Olivier Giroud’s 36th minute shot and Aaron Ramsey’s 79th minute effort could not suffice as a determined Arsenal narrowly missed out on a Champions League miracle, despite a 2-0 win at Monaco last night.
Needing a 3-0 victory to guarantee a spot in the quarter-finals, the Gunners pushed throughout and finally got the breakthrough shortly before half-time when Olivier Giroud fired into the roof of the net.
Though Monaco fought hard to hold them off, Arsene Wenger’s men looked likely to score again and did so with just over 10 minutes to go, substitute Aaron Ramsey burying a second when a disastrous clearance went straight to him after Theo Walcott hit the post.
Arsenal could not scramble their way to a second, however, and are left lamenting the first-leg failure that put them up against it in this game.
In the other game of the night, Athletico Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 on penalties, after the game ended 1-1 on aggregate.