The Champions League quarterfinals and Arsenal just don’t mix together, as a 2-0 win wasn’t enough for the gunners against Monaco, going through to the next stage thanks to an away goal advantage in the 3-3 aggregate score.
Monaco came to defend their 3-1, shocking as it might be, from the Emirates. A limited team that defends well, they conceded an early goal from Olivier Giroud (36th minute) after some mix up in the defense.
Monaco had only three shots at goal in the entire match, none of them on target. This is a team that’s all about counter attacks, at least against this kind of opponent; but they weren’t even trying that in this situation.
Aaron Ramsey put a little life into the match with a 79th minute goal which was followed by an Arsenal blitz on the Subasic goal. His chance to score also came after poor defending and some random shooting from Arsenal.
But all the pressure wasn’t enough. Arsenal didn’t really create anything too dangerous in the final 15 minutes (including injury time) except for a header parried well and cleared. Arsene Wenger is once again out very early from the Champions League, and has one less straw to grasp on as the tries to explain why he deserves another year with the club.
For Monaco this is the first time in the Champions League quarterfinal since 2004. That season they made it all the way to the final, losing to Porto eventually. They made it past Chelsea in the semifinal, another English club from London.