AC Milan vs Arsenal - San Siro, Milan, Italy - Tuesday 4th March 2008

With glorious hindsight, Arsenal played the perfect game of football, outplayed and then knocked out the European (and World) Champions, became the first English side to beat Milan in the San Siro, and proved again that they are more than good enough to beat absolutely any team in the world. The victory was no more than Arsenal deserved over the 2 games, the quality of Arsenal's football wasn't too surprising, but it was a surprise that Milan were stupid enough to give Arsenal the time and space to do it. Hindsight is a brilliant thing, but it wasn't quite like that all the way along.

Arriving at Lotto station after a few beers in the city centre (and lots more time spent looking for somewhere decent to go for a beer – Milan is hardly a good city for a drinking session), we made the 20 minute walk to the stadium. What had been a nice warm day was rapidly turning into a chilly and windy night, with a little bit of rain thrown in as well for good measure.

Despite having had to go through some classic Italian bureaucracy of everybody getting their name on their ticket, and being told that we would need to show passports or photo ID to get in, nobody made so much as even a cursory check on any of that – in fact, a photocopy of a ticket would have done just fine. Very typical of European away games in my experience – over the top on the pre information and organisation, but when it comes to 8pm on game day, it is all a total shambles.

After a joke of a “search”, and being allowed in, we walked for ever and ever (and ever and ever – we were all getting dizzy by the end), up a circular ramp, to our section in the gods of the stadium. We had the whole of the top tier behind one of the goals, and the 4,000 or so Gooners were in excellent voice throughout. One side of the ground, away to our left, was open, and being high up, we got the full force of the wind coming in for much of the game – making it pretty cold in the away section.

The game was almost a repeat of the home leg a couple of weeks previously. Milan had a couple of decent chances, but Arsenal dominated the play. The passing and movement was incredible to watch at times, Arsenal players were first on the scene whenever a ball ran loose, and the only surprise was that Milan looked so pedestrian. Despite this, they looked very dangerous on the occasions where they did get the ball forward, to the point where you suspected a hammer blow at some point. And, despite some great possession and play in the first half, Arsenal didn't cause Milan's keeper too many problems.

That started to change in the second half, with a few decent opportunities being carved out. Arsenal made and failed to take a good 3 or 4 opportunities in the first 20 minutes of the second half, and some of the optimism in the away section of the crowd started to drain away. Around the hour mark, Milan started to come into the game, having some of the ball, and testing Manuel Almunia on a few occasions. For much of this game, and the first game, Arsenal had given Milan a masterclass in how to play amazing football, but I was not alone in fearing that they were about to give us a masterclass in how to win 2-legged European ties without playing very well.

The, just as we were coming to terms with the prospect of extra time, came the bolt from the blue. Cesc Fabregas picked the ball up inside Milan’s half, cleverly found some space, then lashed a quite fantastic 30 yard shot which zipped along the ground, beyond the reach of the keeper, and into the bottom corner of Milan’s goal. Sitting directly behind Cesc Fabregas as he took the shot, it was one of those that looked special from the moment it left his boot. The pandemonium in the away end was brilliant, on a par with Madrid in February 2006, and Inter Milan in November 2003, as they very best of the best moments for Arsenal fans on the continent.

I don't think anybody thought that Milan would be able to score 2 goals, but there was a nervous 5 minutes or so anyway, where every touch from Almunia was cheered heartily. Then, just into injury time, Theo Walcott danced down the right, evaded a couple of challenges, and squared for Adebayor to tuck the ball into an unguarded net from 2 yards. That was it, and the celebrations started in earnest. Most people couldn't believe that we were beating Milan on their own patch (although they are most certainly a team in decline), and during the hour long “lock in” inside the stadium, it gradually all started to sink in.

A fantastic night, a great result, and a performance that shows Arsenal are capable of going all the way in the Champions League. Whether we will or not, is another matter entirely. Fabregas, Flamini and Hleb in particular had brilliant games, Flamini in particular, who kept world player of the year Kaka in his pocket for the whole game. Well done boys - a brilliant result.