Like Barca in Rome, the Gunners arrived in the Russian capital with a 4-1 lead to defend, only to find themselves 2-0 down and staring elimination in the face with 40 minutes still left on the clock.
Defensive inconsistency is something Arsenal fans have come accustomed to over the past few seasons, and those bad habits yet again returned to their backline on Thursday.
Wenger had named his strongest possible team at the chilly VEB Arena, with Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette all starting. Perhaps more striking was his substitutes bench, though, with the veteran coach selecting four defenders among his seven replacements.
Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and twin defenders Vasili and Alexei Berezutski were all part of CSKA’s starting XI the last time these two teams met in the Champions League over a decade ago.
On that night in Moscow the Gunners lost 1-0 after struggling to create any opportunities of note, and it was a similar story almost 11 years later as Wenger’s men failed to record a shot on target until Danny Welbeck’s finally settled their nerves 15 minutes before time.
Until the England international’s intervention the one-way traffic mirrored that of Moscow’s roads for much of the day. On a day when Russia celebrated the 57th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s maiden voyage into space, it was Arsenal’s defence who allowed Fedor Chalov to rocket into the box unchallenged and slot home from close range six minutes before the break.
Wenger opted to change things at half-time, switching to a five-man defence with Mohamed Elneny at the heart of it – an experiment that that lasted all of five minutes after Petr Cech palmed Aleksandr Golovin’s long-range effort straight into Kirill Nababkin’s path.
It was another overtly negative move from the Arsenal boss, and though he was quick to reverse his decision, there was no doubt it cost his team what could have been a crucial goal.
Welbeck, meanwhile, now has five goals in his last four starts, with his form putting him right back in the frame for a place in England’s World Cup squad. The 27-year-old is – much like his club side – coming good at the right time.
His goal along with the stoppage-time strike from Aaron Ramsey was enough to see Arsenal through to a first European semi-final for nine years. In a week when so many threw away their shots at continental glory they live to fight another day. Maybe this might be Arsenal’s year after all.
FT: Moscow 2-2 Arsenal (Agg: 3-6)
Chalov 39′, Nababkin 50′ | Welbeck 75′, Ramsey 90+2′