Arsenal put up a fighting display against their rivals Monaco to win the game 2-0 but lose the tie on the away goals rule. Atletico Madrid ousted Bayer Leverkusen on penalties 3-2, after Mario Suarez had put the tie on level terms.
Arsenal began the must-win game in confident fashion, with Sanchez and Giroud threatening the Monaco defence but despite some well-constructed gameplay, the final pass was always awry. This was until Giroud opened the scoring in the 36th minute. Danny Welbeck slid in a pass through the Monaco defence and although Giroud’s initial shot was blocked by Subasic, the Frenchman made no mistake in smashing in the rebound. After that goal, Monaco were haywire, with Arsenal dominating the game. Thankfully for the principality club, the referee blew the halftime whistle soon after Subasic saved another effort, this time by Welbeck.
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It wasn’t any different after halftime, as Arsenal dominated the game and could’ve easily scored the two goals they desperately needed, if it wasn’t for the poor execution of the final touch. Monaco threatened with a swift counter-attack every now and then but it was all Arsenal for the majority of the second-half. And in the 79th minute, Ramsey gave his side a glint of hope when he drilled in a brilliant finish into the far corner. Mesut Ozil lobbed a beautiful ball to Monreal who slid in a pass to Walcott who only managed to hit the post, but Kurzawa made a fine mess of his clearance to gift the ball kindly to Ramsey, who made it 2-0. Monaco seemed to have lost it after that goal and given the way the Gunners were bombarding the Monaco defence it felt as if the Londoners were bound to score. But Monaco hung on, thanks to some scrappy defending, to throw out Arsenal out of the Champions League in the Round-of-16 for the 5th year running. Typical Arsenal, you would say.
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Atletico were desperate for a goal in this crucial encounter and began the game desperately kicking in long-balls hoping someone would make contact. Unlike the previous game, both sides were attacking menacingly although Bayer were counting on shots from distance to do the trick. The capital side had to bring on their substitute ‘keeper Jan Oblak after Moya pulled his hamstring. Atletico broke the deadlock when Mario Suarez had his first-time left-foot shot deflected in by Omer Toprak to level the tie 1-1 on aggregate. The first-half ended with both sides displaying desire and lacking clarity.
The second-half began in similar fashion but this time both sides were beginning to take their chances. It was a game of pinball with both sides counter-attacking swiftly resulting in a few ugly tackles. Atletico threatened in the end but Bayer hung on to see the tie move into extra-time.
Atletico had used all three substitutions by the 53rd minute and unsurprisingly were on the back foot as ET began. But Leverkusen showed their true colors only in the first few minutes and by the end both teams were almost hoping for penalties.
And the shootout began, as Raul Garcia stepped to take the first spot-kick but curled a horrible effort way across goal. Calhanoglu was to take the first penalty for Bayer and hit it right into the hands of Oblak. Griezmann finally made it 1-0, when he hit a missile into the top-right. Simon Rolfes scored an identical penalty, to make it 1-1. Mario Suarez, the goalscorer, continued the top-right fashion to good effect. And then Toprak sent his penalty above the bar to retain Atletico’s lead. But thankfully for him, Koke’s penalty was saved by Leno. Castro made it level after he sent the ‘keeper the wrong way. Fernando Torres who returned to his boyhood club this summer, scored past a disgruntled Leno. Atletico were handed the win, after Kiessling’s penalty sailed over the crossbar to end the game 3-2 on penalties.
Meanwhile in the Premier League, Liverpool continued their brilliant run of form, in a win over Swansea as Jordan Henderson’s solitary goal was enough to see the Reds through.
Tags: Arsenal Atletico Madrid Champions League
