Arsenal's Champions League hopes were left hanging by a thread this evening as they slumped to a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of AS Monaco in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
Goals from Geoffrey Kondogbia and former Tottenham Hotspur man Dimitar Berbatov gave the principality club a shock two-goal lead inside the hour, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain seemed to give his side hope with a late reply.
The visitors struck in the final minute of stoppage time to claim a third away goal, however, as Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco broke free to beat David Ospina.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at a damaging 90 minutes at the Emirates Stadium for the Gunners.
Match statistics
ARSENAL
Shots: 14
On target: 4
Possession: 57%
Corners: 8
Fouls: 12
MONACO
Shots: 10
On target: 7
Possession: 43%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 10
Was the result fair?
Absolutely. Monaco by no means controlled proceedings this evening, as the statistics above show, but they carried out their gameplan to perfection and did exactly what they needed to do. Arsenal had more of the ball but could do very little with it, while the visitors made the most of their 43% possession and were clinical when handed a chance.
The Gunners actually started the match brightly, but the opening five minutes was as good as it got for them. It was clear how Monaco were going to play and there were no surprises in that respect - a team that had kept 14 clean sheets in 17 matches going into this one was always going to be tight at the back. However, Arsenal's display was unexpectedly poor and they can have no complaints at being duly punished by the visitors.
Arsenal must now score at least three goals in the return leg next month, something which hasn't been achieved by a visiting team at the Stade Louis II since September 2011, when Monaco were languishing in Ligue 2. The principality club have one foot in the quarter-finals and many may already consider this tie over. One thing is for certain - the visitors are good value for their commanding lead from this first leg.
Arsenal's performance
Much of the pre-match talk going into this game surrounded how the Gunners had been handed the kindest draw of the lot in the last 16, and today's performance suggests that many of the players took victory for granted. Arsenal started the match well and got in behind the Monaco defence a number of times in the opening five minutes. However, as soon as the visitors settled, Arsenal ceased to play their usual brand of football and could not get anything meaningful going in the final third.
The build-up play was laboured and uninventive, with Monaco comfortably snuffing out the vast majority of attacks. Things may have been different had Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck scored with glorious chances in the second half, but the finishing was just another aspect of Arsenal's abject performance that was simply not good enough. Defensive mistakes led to two of the goals, while the likes of Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez were void of any creativity.
Arsene Wenger will have been looking forward to a reunion with his former club, but his dream tie is proving to be a nightmare. This was one of the most inept performances he would have seen from his side at home in Europe and is particularly disappointing given that they had won their last nine matches at the Emirates. Wenger recently said that his side were on the verge of challenging for European honours again but, on this evidence, they are further away than they have been for a long time.
Monaco's performance
By manager Leonardo Jardim's own admission, Monaco were the team that many were hoping to face in the last 16 of the Champions League. That is unlikely to be the case when the draw is made for the quarter-finals, however. It is a fair assumption that they will be in the hat following tonight's performance and the fact that they have the second leg at home, where they have lost just once inside 90 minutes since the opening day of the season and conceded only a solitary goal in their last 10 outings.
Much was made of Monaco's meagre tally of four goals scored in the group stages, but they almost doubled that figure for the Champions League campaign tonight. Kondogbia's opener had an element of luck about it with the deflection, but the goals from Berbatov and Ferreira-Carrasco were all about the counter-attack. It could have been even better for the visitors too, with Anthony Martial spurning a good chance in the second half.
It is no fluke that Monaco have such an impeccable defensive record in recent months. They are a very well organised outfit and, while there were signs in the opening five minutes that they can be cut open with quick attacks, they will be tough for any team to break down. This tie is now firmly in their hands and none of the big boys will relish drawing Jardim's side in the last eight following this performance.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Geoffrey Kondogbia: The young French midfielder ran the show this evening. The likes of Fabinho, Joao Moutinho and Aymen Abdennour deserve mentions, but Kondogbia was the star in the middle of the park. His goal was fortunate with the deflection, but he deserved that for a fine performance in which he nullified the threat of Ozil, Sanchez and co. The only blot on his copybook was being beaten too easily by Oxlade-Chamberlain for Arsenal's reply. Aside from that, it was a towering display.
Biggest gaffe
Oxlade-Chamberlain was at fault for the killer goal right at the end having lost the ball in midfield, but the biggest gaffe came in the build-up to the second goal. Per Mertesacker was tracking the run of Martial, but stepped up to meet the ball and allowed the Monaco attacker to race through unmarked. He used the two-on-one situation well to set up Berbatov, who applied the finish on his return to North London.
Referee performance
Deniz Aytekin had a relatively easy night tonight, dishing out just five yellow cards and avoiding any major controversies.
What next?
Arsenal: The Gunners will need to pick themselves up from this defeat in time for their Premier League meeting with Everton at the Emirates on Sunday.
Monaco: Monaco, meanwhile, face a big test in a battle of last season's top two in Ligue 1 as they host Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade Louis II, also on Sunday.
Barney Corkhill
