All of North London is celebrating tonight after a remarkable two-day spell that saw both big teams pull off stunning Champions League upsets. Yesterday, Tottenham went to the San Siro and came away with a 1-0 win over AC Milan; tonight at the Emirates, Arsenal recovered to pull out a monumental 2-1 win over a Barcelona side that is the consensus best team on the planet.
In Rome, a magic 12-minute spell in the opening half carried the Ukranian's Shakhtar Donetsk to their first-ever victory on Italian soil, dealing Roma a 3-2 defeat and leaving Claudio Ranieri with lots of questions to answer.
The knockout round of the Champions League continues next week with Chelsea, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Real Madrid all in action.
First, the bad news for English fans: Arsenal were well-outplayed in the first half tonight, and had Lionel Messi not suffered a rare off-evening, this game would have gone to the break 3-0. For an Arsenal team that has been accused of defensive and mental fragility all season long, it was the worst possible start, albeit against an opponent of the highest caliber.
As it was, Barcelona’s smothering possession play was almost too much for Arsenal’s over-matched midfield to handle, with Alex Song being particularly victimized, and taking a card for his troubles. David Villa’s opener in the 26th was fully deserved, a clean breakaway started by Messi and finished with aplomb by the Spanish World Cup star.
Messi should have had two of his own, but when he went free twice, he uncharacteristically whiffed: first sending an easy dink that had Wojciech Szczesny well beaten just wide of the far post; then perhaps catching an unfortunate decision when a ball fell to him from Pedro in an offside position.
Now, the good: After the break, the story changed. Young Jack Wilshere in a man-of-the-match performance, closed down the passing lanes of Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Messi, and created the time and space for Robin van Persie to get free up top. The Dutchman needed time because he, too, seemed to be having an off night, failing to cash-in on three of Arsenal’s best chances. Barcelona were no longer the crisp-passing, almost mechanically precise side that is rightly feared across Europe.
And then came the pivot on the night. With twelve minutes left to play, and a goal seemingly out of reach for Arsenal, van Persie found his touch. It was a dramatic goal started by a brilliant cross from Gael Clichy that the striker whisked to the byeline before blowing his shot past Valdes' near post. It was a goal of precision and power, and it ignited the Emirates faithful. Suddenly, the Catalans were reeling.
Five minutes later, Wilshere ripped the ball free in the back, meeting Cesc Fabregas far forward, who in turn set Samir Nasri loose wide. Nasri smartly cut the ball back to sub Andrei Arshavin and the Russian first-timed it past Valdes to the lower right corner for the victory.
If nothing more, the result signals Arsenal’s intent not to be steamrolled any longer. They face heavy odds-against in three weeks at Camp Nou, where Barcelona will once again be heavy favorites, especially since they got an important away goal. But this young London side is showing signs of maturity and life despite some very glaring failings. Moreover, Arsenal showed that like Lazarus, they can rise from the dead.
In Rome, Shakhtar’s performance should serve to dispel any thoughts that their finish atop their group had more to do with Arsenal's performance than their own. The Ukrainians may have entered the knockout stage as outsiders but they take three away goals home for the second leg and did more than enough to suggest that their stay in this competition will be considerably longer than expected.
The Shakhtar response to a soft opening Roma goal stamps them as a team with character to go along with their acknowledged counter-attacking speed. If the defense sometimes looks shaky - and it did more than once in the Stadio Olimpico - the willingness to go forward at every opportunity and the finishing ability shown Wednesday night provided the perfect answer to any critics.
When Simone Perrotta was given the freedom of the city at the back post to nod in a Taddei cross in the 28th minute, few in the Olimpico would have been the least bit concerned for Roma's fate. After all, Nicolas Burdisso had headed wide from a similarly-free position eight minutes earlier and wasn’t the Ukrainian defense being cut apart so easily?
Just 67 seconds after Perrotta scored, the match turned upside down. From an apparently harmless ball forward, Jadson collected a weak clearance and drove a shot that deflected off two defenders and past the helpless Doni. Before Roman nerves could settle Luiz Adriano headed past the post and just seven minutes later, Douglas Costa produced the goal of the night. Knifing between defenders at the top of the arc he looked up and curled a shot to the far post, well beyond the helpless keeper.
Then came disaster for John Arne Riise and Roma. The veteran Norwegian defender lost his footing and possession on the touchline, Douglas Costa broke completely free and Luiz Adriano was unmarked in the center of the box to accept the cross and beat Doni once again. It was 3-1 after 41 minutes and had Doni not saved well from Adriano just before the interval, Roma would have been three goals down at the break.
Ranieri hooked Riise at the interval, but the manager could not change Roma’s ponderous gait. They lacked the pace to spread Shakhtar out and seemed as concerned about Luiz Adriano - the only man left up top - as they were about beating the nine-men left to protect the hard-earned Shakhtar lead.
Jeremy Menez did pull one goal back when he jerked away from Jadson's shirt-pulling idea of defense and hit the top corner of the net from 22 yards, but even with a full half-hour left, it did not signal a Roma return from the dead.
In fact, the best last chance fell to veteran Francesco Totti in the 83rd minute. He shot straight into Andriy Pyatov's arms. With that, the famous Italian side was left to wonder what chance they might have in three weeks' time.
Jamie Trecker is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the UEFA Champions League and the Barclay's Premier League.
