Arsenal overcame a brief comeback scare to ease past AC Milan with a 3-1 win in the second leg of their last-16 Europa League tie on Thursday.
Milan looked a lot more threatening at the Arsenal Stadium, in need of two goals to save their campaign, and ended up opening the scoring through Hakan Calhanoglu. After a controversial penalty from Danny Welbeck though, Arsenal took back control in the second half.
The individual performances weren’t quite as impressive as in Italy, but it was still a professional team showing. Here are our match ratings:
2Midfield
Aaron Ramsey 8
Once again Ramsey found himself involved all over the pitch. He made tackles and interceptions at one end and had more shots than anyone else at the other. He also ended up with a pretty fortunate assist, playing a five-yard pass to Xhaka, who scored from range.
Late in the game he continued to get forward, and forced a save from Donnarumma, with Welbeck turning in the rebound. Overall a good performance, if not quite on the level of his first leg showing.
Granit Xhaka 9
Suddenly Xhaka has found his feet, and he was excellent against Milan. He completed 94% of his passes, including 100% of his long balls, and shielded the defence well. He’s looking more alert and aware of potential dangers at the moment, which is very useful.
The Swiss midfielder was already heading for man-of-the-match status before his goal, which Donnarumma should have saved. Xhaka is developing a habit for slightly fortunate goals in big games, and I don’t mind that one bit. This is the Xhaka we want to see more of.
Jack Wilshere 8
Wilshere put in an improved performance, and was unlucky not to get an assist right at the end. He looked comfortable on the ball, and fired a stinging effort at goal in the first half.
On the downside, he was caught on the ball more than anyone else once again. He can still do better, but generally played well.
Next, forwards…