ARSENE WENGER breathed an almighty sigh of relief as he kept the wolves at bay for at least another night.
Arsenal travelled to AC Milan knowing the Europa League was their last chance of silverware this season – and probably their best chance of breaking back into the Champions League.
Travelling to the San Siro wouldn’t have been the Gunners’ first choice venue for their last-16 first-leg tie though.
But first-half goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey settled the nerves as the Londoners placed one foot firmly in the quarter-finals.
Both goals were laid-on by “assist king” Mesut Ozil, as the German proved he can indeed a be a big-game player.
In notching the pair of helpers, Ozil – who was finally handed a new contract last month – was involved in his 100th goal for Arsenal.
Since joining in 2013-14, the former Real Madrid star has scored 37 just times, but has added an impressive 63 assists to bring up his ton.
Despite that seemingly impressive tally, the 88-cap Germany international has taken 190 appearances to reach that tally – meaning he averages just 0.53 goal-involvements per game.
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But on the night at the San Siro, he put on a classy display to inspire Arsenal’s win over Milan.
Firstly he played a pinpoint pass over the defence for Mkhitaryan’s opener, before carving open the Italians’ defence with a stunning ball for Ramsey to make it 2-0.
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