Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger touches his face as he sits on the bench during the Champions League round of 16 soccer match at the Emirates Stadium in London (2/25). Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hit out at the "weak mentality" and "suicidal defending" of his side as a 1-3 home defeat to Monaco left them on the brink of elimination from the Champions League. Reuters/Eddie Keogh
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Home team Arsenal had to take the walk of shame at the Emirates Stadium as they lost against underdog AS Monaco. Playing the first leg of Champions League top-16 tier in London, Monaco trashed Arsenal 3-1.
Arsenal, despite playing before thousands of home crowd, were one goal down at half time. It was Geoffrey Kondogbia that stole the first goal for Monaco in the 38th.
In the second half, veteran striker Dimitar Berbatov doubled the lead for Monaco. Arsenal responded late with a goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. However, Monaco got away with one more goal as Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco scored the third goal in injury time.
The defeat seems to sink Arsenal’s chance to proceed to the next round. The Gunners will have to win by three goals in the second leg at Stade Louis II in order to make it through the quarterfinals.