Danny Welbeck scored twice on the day he was recalled to the England squad as Arsenal beat AC Milan to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Leading 2-0 from the first leg in the San Siro, the Gunners fell behind on the night when Hakan Calhanoglu produced a wonderful finish from 30 yards after being allowed to run unchallenged.
Arsenal quickly levelled, though, from a controversially awarded penalty – Welbeck going down under minimal contact from Ricardo Rodriguez before scoring from the spot.
GOAL ! Great long range goal from Granit Xhaka. Arsenal lead 2-1 pic.twitter.com/Xa9LWG0YHm
— ArsenalUpdates (@ArsenalEdits___) March 15, 2018
And, after highly rated Milan keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma allowed Granit Xhaka’s long-range attempt to squirm into the net, Welbeck sealed a third straight win with a close-range header.
Victory meant Arsenal reached a European quarter-final for the first time since 2010.
READ: Torres score twice as Atletico brush Lokomotiv Moscow aside
They will learn their last-eight opponents when the draw takes place on Friday from 12:00 GMT.
Will double spark Welbeck goal surge?
Milan’s players and fans were visibly – and probably justifiably – angered by the decision to award Arsenal a penalty in the closing stages of the first half.
Rodriguez appeared to do no more than brush Welbeck’s shoulder, and the former Manchester United player fell to the floor.
The officials were in no doubt a foul had been committed, and a penalty was awarded.
Welbeck, hours after being called into the international squad for friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy, sent Donnarumma the wrong way for his first goal since 7 January.
With Arsenal 12 points adrift of fourth place in the Premier League, winning the Europa League appears to be their best chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
If they are to do that, they will need more goals from Welbeck, particularly as January signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is cup-tied.
And the 27-year-old’s confidence certainly surged after his seventh goal of the season for club and country.
His clever cutback presented Henrikh Mkhitaryan with a great chance just before half-time, but the Armenian headed wide.
In an entertaining game, Xhaka gave Arsenal the lead on the night courtesy after a mistake by Donnarumma, before Welbeck nodded home the third after Aaron Ramsey’s point-blank header was kept out.
