled by Arsene's selection. Bar Monreal for Gibbs, he fielded exactly the same side that went down 3-1 in the first leg. There was no Gabriel, Cazorla started alongside Coquelin at Ramsey's expense and Welbeck was preferred to Walcott.
And then it crossed my mind the manager wanted to have real options on the bench. It's one thing bringing Welbeck for Walcott and a bit different the other way around, isn't it? Same goes for Ramsey.
15th minute
Up until this point Monaco enjoyed a stint of possession (it would be their last during this encounter) and we just couldn't find a way through their highly-congested midfield. Then, Ozil found Bellerin on the right, the Spaniard escaped his marker with a burst of speed and put a cross in. Giroud headed wide when I thought there was just no way he could miss from such distance.
23rd minute
Ozil whips in a cross from a free-kick, scuffle ensues and Koscielny hits the bar from point-blank range moments after the offside flag goes up. And it's quite fortunate he didn't score, because replays showed Abdennour won the air, not Giroud and so Kos wasn't in offside position. Inept refereeing.
36th minute
Alexis nicks the ball on the flank, returns it to central midfield, Cazorla finds Welbeck between the lines of Monaco's defense and the Englishman sends Giroud clear. Olivier's initial shot is blocked by Subasic, but he then recovers (Giroud, not Subasic), picks up the rebound and fires the ball under the bar with two Monaco defenders on the line. 1-0.
38th minute
Pumped up by the goal, the Gunners storm forward. Abdennour's poor clearance falls to Welbeck on the edge of the box and the Englishman unleashes a powerful shot. It takes a deflection of a floored Abdennour and nearly rolls into the corner with Subasic stranded. Nearly.
46th minute
The last minute of the half and we should have gone 2-0 up. Welbeck fooled the defender and burst into the box and then squared the ball to Giroud. Giroud underhit it and the effort ended up with Subasic and at first I was angry as hell. How can you not score from point-blank range?! Replays showed the pass took a deflection and it changed the trajectory just enough for me still not to know with which part of his body Giroud actually took the shot.
Dunno which minute, but a huge moment
It happened inside the second half already and was pretty straightforward: Ozil fired a free-kick over the wall and forced a great save out of Subasic.
73rd minute
Took us long enough and it wasn't really a moment, but still. Walcott (who came on for Welbeck two minutes prior to the incident) was trying to get on the end of a cross. He didn't, because Abdennour passed the ball back for his keeper, who handled the ball. Which is a foul and a free-kick, but hey, could you expect any different from the referee after Kos was flagged offside and Sanchez got booked for simulation?
79th minute
Ozil finds Monreal with a clever cross, the Spaniard pulls it back for Walcott and the Englishman hits the post for what would be his only meaningful on-pitch action. Abdennour clears the rebound, it falls for Ramsey, Aaron takes a touch to get the ball under control and fires an unstoppable effort past Subasic to set up a frantic finale.
83rd minute
This one literally gave me nightmares afterwards. Ozil whips in a cross from the left, both Giroud and Sanchez win the air, but, as there is only one ball, neither manage to get full power into the shot. I still don't know who should have taken this chance. Probably Sanchez, as he was in a better position, but then he's not a good header of the ball. The combined effort from Alexis and Olivier almost went in nonetheless. Almost. And so it finished 2-0.
The aftermath
Prince Albert was jumping up and down in his seat like crazy, but the simple truth is such that everyone inside that stadium and everyone I've spoken to since last night knew we could have won it by a three-goal margin. Every single Monaco fan was so unnaturally happy because all of them were shitting their pants for the last fifteen minutes. And I haven't even mentioned Cazorla's blocked volley or Welbeck's header to Giroud.
I'm not going to chastise any player on the basis of last night. It was as brilliant and organised a performance as I've seen this season. Had we demonstrated half of that during the first leg, we would have gone through. Had we had a bit of luck on our side yesterday, we would have gone through. But neither has happened.
And for the outcome of this encounter we only have ourselves to blame. We should learn how to demonstrate quality football for the entirety of the 180 minutes, not just after we've screwed up big time in the first leg and give ourselves a mountain to climb. I do not envy anyone who gets Monaco in the last eight, but I also don't think the Frenchmen will survive that round. They got one hell of a lucky bounce to survive even this one.
Finally, a couple of words on Ozil. He had a great game. Full stop. He didn't hide, he got the ball in dangerous positions, he dictated the tempo of the play with his passing and his ability to hold onto the ball when necessary. He didn't overcook it like Sanchez (who's knackered and clearly needs a rest) and, overall, he did everything in his power and really put himself into it. I specifically watched him the entire game and came to the simple conclusion that he's world-class and worth every penny paid for him.
Right, that's it. Back in a few days, as always.
Don't hang your heads
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