Brazilian star Robinho scored twice as AC Milan defeated Arsenal 4-0 on Wednesday in the Champions League last 16 first-leg tie at the San Siro.
The result left Arsene Wenger’s side, who are already a massive 17 points off the pace in the English Premier League, facing a huge task in the return leg at the Emirates on March 6 if they are to stay in the tournament.
Kevin Prince Boateng put Milan, the seven-time European champions, ahead in the 15th minute before Robinho turned the screw in the 38th and 49th minutes.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic added the fourth from the penalty spot in the 78th minute.
AC Milan all but booked their place in the quarter-finals as the Italians recorded their first win in seven Champions League clashes against English opposition while also ending a run of three straight home defeats against Premier League teams.
It means the second leg at the Emirates in three weeks should be little more than a formality for Massimiliano Allegri’s players.
Not even the introduction of Thierry Henry in his final appearance before returning to New York Red Bulls could inspire a surprisingly out of sorts Gunners formation.
Any suggestions that Milan might have had an inferiority complex following their terrible run against the English were shattered in a first half in which the hosts were composed and clinical on the counter while the visitors were unsettled and error-prone.
Wenger introduced Henry at halftime but any thoughts that might inspire the Londoners were dispelled within four minutes as more timid defending gave Robinho the time and space to shoot home into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Also on Wednesday, in Russia, Roman Shirokov scored his second goal of the game in the 89th minute as Zenit St Petersburg beat Benfica 3-2 in the first leg of their round-of-16 matchup.
Maxi Pereira put Benfica ahead in the 20th, tapping the ball in after second-choice goalkeeper Yuri Zhevnov spilled Oscar Cardozo’s free kick, but Shirokov equalised seven minutes later.
Substitute Sergei Semak made it 2-1 with a backheel in the 71st.
Cardozo levelled for the visitors in the 87th after Zhevnov again failed to hold a shot, and the game appeared headed for a 2-2 draw until a defensive blunder by Pereira gifted Shirokov his second goal – and his fifth in seven Champions League games – from short range.
Zenit, debuting in the knockout phase, were missing seven key players through injury and illness in their first game of the year. The Russian champions haven’t lost at home in European competition since 2008.
The Portuguese club were previously unbeaten in the tournament and came through after finishing top of Group C, which included Manchester United.
