Arsenal’s biggest first-half attacking threat came from right wing, where Eboue and Sagna were linking up well. Much credit to Sagna for coming back and being as solid as ever after such a testing time in his private life.

Makes a change doesn’t it? Instead of seeing late, studs-up challenges and imaginary yellow cards being waved around, I was glad to witness a clean game of football, full of decent play between two excellent sides and a very healthy amount of respect afforded for each other. And despite the abiding memory of this result being Ade’s golden opportunity at the end, I for one am a very proud Gooner as I write this an hour after the final whistle. Following on from the battering at the weekend, the Young Guns stood up to be counted and went toe-to-toe with Europe’s finest.

As expected, all the new injuries that surfaced for Saturday’s cup tie miraculously evaporated and we were pretty much restored to full-strength, barring the standard absenteeism of Tomas and Robin. With Eduardo in the side we are very flexible formation-wise, able to switch between 4-4-2 and 4-4-1-1 in an instant. Like many of you I hoped Le Boss would go for two up-front to try and put the ageing Milan defence to the sword, but he was probably wise in going with five in the middle. The first choice defence was in place, but not for long as Kolo picked up an injury after blocking a Milan shot early on. It looked fairly innocuous but it seems he twisted something. So only five minutes in and we were forced to make a change, hopefully it was only a precautionary move. Big Phil came on, and I have to say the European game really does suit his style as he put in a very good performance. Just after his introduction, Jens – who had a very short spell at Milan about a decade ago – launched an ABSOLUTE javelin of a throw out to Ade. Like Manu Petit’s long balls from days of yore, it cut out the entire opposition midfield and defence and landed right at the attacker’s feet. Nothing came of it in the end but it was assuring to know that Jens can still offer something distribution-wise as his kicking has been poor recently.

Arsenal’s biggest first-half attacking threat came from right wing, where Eboue and Sagna were linking up well. Much credit to Sagna for coming back and being as solid as ever after such a testing time in his private life. And credit too to the much-maligned Eboue, who put in a more honest performance than his antics against the Mancs (despite him being booked for diving in the second-half, which I thought was harsh). It was from the right that Sagna got a cross in on the quarter-hour; Ade missed and Eduardo seemed to slip at the back post just before he was gonna volley it into the top corner (probably). Our other main attacking outlet was the long ball down the sides of the Milan centre-halves. Cesc deployed this tactic on numerous occasions in the first-period and Ade was an ever-willing runner. However I felt that with only one up-front, the plan was a bit toothless as Ade lacked any immediate support. 25 minutes and the strategy was used again, this time Ade running away from goal and blazing his shot high, wide and not-so-handsome.

The majority of the first-half was very much an intriguing chess game. But then as we approached the break the Gunners sprung into life. It originated from the right wing (where else?) as Eboue drove into the box and dummied Maldini before cutting the ball back to the Flamster. His driven shot was straight at the keeper however and lacked the requisite power to cause any real problems. But we were warming up nicely and really could have had our first clear opportunity with five minutes left ‘til the break. Ade got a bit of space in the inside-left channel and somehow Eduardo (or was it Cesc??? I’m not sure) had gotten scot free just inside him. All it needed was a simple square ball and we would have been through one-on-one, but Ade overhit his pass and the move petered out. Then with a minute remaining the Flamster (who outplayed Gattuso all night) twisted and turned near the left byline to wriggle past his man. Eduardo, poachers instinct and all, had come off his flank and was looking to get into the six-yard box for a cross, but it was blocked. Refreshing to see someone trying to get into the danger area though, we haven’t had this since Freddie cut his hair. The half-time whistle blew and it was goalless. All that was missing was the decisive final ball.

The second-half began and for fifteen minutes it was the Cesc and Alex show. The pair had been quiet early on but really came to the fore in this period, the latter dribbling into the box from the right and squaring to Eboue, who scuffed his shot wide. A minute later the ball broke to Ade in box from an attempted Hleb shot, he slotted home but was given offside. No doubting that he was ahead of the play, but at the time I had a sneaky feeling that it was a Milan defended who had poked the ball through to him whilst trying to block Hleb’s initial effort. Then it was Cesc’s turn to become creator; a neat exchange of passes with Eduardo eventually saw the Crozilian hit a rising shot inches over the bar. In real time it looks miles over, but look at it closer and you can see that a foot lower and it’s in the top corner.

However Milan were still a threat on the break, particularly when Kaka ran at the back four and Pato looked to get in behind our defence. It was one of their less heralded players, right-back Massimo Oddo, who had their first crack at goal of the half. Coming onto the ball in a fair amount of space (where was Gael?), he proved why he’s a right-back as he ballooned his shot into the crowd. Then on 70 minutes it was hearts-in-mouths time for the home fans as an almighty scramble occurred in the box. Pato tried to break free of Phil’s shackles but couldn’t fully do so, yet the ball still stuck to his feet. At that very moment had Kolo been on the pitch he may have gone to ground and given a penalty away (remember the Spurs pen in the league game?), but Phil stayed on his feet and eventually the ball went behind for a goal kick.

With fifteen minutes remaining Super Nick came on for Eduardo, whose last act was to hit a Trevor Steven-esque shot at the corner flag. The funny thing is, had he connected a split second later then it would have been nestling in the bottom corner. Such are the fine margins in these big games. After a quiet twenty minutes in which Milan had begun to assert themselves, Cesc once again came to the fore as the clocked ticked away. Numerous times he found himself running at the defence, and as the crowd bayed for him to shoot he duly obliged. I wish the “shoot brigade” would keep quiet though, because there was one situation towards the end where he let rip instead of sliding in Bendtner to his right. Eboue got harshly booked for diving on 80 minutes: can’t the referee understand that on some occasions it is neither a pen nor a dive??? Straight down the other end it was Big Phil to the rescue as he pulled off a marvellous sliding tackle in the box after Kaka nearly beat him with some spellbinding skill.

In the final five minutes Milan got a couple of free-kicks within the range of specialist Andrea Pirlo. In particular when the Flamster conceded one of these free-kicks with a stupid and unnecessary foul I couldn’t help but cast my mind back to last season’s exit against PSV, when the winning goal came after Hleb had wrestled his man to the ground and conceded a set-piece. Thankfully nothing came of the free-kicks but if we do that in the away leg then Pirlo is bound to pull one off.

A breakaway on the right eventually saw the ball squared to Hleb on the left. Once again it was overhit, thus forcing Alex wider than he wanted to be instead of enabling him to run through on goal. He salvaged the situation and laid it back to Bendtner, but the big Dane’s showed no composure in thrashing the ball over. With two big forwards up-front, the tactic was obvious and justified: hit it long and try to win the second ball; or get it wide and get some crosses in. Both methods were tried but the Milan defence held firm. That was probably the most I’ve seen us cross the ball all season, and against another side at least one would have bore fruition.

And the final one very nearly did. Theo had come on with barely a minute of normal time left, and in the final 30 seconds of injury time he worked a bit of space on the right wing and floated his cross to the back post where Ade was waiting. The Togonator somehow, inexplicably managed to crash his header against the bar from less than six-yards out. It would’ve been easier to score, and the way he fell to the floor after the miss, he knew it. The only thing I can say in his defence is that the defender jumping in front of him may have put him off, causing him to get under the ball slightly. But even then…

We won a corner from the resulting clearance but the delivery was harmless, and that was the final act of the game. To be honest, I wasn’t overly devastated at the end of the game with Ade’s miss. Yes it would have been good to take a goal back to the San Siro but I fear that in trying to defend a one-goal led we would have shot ourselves in the foot. However, the majority of my nonchalance at his miss comes from the fact that we had recovered significantly from Saturday to put it in a very good performance against the reigning European champions. And it wasn’t us at full-pelt either, suggesting that there is still some extra quality left in the tank for the away leg. That said, if this was a league game and Ade’s had failed to convert that chance then right now I’d be going berserk typing this.

What began as a cagey, tight affair ended up as a bit of onslaught. Milan did well to survive the second-half and a matchwinner like Kaka always carries a threat. Although they deprived us of many clear cut opportunities, I think we showed enough to suggest that we can grab an away goal. It wasn’t so much our finishing that was lacking tonight as our final ball. If that final ball is better, then our chances become easier to convert, simple as that. Last time we played at the San Siro, we got five. A couple should do the trick this time, and that is eminently achievable. For a team like us (plenty of stamina, good on the break) a 0-0 draw at home is far from the end of the world. And the performance and spirit of the players showed that we have most definitely moved on from the days where one bad result would send us into a black hole.

Top Gun: no obvious stand-out performers, everyone played well without really excelling. Particular mentions must go to the usual suspects: the Flamster and the full-backs. Their unswerving consistency has been key to the side’s development this term. But I’m gonna give it to Big Phil. As a defender, it can’t be easy coming on after five minutes, let alone against a team like Milan. As a striker on the bench, you know that you are likely to get some game time sooner or later, but defenders are very rarely called upon except for injuries. To change your mindset from being substitute to playing within only five minutes is no easy feat, but Phil did it superbly. Just like in 2006, I reckon he’ll have a big part to play in any progression we make in Europe this season.