Arsenal see off charging CSKA to progress to the semis

In a week of European surprises which saw Roma topple Barcelona and Juventus come within whiskers of eliminating Real Madrid, Arsene Wenger did not want his side to experience a similar fate after having won the first fixture 4-1.

In the opening stages of the match, a charge from the home side looked unlikely, with Arsenal controlling the match. Although neither side were able to muster many opportunities on goal.

That all changed in the 38th minute though as a ball from the left was whipped fiercely into the 'Gunners' box. Vitinho hung back from his marker to guide a header at goal forcing a great low save by Petr Cech.

Unfortunately for the Arsenal goalkeeper, he couldn't parry the ball out of danger and Fyodor Chalov was there to tap-in the rebound.  

The goal understandably shook the visitors, who then almost went 2-0 down on the night as a long-range effort by Kristijan Bistrovic whistled past the post. 

They were able to hold on until half-time, still ahead 4-2 on aggregate, but that lead would be further reduced shortly after the break.

With just 50 minutes on the clock, CSKA struck again and in similar fashion to the first. This time, Cech flapping a long-range effort by Aleksandr Golovin into the path of Kirill Nababkin, who emphatically fired the ball past the disheartened Czech keeper.

Soon after the second, the home side almost scored a third. Golovin's curling free-kick forced a fine save from Cech who did well to regain his composure after the goal. 

- Arsenal fight back -

The 'Gunners' were not prepared to see their dreams of qualifying for the Champions League go down without a fight though.

Mohamed Elneny thought he had clawed one back for the visitors after his header found the back of the net but it was rightly ruled offside by the officials.

Arsenal would eventually find their breakthrough in the 75th minute after some great link-up play between Elneny and Danny Welbeck put the England striker through on goal, who then had no trouble finishing off the move with an emphatic finish.  

It broke CSKA's incredible charge and the game would be killed off at the death by Aaron Ramsey, after he too was played through by Elneny, chipping over a rushing Igor Akinfeev to secure a 6-3 aggregate win for Arsenal in Moscow.

The scoreline flatters Wenger's side but the Frenchman won't be concerned as his side did enough to book their place in the semi-finals where they will join Marseille, Atletico Madrid and RB Salzburg. 

 

April 12, 2018