Arsenal survived an early scare to beat AC Milan 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium tonight and progress 5-1 on aggregate in their Europa League last-16 tie.
The Gunners went into the match with the upper-hand after a 2-0 win at the San Siro in the first leg, and they were deserved winners over both games overall.
MORE: Video: Hakan Calhanoglu screamer gives Arsenal a scare in Europa League tie vs AC Milan
For a brief moment tonight, however, it didn’t look like it would be all that straightforward, and we run you through the good, the bad, and the weird below…
The good
You’ve all seen the endless GIFs, the YouTube clips and the vines of this man, but tonight we were treated to the real-life version of Hakan Calhanoglu’s brilliance from long range.
The Turkish midfielder joined Milan last summer and is showing himself to be one of the better ways that they spent all that money, with this sublime strike an example of what he’s capable of.
Hakan Çalhano?lu from a long way out!
A trademark strike from the AC Milan man ? pic.twitter.com/2SIICdr2vG
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 15, 2018
With Milan facing certain elimination, this early stunner gave them a brief moment of hope. Just a shame Arsenal equalised moments later. More on that in a moment, but first, some more good news for long-suffering Gooners…
2 – Arsenal have won both legs of a European knock-out tie for the first time since 2003-04, when they beat Celta Vigo in both legs of the Champions League last 16. Conviction. pic.twitter.com/uQ6PheC1F7
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 15, 2018
FOURTEEN long years they’ve waited to win both legs of a European tie. While that’s much too long, to do it against an in-form Milan team tonight in a competition they absolutely *need* to win is pretty impressive.
The bad
It looked an absolutely shocking decision to award Danny Welbeck the penalty for this:
“Terrible decision!”
“Very harsh…”
Danny Welbeck wins a penalty for Arsenal ? pic.twitter.com/YaMV3Z6sIt
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 15, 2018
There’s minimal contact and even Welbeck himself doesn’t even really seem like he’s diving with much conviction.
Danny Welbeck’s heat map from that first half…
Pic via @LKM_juve pic.twitter.com/LFpXkCRHiP
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) March 15, 2018
The England international then stepped up to score from the spot, which rubbed salt into Milan’s wounds – no club of the Rossoneri’s history and prestige should be knocked out of Europe in a game in which this man is playing, let alone scoring, let alone scoring twice.
Welbeck scoring twice as Arsenal beat AC Milan 3-1 is a glitch in the Matrix and I will therefore not be recognising the result. Goodnight.
— Mark Brus (@mbrus88) March 15, 2018
The weird
A freak moment as something Granit Xhaka did proved too much for Gianluigi Donnarumma.
This is not how things are supposed to be, but the Italian shot-stopper made a total mess of the Swiss flop’s low drive, bundling it into the back of the net in 71st minute to all but confirm Arsenal’s passage through to the quarter-finals.
Donnarumma is undoubtedly one of the finest young players in the world right now and a goalkeeper who looks set for legendary status in the game, so to parry a speculative shot from Xhaka into his own net is a serious blot on what promises to be a great career.
BONUS WEIRDNESS: Fabio Borini (yes, that one) at right-back – what was that all about?
When you see Fabio Borini’s playing right-back for AC Milan… pic.twitter.com/ePU3AXBOoJ
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) March 15, 2018