Highlights: Monaco 0-2 Arsenal (3-3 agg.), Gunners knocked out on away goals
Trailing 1-3 after the first leg, Arsenal travelled to Monaco with their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread. Monaco had demolished Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium scoring 3 crucial away goals, which eventually made the difference in the tie.
Arsene Wenger named an attacking XI with both Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck starting while Leonardo Jardim went with a similar lineup that outplayed the Londoners two weeks ago with Dimitar Berbatov leading the line and Geoffrey Kondogbia and Joao Moutinho in midfield.
Arsenal looked like a team on a mission from the go as they kept Monaco restricted to their half as they bombed their goal with attack after attack. A shell-shocked Monaco repelled all of their attacks till the 36th minute when Giroud opened the scoring on the night and put doubt in the minds of the Monaco supporters. His initial shot was saved by the goalkeeper, but the rebound fell kindly for the Frenchman and he made no mistake this time as he smashed a right-footed shot into the roof of the goal.
The visitors could have, and should have been awarded a penalty when Alexis Sanchez was brought down in the box, but the referee booked the Chilean for simulation much to the ire of the travelling Arsenal supporters and players. The referee soon blew the whistle to signal the end of the half and a rest for the Monaco backline.
The second half was a mirror image of the first as Arsenal kept on bombing forward, while Monaco looked to hit them on the counter. However, they were unable to break through for the majority of the half. Wenger brought on Aaron Ramsey and took off the only defensive midfielder they had in Francis Coquelin in the final 30 minutes.
That change made a massive difference as Arsenal doubled their lead to equalize the aggregate score when Theo Walcott’s shot bounced off the post and eventually found its way to the Welshman, whose shot hit the back of the net to make the final 11 minutes plus stoppage time a nervous time for the home side.
However, Arsenal could not find the crucial goal that would have put them in the quarter-final as they became the third English side to crash out of the Champions League this season. The Londoners went out on away goals as they had levelled the aggregate score to 3-3 while relief would be the primary feeling in Monaco. The home side had not conceded a single goal at home in the Champions League this season before this match and were on the backfoot throughout the second leg.