Arsenal 3 AC Milan 0 (agg 3-4): Arsenal so nearly completed the unthinkable by overhauling a four-goal deficit against AC Milan in the second leg of their Champions League second round tie, but a barnstorming first half, in which they scored three, was not replicated after the break at the Emirates Stadium.

The visitors were as bad as the hosts were good before the break, chasing shadows, run ragged by Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and demoralised by goals from Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky and Robin van Persie.

After the break, however, the effort had clearly taken its toll and consequently Milan looked a far more cohesive outfit, though van Persie's attempted chip over a sprawling Christian Abbiati after the goalkeeper saved from Gervinho will haunt him for some time. A simple side-footed finish might have sufficed but in the split second the striker thought otherwise and somehow the visiting goalkeeper stretched out an arm to block what would have been the equaliser.