Complacent Arsenal had to fight for semi place

ARSENE Wenger suggested his Arsenal side showed a hint of complacency as they were made to fight for their place in the Europa League semi-finals having fallen two goals behind at CSKA Moscow.

The Gunners were boasting a 4-1 lead from the opening leg but found themselves deservedly behind on the night as Fedor Chalov and Kirill Nababkin pounced on Petr Cech parries to put the hosts within touching distance of an unlikely turnaround.

Danny Welbeck halted the comeback with a well-taken goal on 75 minutes, Arsenal’s first shot on target on the night.

Aaron Ramsey (right) then scored in stoppage time to seal a 2-2 draw, sending Arsenal through 6-3 on aggregate.

It was a much nervier night than the Gunners would have anticipated and Wenger put that down to the margin of victory from the first leg.

“You could see when you have a big difference after the first game it is difficult to turn up with the same urgency than if the difference is very small and that played a part in the first half,” he said.

“I felt in the two games they (CSKA) played well, especially last night they made my heart beat much quicker than I expected it to be played against a good team.

“I knew that after the first game and they showed that again.”

Arsenal were without the injured Henrikh Mkhitaryan after he limped out of the first leg with a knee injury.

He has been superb for Arsenal in the competition this season and could now be fit for the semi-finals.

“The injury is a medial knee ligament strain,” he said.

“He should be out for two more weeks, don’t be too worried we have good medical staff and he is very serious in his rehab.”

CSKA boss Viktor Goncharenko felt his side’s recent fixture pile-up played a big part in his players being unable to sustain the high tempo that had frightened the life out of their visitors in the first half.

“Until 75 minutes we played extremely well and were wining in a justified way,” he said.

“We took the lead and were so close winning the this match, after the recent duels with Barcelona and Juventus, it was just too much for us to make a marvellous comeback in this game.”

DIEGO Simeone expressed his pride after Atletico Madrid booked their place in the semi-finals of the Europa League despite a 1-0 defeat to Sporting Lisbon.

Simeone’s side held a 2-0 lead from the first leg but had to dig deep as Sporting came flying out of the traps at Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Fredy Montero’s first-half header left the tie in the balance, only for the Portuguese outfit to run out of steam in the closing stages.

“Of course I expected to suffer,” Simeone said. “The teams are increasingly competitive, strong at home, and any cup is difficult.”